IRS Written Determinations
Free IRS private letter rulings, technical advice memoranda, and Chief Counsel advice with plain-English summaries and the official IRS release on every page.
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Partnership receives 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership timely filed its federal return but inadvertently omitted its section 754 election. That election allows basis adjustments under sections 734(b) and …
Post-redemption mission change does not taint scholarship bond interest
A nonprofit scholarship-funding corporation had issued qualified scholarship funding bonds and later redeemed all of them using taxable debt. It remained a qualifying corporation and the bond obligor …
Foreign partner may serve as the tax matters partner in limited circumstances
Chief Counsel advised that an eligible foreign partner is not categorically barred from serving as a partnership's tax matters partner under the TEFRA rules. If an eligible U.S. partner exists, howeve…
Mismatched back-to-back deferred compensation arrangements violate section 409A
A foreign investment corporation deferred fees owed to a U.S. manager, which separately deferred compensation owed to investment professionals under an intended back-to-back arrangement. The upper-tie…
Interest on tax restitution runs from the original tax due date
A court ordered a defendant to pay restitution to the IRS for a tax loss, and the defendant paid within the period set by the restitution order. Chief Counsel concluded that the amount was assessable …
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the decedent's gross estate …
Former CEO is not a covered employee for the compensation deduction cap
A publicly held corporation's former chief executive officer had served as CEO for only part of the tax year. The company disclosed the former CEO in its compensation table because securities rules re…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the decedent's gross estate …
Serviced medical-office rents are not passive investment income
A corporation with accumulated earnings and profits planned to elect S corporation status and operated a commercial property leased as medical offices and related facilities. It actively negotiated le…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. It represented that the decedent's gross estate plus adj…
Estate receives 120 days to make the 2010 carryover-basis election
A nonresident alien died in 2010, and U.S.-situs property passed to the surviving spouse outside probate. The estate's representatives missed the January 2012 deadline to file Form 8939 and elect the …
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. It represented that the decedent's gross estate, includi…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. It represented that the decedent's gross estate plus adj…
Cooperative restructuring avoids the section 337 change-in-status rule
A tax-exempt member-owned cooperative planned to collapse several taxable subsidiaries into one legal entity and offer both its traditional and expanded services at cost. After the restructuring, nonm…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. It represented that the decedent's gross estate, includi…
Taxpayer may make late elections to capitalize property-loan interest
A dual U.S. and foreign citizen living abroad had not filed U.S. returns because he did not realize that he remained subject to U.S. filing obligations. He had acquired foreign real estate with a loan…
Nuclear plant owner receives a decommissioning fund ruling amount
A single-member LLC taxed as a corporation owned an interest in a nuclear power plant and requested an initial schedule of amounts it could deductibly contribute to a qualified nuclear decommissioning…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. It represented that the decedent's gross estate, includi…
REIT receives 60 days to make a late consent dividend election
A real estate investment trust relied on an accounting firm to prepare and provide its federal returns for filing. The firm omitted one year's Form 1120-REIT from the package, so the trust neither fil…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. It represented that the decedent's gross estate, includi…
Spouses receive 120 days to allocate GST exemption to an old trust gift
A grantor created a trust for descendants and relatives before December 31, 2000, and transferred property to it. The grantor and spouse timely elected gift splitting on their Forms 709, but their acc…
Foundation's employee matching gifts do not constitute self-dealing
A corporation that was the sole contributor to a private foundation planned to shift two employee matching-donation programs to the foundation in most jurisdictions. The corporation was a disqualified…
Foundation's employee matching gifts receive favorable excise-tax treatment
A private foundation planned to take over two employee matching-donation programs from its sole corporate contributor in most jurisdictions. The corporation was a disqualified person, but it had no le…
Spouse receives 120 days to allocate GST exemption to old trust gifts
A settlor created an irrevocable trust for children and descendants and made additional transfers before December 31, 2000. The settlor relied on tax professionals but did not timely file gift tax ret…
Settlor receives 120 days to allocate GST exemption to old trust gifts
A settlor created an irrevocable trust for children and descendants and made additional transfers before December 31, 2000. The settlor relied on tax professionals but did not timely file a gift tax r…
Spouse receives 120 days to allocate GST exemption to an old trust gift
A settlor created and funded an irrevocable trust for a child and the settlor's descendants before December 31, 2000. The settlor relied on tax professionals but did not timely file Form 709 or alloca…
Settlor receives 120 days to allocate GST exemption to an old trust gift
A settlor created and funded an irrevocable trust for a child and the settlor's descendants before December 31, 2000. The settlor relied on tax professionals but did not timely file Form 709 or alloca…
Couple receives 120 days to make a late rental real estate grouping election
A married couple filed jointly, and one spouse represented that he qualified as a real estate professional for the relevant year. Their original return inadvertently omitted the statement electing to …
Property company receives relief for a late initial REIT election
A property-holding limited liability company intended to elect real estate investment trust status for the first tax year in which it acquired industrial buildings. Its outside accounting firm mistake…
Property owner receives relief for a late rehabilitation-credit passthrough election
A property owner rehabilitated a leased property and agreed to pass its qualified rehabilitation expenditures through to the tenant. The owner inadvertently missed the deadline to elect under Treasury…
Online platform fees do not qualify as domestic production gross receipts
A taxpayer treated fees from several online platforms as domestic production gross receipts eligible for the former IRC § 199 deduction, reasoning that customers directly used software comparable to s…
Common law employer remains liable when payroll company fails to remit taxes
An S corporation used a professional employer organization to administer payroll and employment-tax filings, but the organization failed to remit the taxes. Chief Counsel advised that the professional…
Pipeline construction and operating reimbursements are qualifying income
A limited partnership gathered, processed, transported, stored, and marketed natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil, and refined petroleum products. It received fees and reimbursements for buildi…
Donor receives more time to allocate GST exemption to a trust
A donor transferred property to an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer potential before December 31, 2000. Her accountant timely filed the gift tax return but reported the gift and GST…
Donor receives more time to allocate GST exemption to a trust
A donor transferred property to an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer potential before December 31, 2000. Her accountant timely filed the gift tax return but reported the gift and GST…
Corporation receives relief for an inadvertent S election termination
An S corporation's shares were transferred to a trust whose trustee inadvertently failed to make an electing small business trust election. Because the trust was not then an eligible S corporation sha…
Estate receives more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The decedent's gross estate was represented to be below t…
Estate receives more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The decedent's gross estate was represented to be below t…
Donor receives more time to allocate GST exemption to a trust
A donor transferred property to an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer potential before December 31, 2000. Her accountant timely filed the gift tax return but reported the gift incorre…
REIT and subsidiary receive relief for a late TRS election
A real estate investment trust and an indirectly owned subsidiary intended the subsidiary to be a taxable REIT subsidiary, but the parties and their advisers overlooked the required Form 8875 amid a c…
Foreign subsidiary receives relief for a late corporate classification election
A foreign entity wholly owned by another association intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation for federal tax purposes but did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS accepted t…
Donor receives more time to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A donor made a cash gift to a trust with generation-skipping transfer potential and hired a tax professional to prepare the gift tax return. Both the original return and a later amended return omitted…
Estate receives more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The personal representatives stated that the gross estate…
Subsidiary receives relief for an ineffective QSub election
An S corporation acquired all the stock of another S corporation in a transaction represented to be an IRC § 368(a)(1)(F) reorganization. The acquired corporation later converted to a limited liabilit…
Insurer may deduct state-mandated medical education payment
A medical malpractice insurer was required by state law to transfer part of its reserve to a state fund supporting graduate medical education. The insurer expected the programs to increase the number …
Estate receives more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse, who also served as executor. The executor stated that the…
Foreign entity receives relief for a late partnership classification election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes from the date it was organized but did not timely file Form 8832. The entity represented that it acted rea…
Foreign entity receives relief for a late partnership classification election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes from the date it was organized but did not timely file Form 8832. The entity represented that it acted rea…
Donor receives more time to allocate GST exemption to a trust gift
A donor created a trust primarily for grandchildren and transferred an asset to it before January 1, 2001. A law firm prepared the donor's gift tax return, but its paralegal omitted the generation-ski…
Closed gift-tax year fixes gift splitting and triggers automatic GST allocations
A wife transferred property to a trust benefiting her husband and their descendants, and both spouses elected to split all gifts made during the year. The husband's discretionary trust interest could …
Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation was eligible to elect S corporation treatment from its intended effective date but did not timely file Form 2553. The IRS concluded that the corporation had reasonable cause for missing …
Housing owner receives relief for a late multiple-building election
An owner intended to treat all buildings in a low-income housing development as one multiple-building project but inadvertently failed to make an effective election for every building on Form 8609. Th…
Estate receives more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The estate stated that the gross estate plus the decedent…
Estate receives more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The estate stated that the gross estate, including taxabl…
Estate receives more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The estate stated that the gross estate plus the decedent…
Foundation grants avoid excise taxes if expenditure responsibility is maintained
The IRS modified and superseded an earlier ruling concerning a private nonoperating foundation's proposed grants to a private operating foundation building a free community cultural center. The modifi…
State law determines who may sign for a terminated trust in a TEFRA case
A terminated trust was a notice partner in a TEFRA partnership, and the examining team asked who could sign Form 870-PT to agree to partnership-item adjustments. Chief Counsel advised first confirming…
Disaster relief does not suspend penalties on tax already overdue
Chief Counsel considered whether disaster relief under IRC § 7508A suspended failure-to-pay penalties and interest on tax that was due before the disaster postponement period began. The advice conclud…
IRS generally cannot abate interest on restitution-based assessments
Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS could abate interest accruing on a criminal restitution-based assessment made under IRC § 6201(a)(4). The advice concluded that § 6404(e) does not apply becaus…
Full interest-free treatment requires payment with the employment-tax agreement
Chief Counsel explained when an employer must pay an employment-tax underpayment to receive interest-free adjustment treatment after signing Form 2504-AD. Forms in the Form 2504 series count as adjust…
What these documents are
- Private letter rulings (PLRs): A taxpayer asked the IRS to rule on a planned transaction before doing it. The ruling shows exactly how the IRS applied the Code to those facts.
- Technical advice memoranda (TAMs): The IRS National Office answering a question raised during an audit or other proceeding.
- Chief Counsel advice (CCAs): IRS lawyers advising their own field staff on how to apply the law.
- Determination letters: Rulings on exempt-organization matters, such as whether an organization qualifies under § 501(c)(3) or a foundation's grant procedures pass § 4945.
- Not precedent, still useful: Under 26 U.S.C. § 6110(k)(3) none of these can be cited as precedent. They remain the best public window into how the IRS actually rules on facts like yours, and practitioners read them for exactly that.