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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Territory entity receives late disregarded-status election relief
An entity organized under the laws of a U.S. territory became wholly owned by one owner and intended to be treated as a disregarded entity from that date. It did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS fou…
Single-owner entity gets late disregarded-status election relief
An entity organized under the laws of a U.S. territory became wholly owned by one owner and intended to be disregarded for federal tax purposes from that date. The entity missed the deadline to file F…
Unequal distributions did not end S corporation status
An S corporation made disproportionate shareholder distributions because it used incorrect ownership percentages, then made corrective distributions after an audit found the error. It also treated sta…
Foreign entity receives late corporate-classification election relief
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect association status and be taxed as a corporation from its formation date, but it did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the entity met the re…
Estate may elect out of automatic GST exemption allocations late
A married couple split gifts to two grantor retained annuity trusts and did not want generation-skipping transfer tax exemption allocated to those transfers. Their accounting firm failed to advise the…
Restructuring steps do not disqualify subsidiary liquidations
A public company planned to separate one business, distribute a controlled corporation, and combine that corporation with an unrelated public company. Before the separation, several corporate subsidia…
S corporation stock sale receives late asset-sale election relief
A buyer acquired all stock of an S corporation for cash, and the parties intended to elect under IRC § 336(e) to treat the deal as an asset acquisition. They missed the election because they reasonabl…
Estate receives more time to elect portability
An estate below the estate-tax filing threshold missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. Because the estate was no…
Late portability election receives 120-day extension
An estate whose gross estate and lifetime taxable gifts were below the basic exclusion amount failed to timely file Form 706 to elect portability for the surviving spouse. Because the estate represent…
Estate unaware of portability filing receives extension
An estate below the basic exclusion amount, whose decedent made no taxable lifetime gifts, failed to file Form 706 because it was unaware that a return was needed to elect portability. The IRS treated…
Asset acquisitions expand an existing business for spin-off rules
A corporation that had operated one business since its formation acquired several additional assets over time. It planned a divisive reorganization under IRC §§ 355 and 368(a)(1)(D). The IRS addressed…
Late-filed estate return receives portability relief
An estate filed Form 706 after its due date in an effort to transfer the decedent's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the gross estate, including lifetime ta…
Corporation receives more time to elect IC-DISC status
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation and hired an accounting firm to complete the election. The firm prepared Form 4876-A, but an…
Spouse's estate may make late GST allocation opt-out
A married couple elected gift splitting when one spouse transferred stock to a grantor retained annuity trust with generation-skipping transfer tax potential. Neither spouse wanted GST exemption alloc…
Ineligible shareholder caused an inadvertent S termination
Shares of an S corporation were sold to an entity that was not an eligible S corporation shareholder, even though that entity's members were eligible individuals. The entity and its members later ente…
Estate with no taxable gifts gets portability extension
An estate missed the Form 706 deadline for electing portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount. The estate represented that the gross estate was below the basic exclusion amount and that th…
S corporation receives more time for QSub election
An S corporation acquired all stock of another S corporation and intended to treat the acquired company as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from the acquisition date. The subsidiary inadvertently f…
Estate below filing threshold receives portability relief
An estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. It represented that the gross estate, including taxable lifetime gifts, …
Estate may make late farmland special-use valuation election
An estate included farmland and timely filed Form 706, but its accountant did not advise the personal representative to elect special-use valuation under IRC § 2032A. After discovering the omission, t…
Public-interest law fellowship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed fellowships for graduating law students to work for nonprofit organizations providing civil legal services to people with low incomes or those deprived of civil or human …
Public-policy fellowship grant procedures approved
A private foundation proposed grants for full-time, ten-week fellowships related to national and international public policy. Several programs targeted applicants with specified military-service, educ…
Shopping-center merchants association denied charitable status
A shopping-center merchants association collected assessments from tenants to market and promote the center, represent tenant interests, and conduct public events and merchant meetings. Its articles s…
Festival society denied charitable tax exemption
A membership society organized masked parades, festivals, balls, galas, and other events tied to local pirate history and Mardi Gras traditions. Although it raised money for local children and schools…
Mobile retreat bus fails charitable operational test
An organization operated mobile retreats using a converted bus that provided transportation, sleeping accommodations, meals, sightseeing, recreation, and some Bible lessons. Its main customer paid for…
Member funeral-benefit association denied charitable status
A mutual-benefit association charged members registration and per-death fees, then made prompt funeral-expense payments when a member or registered family member died. The payments were automatic, wen…
Purchaser receives late section 338 election relief
A purchaser acquired all stock of a foreign target for cash and intended to elect under IRC § 338(g) to treat the stock purchase as an asset acquisition. The election was missed because the purchaser …
Estate unaware of portability election receives relief
An estate below the estate-tax filing threshold did not file Form 706 to elect portability for the surviving spouse. The estate discovered the missed election after the deadline and represented that i…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
An estate below the estate-tax filing threshold failed to file Form 706 and elect portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. The estate discovered the omission aft…
Foreign entity receives late partnership-classification relief
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a partnership from its formation date but did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the entity met the reasonable-cause standards for…
Surviving spouse may roll trust-held IRAs into her own IRA
A married couple's revocable trust became beneficiary of the deceased spouse's two IRAs, which the surviving spouse controlled as sole trustee. She allocated the IRAs to a survivor's subtrust in which…
Late portability election receives filing extension
An estate missed the Form 706 deadline for electing portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount. It represented that the gross estate, including taxable lifetime gifts, was below the basic e…
Late ESBT elections preserve S corporation status
Shares of an S corporation passed from two deceased shareholders' estates to two trusts. Each trustee failed to timely elect to treat the trust as an electing small business trust, which caused one te…
Foreign entity receives extension for disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity wholly owned by a U.S. citizen intended to be treated as a disregarded entity from its formation date. It failed to timely file Form 8832 to elect that classification. The IR…
Foreign entity receives conditional extension for disregarded status
A foreign eligible entity owned through foreign and domestic partnerships intended to be treated as a disregarded entity from its formation date. It failed to timely file Form 8832 to elect that class…
Late ESBT election receives inadvertent termination relief
An S corporation shareholder trust remained eligible for two years after its grantor's death but then lacked a timely electing small business trust election. That failure terminated the corporation's …
Partnership receives extension for section 754 election
A partnership intended to make an IRC § 754 election for the year a member died and the member's partnership interest passed to another person. The partnership relied on an advisor, who failed to file…
Partnership receives extension for section 754 election
A partnership intended to make an IRC § 754 election for the year a member died and the member's partnership interest passed to another person. The partnership relied on an advisor, who failed to file…
Partnership receives extension for section 754 election
A partnership intended to make an IRC § 754 election for the year a member died and the member's partnership interest passed to another person. The partnership relied on an advisor, who failed to file…
Partnership receives extension for section 754 election
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership intended to make an IRC § 754 election for the year a member died and the member's interest passed to another person. The company relied on an adviso…
Estate receives extension for portability election
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the gross estate, including taxable…
Partial annuity rider allocations create separate contracts
A life insurer proposed adding a deferred-income-annuity rider to a variable annuity contract. An owner could irrevocably transfer part of the contract's accumulation value to the rider while leaving …
Estate receives extension for portability election
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the gross estate, including taxable…
Consolidated group receives extension for extended NOL carryback
A consolidated corporate group incurred a consolidated net operating loss that it wanted to carry back for an extended period under former IRC § 172(b)(1)(H). Its common parent missed the election dea…
Estate receives extension for portability election
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the gross estate, including taxable…
Inactive business league loses tax-exempt status
An organization recognized as a tax-exempt business league had stopped conducting activities and had no planned operations or regular financial activity. A state attorney general's investigation had r…
Condominium association denied charitable status
A nonprofit homeowners association applied for recognition as a charitable organization. It managed a condominium complex and collected monthly fees from condominium owners to pay common costs. The IR…
Inactive charity fails the operational test
A charitable organization had conducted fundraising through telemarketing and advertising sales. A state attorney general investigated indications that an officer or key employee used organization fun…
Failure to provide examination records ends exemption
A charitable organization did not respond to repeated IRS letters and telephone calls requesting financial records and information about its activities. Without that information, the organization did …
Form 2848 access follows the authorized examination year
Chief Counsel advised that a representative authorized by Form 2848 for a particular tax year may receive taxpayer return information associated with the examination for that year. This can include do…
IRS grants 60 days to make a late IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC. Its law firm sent it Form 4876-A for signature but inadvertently failed to foll…
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A limited partnership failed to make a timely IRC § 754 election for the year in which one of its partners died. The election would allow basis adjustments to partnership property following distributi…
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A limited partnership failed to make a timely IRC § 754 election for the year in which one of its partners died. That election permits basis adjustments to partnership property after certain distribut…
Missing trust elections receive inadvertent S corporation termination relief
An S corporation's election terminated when a former revocable trust remained a shareholder after its two-year eligibility period ended without making an electing small business trust election. Additi…
Partnership-taxed LLC receives late section 754 election relief
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership failed to make a timely IRC § 754 election for the year in which one of its members died. The election allows basis adjustments to partnership proper…
Elective stock-and-cash REIT dividends are taxable property distributions
A publicly traded real estate investment trust planned dividends allowing each shareholder to choose stock, cash, or a combination, subject to an aggregate cash limit of at least 20 percent of each di…
Corporate group receives 60 days to file its consolidated return election
A newly formed parent corporation acquired an existing affiliated group and intended for its own group to elect consolidated federal income tax return treatment. A valid election was not filed by the …
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate filed Form 706 after the deadline and asked for more time to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate and gift tax exclusion to the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the…
Estate receives 120 days to make a missed portability election
An estate did not file Form 706 by the deadline because it was unaware that a return was needed to transfer the decedent's unused estate and gift tax exclusion to the surviving spouse. The estate repr…
Estate receives portability relief after relying on a tax professional
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 the decedent's gross es…
Mental condition supports waiver of the 60-day IRA rollover deadline
An IRA owner withdrew a redacted amount expecting to consolidate several retirement accounts, but the credit union deposited the money into her savings account instead. Because of a diagnosed conditio…
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.