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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Corporation's tax-exempt-controlled-entity election is treated as timely
A corporation wholly owned by a section 501(c)(3) organization was a tax-exempt controlled entity for depreciation purposes. It intended to elect under IRC § 168(h)(6)(F)(ii) not to be treated as…
Affiliated corporations substantially complied with consolidated-return election rules
Two affiliated corporations intended to file a consolidated federal income tax return after a represented reverse acquisition. Their preparer used the subsidiary's name and employer identification…
Foundation's gender-equity training grants receive advance approval
A private foundation requested advance approval under IRC § 4945(g)(3) for grants supporting workshops that build organizational and communication skills for gender-equity work in an underserved…
International scholarships and migrant-venture grants receive advance approval
A private foundation requested advance approval for two grant programs serving people who migrate in search of economic opportunity. One program provides renewable scholarships to financially…
Artist residency grant procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation requested advance approval for grants supporting three-month residencies for emerging artists from a specified continent who were completing or had recently completed…
Renewable STEM scholarship procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation requested advance approval for renewable scholarships to graduating seniors from a partner high school who would pursue STEM majors at accredited four-year colleges or…
Low-income scholarships and skills grants receive advance approval
A private foundation requested advance approval for two programs. The first offers renewable scholarships to low-income high school seniors and college students attending accredited institutions,…
Homeowners association denied charitable exemption
A homeowners association applied for exemption as a charity under IRC § 501(c)(3). It maintained resident-only common property, operated a sewage collection and treatment system for a subdivision,…
Democracy-promotion organization denied business-league exemption
An organization applied for exemption as a business league under IRC § 501(c)(6). Its mission was to strengthen democracy in emerging and fragile democracies through independent media,…
Fireworks and community-events business denied charitable exemption
An organization applied for exemption as a charity under IRC § 501(c)(3). It organized community gatherings with music, vendors, entertainment, and fireworks, sold professional fireworks displays…
Missionary vacations on a catamaran denied charitable exemption
An organization used a catamaran sailboat to give pastors, missionaries, and their families free vacations after service in challenging mission fields. Guests could snorkel, swim, fish, explore…
Automobile club denied charitable exemption
An automobile club applied for exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3), describing education about a particular vehicle brand, an annual car show and swap meet, monthly planning meetings, and quarterly…
Member-controlled farmers’ market denied charitable exemption
A member-controlled farmers’ market applied for exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3). Its articles did not limit its purposes to exempt purposes, and its primary activity was operating a weekly market…
Sports officials association denied charitable exemption
A membership association for sports officials applied for exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3). It trained officials and participated in clinics and charitable events, but a significant part of its work…
Social dinner club denied charitable exemption
A membership club applied for exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3), describing its charitable purpose as promoting hospitality and community involvement. Its principal activity was a series of catered…
Room-rental operation denied reinstatement of charitable exemption
An organization sought reinstatement of its IRC § 501(c)(3) exemption after automatic revocation for failing to file required annual returns or notices. It initially described plans to rehabilitate…
Common-area maintenance association denied charitable exemption
An association applied for exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3) to maintain the common areas of a development. It charged property owners according to their square footage and used the fees for…
Member water cooperative denied charitable exemption
A utility district applied for exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3) for providing water service to landowners in a particular area. Membership followed ownership of the land, the number of shares was…
Tourism promoter denied charitable exemption
An organization applied for exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3) to promote tourism and local businesses in economically distressed areas. It planned public motorcycle, automotive, and watersports…
Employee bargaining association denied charitable exemption
An unincorporated employee association sought exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3) after its prior IRC § 501(c)(5) group exemption was automatically revoked. Its primary activities were negotiating and…
REIT receives relief for a late taxable REIT subsidiary election
A real estate investment trust and a subsidiary intended to jointly elect taxable REIT subsidiary status effective when the REIT acquired preferred interests in the subsidiary. The election was…
LLC receives relief for late S corporation and QSub elections
An LLC intended to be classified as a corporation and elect S corporation status from a specified date, but it did not timely file Form 2553 or Form 8832. On the same date, it acquired all the stock…
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A general partnership intended to make an IRC § 754 election for a specified tax year but did not include the election with its timely partnership return. The IRS concluded that the partnership…
Live-in care payments qualify for the difficulty-of-care income exclusion
A state program asked whether Medicaid payments to personal care providers who live with the people receiving care could be excluded from the providers' income. The program operates under section…
Carbon offset issuance produces qualifying REIT income
A real estate investment trust owns commercial forestland and committed part of it to a state carbon-sequestration program. The program awards tradable carbon offset credits when the owner follows…
Forest restoration receipts receive favorable REIT income treatment
A real estate investment trust that owns commercial forestland expected several kinds of receipts tied to managing and restoring its land. The IRS ruled that income from state-issued carbon offset…
Carbon credits and reforestation grants qualify as REIT income
A real estate investment trust owns commercial forestland and participates in a state carbon-sequestration program. The program awards tradable offset credits in return for long-term…
Taxpayer receives 120 days to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A taxpayer made cash gifts over two years to a trust for a sibling's children and descendants. The taxpayer intended not to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to those gifts and…
Donor receives 120 days to undo automatic GST exemption allocations
A taxpayer and spouse created a trust for the spouse's sister's children and descendants, and the taxpayer later made cash gifts to it in two years. The couple intended not to allocate…
S corporation receives 120 days to make a late QSub election
An S corporation acquired full ownership of another corporation and intended to treat it as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from a specified date. It did not timely file Form 8869 to make the…
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership failed to file an IRC § 754 election for the year in which an owner died holding an interest through a grantor trust. The partnership represented…
Parent receives 120 days to elect QSub status after a reorganization
An S corporation became the sole owner of another S corporation through a reorganization and intended the subsidiary to become a qualified subchapter S subsidiary on that date. The parent failed to…
LLC receives 120 days to elect corporate tax classification
A domestic limited liability company intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation from a specified date but failed to timely file Form 8832. The company represented that it…
IRS approves revised nuclear decommissioning fund contribution schedule
A utility that owns a qualifying interest in a nuclear power plant requested a revised schedule of deductible contributions to its nuclear decommissioning reserve fund. The request used public…
Foreign loan vehicle's participation income is not effectively connected income
An international development organization planned to create a foreign corporation that would buy participations in its loans and finance those assets by issuing rated notes and subordinated…
Late Form 1128 will be treated as timely filed
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 to request a change in its annual accounting period but missed the filing deadline for the short tax year. It submitted both the form and a request for discretionary…
Taxpayer obtains timely-filing relief for Form 1128
A taxpayer sought to change its annual accounting period but filed Form 1128 after the deadline for the required short-period return. The taxpayer submitted the form and its request for…
IRS accepts late Form 1128 for processing
A taxpayer missed the deadline for filing Form 1128 to request a change in its annual accounting period. It filed the form and requested discretionary administrative relief within 90 days after the…
Form 1128 receives discretionary late-filing relief
A taxpayer requested permission to change its annual accounting period but did not file Form 1128 by the deadline for the short tax year. It submitted the application and a request for discretionary…
Missed Form 1128 deadline receives filing relief
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 after the deadline for requesting a change in its annual accounting period. The taxpayer also sought discretionary relief within 90 days of the missed due date. The IRS…
Late accounting-period application is deemed timely
A taxpayer missed the filing deadline for Form 1128, which requested a change in its annual accounting period. The taxpayer filed the form and its request for discretionary relief within 90 days…
Taxpayer may proceed with a late-filed Form 1128
A taxpayer seeking to change its annual accounting period failed to submit Form 1128 by the deadline for the short-period return. It filed the application and requested discretionary relief within…
IRS waives Form 1128 filing deadline
A taxpayer applied to change its annual accounting period but filed Form 1128 after the applicable deadline. The application and request for discretionary relief arrived within 90 days after the…
Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule is approved
A utility with a direct ownership interest in a nuclear power plant requested a revised schedule of deductible payments to its nuclear decommissioning fund. The proposed schedule followed public…
Partnership gets 120 days to make a late section 754 election
An existing partner bought additional interests in a limited liability company taxed as a partnership. The partnership timely filed its federal return for the year but inadvertently omitted its…
Taxpayer may revoke election out of bonus depreciation
A taxpayer elected under IRC § 168(k)(7) not to claim additional first-year depreciation on its five-year property during a year involving related reorganizations. The election was made to avoid…
Housing project receives 120 days to make its minimum set-aside elections
A partnership owns a three-building low-income housing project and intended to make the 20-50 minimum set-aside election for each building. Its contemporaneous records reflected that intent, but the…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
A decedent's estate was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return but failed to timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount. The estate…
Late estate tax return may elect portability within 120 days
An estate represented that it was not required to file Form 706 but needed to file one to transfer the decedent's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The estate did not timely file the…
Pension plan receives 10-year approval for substitute mortality tables
A pension plan sponsor requested new plan-specific mortality tables after a significant change in the plan's population. The IRS approved substitute tables for male and female annuitants and…
Fraud victim receives 60 days to complete an IRA rollover
A taxpayer withdrew money from a traditional IRA and failed to redeposit it within 60 days after being drawn into a fraud scheme. Scammers posing as a technology company and a bank persuaded the…
Charity loses exemption over gaming operations and private benefit
The IRS revoked a charity's IRC § 501(c)(3) exemption after examining its fundraising, spending, governance, and use of assets. The organization raised substantially all of its revenue through…
Organization loses exemption for political campaign intervention
The IRS revoked an organization's IRC § 501(c)(3) exemption after finding repeated political campaign intervention. The organization sent mass communications to residents before local elections that…
Organization loses exemption over insider loans and private benefits
The IRS revoked an organization's IRC § 501(c)(3) exemption after finding substantial private benefit to its officers and inadequate records. The organization reported loans receivable from its…
Mineral royalties qualify as trade-or-business income for passive-loss and net-investment-income rules
A partnership that owns, operates, and manages oil, gas, and other mineral interests asked how its royalties and disposition gains should be treated under the passive-activity and…
Late trust elections receive inadvertent S corporation relief
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status and to treat four subsidiaries as qualified subchapter S subsidiaries. Multiple shareholder trusts qualified to be electing small business…
Partnership receives more time to file duplicate accounting-method form
A partnership used a cost-segregation study to request automatic accounting-method changes for depreciation and qualified improvement property. It timely filed its partnership return with the…
Foreign entity receives more time to elect partnership status
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file Form 8832 to elect partnership classification for U.S. federal tax purposes. The IRS found that the requirements for discretionary filing relief under…
Corporate separation qualifies for tax-free reorganization treatment
A publicly traded corporate parent proposed separating one business into a newly formed subsidiary and distributing all of the subsidiary's stock pro rata to the parent's shareholders. The…
Partnership receives more time to make section 754 election
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership intended to make an IRC § 754 election after transactions that it represented were sales or exchanges of partnership interests, but it…
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.