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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Charity's exemption revoked because its founder's telemarketing firm captured the donations
A health-awareness charity was founded by the sole owner of a telemarketing company, and it hired that same company as its only professional fundraiser. Nearly all the money raised flowed straight…
Exemption revoked for commercial debt-management operations
The IRS revoked a consumer credit-counseling organization’s section 501(c)(3) status. The organization operated an inbound call center whose primary activity was enrolling consumers in fee-based…
Sabbatical grant procedures approved for a private foundation
A private foundation requested advance approval of procedures for a grant program supporting sabbaticals for chief executives of charitable organizations. The grants would fund the executives’…
Utility must prorate deferred taxes for projected test periods
A regulated electric utility asked how the tax normalization rules applied to projected rate adjustments, formula rates, and later true-ups. The IRS ruled that projected rate periods are future test…
Partnership unit cancellations are not treated as transfers
A limited partnership used units of a related publicly traded partnership for employee incentive awards. To maintain a one-to-one relationship between the entities’ outstanding units, the…
Fuel transportation and marketing income qualifies under section 7704
A partnership planning an initial public offering expected to become a publicly traded partnership. It earned income from transporting, storing, and marketing a redacted type of fuel, primarily…
Corporation may make a new S election before five years expire
A corporation had voluntarily revoked its S corporation election and later changed its ownership by selling shares to additional eligible S corporation shareholders. It sought permission to make a…
Group receives extra time for consolidated return election
A corporate parent intended for its affiliated group to elect to file a consolidated federal income tax return, but a valid election was not filed by the deadline. The parent sought discretionary…
Revised nuclear decommissioning funding schedule approved
The owner of a nuclear power plant requested a revised schedule of deductible contributions to its nuclear decommissioning fund after the plant’s operating license was extended. The taxpayer based…
Late disregarded-entity election receives 120-day extension
A foreign entity intended to be treated as a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that its returns were consistent with the…
Late ESBT election does not end S corporation status
Shares of an S corporation passed under a shareholder’s will to a trust that was eligible to hold S corporation stock for two years. When that period ended, the trust failed to make a timely…
Late corporate classification election receives 120-day extension
A foreign entity intended to elect classification as an association taxable as a corporation but failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith, did not…
Taxpayer receives extra time to elect alternative depreciation
An electric power generator used the general depreciation system for property placed in service during two tax years. Its accounting firm had not told it that it could elect the alternative…
Exemption denied for commercial healing services and private benefit
An organization sought section 501(c)(3) status for healing services involving people and animals, free work for animal rescues, retreats, workshops, and outreach. The IRS found that a substantial…
STEM and economics scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed renewable scholarships for financially needy, high-achieving students pursuing degrees in economics or STEM fields. An independent selection committee would rank…
Franchisee association denied business-league exemption
An association of franchise store owners sought exemption as a business league under section 501(c)(6). Its activities focused on increasing members’ sales through brand-specific advertising,…
Pet-care business denied charitable exemption
An organization succeeded a for-profit pet boarding and veterinary business and sought section 501(c)(3) status. It planned some public education, reduced-cost services for rescue animals, and…
Foreign pension plan qualifies and later contributions remain deductible
A U.S.-owned foreign partnership assumed obligations under a foreign pension plan through a series of acquisitions and restructurings. The written plan held assets in an irrevocable trust for…
Governmental plan may pick up mandatory employee contributions
A government-owned medical center established a defined contribution plan for senior management employees. The plan required participating employees to contribute a fixed percentage of compensation…
Successive pawn loans are related for Form 8300 reporting
Chief Counsel considered repeated pawn loans between the same pawnbroker and borrower using the same collateral. Each new loan replaced the unpaid principal of the prior loan, allowing the borrower…
Foreign tax credit refund claim missed the ten-year deadline
Chief Counsel analyzed a corporate refund claim based on foreign tax credits that was filed about three weeks after section 6511(d)(3)(A)’s ten-year deadline. Earlier conversations and emails told…
NOL refund claim remains timely after foreign tax election change
A corporation first claimed a foreign tax credit for one year and used a later net operating loss carryback to offset that year’s remaining tax. It then timely changed its foreign tax treatment from…
Foreign tax election change leaves NOL refund claim timely
A taxpayer originally used a foreign tax credit and carried a later net operating loss back to the same year. It later changed the foreign tax treatment to a deduction, reducing regular tax and…
State-law write-off does not require Forms 1099-C
A financial institution agreed to write off deficiency balances as part of settling a class action over legally defective presale notices. The court’s ruling and the settlement acknowledged that…
Insurer receives 90 days to make section 831(b) election
A small property and casualty insurer relied on two accounting firms to prepare and file its federal return. After changing firms, its owner discovered that neither firm had filed the return by the…
Nuclear plant receives revised decommissioning funding schedule
An investor-owned utility requested a mandatory revision of its nuclear decommissioning fund schedule after the plant’s operating license was extended. The proposed annual amounts used an…
Spouse may disclaim trust income interest without making a gift
A spouse became entitled to half of a husband’s trust income upon marriage and proposed to disclaim the entire interest within nine months. The spouse had received no distributions, and a court had…
Parent receives 120 days for two late QSub elections
An S corporation wholly owned two domestic subsidiaries and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary status for both on the date its own S election became effective. It failed to file…
ETF investments do not give variable contract holders ownership
A regulated investment company portfolio served exclusively as an investment vehicle for variable life insurance and annuity contracts. Its adviser could allocate assets among a broad range of…
Stock seller may make late election out of installment method
A taxpayer sold all stock in a closely held company for cash and a note payable the next year. The taxpayer’s longtime accounting firm knew the sale terms and upcoming tax-rate increase but did not…
Corporation receives 60 days for late IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation was formed solely to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation. Its law and accounting firms each mistakenly believed the other had filed Form…
Consolidated group receives late intercompany regulation election
A consolidated group had deferred gain from a pre-1995 distribution of foreign subsidiary stock. It failed to make the election that would apply the revised intercompany transaction regulations to…
Cancer treatment supports waiver of rollover deadline
A retirement-plan participant received a partial lump-sum distribution after recurrent cancer and aggressive treatment forced her to retire. A plan counselor did not explain the tax consequences,…
Computer-programming scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships for students taking accelerated computer-programming immersion courses. The grants would cover portions of tuition, room, and board, with recipients…
Scholarship procedures for nontraditional students approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships for traditional and nontraditional students, including participants in registered apprenticeship programs. Applicants would be evaluated on their education…
Exemption revoked after failure to provide records
The IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) status after it did not respond to requests for information about its finances and activities. Without those records, the organization did not…
Exemption revoked for private benefit and inadequate grant controls
The IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) status after finding that substantial activities served private interests rather than exempt purposes. The organization collected and transferred…
Disregarded LLC employees may join parent's 403(b) plan
A tax-exempt health system planned to convert a nonprofit hospital subsidiary into a single-member limited liability company. The LLC would not elect corporate status and therefore would be…
Governmental excess benefit arrangement qualified
A public authority adopted a separate plan to pay governmental pension benefits that could not be paid from its qualified plan because of section 415(b)'s limits. Participation was mandatory for…
Denial of bond-penalty waiver is not appealable
Chief Counsel considered whether a taxpayer could appeal a Tax Exempt Bonds decision denying a request to waive the penalty imposed by section 148(f)(7). After reviewing the relevant authorities,…
Nonresident gambler losses and session netting addressed
Chief Counsel discussed casino player-card records used by a nonresident alien gambler to calculate gains. Unless the gambler was a professional or used session netting, losses were not taken into…
Late entity-classification election granted
A foreign entity intended to elect corporate classification for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and…
Late disregarded-entity election granted
A foreign limited company with one nonresident-alien owner intended to elect disregarded-entity treatment but did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that the requirements for…
Provider payments require reporting, but not under section 6050W
A company used separate agreements with customers and service providers, set the prices charged to customers, and paid providers under its own contracts. The IRS ruled that the company was not…
Converted biomass facility qualifies as five-year property
A taxpayer converted a former coal-fired generating plant to burn biomass and restructured its ownership to satisfy federal energy rules for a qualifying small power production facility. FERC's…
Late disregarded-entity election granted
A foreign entity intended to be treated as a disregarded entity from its formation date but failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that the requirements for discretionary relief under…
Late disregarded-entity election granted
A foreign entity intended to be treated as a disregarded entity from its formation date but failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that the requirements for discretionary relief under…
Late estate-tax portability election granted
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The executor represented that the gross estate,…
Housing credit agency may correct two Forms 8609
A taxpayer gave a housing credit agency incorrect applicable fractions for two buildings in a low-income housing project. The mistake caused the agency's Forms 8609 to show incorrect housing-credit…
Missing shareholder consent treated as inadvertent
A corporation timely filed an S-corporation election, but its sole shareholder did not properly consent, making the election ineffective. The corporation and shareholder had consistently treated the…
Late foreign-earned-income election granted
A taxpayer began working for a foreign affiliate abroad but did not timely file Form 2555 or otherwise elect the section 911 foreign-earned-income exclusion. Because Treasury Regulation section…
Late entity-classification election granted
A foreign entity intended to elect corporate classification for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and…
Late entity-classification election granted
A foreign entity intended to elect corporate classification for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and…
Late entity-classification election granted
A foreign entity intended to elect corporate classification for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and…
Late entity-classification election granted
A foreign entity intended to elect corporate classification for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and…
Late entity-classification election granted
A foreign entity intended to elect corporate classification for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and…
Late entity-classification election granted
A foreign entity intended to elect corporate classification for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and…
Late entity-classification election granted
A foreign entity intended to elect corporate classification for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and…
Late entity-classification election granted
A foreign entity intended to elect corporate classification for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and…
Late entity-classification election granted
A foreign entity intended to elect corporate classification for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and…
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.