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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Reported gift did not receive an unlimited assessment period
A taxpayer reported a current-year taxable gift but omitted prior taxable gifts that were needed to calculate the correct rate. The omission caused the reported gift's tax to be understated. Chief…
Real estate restructuring qualified as a partnership division and merger
A real estate investment partnership proposed separating selected assets before a potential public offering by a real estate investment trust. The plan used newly formed limited liability companies,…
Real estate restructuring qualified as a partnership division and merger
A real estate investment partnership proposed separating selected assets before a potential public offering by a real estate investment trust. The plan used newly formed limited liability companies,…
Real estate restructuring qualified as a partnership division and merger
A real estate investment partnership proposed separating selected assets before a potential public offering by a real estate investment trust. The plan used newly formed limited liability companies,…
Real estate restructuring qualified as a partnership division and merger
A real estate investment partnership proposed separating selected assets before a potential public offering by a real estate investment trust. The plan used newly formed limited liability companies,…
State deferred compensation plan qualified under section 457(b)
A state authority requested rulings for a deferred compensation plan and related trust adopted by state and local government employers. The plan included advance deferral elections, annual and…
Governmental excess benefit arrangements qualified under section 415(m)
A city employer asked whether excess benefit plans for its governmental retirement systems qualified under section 415(m). The plans would pay only the retirement benefits that could not be paid…
Foreign entity allowed an early classification change
A foreign eligible entity asked for consent to change its federal tax classification from a corporation to a partnership less than 60 months after its prior election. The entity represented that…
Foreign entity allowed an early classification change
A foreign eligible entity asked for consent to change its federal tax classification from a corporation to a partnership less than 60 months after its prior election. The entity represented that…
Foreign entity allowed an early change to disregarded status
A foreign eligible entity asked for consent to change its federal tax classification from a corporation to a disregarded entity less than 60 months after its prior election. The entity represented…
Late entity classification election granted 9100 relief
A limited liability company asked for additional time to elect disregarded-entity status after its sole owner acquired it. The company and its owner had filed their relevant returns consistently…
Union settlement payments treated as wages with limited payroll tax exceptions
A union asked how to tax and report settlement payments to city employees for wage increases the city had not paid under a collective bargaining agreement. The IRS treated the distributions as back…
Partnership interest acquisition treated as an expansion of an active business
A corporate group requested a ruling on one active-business issue affecting a proposed section 355 distribution. The distributing corporation had held a significant interest in one partnership…
Estate received more time to elect portability
A surviving spouse, acting as executor, asked for more time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate had missed the Form 706 deadline but represented…
Late duplicate Form 3115 filing received an extension
A taxpayer timely filed its original income tax return with Form 3115 for an automatic accounting method change, but did not send the required duplicate Form 3115 to the designated IRS office. The…
Bankruptcy liquidating trust allowed a three-year extension
A trust created under a Chapter 11 liquidation plan needed more time to finish recovering, liquidating, and distributing its assets. Its governing agreement required a favorable IRS ruling before…
Late Form 1128 treated as timely filed
A corporation filed Form 1128 late when seeking to change its annual accounting period from a June 30 year-end to a March 31 year-end. It missed the due date tied to the short-period return but…
Duty-related disability benefits excluded as workers' compensation
A former city police officer asked whether disability benefits awarded after an on-duty injury were excluded from gross income. The governing state statute paid benefits for total disability caused…
S corporation termination treated as inadvertent
An S corporation converted into a limited partnership and admitted a limited liability company as a shareholder. That shareholder was ineligible under the S corporation rules, and the conversion…
Foreign entity allowed an early change to disregarded status
A foreign eligible entity asked for consent to change its federal tax classification from a corporation to a disregarded entity less than 60 months after its prior election. The entity represented…
Medical condition justified a late IRA rollover
An IRA owner requested a waiver after missing the 60-day deadline to roll a distribution back into an IRA. The taxpayer had been hospitalized, was undergoing extensive therapy, and had medical…
Financial adviser error justified a late IRA rollover
An IRA owner requested a waiver after a financial adviser failed to complete a rollover within 60 days. Acting on the adviser's instructions, the taxpayer surrendered an individual retirement…
Law student scholarship procedures received advance approval
A private foundation requested advance approval for a scholarship program serving second-year students at three qualifying law schools. Applicants would be evaluated by a committee using academic…
Member-only facilities did not promote community social welfare
The IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(4) exemption for two tax years because its activities primarily served members rather than the public. The organization owned recreational…
Death-benefit association denied social club exemption
An association of people from the same foreign city sought exemption as a social club under section 501(c)(7). Members paid dues and additional required contributions so the association could help…
Merger termination fee produced capital gain or loss after capitalized costs
Chief Counsel considered how an acquiring corporation should treat a merger termination fee when it had capitalized costs incurred while investigating and pursuing the stock acquisition. The fee…
Uncollectible insurance deductibles treated as bad debts after claim payment
Chief Counsel analyzed an insurer's treatment of unreimbursed deductible amounts under high-deductible liability policies. Because the insurer did not include the deductible layer in gross premiums…
Loss on purchased production equipment did not reduce QPAI
Chief Counsel considered a taxpayer that bought equipment, used it solely to produce qualifying production property, and later sold it for less than its adjusted basis. The equipment's depreciation…
Life reinsurance acquisition was assumption reinsurance requiring amortization
A life insurer acquired another reinsurer's business through an asset purchase and a 100 percent coinsurance retrocession agreement. The parties also agreed to obtain novation and release agreements…
Estate received more time to elect portability
A surviving spouse, acting as executor, asked for more time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate had missed the Form 706 deadline but represented…
Court-approved trust division preserved tax treatment and beneficial interests
Beneficiaries and trustees settled litigation by dividing a pre-1985 irrevocable trust into a successor trust with a corporate trustee and a second trust holding concentrated business interests. The…
Court-approved trust division preserved tax treatment and beneficial interests
Beneficiaries and trustees settled litigation by dividing a pre-1985 irrevocable trust into a successor trust with a corporate trustee and a second trust holding concentrated business interests. The…
Court-approved trust division preserved tax treatment and beneficial interests
Beneficiaries and trustees settled litigation by dividing a pre-1985 irrevocable trust into a successor trust with a corporate trustee and a second trust holding concentrated business interests. The…
Trustee replacement preserved GST status and avoided a general power
A beneficiary and individual trustees settled litigation over the administration of a pre-1985 irrevocable trust by appointing a bank as sole trustee and revising trustee succession procedures.…
State subsidiaries retained Blue Cross Blue Shield treatment under section 833
An existing Blue Cross and Blue Shield organization proposed moving a small federal government insurance business into five newly formed, wholly owned state insurance subsidiaries. The parent would…
Shareholder allowed a retroactive QEF election
A U.S. shareholder requested permission to make a qualified electing fund election retroactive to the year he acquired shares in a passive foreign investment company. The shareholder was not a tax…
Estate received more time to elect portability
A surviving spouse, acting as executor, asked for more time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate had missed the Form 706 deadline but represented…
Estate received more time to elect portability
A surviving spouse, acting as executor, asked for more time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate had missed the Form 706 deadline but represented…
Estate received more time to elect portability
A surviving spouse, acting as executor, asked for more time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate had missed the Form 706 deadline but represented…
Stock warrant caused at most an inadvertent S election termination
An S corporation issued a stock warrant that may have created a prohibited second class of stock and terminated its S election. After discovering the issue, the corporation immediately voided the…
Estate received more time to elect portability
A surviving spouse, acting as executor, asked for more time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate had missed the Form 706 deadline but represented…
Prior trust-owner ruling revoked because of the grantor's reversion
The IRS revoked the first conclusion of an earlier private letter ruling about who owned a trust for federal income tax purposes. The trust would terminate and return its property to the grantor if…
Estate received more time to elect portability
A surviving spouse's representative asked for more time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate had missed the Form 706 deadline but represented that…
Estate received more time to elect portability
A surviving spouse's representative asked for more time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate had missed the Form 706 deadline but represented that…
Estate received more time to elect portability
A surviving spouse's representative asked for more time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate had missed the Form 706 deadline but represented that…
Estate received more time to elect portability
A surviving spouse's representative asked for more time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate had missed the Form 706 deadline but represented that…
Estate received more time to elect portability
A surviving spouse's representative asked for more time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate had missed the Form 706 deadline but represented that…
Late success-based fee election statements received an extension
A corporate taxpayer paid success-based consulting fees for a taxable stock acquisition. On its original return, it used the Revenue Procedure 2011-29 safe harbor by deducting 70 percent of the fees…
Late IC-DISC election received a 60-day extension
A domestic corporation intended to elect interest charge DISC status for its first tax year. The corporation and its owner relied on an accounting firm to arrange the election, but a…
Court-ordered loan write-offs did not require Forms 1099-C
A financial institution was ordered by a court to stop collecting consumer loan deficiency balances because its notices did not comply with state law. A later class settlement required the…
Entity received extensions for corporate classification and tax-exempt control elections
A limited liability company wholly owned by a section 501(c)(3) organization missed two intended elections. It failed to file Form 8832 for corporate tax classification and also failed to elect…
Late corporate classification election received a 120-day extension
A limited liability company intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation before later converting into a state-law corporation. It failed to file Form 8832 on time and…
Estate received more time to elect portability
A surviving spouse, acting as executor, asked for more time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate had missed the Form 706 deadline but represented…
Estate received more time to elect portability
A surviving spouse, acting as personal representative, asked for more time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate had missed the Form 706 deadline but…
Estate received more time to elect portability
A surviving spouse, acting as executrix, asked for more time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate had missed the Form 706 deadline but represented…
Estate received more time to elect portability
A surviving spouse, acting as personal representative, asked for more time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate had missed the Form 706 deadline but…
Trust received more time to divide a reverse QTIP election
An estate had made a reverse QTIP election for a marital trust and allocated the decedent's remaining generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to that trust. A later transitional regulation…
Foreign entity received more time to elect partnership status
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes but did not timely file Form 8832. It requested an extension under Treasury Regulation § 301.9100-3 to…
Foreign entity received more time to elect partnership status
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes but did not timely file Form 8832. It requested an extension under Treasury Regulation § 301.9100-3 to…
Restricted foundation grant would not be self-dealing
A private foundation proposed a grant to a supporting organization to construct and operate a performing arts center. The supporting organization planned to buy the site from a company that was a…
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.