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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IRS approved a utility's revised schedule for nuclear decommissioning fund contributions
A regulated electric utility asked the IRS to conduct the mandatory review of its revised schedule of annual contributions to a qualified nuclear decommissioning fund. The utility owned a redacted…
IRS approves a utility's revised nuclear decommissioning funding schedule
A public utility asked the IRS to approve a revised schedule of deductible payments to its nuclear decommissioning reserve fund. The utility owns a redacted percentage of a nuclear plant, and two…
IRS permits retroactive QEF elections for two foreign investments
A U.S. taxpayer invested in two foreign corporations, partly through a foreign grantor trust, but her tax professional failed to identify the companies as passive foreign investment companies or…
IRS clears a private foundation trust's full asset transfer to its beneficiary foundation
A charitable trust and its sole beneficiary are both tax-exempt private nonoperating foundations under common control. After a planned transaction involving one trust asset, the trust intends to…
IRS approves a charitable trust's transfer of all assets to its beneficiary foundation
A charitable trust and its sole beneficiary are both tax-exempt private nonoperating foundations under common control. After a planned transaction involving one trust asset, the trust intends to…
IRS grants a partnership 120 days to make a late Section 754 election
A partnership intended to elect under IRC § 754 to adjust the basis of partnership property after one member bought additional interests from another member. It inadvertently omitted the election…
IRS grants a partnership 120 days to make a late Section 754 election
A partnership failed to make an IRC § 754 election for the tax year in which one of its partners died. The election would permit adjustments to the basis of partnership property following a transfer…
IRS grants four foreign entities 120 days to make late classification elections
Four foreign eligible entities intended to elect to be disregarded as separate from their owners for U.S. federal tax purposes when their classifications first became relevant. Each entity failed to…
IRS approves a private foundation's scholarship procedures
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve its procedures for a scholarship program serving high school and college students pursuing undergraduate study in social work, elementary education, or…
IRS excuses a church's integrated auxiliary from filing Form 990
A tax-exempt organization asked the IRS to excuse it from filing the annual Form 990 information return. Treasury Regulation Section 1.6033-2(g)(1)(i) provides that an integrated auxiliary of a…
IRS approves a private foundation's leadership scholarship procedures
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve its procedures for scholarships to students attending private higher-education institutions, particularly a specified university. Applicants must meet…
IRS approves a private foundation's set-aside for a new public high school
A private foundation asked to set aside funds over three years to help build a new public high school in a distressed city. The existing school was aging, the district faced declining enrollment and…
Homeowners association denied Section 501(c)(3) status for serving members' private interests
A homeowners association applied for recognition as a tax-exempt charity under IRC § 501(c)(3). It used member dues to maintain neighborhood streets, a playground, security lighting, storm-water…
Fraternal organization denied exemption because its grants were not insurance-like benefits
An organization operating through local chapters applied for recognition as a tax-exempt fraternal beneficiary society under IRC § 501(c)(8). It offered scholarships to members and grants to…
Skydiving club denied charitable status because recreation was a substantial purpose
An unincorporated skydiving club applied for recognition as a tax-exempt charity under IRC § 501(c)(3). It held jump days through a for-profit skydiving company, arranged transportation and meals,…
Private foundation's artist fellowship grant procedures approved
A private foundation requested advance approval under IRC § 4945(g)(3) for a fellowship program honoring accomplished visual artists in one state. The program would periodically make a nonrenewable…
Qualifying private school excused from filing Form 990
A private school below the college level asked the IRS for an exception from filing Form 990. Based on the information submitted, the IRS determined that the school had a general academic program…
Religious entertainment organization denied exemption over substantial recreational and commercial purposes
An organization sought recognition as a tax-exempt religious and charitable organization under IRC § 501(c)(3). It planned to distribute Gospel-themed books and films and operate virtual and indoor…
Women’s legal networking group denied exemption because it served private business interests
A group of women judges and owners of small civil litigation firms applied for recognition as a charitable organization under IRC § 501(c)(3). Its sole activity was occasional tea or lunch meetings…
Bank holding company may claim an ordinary loss on abandoned subsidiary stock
A bank holding company asked whether its loss from abandoning the stock of its failed bank subsidiary could be treated as an ordinary loss rather than a capital loss. The parent directly owned all…
Inadvertent trust election defects did not end S corporation status
An S corporation’s stock passed through a family trust and later to four related trusts after the original income beneficiary died. The trustees tried to elect electing small business trust status,…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the decedent’s unused estate and gift tax exclusion to the surviving spouse. The estate represented that it was not otherwise…
Corporate spin-off and related debt assumption receive nonrecognition treatment
A multinational corporate group proposed separating one business from a U.S. distributing corporation into a newly formed controlled corporation and distributing the controlled corporation’s stock…
S corporation receives 120 days to file a late QSub election
An S corporation acquired all the stock of another domestic corporation and intended to treat the acquired company as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary effective on the acquisition date. It failed…
Estate granted 120-day extension for a portability election
An estate failed to timely file Form 706 to transfer the decedent’s unused estate and gift tax exclusion to the surviving spouse through a portability election. It represented that the estate’s…
LLC receives 120 days to file a late corporate classification election
A limited liability company intended from its formation date to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation for federal tax purposes. It failed to timely file Form 8832 making that…
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A partnership intended to make an IRC § 754 election for a prior tax year but failed to file it on time. The IRS concluded that the partnership satisfied the standards for discretionary relief under…
Timberland carbon-credit issuance income qualifies for REIT income tests
A real estate investment trust owns U.S. timberlands and participates in voluntary programs that issue carbon credits when land-use restrictions produce verified greenhouse-gas reductions. The REIT…
Taxpayer may reelect the foreign earned income exclusion early
A U.S. citizen working abroad had elected the foreign earned income exclusion and later revoked it. The taxpayer then moved to another foreign country with a different tax rate and began working for…
Estate receives 120-day portability election extension
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the decedent’s unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The estate represented that it was below the gross-estate and…
Foreign entity receives 120-day extension for a late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity failed to file Form 8832 to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. It requested more time under the regulatory relief rules for…
Surviving spouse may roll estate-owned IRA assets into the spouse's own IRA
A decedent named the estate, rather than the surviving spouse, as beneficiary of two IRAs. The spouse was the estate's sole executor and sole beneficiary. The IRS ruled that the two accounts could…
S corporation receives inadvertent-termination relief after two shareholder defects
An S corporation's election terminated when a shareholder renounced U.S. citizenship and became ineligible to hold its stock. A later transfer of shares to a trust also would have terminated the…
Subsidiary treated as consenting to consolidated return despite missing Form 1122
A parent corporation mistakenly continued treating its former qualified subchapter S subsidiary as disregarded after revoking the parent's S election. The parent included all of the subsidiary's…
Private foundation's scholarship procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation proposed scholarships for qualifying graduates and former graduates of specified high schools who plan full-time study at accredited U.S. institutions. Applicants must meet a…
Church auxiliary is exempt from filing Form 990
A tax-exempt organization asked the IRS to excuse it from filing annual Form 990 returns. Based on the information provided, the IRS classified the organization as an integrated auxiliary of a…
Employee appreciation club denied charitable exemption
An employee appreciation club formed for workers at a county government agency sought recognition under IRC § 501(c)(3). It raised money through snack sales and raffles to hold picnics, holiday…
Food-pantry organization's exemption revoked after it ceased operations and failed to provide records
An organization recognized as a public charity to operate a food pantry reported on multiple Forms 990 that it had ceased operations. It was placed in court receivership, and its former chief…
Church-affiliated private school is exempt from filing Form 990
A school asked to be exempt from filing Form 990. The IRS determined that it is a below-college-level educational organization with a general academic program that is affiliated with a church or…
Charitable organization's exemption revoked for failing to provide examination records
An organization recognized for charitable and scientific purposes was related to another organization involved in fraudulent activities. During an IRS examination, repeated letters and document…
Active employees taking age-59½ pension distributions may receive Section 401(h) medical benefits
An employer proposed letting pension-plan participants begin non-lump-sum retirement benefits after age 59½ while they remained employed, as IRC § 401(a)(36) permits. It also wanted those…
Partnership receives 60 days to file late Qualified Opportunity Fund certification
A partnership was formed to operate as a Qualified Opportunity Fund and invest in qualified opportunity zone property. Its first accountant timely filed the partnership return but omitted Form 8996,…
Real estate partnership receives 60 days for late QOF self-certification
A partnership was organized to operate as a Qualified Opportunity Fund and develop an office building in an opportunity zone. Its investors reported their interests as QOF investments, but two…
Late-filed partnership return's QOF certification is treated as timely
A newly formed partnership intended to invest in an opportunity-zone business and operate as a Qualified Opportunity Fund. Its tax preparer planned to request an automatic filing extension, then…
Estate receives 120-day portability election extension
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the gross estate and taxable gifts…
Partnership receives 120 days to make late Section 754 election
A partnership failed to make an IRC § 754 election for the year in which one of its partners died. The election would permit basis adjustments under IRC §§ 734 and 743 for partnership property and…
LLC receives 120 days to make late corporate classification election
A domestic limited liability company intended to elect treatment as an association taxable as a corporation but failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that the company satisfied the…
Mortgage certificate exchange interests qualify as stripped bonds and preserve fixed-trust status
A mortgage-securities sponsor proposed supplemental exchange trusts that accept one class of REMIC or grantor-trust certificates and issue multiple exchange-certificate classes with different…
Inactive partnership's late QOF certification is treated as timely
A limited partnership was formed to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund and received partners' eligible gains, but it had no other activity, income, deductions, or credits during its first year. Its…
Foreign entity receives 120 days for late partnership classification election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a partnership and filed its federal returns consistently with that treatment, but it did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the…
Four foreign entities receive late disregarded-entity election relief
A domestic corporation acquired a foreign parent and later discovered that three of the parent's foreign subsidiaries had defaulted to corporate classification, although the parties and their…
S corporation receives 120 days to make late QSub election
An S corporation wholly owned a domestic corporate subsidiary and intended to treat it as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from the subsidiary's incorporation date. The parent failed to file Form…
Two corporations preserve S status after missing separate QSST elections
A trust held an interest in one S corporation and later became a shareholder of another. Although the trust was represented to qualify as a QSST, its income beneficiary failed to make the separate…
S corporation spin-off qualifies for tax-free reorganization treatment
A privately held S corporation operated two active businesses, one on land carrying potential environmental liability that could expose all corporate assets. It proposed placing the other business…
Foreign entity receives 120 days for late corporate classification election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect treatment as an association taxable as a corporation but failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that the entity acted reasonably and in good…
Foreign entity receives 120 days for late corporate classification election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect treatment as an association taxable as a corporation but failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that the entity acted reasonably and in good…
Foreign entity receives 120 days for late corporate classification election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect treatment as an association taxable as a corporation but failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that the entity acted reasonably and in good…
S corporation preserves status after partnership became an indirect shareholder
A husband and wife owned an S corporation interest through a grantor trust and a community-property LLC treated as disregarded. The trust transferred the LLC interest to another LLC taxed as a…
Foreign hedge fund's repo trading avoids U.S. business status but some lending fees require withholding
A foreign partnership hedge fund executed thousands of repo and reverse-repo transactions in government and corporate debt through an investment manager. Chief Counsel concluded that the fund was…
Repo trading avoids U.S. business status and Notice 2025-63 prevents lending-fee withholding adjustment
This Chief Counsel Advice replaces an earlier memorandum about a foreign partnership hedge fund's repo and reverse-repo transactions. Chief Counsel again concluded that the fund was not a securities…
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.