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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Five healthcare-system retirement and welfare plans qualify as church plans
A tax-exempt healthcare system affiliated with a church asked whether five defined-benefit, defined-contribution, Section 403(b), welfare, and acquired retirement plans qualify as church plans. The…
Form 8996 filed with a late first-year return is treated as timely
A partnership was formed to invest in, manage, and dispose of qualified opportunity zone property and began operating as a Qualified Opportunity Fund. It did not engage an accounting firm until 14…
Corporation receives 120 days to make late S election
A corporation was eligible and intended to elect S corporation treatment from its incorporation date but failed to file Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the missed deadline and granted…
IRS approves scholarship and internship grant procedures
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve two grant programs supporting historically underserved and underrepresented students. Program 1 provides renewable scholarships for direct and indirect…
Charity lost exemption after transferring its operations and funds to a founder-owned business
A charity transferred its principal exempt operation to a for-profit limited liability company owned and operated by its founders. It received no consideration for the transfer and also sent the…
Farmers market denied exemption because it primarily benefited participating vendors
An organization applied for recognition as a charity based on operating a farmers market. It spent all of its time hosting weekly summer markets and one fall market where farmers and other small…
Shopping center property association denied business-league exemption
A commercial property owners' association sought exemption as a business league under IRC § 501(c)(6). Membership was compulsory for owners in one shopping center, voting power and dues depended on…
Housing organization lost exemption after discontinuing its exempt operations
The IRS revoked the section 501(c)(3) exemption of an organization formed to alleviate a redacted housing shortage. The organization no longer owned or operated housing facilities, had not owned…
Incorrect address for partnership audit notice did not prevent a final adjustment
Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS could issue a final partnership adjustment after failing to mail an initial audit notice to the partnership representative's last known address. The advice…
IRS could not first disclose tax-debt information solely for criminal sentencing
A U.S. Attorney's Office wanted information about a taxpayer's unpaid taxes for sentencing in a federal drug-trafficking case. Chief Counsel advised that the IRS could not disclose it. The case did…
Erroneous examination letter did not need reissuance after partnership audit notice
Chief Counsel was asked whether the IRS needed to reissue Letter 2205-D after a notice of administrative proceeding had already been issued in a centralized partnership audit. The advice said no.…
Sports-betting winnings paid to nonresident alien required 30 percent withholding
Chief Counsel addressed U.S. withholding on sports-betting winnings paid to a nonresident alien. For a U.S. taxpayer, the payment would not have triggered Form W-2G reporting or withholding under…
Authorized manager validly replaced deceased partnership representative
Chief Counsel reviewed whether a manager could use Form 8979 to revoke and replace a partnership representative even though the manager had not been a partner during the reviewed tax year. The Form…
Marked copy of Form 1040 could qualify as the taxpayers' original return
Married taxpayers responded to an IRS notice that no return was on file by sending signed pages 1 and 2 of a joint Form 1040 clearly stamped “Copy.” Chief Counsel concluded that the submission…
Corporate group received 120 days to make late GILTI high-tax exclusion election
A U.S. corporate group intended to elect the high-tax exclusion when calculating global intangible low-taxed income for its controlled foreign corporations. Its timely return consistently computed…
Estate received 120 days to correct omitted QTIP election
A decedent's revocable trust divided at death into a bypass trust and a marital trust for the surviving spouse. The marital trust required all income to be paid to the spouse at least annually,…
Fund received 60 days to file late qualified opportunity fund certifications
A limited liability company was formed to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund and invest in qualified opportunity zone property. It hired an experienced accountant who knew that intent and was…
Partnership received 120 days to make late section 754 election
A domestic limited liability company treated as a partnership sold ownership interests to a new buyer and intended to make an IRC § 754 election for that year. It inadvertently failed to attach a…
Reorganized partnership received 120 days to make late section 754 election
A limited liability company treated as a partnership reorganized under another state's law, after which two parties acquired interests in it. The partnership intended to make an IRC § 754 election…
Pension plans may use section 401(h) accounts for annuitized retirees' health benefits
An employer transferred responsibility for pension payments for a group of retirees to an insurance company through a group annuity contract. Before that transfer, the employer's pension plans used…
Donor received 120 days to elect out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A married couple made gifts to an irrevocable trust primarily benefiting their children. The trust had generation-skipping transfer potential, but the couple did not intend to allocate GST exemption…
Dividing a pre-1985 grandfathered trust into family sub-trusts keeps GST exemption and triggers no gift or estate tax
Trusts that were irrevocable before September 25, 1985 are "grandfathered" and completely exempt from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax, but that protected status can be lost if the trust…
120-day extension for an estate to make a late portability (DSUE) election
When a married person dies without using all of their federal estate-tax exclusion, the unused amount (the "deceased spousal unused exclusion," or DSUE) can be passed to the surviving spouse, but…
Extension of time for an estate to make a late alternate valuation election under section 2032
The estate tax is normally based on the value of a decedent's property at the date of death, but section 2032 lets the executor elect "alternate valuation," valuing the property six months later,…
120-day relief to elect out of automatic GST exemption allocation on gifts to a trust
The generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax applies when wealth passes to grandchildren or later generations. Each person has a GST exemption that can shelter transfers, and when someone makes an…
120-day relief for two late elections tied to a tax-exempt-owned low-income housing entity
When property is used by a tax-exempt entity, special "tax-exempt use property" rules force the owner to depreciate it slowly under the alternative depreciation system, which shrinks the deductions.…
Subsidiary was treated as consenting to parent's consolidated return
A medical-device parent formed a domestic subsidiary to acquire another business's assets. Its tax preparer mistakenly believed the subsidiary was a disregarded entity, so the parent filed a…
Domestic subsidiary was allowed to join parent's consolidated return late
A parent corporation owned a foreign subsidiary that in turn owned a domestic subsidiary. After another group acquired the parent, advisers failed to identify that the foreign subsidiary held U.S.…
Pension plan approved to use plan-specific substitute mortality tables
A pension plan sponsor requested permission to use mortality tables based on the plan's own experience instead of the standard tables used for minimum-funding calculations. The plan used a five-year…
Charity lost exemption after failing to document any exempt activity
A charitable and scientific organization did not respond to repeated IRS requests for records during an examination. The IRS tried the organization and its officers at several addresses, and…
Trust for one injured person did not serve a public charitable interest
A group formed a special needs trust to raise and manage money for one named person with a traumatic brain injury. The trust would pay that person's medical, rehabilitation, transportation, food,…
College athlete NIL collective primarily served private interests
A nonprofit planned to fund name, image, and likeness sponsorships for selected men's and women's basketball players at one college. The athletes would promote the college and charities through…
Small-business marketplace LLC failed organizational and operational tests
An LLC operated a weekend marketplace where small businesses paid for space to sell goods and services. It marketed the venue, provided entertainment to attract customers, and offered members…
Same-first-name social events did not qualify as charitable activity
An organization sought recognition as a charity for hosting events around the country for people who share the same first name. It organized themed gatherings, managed social media communities,…
Referral network served members rather than a line of business
A professional networking organization sought exemption as a business league under IRC § 501(c)(6). Its members came from different industries, met weekly to exchange referrals, and were limited to…
Public golf fundraiser produced too much nonmember income
A membership organization sought exemption as a social club under IRC § 501(c)(7). It held an annual golf fundraiser open to members and the public, solicited public donations and sponsorships, and…
Homeowners association primarily benefited private property owners
A homeowners association sought exemption as a social welfare organization under IRC § 501(c)(4). It maintained common areas and the front yards of private lots, funded those services through owner…
IRS revokes 501(c)(3) status of a charity that ran a private poker club, for gaming as its primary activity and inurement to its director
The IRS revoked the tax-exempt charity status of an organization whose main activity was running a private, members-only poker club (daily poker tournaments, casino nights) that operated seven days…
Gated common areas served homeowners rather than the public
A homeowners association sought exemption as a social welfare organization under IRC § 501(c)(4). It maintained lawns, a common driveway, and access areas for its members, funded entirely by…
Labor representation primarily benefited union members
A labor union association sought recognition as a charity under IRC § 501(c)(3). It represented members in collective bargaining, grievances, workplace safety, and employment conditions. It also…
Expatriate social club did not serve charitable or educational purposes
An organization created a community for expatriates from the same homeland and sought exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3). It used member dues for happy hours, sports competitions, tickets, trips, and…
Dominoes club primarily served members' recreation
A hobby club sought recognition as a charity under IRC § 501(c)(3). Its members would socialize and play dominoes at activities closed to the public. The club expected to use its small budget for…
Rodeo organization had substantial recreational purposes
An organization that was already exempt under IRC § 501(c)(4) applied for recognition as a charity under IRC § 501(c)(3). Its main activity was planning, fundraising for, and conducting an annual…
Fundraising credits primarily benefited participating families
A booster club sought recognition as a charity under IRC § 501(c)(3) to support youth arts and athletics. Members volunteered at concession stands and received fundraising credits based on the…
Dog training and trials were not exclusively educational
A dog club applied for recognition as an educational charity under IRC § 501(c)(3). It planned to offer paid dog-training sessions, clinics, seminars, and competitive dog trials, with the dogs as…
Motorcycle club primarily served social and recreational purposes
A motorcycle club applied for recognition as a charity under IRC § 501(c)(3). Members paid dues for a clubhouse and utilities, met for motorcycle rides, held picnics, played horseshoes, and invited…
Condominium landscaping primarily benefited unit owners
A condominium homeowners association applied for recognition as a charity under IRC § 501(c)(3). It collected monthly dues to maintain landscaping and pay expenses for common property next to a…
LLC receives relief for late corporate and S corporation elections
A limited liability company intended to be classified as a corporation and treated as an S corporation from the same effective date. It failed to file Form 2553, which could have produced a deemed…
Partnership may make late election to defer housing credit period
A partnership placed a low-income housing building in service but intended to begin its ten-year credit period in the following taxable year. It filed Form 8609 without timely making the irrevocable…
Building owner may correct housing credit period election
A building owner intended to begin a low-income housing building's ten-year credit period in the year after the building was placed in service. Its preparer instead checked “No” on line 10a of Form…
LLC receives extension for late corporate classification election
A limited liability company intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation but failed to file Form 8832 by the deadline. The IRS concluded that the company satisfied the…
Estate receives extension to elect portability
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return missed the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate and gift tax exclusion to the surviving spouse. The…
Successor receives extension for late QSub election
An S corporation intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary status for a wholly owned subsidiary but failed to file Form 8869. A later parent corporation acquired the first S corporation in…
REIT and subsidiary receive extension for late TRS election
A REIT formed a wholly owned subsidiary to hold employee-housing leases connected with a hotel acquisition and intended the subsidiary to be a taxable REIT subsidiary. Its accounting firm's…
Partnership receives extension for late section 754 election
A partnership intended to elect under IRC § 754 to adjust the basis of partnership property but omitted the election from its timely filed return. The IRS concluded that the partnership satisfied…
Intergenerational fellowship grant procedures approved
A private foundation requested advance approval under IRC § 4945(g)(3) for a one-year fellowship supporting emerging practitioners in intergenerational work. Each award combined project support with…
Merger transfer qualifies as an unusual grant
A publicly supported charity operating an equine-therapy and educational center planned to merge with its Type I supporting organization. The charity would survive and receive all of the supporting…
Three pension plans may use substitute mortality tables for five years
A sponsor of three defined benefit pension plans asked to use plan-specific substitute mortality tables when computing minimum funding obligations under IRC § 430. The request covered male and…
Foundation's arts-center set-aside approved
A private foundation requested approval to set aside funds for the startup of an inclusive arts, vocational-training, and community-engagement center. The project included research and legal…
Tax-services organization denied social-welfare exemption
A nonprofit sought exemption under IRC § 501(c)(4) for a membership-based tax-services operation that also planned taxpayer education and some free help for people facing hardship. Members paid an…
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.