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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New foreign custodian did not change gold-trust IRA treatment
An investment trust held gold bullion and issued publicly traded shares representing fractional beneficial interests in the trust. An earlier ruling concluded that an IRA or individually directed…
Mislabeled inherited IRA received a rollover waiver
A taxpayer received an individual retirement annuity in a divorce settlement but did not know the account's nature. The financial institution labeled it a “single account,” while separately labeling…
Incomplete fax received a rollover deadline waiver
A retiring employee intended to roll an entire qualified-plan balance directly into an IRA. The employee signed a four-page withdrawal form and gave it to a financial adviser, but the adviser's…
Unauthorized IRA distribution received a rollover waiver
A taxpayer kept a credit card on file with an IRA custodian for administrative fees and relied on a financial adviser to manage the account and alert him to problems. The custodian sent fee letters…
Governmental pension contributions were excluded from current income and withholding
A county pension plan required eligible employees of several governmental employers to make contributions through salary reductions. Each employer formally resolved before the contributions began…
Denominational health benefit plan qualified as a church plan
A religious denomination's supporting organization maintained a self-funded health benefit plan for churches, associations of churches, and affiliated tax-exempt organizations. The plan sponsor's…
IRA owner received a waiver after relying on incorrect rollover advice
An IRA owner withdrew funds while refinancing a primary residence after an adviser incorrectly explained how long she had to redeposit them. She placed the money in a non-IRA account three days…
Surviving spouse was denied an IRA rollover deadline waiver
A deceased IRA owner's account paid its proceeds to a trust named as beneficiary. More than 60 days later, the trust distributed part of those proceeds to the surviving spouse, who placed them into…
IRA owner received rollover relief after a bank mishandled a cashier's check
An IRA owner closed one IRA and tried to fund a new IRA with a cashier's check. An employee of the receiving financial institution endorsed the check for deposit only, but the issuing institution…
IRA investor received rollover relief after incorrect setup advice
An IRA owner sought to invest part of his account in a private-equity partnership through a trustee-to-trustee transfer. The partnership and receiving financial institution accepted the funds and…
IRA rollover relief granted after adviser selected a nonqualified annuity
An IRA owner withdrew funds to move them into an annuity offering a better interest rate. The receiving institution's representative completed the application but marked the nonqualified-annuity box…
Limited lump-sum window for current annuitants did not violate required distribution rules
A company proposed amending two defined benefit pension plans to offer a one-time, 30-to-90-day window in which participants and beneficiaries already receiving annuities could elect a lump sum or…
S corporation distributions to employee stock plan were not annual additions
An S corporation was wholly owned by its employee stock ownership plan and held cash exceeding the board's estimate of reasonable business needs. It proposed making section 1368(a) shareholder…
Taxpayer received an IRA rollover waiver after relying on a financial advisor
A taxpayer withdrew money from an individual retirement account after a financial advisor said it would be invested in another tax-qualified retirement plan. Months later, the taxpayer discovered…
IRA rollover deadline was waived after a mistaken stock purchase
A taxpayer directed the custodian of an IRA to wire a distribution to another financial institution to buy its stock. The taxpayer’s instructions stated that the purchase was an IRA investment, and…
Limited pension annuity window did not violate RMD rules
A company proposed amending two defined benefit plans to offer current annuitants a one-time window of 60 to 90 days to change their payment form. Depending on status, eligible individuals could…
Limited lump sum window did not violate pension RMD rules
A company proposed amending five defined benefit plans to offer a one-time lump sum window lasting 60 to 90 days. The offer would cover a broad group of retirees, beneficiaries, and alternate…
Retiree lump sum window did not violate pension RMD rules
A company proposed amending a defined benefit plan to offer a one-time lump sum window lasting 30 to 60 days. The offer would cover broad groups of participants, beneficiaries, and alternate payees,…
Multiple-employer pension lump sum window met RMD rules
A sponsor proposed amending two multiple-employer defined benefit plans to offer a one-time lump sum window lasting 60 to 90 days. The offer would apply to certain retired participants, alternate…
Retirement and welfare plans qualify as church plans
A tax-exempt residential care center was governed through organizations tied to a church, shared property and facilities with the church, and provided spiritual care through the church's chaplain. A…
Medical impairment supports waiver of the IRA rollover deadline
An IRA owner withdrew the entire account balance and placed it in a non-IRA bank account. A worsening medical condition affected the taxpayer's memory, judgment, reasoning, and ability to manage…
Address oversight does not justify a late IRA rollover
An individual living overseas held real estate through a self-directed IRA but did not update the IRA custodian when the mailing address changed. After annual fees went unpaid for two consecutive…
Postal error excuses a late IRA rollover
An IRA owner received a distribution and promptly sent the check by certified mail to an adviser with instructions to deposit it into another IRA. After the 60-day rollover period ended, the…
Multiemployer pension plan does not qualify as a church plan
The IRS ruled that a pension plan maintained by a communal welfare organization and multiple affiliated or beneficiary organizations was not a church plan under IRC § 414(e) and had never qualified…
Medical impairment supports waiver of 60-day IRA rollover deadline
The IRS waived the 60-day IRA rollover deadline for a taxpayer whose bipolar disorder and resulting depression impaired his ability to manage his financial affairs during the rollover period. The…
Adviser’s RMD calculation error supports late-rollover waiver
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover deadline for the portion of a retirement-plan distribution caused by a financial adviser's required-minimum-distribution calculation error. The adviser told the…
Mental illness and hospitalization support rollover waivers
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover deadlines for distributions from two employer plans and an IRA after the taxpayer suffered severe psychological disorders, impaired judgment, delusions, and…
Adviser’s transfer error supports inherited SEP-IRA rollover waiver
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover deadline for an elderly widow who inherited her husband's SEP-IRA and relied on his financial adviser to complete a rollover. She instructed the adviser to…
Rollover waiver denied for taxpayer's paperwork error
A taxpayer intended to roll an entire retirement-plan distribution into an IRA but completed paperwork requesting payment directly to the taxpayer. The plan therefore withheld part of the…
Multiemployer plan funding waivers denied after largest employer withdraws
A multiemployer pension plan sought minimum-funding waivers for three plan years, citing substantial business hardship among several contributing employers. After a conference, the IRS considered…
IRA rollover waiver granted after custodian rejects personal check
A taxpayer withdrew funds from an IRA after being unable to obtain the signature guarantee required for a direct transfer. Nine days before the 60-day deadline, the taxpayer mailed a personal check…
Inherited 403(b) rollover waiver granted after adviser mistake
A surviving spouse inherited a § 403(b) annuity contract and later followed a financial adviser's instructions to surrender it and deposit the proceeds into a non-IRA brokerage account. The adviser…
Rollover waiver granted for mental health impairment
A taxpayer received a lump-sum retirement-plan distribution and deposited it into a non-IRA bank account while deciding where to establish a rollover IRA. Longstanding mental health disorders…
IRA rollover waiver denied for transfer to an ineligible custodian
An IRA owner withdrew funds to invest in a private limited partnership that was not qualified to serve as an IRA custodian. The owner said a financial institution and the partnership's administrator…
IRA rollover waiver denied despite third-party assurances
An IRA owner transferred a distribution to a private partnership after receiving assurances that the partnership could manage IRA accounts. The partnership was not a qualified IRA custodian, and the…
IRA rollover waiver denied for self-managed partnership transfer
An IRA owner transferred a distribution to a private partnership that was not qualified to act as an IRA custodian. The owner was the managing member of the entity serving as the partnership's…
Rollover waiver denied after deposit into mislabeled account
A retirement-plan participant intended to roll a distribution into an existing IRA but gave the financial institution the number of a non-IRA account. The participant's spouse had mislabeled that…
Incapacitated IRA owner received a 60-day rollover waiver
An IRA owner's son, acting under a power of attorney, withdrew funds and placed them in a nonretirement trust because he believed another family member might appropriate the assets. The owner had…
Bank error qualified a late pension-to-IRA rollover for a waiver
A participant elected a direct rollover of a lump-sum pension distribution to another plan. The trustee issued a check payable to itself for the participant's benefit but mailed the check to the…
Mandatory public-plan contributions were picked up and plan transfers were not taxable
A state retirement system added mandatory employee contributions equal to 3 percent of compensation to its defined benefit and defined contribution plans. Participating employers deducted the…
Taxpayer receives IRA rollover waiver after adviser error
A taxpayer received an IRA distribution and intended to return it before the 60-day rollover deadline. A financial adviser provided a written deadline that was one day late, and the taxpayer relied…
Incorrect account information supports IRA rollover waiver
A taxpayer wanted to move assets from an IRA at one financial institution to another institution. The account statement did not identify the account as an IRA, and the original institution twice…
Postal delay qualifies for IRA rollover waiver
A taxpayer received distributions from two IRAs while changing custodians and later received trailing dividends from both accounts. Four days before the first 60-day deadline, the taxpayer mailed…
Health plan qualifies as a church plan
Two tax-exempt nonprofit corporations jointly operated a continuing care retirement community under the control and sponsorship of a church conference. They established a health plan for their…
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline
An individual received a distribution from an IRA but did not complete the rollover within 60 days because of an abusive spouse's actions. The funds remained unused in a non-IRA account, and the…
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after a bank error
An individual intended to move money from a savings account to a checking account to buy a vehicle, but a bank representative instead processed an IRA distribution. The taxpayer had limited…
IRS declines to waive the 60-day IRA rollover requirement
The IRS declined to waive the 60-day rollover requirement for a taxpayer who received a distribution from an individual retirement annuity and did not complete a timely rollover. The taxpayer and…
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover requirement after a wiring error
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover requirement for a taxpayer who attempted to return an IRA distribution within the required period. The taxpayer initiated a wire transfer based on a belief about…
IRS declines to waive the 60-day IRA rollover requirement
An individual asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling a distribution from an IRA into another IRA. The individual said the financial institution distributed the amount after notifying…
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover requirement after a financial institution error
An individual asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling an IRA distribution into another qualified retirement account. The individual intended to keep the money in a tax-qualified…
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover requirement because of a medical condition
An individual asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling an IRA distribution into a self-directed IRA or a 401(k) plan. The individual said a chronic medical condition, a new diagnosis,…
IRS approves a spousal rollover after a financial institution mistake
An executor and surviving spouse asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for an IRA distribution made to a decedent. The decedent instructed a financial institution to put the funds into an IRA,…
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover requirement for a taxpayer who received a distribution from an individual retirement account. The taxpayer represented that an ongoing medical condition, worsened…
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after a mental condition caused a missed rollover
The IRS considered a taxpayer who received a distribution from an IRA and did not complete a rollover within 60 days. The taxpayer said that a mental condition and related memory and retention…
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after an advisor's mistake
The IRS considered a taxpayer who received an IRA distribution and did not complete a partial rollover within 60 days. The taxpayer’s advisor mistakenly believed that the IRA annuity was a non-IRA…
IRS waives the 60-day rollover deadline after an employer failed to provide rollover information
The IRS considered a retired participant who received distributions from her former employer’s qualified plan after the plan failed to provide the written rollover explanation required by IRC §…
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover requirement after a financial institution error
The IRS waived the 60-day deadline for a taxpayer to roll a distribution from an IRA into a rollover IRA. The taxpayer said the financial institution incorrectly told her that the funds were not…
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover requirement after an investment processing error
The IRS waived the 60-day deadline for a taxpayer who intended to move IRA funds into a new rollover IRA that would invest in a limited partnership. The taxpayer completed the subscription materials…
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover requirement after a medical emergency
The IRS waived the 60-day deadline for a taxpayer who received an IRA distribution while recovering from serious injuries. The taxpayer broke both ankles, underwent surgery, developed a blood clot,…
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover requirement after an investment processing error
The IRS waived the 60-day deadline for a taxpayer who intended to move IRA funds into a new rollover IRA that would invest in a limited partnership. The taxpayer completed the subscription materials…
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.