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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Adviser misunderstanding justified late IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation. A misunderstanding between its accounting and law firms over who would prepare and submit F…
Professional error justified late CNOL carryback waiver
A consolidated group intended to waive the entire carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss but failed to file a valid election with its return. The parent represented that the group had …
LLC received late corporate classification election relief
A limited liability company intended to elect corporate tax classification effective from its formation date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the company satisfie…
Estate received more time to elect portability
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse’s unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the decedent’s …
Adviser error justified late section 754 election
A partnership sought extra time to make a section 754 election after one of its partners died. The partnership had relied on its tax adviser, who inadvertently failed to include the election with the …
Website redirection justified IRA rollover waiver
An IRA owner tried to move her account to a new rollover IRA offering a better interest rate. After becoming disconnected from one financial institution’s website, she was redirected to another instit…
Financial institution error justified rollover waiver
A retirement-plan participant intended to roll an entire distribution into an IRA. He mailed the financial institution both the net distribution check and a personal check replacing the 20 percent wit…
Organization qualified under section 4945(f)
An existing section 501(c)(3) public charity asked to be recognized as an organization described in section 4945(f). Based on the information supplied and the organization’s stated future operations, …
Frozen pilot pension could suspend benefits after retirement age
An employer sponsored a frozen defined benefit pension plan for union pilots with a normal retirement age of 60. After federal law raised the pilots’ mandatory retirement age to 65, pilots could remai…
Consolidated-group CDP notices must identify subsidiaries
Chief Counsel advised that collection due process notices involving a consolidated group must name the common parent and list the known subsidiaries from which the IRS may collect. Group members are s…
Gabelli did not limit section 6707 penalty assessments
Chief Counsel advised that the Supreme Court’s Gabelli decision did not establish a limitations period for assessing pre-amendment section 6707 tax-shelter registration penalties. Gabelli interpreted …
IRS could amend deed to correct wrong plat number
An IRS deed for seized and sold real property referred to the wrong plat number. The certificate of sale and plat book showed that the IRS had sold plat 4, while the taxpayer had never owned the plat …
Non-TEFRA partners had to extend their own assessment periods
Chief Counsel advised that no extension was needed from a partnership entity when the IRS was not assessing tax against the entity itself. Because the partnership was outside TEFRA, each partner could…
Marijuana excise tax reduced amount realized on sale
Chief Counsel considered how a Washington marijuana business should account for the state’s marijuana excise tax. Because the tax was paid in connection with disposing of property, section 164 require…
Section 6701 penalty applied once per plan application
An employee-plan professional submitted false Forms 5307 and supporting documents for multiple retirement plans, causing sponsors and participants to claim tax benefits from plans that were not actual…
Directed transfers and small businesses cleared for spin-off steps
A publicly traded parent proposed a series of internal transfers and section 355 distributions to facilitate another company’s acquisition of one business line. The IRS addressed only two discrete iss…
Payments surviving recipient’s death were not alimony
A divorced taxpayer received monthly payments under a decree incorporating a property settlement agreement. The agreement stated that the spousal-maintenance obligation would not end if the recipient …
Formula-rate averaging complied, but projections required proration
An electric transmission utility used annually set formula rates based on projected service-year costs, followed by a later true-up to actual results. The IRS ruled that using a 13-month average for p…
Formula-rate averaging complied, but projections required proration
An electric transmission utility used annually set formula rates based on projected service-year costs, followed by a later true-up to actual results. The IRS ruled that using a 13-month average for p…
Formula-rate averaging complied, but projections required proration
An electric transmission utility used annually set formula rates based on projected service-year costs, followed by a later true-up to actual results. The IRS ruled that using a 13-month average for p…
Product agreements qualified for like-kind exchange treatment
A corporation proposed two simultaneous exchanges with a related company: one group of integrated manufacturing-and-distribution agreements and one group of distribution-only agreements. The replaceme…
Missing spousal consents made S election inadvertently ineffective
Three shareholders signed an S corporation election, but their spouses did not sign even though community-property rules required their consent. The corporation and its shareholders consistently filed…
Trust settlement avoided transfer taxes and recognized gain
A family settled litigation over the administration and interpretation of a trust created by a person who died before September 25, 1985. The court-approved agreement divided the trust into one trust …
Trust settlement avoided transfer taxes and recognized gain
A family settled litigation over the administration and interpretation of a trust created by a person who died before September 25, 1985. The court-approved agreement divided the trust into one trust …
Trust settlement avoided transfer taxes and recognized gain
A family settled litigation over the administration and interpretation of a trust created by a person who died before September 25, 1985. The court-approved agreement divided the trust into one trust …
Trust settlement avoided transfer taxes and recognized gain
A family settled litigation over the administration and interpretation of a trust created by a person who died before September 25, 1985. The court-approved agreement divided the trust into one trust …
Trust settlement avoided transfer taxes and recognized gain
A family settled litigation over the administration and interpretation of a trust created by a person who died before September 25, 1985. The court-approved agreement divided the trust into one trust …
Project delays justified more time to spend bond proceeds
A city authority issued new clean renewable energy bonds to finance two solar facilities and a hydroelectric plant. A labor-jurisdiction dispute, the need to change the construction arrangement, and u…
Inadvertence justified late QSub election
An S corporation formed a wholly owned domestic subsidiary and intended to treat it as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from its formation date. The parent inadvertently failed to file Form 8869 on…
Bank deposit error justified IRA rollover waiver
An IRA owner intended to roll over the proceeds of a matured certificate of deposit into a new IRA at the same bank. A bank representative mistakenly deposited the funds into a non-IRA account instead…
Late GST exemption allocations allowed for two trusts
A decedent and spouse made gifts over sixteen years to two materially identical trusts for their daughters. The trusts were not treated as GST trusts under the automatic-allocation rules, and several …
Late GST exemption allocations allowed for two trusts
A decedent and spouse made gifts over sixteen years to two materially identical trusts for their daughters. The trusts were not treated as GST trusts under the automatic-allocation rules, and several …
Foreign entity received extra time for partnership election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect partnership classification for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the requirements for discretionar…
Foreign entity received extra time for partnership election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect partnership classification for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the requirements for discretionar…
Foreign entity received extra time for partnership election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect partnership classification for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the requirements for discretionar…
Hospitalization justified a late IRA rollover
An individual withdrew three amounts from a Roth IRA and two traditional IRAs, then placed the money in a non-IRA account. A serious medical condition and hospitalization prevented completion of the r…
Pension plan funding-extension conditions were modified
A pension plan had previously received a conditional ten-year extension for amortizing unfunded liabilities. After weak economic conditions and reduced construction activity prevented the plan's funde…
Two-tier local scholarship program received advance approval
A private foundation proposed two scholarships for students from one redacted high school. One award served graduating students or recent graduates entering college or technical education, while the o…
Two scholarship programs received advance approval
A private foundation operated two nonrenewable scholarship programs for students in a redacted state. One program served high school students entering four-year colleges, while the other served commun…
Summer camp scholarship procedures received advance approval
A private foundation proposed scholarships for high school juniors and seniors who completed a short summer camp about issues and careers in aging. Applicants also had to be United States citizens or …
Scholarship grant procedures received advance approval
A nonexempt charitable trust that was also a private foundation requested advance approval of its scholarship procedures under section 4945(g). The program favored students of a redacted ancestry and …
Farmer loan program denied section 501(c)(3) exemption
A proposed nonprofit planned to use public donations and grants to make interest-free loans to farmers or purchase partial or full interests in their farms. Its program was open to any farmer with pro…
Investment-focused company lost section 501(c)(15) exemption
The organization had been recognized as a tax-exempt small nonlife insurance company under section 501(c)(15). The IRS examination found that investment and related-party transactions were its primary…
For-profit construction operation denied 501(c)(3) exemption
A for-profit stock corporation sought section 501(c)(3) status for a program that would train ex-felons through highway construction, hauling, debris removal, and related work. It planned to bid for g…
Business consulting operation denied 501(c)(3) exemption
An organization applied for section 501(c)(3) status to provide grant writing, business consulting, fiscal-agent services, training, payroll assistance, and other support. It served individuals, nonpr…
Section 752 rules did not classify debt for foreclosure income
A partnership reported cancellation-of-debt income after junior loans secured by real estate were canceled following foreclosure. Its members had guaranteed the loans, and the partnership argued that …
Partnership ownership did not permanently end S status
An S corporation shareholder transferred stock to a limited liability company taxed as a partnership, which was not an eligible S corporation shareholder. The error was discovered by new accountants, …
Partnership received extra time for section 754 election
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership failed to file a section 754 election for a year in which ownership interests were bought and sold. The partnership represented that the omission was…
Transmission agreement qualified as a management contract
A taxable rural electric cooperative planned to join a regional transmission organization and give it functional control over the cooperative's transmission facilities. The cooperative would retain ow…
Missed ESBT election did not end S corporation status
A grantor trust continued holding S corporation stock after the two-year period following one deemed owner's death. The trust qualified to be an electing small business trust, but its trustee did not …
Missed ESBT election did not end S corporation status
A grantor trust continued holding S corporation stock after the two-year period following one deemed owner's death. The trust qualified to be an electing small business trust, but its trustee did not …
Defective consents and missed ESBT election did not end S status
A corporation's S election was defective because trustees, instead of the grantors of several trusts, signed the shareholder consents. One trust also continued holding stock after the two-year period …
Retained powers kept trust transfers incomplete gifts
A grantor created an irrevocable trust that could distribute property to her and several charities. She retained veto powers over distributions and a testamentary limited power to appoint the remainde…
Retained powers kept trust transfers incomplete gifts
A grantor created an irrevocable trust that could distribute property to him and several charities. He retained veto powers over distributions and a testamentary limited power to appoint the remainder…
Trust division preserved tax treatment and asset basis
A trust for a daughter and her descendants proposed dividing its assets equally between two successor trusts, one for each family line. The daughter would remain a beneficiary of both trusts, and her …
Family crisis justified IRA rollover waiver
A 77-year-old IRA owner intended to transfer a maturing annuity into another IRA. While caring for his terminally ill wife, he received a confusing surrender form and directed the proceeds to a non-IR…
Missed plan distribution justified rollover waiver
An employee participated in a qualified retirement plan that was terminated after her employer was sold. She did not receive the termination notice or the original distribution check, and she discover…
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.