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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Cash used in acquisition does not defeat active-business rule
A public corporation acquired an unrelated target in a reorganization using its own stock and cash. The target owned a subsidiary that planned to separate three businesses into newly formed…
Church university retirement plans qualify as church plans
A tax-exempt university affiliated with a church requested church-plan status for two retirement plans maintained for its employees. A religious organization was the university's sole member,…
Tribal organization may receive deductible charitable contributions
Federally recognized Indian tribes in one region formed and funded an organization to carry out a shared project. The project promoted economic development, preserved cultural and subsistence…
Government insurance trust's income is excluded under Section 115
An association of state political subdivisions operated a trust that provided self-insured property, liability, and workers' compensation pools, along with group medical, dental, and disability…
Local-government association's income is excluded and Form 990 waived
An association of state special districts helped its governmental members share information, manage risks and insurance, obtain financial and administrative assistance, and reduce operating costs.…
Sixty-day IRA rollover waiver denied for unsupported bank error
An IRA owner withdrew an amount from an IRA and did not return it to an IRA within 60 days. He said he mistakenly believed the withdrawal was required, was not advised by the bank about the tax…
Foundation's grants to artists and teachers approved
A private foundation requested advance approval for a grant program serving artists and teachers in a metropolitan area. Applicants would be evaluated on financial need, prior achievement,…
Foundation scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation requested advance approval for scholarships supporting needy undergraduate and graduate students in a metropolitan area. Its board would select recipients based on financial…
Graduate educational travel grants approved
A private foundation proposed expanding an existing graduate fellowship program to fund educational travel in the United States and abroad. Applicants would submit travel plans and educational…
Artist development grant program approved
A private foundation proposed a program providing artists with grants and industry resources for research, retreats, drafting, workshops, short works, and other professional development. Candidates…
Fee-based consulting organization denied charitable exemption
An organization sought exemption as a charity under IRC § 501(c)(3). It substantially provided consulting and administrative services for fees at or above cost. The IRS found that the organization…
Business-connection website denied charitable exemption
An organization sought charitable and educational exemption for a planned website connecting individuals and businesses. Its articles broadly stated that it would help people by enabling personal…
IRS may consider an informal abatement request after the assessment period expires
Chief Counsel advised that the IRS may consider new information submitted as an informal request to abate an income, estate, or gift tax assessment even though IRC § 6404(b) does not give taxpayers…
Indirect partner may receive partnership audit information
Chief Counsel advised that an indirect partner may receive a Form 886A from a partnership-level audit, provided disclosure would not seriously impair federal tax administration. Under IRC § 6224(a),…
IRS may rely on partnership return in applying TEFRA procedures
Chief Counsel advised that TEFRA partnership procedures applied when a partnership's Form 1065 listed a flow-through entity as a partner. IRC § 6231(g) allows the IRS to rely on the partnership…
IRS office may use an unredacted private letter ruling
Chief Counsel advised that the relevant IRS office should have an unredacted copy of a private letter ruling available for use in addressing a question about self-created goodwill. If that office…
IRS employees may receive unredacted ruling for tax administration
Chief Counsel advised that IRC § 6103(h)(1) permitted disclosure of an unredacted private letter ruling to a Treasury attorney and revenue agent who needed it for tax administration. The requester…
Levy does not reach contract payments that are not yet due
Chief Counsel confirmed the position stated in CCA 199930003 and agreed that the government should concede the issue in the pending case. The levy did not reach payments that a third party might…
Employment tax employer regulations identified for review
Following an employment tax discussion, Chief Counsel provided temporary regulations under IRC § 3501 and Announcement 85-113. It also identified portions of the regulations defining an employer…
Credit election moved after assessment period was not covered by revenue ruling
Chief Counsel advised that Rev. Rul. 85-67 did not apply when a credit election was not transferred to the following tax year, which had an unassessed liability, until after the assessment statute…
Amount realized defines stock value under the unified loss rule
A consolidated group sold loss-share subsidiary stock for an amount far below a valuation estimate and claimed the resulting stock loss. Chief Counsel concluded that the unified loss rule required…
Extension granted to elect consolidated return filing
An affiliated corporate group intended to elect consolidated federal income tax return filing but did not make the election on time. The IRS found that the common parent had reasonably relied on a…
Estate receives extension to elect portability
An estate below the estate tax filing threshold missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount. Because the election deadline for an…
Foreign parent's non-LIFO reporting satisfies conformity requirement
A domestic subsidiary used LIFO for most inventory while its foreign parent considered adopting IFRS, which would report the subsidiary's results on a non-LIFO basis. The foreign parent and its…
Foreign entity receives extension for disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity did not timely file Form 8832 to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner. The IRS found that the requirements for discretionary election relief were met and…
Extension granted for depreciation elections after adviser error
A corporation relied on an outside return preparer who failed to analyze an ownership change and its limits on net operating losses. The corporation consequently missed elections to forgo bonus…
Extension granted to elect expiration of subsidiary loss carryovers
A consolidated group acquired a subsidiary with loss carryovers that were limited under IRC § 382. The parent intended to elect that the unusable portion expire immediately before the subsidiary…
Foreign subsidiary receives late disregarded-entity election relief
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its sole owner and consistently reported that way, but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The entity represented…
Governmental employee-benefit trust income excluded from tax
Political subdivisions created a trust to fund health and welfare benefits for current and former employees and their families. The IRS ruled that providing those benefits was an essential…
REIT receives extension for taxable subsidiary elections
A company preparing to elect REIT status placed nonqualifying operations in two corporate subsidiaries. Its law and accounting firms each believed the other would file the required taxable REIT…
Lessor receives extension to pass energy credit to tenant
A partnership owned energy property and agreed to pass the related energy credit to a tenant, but it did not timely file the required election and instead reported and allocated the credit on its…
Lessor receives extension to transfer energy credit to tenant
A partnership owned energy property and agreed to pass the related energy credit to a tenant, but it did not timely file the required election and instead reported and allocated the credit on its…
Corporation may reelect S status before five-year waiting period ends
An S corporation's election terminated when two shareholders sold their shares to an ineligible foreign corporation without the corporation or remaining shareholder having a right to stop the sale.…
Revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule approved
A regulated public utility requested a revised schedule of deductible contributions to its nuclear decommissioning fund after shutting down a plant and beginning decommissioning. The proposed…
Revised decommissioning schedule approved after rate reduction
A public utility requested a revised schedule of contributions to its nuclear decommissioning fund after its regulator reduced the decommissioning costs included in rates. The reduction meant that…
Nuclear fund schedule revised after regulated costs declined
A public utility requested a revised schedule of contributions to its nuclear decommissioning fund after its regulator reduced the decommissioning costs included in rates. The reduction meant that…
Extension granted to file accounting method change forms
A partnership intended to make a late general asset account election through an automatic accounting method change. Its outside tax firm failed to file the partnership's extension request, making…
Elective cash-and-stock REIT distributions treated as property distributions
A corporation planning to elect REIT status proposed distributing its accumulated corporate earnings and profits through shareholder elections between cash and stock, subject to a minimum cash pool…
Extension granted to amortize research expenditures
An affiliated corporate group intended to elect ten-year ratable deductions for research and experimental expenditures but did not make the election with its timely consolidated return. The group…
Pension funding excise tax conditionally waived
A company's financial condition had deteriorated, it could no longer contribute to its pension plan, and it was pursuing a distress termination through the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. The…
Late QSST election receives inadvertent S termination relief
After the owner of a grantor trust died, the trust continued holding S corporation shares for a beneficiary but did not timely elect qualified subchapter S trust status. That failure terminated the…
Extension granted to document decedent's mental incompetency
An estate timely filed Form 706 but did not include the physician certification or other evidence needed to show that the decedent had been continuously unable to change a trust after October 22,…
Committee-directed community property trust receives tax rulings
A married couple proposed transferring community property to an irrevocable trust whose distributions would be controlled by a power-of-appointment committee while it existed. The IRS ruled that…
Committee-directed trust receives income, gift, estate, and basis rulings
A married couple proposed transferring community property to an irrevocable trust whose distributions would be controlled by a power-of-appointment committee while it existed. The IRS ruled that the…
Retained powers preserve incomplete-gift trust treatment
A married couple proposed transferring community property to an irrevocable trust whose distributions would be controlled by a power-of-appointment committee while it existed. The IRS ruled that the…
Community-property trust obtains incomplete-gift treatment
A married couple proposed transferring community property to an irrevocable trust whose distributions would be controlled by a power-of-appointment committee while it existed. The IRS ruled that the…
Trust powers avoid completed gifts and committee estate inclusion
A married couple proposed transferring community property to an irrevocable trust whose distributions would be controlled by a power-of-appointment committee while it existed. The IRS ruled that the…
Committee-controlled trust qualifies for requested tax treatment
A married couple proposed transferring community property to an irrevocable trust whose distributions would be controlled by a power-of-appointment committee while it existed. The IRS ruled that the…
Retained appointment powers keep trust transfers incomplete
A married couple proposed transferring community property to an irrevocable trust whose distributions would be controlled by a power-of-appointment committee while it existed. The IRS ruled that the…
Committee trust receives favorable gift and estate rulings
A married couple proposed transferring community property to an irrevocable trust whose distributions would be controlled by a power-of-appointment committee while it existed. The IRS ruled that the…
S corporation receives more time to elect QSub status
An S corporation acquired all the stock of another S corporation but did not timely elect to treat the subsidiary as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary. The parent and its shareholders said they…
S corporation receives more time for four QSub elections
An S corporation owned four subsidiaries but failed to timely elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary status for them. The parent and its shareholders said they did not know the elections were…
LLC receives relief for a late S corporation election
A limited liability company elected corporate tax classification and intended to elect S corporation status, but it did not properly and timely file Form 2553. The IRS found reasonable cause for the…
Corporation receives inadvertent S election termination relief
An individual transferred some S corporation stock to another S corporation, an ineligible shareholder, which terminated the target corporation's S election. The parties did not know the transfer…
IRS denies waiver for missed plan-loan rollover deadline
A former employee's retirement-plan loan went into default after automatic bank transfers stopped, causing the unpaid balance to be treated as a distribution. She sought a waiver of the 60-day…
Mental incapacity supports late retirement rollover relief
A 75-year-old retiree received distributions from two qualified plans that were deposited in a nonretirement savings account. She missed the 60-day rollover deadline while experiencing physical and…
Dental scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation requested advance approval for scholarships supporting students in dental assistant training and other dental professions. Applicants would be evaluated using financial need,…
Reconsideration does not extend refund-suit deadline
Chief Counsel advised that the law governing the deadline for a refund suit had not changed. Once the two-year period under IRC § 6532(a)(1) expires, the IRS cannot allow the refund unless the…
Monday bankruptcy filing suspends Tax Court petition period
Chief Counsel considered how the Tax Court petition deadline interacts with a bankruptcy filing. When the 90th day falls on a weekend and the following Monday is not a District of Columbia holiday,…
Lease termination term defeats rent allocation schedule
Chief Counsel considered whether a rental agreement made a specific allocation of fixed rent under IRC § 467. The lease stated that any termination would reduce the section 467 loan balance to zero…
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.