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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Late accounting-period application treated as timely
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 late when seeking to adopt a calendar tax year. The delay resulted from an oversight or misunderstanding by the taxpayer's tax professional. The IRS found that the…
Estate received 120 days to make a portability election
An estate below the estate-tax filing threshold missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect transfer of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. Because the estate…
Late low-income housing credit-period elections granted
A partnership placed multiple low-income housing buildings in service but inadvertently failed to elect that their 10-year credit periods begin in that year. The IRS found that the standards for…
Late election to capitalize employee lease costs granted
A partnership incurred employee compensation costs while entering into a long-term office lease and intended to elect to capitalize those costs. Its return preparer included the election in the…
Late IC-DISC election granted after incomplete filing
A newly formed domestic corporation intended to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation from its formation date. It mailed Form 4876-A within the 90-day period, but…
Exemption denied for market-oriented real estate activities
A nonprofit corporation proposed to spend most of its time and money buying, rehabilitating, selling, and leasing real property. It did not limit all customers to a charitable class, establish…
Scholarship procedures received advance approval
A private foundation proposed scholarships for qualifying high school seniors, including but not limited to children of employees of two companies. An independent committee would select recipients…
Multi-year educational website set-aside approved
A private foundation planned a multi-year educational website addressing global scientific and policy issues. It requested approval to set aside a redacted amount because immediate payment would not…
Musical education grant and instrument-loan procedures approved
A private foundation proposed a program supporting young classical-music students with instrument loans, paid instruction, ensemble scholarships, supplies, performance opportunities, and related…
Child-care charity lost exemption after shifting to resale operations
An organization had received section 501(c)(3) status to operate a child-care center for low-income families. It later closed the child-care facility, distributed its physical assets to other exempt…
Exemption revoked after operations ceased and records were withheld
A public charity had been recognized to support children and their families through financial, medical, educational, and in-kind assistance. During examination, the IRS repeatedly requested…
Exemption revoked because organization funds benefited its president
A religious organization conducted concert tours through its president, an ordained minister and musician. The IRS examination found that organization funds paid the president's personal expenses…
Cash-basis taxpayer claims additional foreign tax credit when paid
Chief Counsel advised how section 905(c) applies when a cash-basis individual pays additional creditable foreign income tax for an earlier year. Because the taxpayer had not timely elected under…
Taxpayer cannot repay prior interest-netting benefit to choose better periods
Chief Counsel considered whether a taxpayer could voluntarily repay a valid interest-netting benefit and then apply netting to different periods with a larger interest-rate difference. The advice…
Consistent-settlement rights do not cover partner-level penalty defenses
Chief Counsel addressed consistent-settlement rights for penalties in a TEFRA partnership matter. The advice stated that section 6224(c) does not give another partner a right to a consistent…
Outside-basis components are generally partnership items
Chief Counsel explained which parts of a partner's outside basis are partnership items under the TEFRA rules. Contributions, distributions, shares of income and loss, and shares of partnership…
Only the LLC member-manager qualified as tax matters partner
Chief Counsel analyzed who could serve as tax matters partner for a manager-managed limited liability company subject to TEFRA. The LLC agreement and state law vested management authority in one…
Levy proceeds could not be returned after nine-month request period
Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS could return money collected by levy. The taxpayer did not request return of the funds within nine months after the levy. Based on that delay and the facts…
Parent received more time to file section 338 elections
A corporate parent requested extra time to file section 338(g) elections after a purchaser acquired a foreign target and the target's many foreign subsidiaries. The elections were not filed by their…
S corporation received more time to file duplicate Form 3115
An accrual-method S corporation timely filed its return and attached the original Form 3115 for a depreciation accounting-method change. It failed to send the required signed duplicate to the IRS…
Taxpayer received more time for success-based fee safe harbor
A corporation incurred success-based fees in merger transactions completed through bankruptcy plans. Its short-period return treated 70 percent of the fees as deductible and capitalized 30 percent…
Foreign entity received more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its owner for U.S. federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The entity represented that it acted…
Foreign entity received 120 days to elect disregarded status
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect treatment as a disregarded entity for U.S. federal tax purposes but did not timely file Form 8832. It represented that the late request did not involve…
Foreign entity received more time to elect corporate status
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect treatment as an association taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes but inadvertently missed the Form 8832 deadline. It represented that it…
Utility must account for NOLs when reducing rate base for deferred taxes
A regulated natural gas utility used accelerated tax depreciation while carrying net operating losses. For ratemaking, its accumulated deferred income tax account normally reduces rate base because…
Financial institution error excused late inherited IRA rollover
A surviving spouse asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling over an IRA distribution received after her husband's death. She had requested a trustee-to-trustee transfer, but the…
Serious illness excused late rollovers from two IRAs
An individual withdrew amounts from two IRAs while suffering from a serious medical condition that impaired her ability to manage her finances. Her condition continued through the 60-day rollover…
Mental impairment excused late rollover of bullion coins
An IRA owner and her spouse both experienced serious mental conditions that impaired their financial decision-making. Acting under a power of attorney, the spouse withdrew bullion coins from the…
Using 401(k) funds to avoid foreclosure did not excuse late rollovers
An individual took distributions from two 401(k) accounts while she and her spouse faced medical and financial difficulties. She used the money to pay a second mortgage and avoid foreclosure, then…
Exemption revoked for inurement and cessation of operations
A religious organization received donations to publish daily devotionals and produce a television program. The IRS examination found that organization funds paid its president's personal shopping,…
Culinary training grant procedures received advance approval
A private foundation proposed grants that would let experienced young culinary professionals train at selected restaurants under mentors. Applicants would be evaluated using work experience, essays,…
Employer-related scholarship procedures received approval
A private foundation proposed scholarships for children and grandchildren of a company's employees to attend colleges, trade schools, vocational programs, or certificate programs. An independent…
Research and language-study grant procedures approved
A private foundation proposed two programs supporting study in a foreign country. One was a one-year fellowship for U.S. doctoral students conducting dissertation research, selected for academic…
Independently administered employee-child scholarships approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships for dependent children of longer-serving full-time employees of a company. A separate public charity would administer the program, receive applications…
Community-leadership scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed need-based scholarships for students attending colleges, universities, or trade programs in one state. Selection emphasized community involvement and financial need…
Historic-house restoration set-aside received approval
A private foundation sought to set aside a matching grant for a public charity restoring a historic house listed as a National Historic Landmark. The recipient had to raise the remaining project…
Historic-building restoration set-aside approved
A private foundation proposed setting aside funds for a matching grant to a public charity restoring a culturally and historically significant building. The grant would fund part of the roof and…
Open-source media software group denied exemption
A nonprofit developed and distributed free, open-source tools for transcribing, indexing, editing, and remixing online audio and video. Its software could be used for any purpose, including…
Pension minimum-funding waiver approved with conditions
A privately owned battery and standby-power manufacturer sought a waiver of its pension plan's required minimum contribution for the 2014 plan year. The company reported a temporary substantial…
Court clerks generally need not issue Forms 1099 for specified disbursements
Chief Counsel considered three information-reporting questions involving county clerks of court. A clerk that forwards garnished funds to a creditor's attorney is not the payor under sections 6041…
Ten-year captive excess-loss policies were not insurance
Related healthcare businesses bought ten-year excess-loss policies from a captive insurer owned by the same individual. The policies were priced before the parties set the attachment points, those…
S corporation termination from late ESBT elections was inadvertent
An S corporation transferred shares to eleven trusts for grandchildren, but the trustees did not timely elect to treat the trusts as electing small business trusts. That failure terminated the…
Foreign entity received late disregarded-entity election relief
A foreign single-owner entity intended to be classified as disregarded for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it was eligible to make the…
Foreign entity received late disregarded-entity election relief
A foreign single-owner entity intended to be classified as disregarded for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it was eligible to make the…
Foreign entity received late disregarded-entity election relief
A foreign single-owner entity intended to be classified as disregarded for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it was eligible to make the…
TRS investment did not amount to operating a lodging facility
A real estate investment trust's taxable REIT subsidiary proposed buying a nonmanaging interest in an LLC that leased a building from the REIT's operating partnership and planned to convert it into…
Late REIT election received a 90-day extension
An LLC intended to elect real estate investment trust status on its first eligible Form 1120-REIT. Its advisor prepared both the return and an extension request, but the Form 7004 did not reach the…
Affiliated group received late consolidated-return election relief
A parent corporation acquired all the stock of a subsidiary and intended to file a consolidated federal income tax return for the acquisition year. The affiliated group did not timely make the…
Late IC-DISC election received a 60-day extension
A newly formed domestic corporation intended to elect interest charge DISC status from its inception and relied on outside counsel to prepare and file Form 4876-A. Counsel sent the form and received…
Refined-coal processes and emissions testing qualified for section 45 credit rules
A taxpayer leased and operated a facility that applied separate chemical-additive processes to coal used in cyclone and pulverized boilers, with the goal of reducing nitrogen oxide and mercury…
Refined-coal process, facility relocation, and retesting methods approved
A taxpayer leased a relocated facility that applied two chemical additives to coal to reduce nitrogen oxide and mercury emissions at a coal-fired power plant. The IRS ruled that the product could be…
Bank errors justified a 60-day rollover waiver
A retirement-plan participant instructed her bank advisor to complete a direct rollover into an IRA. The advisor instead deposited the distribution into a non-IRA account and then moved part of it…
Financial-institution confusion justified an IRA rollover waiver
An IRA owner invested through annuity contracts that remained inside his IRA, but transfers among brokers and later financial-institution acquisitions changed the account naming and stopped the…
Care for terminally ill mother justified rollover waiver
A retirement-plan participant intended to roll a distribution into an IRA, but she spent the remainder of the 60-day rollover period caring for her terminally ill hospitalized mother. She kept vigil…
Confusion did not justify an IRA rollover waiver
An IRA owner withdrew Amount 1 and deposited it in her savings account, then used Amount 2 from savings to pay off her mortgage. More than a year later, her son discovered the IRA withdrawal and…
Adviser deposit error justified an IRA rollover waiver
After her husband, who had managed the couple's finances, died, an IRA owner met with an investment adviser to consolidate her retirement and taxable accounts. She deposited an IRA distribution into…
VEBA may fund health benefits for active employees
A voluntary employees' beneficiary association held trust assets for retirees' health benefits. It proposed amending its trust agreement to add active employees as eligible participants and to…
Pension elections impermissible, but mandatory pickups qualify
A state governmental defined-benefit plan asked about legislation offering Tier 1 members a one-time choice between different employee-contribution rates and benefit multipliers. The IRS concluded…
Reasonable reliance justified waiver of section 4980F tax
A manufacturer amended two money-purchase pension plans to reduce future employer contributions. Before the amendments took effect, it relied on its plan administrator to draft section 204(h)…
Leased transport equipment fails chemical-security credit tests
A manufacturer and lessor of transport equipment claimed the section 45O agricultural-chemical security credit for repair-shop and manufacturing costs. The IRS declined to decide whether the…
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.