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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Non-pro-rata trust partitions preserved GST exemption without gifts or gain
Three trusts created under a decedent's will before September 25, 1985 proposed non-pro-rata partitions after appointing successor trustees. Each original trust would retain its limited liability…
Non-pro-rata trust partitions preserved GST exemption without gifts or gain
Three trusts created under a decedent's will before September 25, 1985 proposed non-pro-rata partitions after appointing successor trustees. Each original trust would retain its limited liability…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
A decedent died after portability became available but the estate did not file Form 706 by the normal deadline to transfer the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The…
Non-pro-rata trust partitions preserved GST exemption without gifts or gain
Three trusts created under a decedent's will before September 25, 1985 proposed non-pro-rata partitions after appointing successor trustees. Each original trust would retain its limited liability…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
A decedent's estate did not file Form 706 by the normal deadline to transfer the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The executor represented that the gross estate was…
Estate received 120 days to elect special-use valuation for ranch land
A decedent's estate included ranch land held in a revocable trust. The trustee timely filed Form 706, but the accountant did not advise that the estate could elect special-use valuation under §…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
A decedent's estate did not file Form 706 by the normal deadline to transfer the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse, who served as executrix. The executrix represented…
Court-approved trust severance preserved GST exemption without gifts, estate inclusion, or gain
A pre-1985 irrevocable trust became the subject of fiduciary and beneficiary litigation over investments, management, and family-owned farmland corporations. A court-approved settlement proposed…
Grandchild trust modifications avoid estate, gift, and GST consequences
A settlor and spouse created three irrevocable trusts, each for one grandchild, and allocated enough GST exemption to give each trust a zero inclusion ratio. They proposed allowing two trusts to…
Grandchild trust modifications avoid estate, gift, and GST consequences
A settlor and spouse created three irrevocable trusts, each for one grandchild, and allocated enough GST exemption to give each trust a zero inclusion ratio. They proposed allowing two trusts to…
Marital deduction does not cover trust assets passing to a child
Chief Counsel considered whether an estate could claim a marital deduction for the full amount of a surviving spouse's elective share under state law. The decedent had placed assets in a foreign…
IRS grants an estate more time to elect portability of a deceased spouse's unused exclusion
The IRS granted a decedent's estate 120 more days to elect portability of the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. The estate had not filed Form 706 by the original…
IRS approves marital-deduction treatment for LLC preferred units placed in a marital trust
The IRS ruled that the surviving spouse would have a qualifying income interest for life in preferred units of an LLC held by a marital trust. It further ruled that a marital deduction would be…
Trust modification will not create a general power or end GST tax exemption
The IRS approved a nonjudicial modification of an irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985. The modification changed how successor trustees would be appointed and ensured that descendants…
Estate receives extra time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. The estate was below the threshold that otherwise…
IRS grants an estate 120 days to make a portability election
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return missed the deadline to elect portability of a deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount. The IRS concluded that the estate…
IRS grants a QDOT 60 days to report the surviving spouse's citizenship
A qualified domestic trust failed to notify the IRS and certify that its surviving spouse beneficiary had become a United States citizen. The trustee requested relief after learning that the notice…
Statutory executor authority is limited to estate tax
Chief Counsel Advice explains that the statutory executor described in IRC § 2203 has authority only in the estate tax context. The provision does not authorize an executor to act for income tax,…
PLR 1349002: Trust division does not trigger additional transfer or income tax consequences
Trustees proposed dividing an old irrevocable trust into three separate trusts, one for each of a beneficiary's family lines, so the shares could be managed under different investment approaches.…
PLR 1345028: IRS approves administrative changes to three grandfathered trusts
The IRS approved proposed changes to three irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985. The changes would separate distribution and investment responsibilities, add an independent…
PLR 1345027: Administrative trust changes do not trigger estate, gift, or GST tax consequences
The trustee of three irrevocable trusts asked whether proposed changes to the trustee structure would create estate or gift tax problems for the settlor or beneficiaries. The changes would give an…
PLR 1345026: Administrative trust changes do not trigger estate, gift, or GST tax consequences
The trustee of three irrevocable trusts asked whether proposed changes to the trustee structure would create estate or gift tax problems for the settlor or beneficiaries. The changes would add an…
PLR 1345006: IRS treats an unnecessary QTIP election as void
An executor made a QTIP election for assets placed in a marital trust. The taxpayer requested that the election be treated as a nullity because it was not needed to reduce the estate tax liability…
PLR 1345004: IRS approves administrative changes to three irrevocable trusts
The proposed changes would add an individual distribution trustee and clarify trustee replacement and investment provisions for three irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985. The IRS…
PLR 1342001: IRS approves tax treatment of a court-approved trust division
A family asked the IRS about the tax consequences of a court-approved settlement dividing an old irrevocable trust into four separate trusts, with each child's trust divided again into Trust A and…
PLR 1338003: IRS voids an unnecessary QTIP election for a credit shelter trust
An estate had allocated all trust assets to a credit shelter trust, but the estate return listed that trust as QTIP property and therefore made a QTIP election. The surviving spouse later discovered…
PLR 1333006: IRS approves reformation of a trust into a qualifying charitable remainder unitrust
An estate asked whether a court-approved reformation of a trust could qualify under IRC § 2055(e)(3). The proposed changes divided the trust, addressed payments for certain noncharitable expenses,…
CCA analyzes self-cancelling notes used in transfers of closely held stock
Chief Counsel Advice analyzes a decedent’s transfers of stock to grantor trusts in exchange for promissory notes with self-cancelling features. The advice concludes that the difference between the…
CCA 1328030: Life insurance proceeds are not included based only on a right to policy dividends
Chief Counsel advice addresses whether life insurance proceeds should be included in a decedent’s gross estate. The decedent was required by a divorce property settlement to maintain policies for a…
PLR 1327010: IRS rules that relinquished insurance-policy powers may avoid estate inclusion after three years
The IRS considered whether life-insurance proceeds would be included in a taxpayer’s gross estate after policies were transferred to a trust and the taxpayer relinquished trustee, protector, and…
PLR 1323007: IRS approves gift and estate tax treatment of a charitable lead annuity trust
The IRS considered a taxpayer's creation of a charitable lead annuity trust that would pay a fixed annual amount to a private foundation for a specified term, with the remaining property then…
PLR 1322025: IRS approves trust distributions after a judicial construction
The IRS ruled that a court-ordered distribution of all assets from an exempt trust to a successor trust would not increase the successor trust's generation-skipping transfer tax inclusion ratio…
Estate settlement avoids GST tax and preserves a charitable deduction
The IRS ruled on an estate settlement resolving competing interpretations of a decedent’s will. The decedent had been adjudged incompetent before September 25, 1985, and did not regain competency…
PLR 1303003: IRS approves dividing a marital trust and renouncing one spouse's interest
A surviving spouse and the other trust beneficiaries asked whether a marital trust could be divided into two trusts and whether the spouse could renounce her interest in one of them. The IRS ruled…
PLR 1245007: IRS approves the division of an irrevocable trust into three separate trusts
The IRS approved a proposed pro rata division of an irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985, into three separate trusts for three grandchildren and their descendants. The ruling…
PLR 1243012: Estate receives more time to complete a QDOT rollover and related filings
The IRS ruled for an estate whose surviving spouse was not a United States citizen and whose estate tax return made a qualified domestic trust (QDOT) election for a retirement account. The estate…
PLR 1243006: IRS approves division of a pre-1985 generation-skipping trust
The IRS approved a proposed division of an irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985 into four separate trusts for different family lines. It ruled that the divided trusts would retain…
PLR 1243004: Estate gets relief for QTIP and GST elections and trust divisions
The IRS granted an estate 120 more days to make a QTIP election, divide a trust into exempt and non-exempt trusts, make a reverse QTIP election, and allocate the decedent's available GST exemption.…
PLR 1243001: IRS declines to recognize a retroactive trust reformation
The IRS declined to recognize a state court's retroactive reformation of a trust for federal gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer tax purposes. The reformation was intended to replace an…
CCA says the additional estate tax assessment period cannot be extended by agreement
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether the limitations period for the additional estate tax under section 2057(f)(2) could be extended by agreement. The advice concluded that it could not. It…
PLR 1238004: IRS approves a two-trust division and related tax treatment
The IRS approved a proposed division of an irrevocable trust into two separate trusts, one for each of the settlor's children and that child's descendants. The ruling concluded that the division…
PLR 1236022: Charitable payments under an estate settlement are deductible
An estate asked whether payments to charitable organizations under a proposed settlement of a will contest would qualify for the federal estate tax charitable deduction. The will named the attorney…
PLR 1236002: IRS grants extra time for an estate's alternate valuation election
The IRS granted an estate additional time to make the alternate valuation election under section 2032. The estate's tax professionals had failed to advise the administratrix about the election, and…
Trust and life insurance rulings for an irrevocable trust
A taxpayer requested rulings on two irrevocable trusts, including a trust that would acquire a life insurance policy from another trust. The IRS addressed grantor trust treatment, beneficiary…
PLR 1233008: IRS approves partial trust termination and modification for estate, gift, and GST tax purposes
The IRS considered a proposed partial termination and modification of an irrevocable trust for descendants. Part of the trust would be distributed to grandchildren, while the remaining share would…
PLR 1231007: IRS rules that a testamentary power of appointment is not a general power
A daughter asked whether her testamentary power to appoint trust property among the settlors' issue would be treated as a general power of appointment under IRC § 2041. The IRS concluded that the…
PLR 1230023: IRS grants more time to elect special-use valuation for farmland
The IRS granted an estate more time to elect special-use valuation for farmland included in a decedent's estate. The executor timely filed the estate tax return but omitted the election, and a…
PLR 1229005: IRS rules a testamentary trust power is not a general power of appointment
The IRS ruled that a beneficiary’s testamentary power to appoint trust property among the settlors’ issue was not a general power of appointment under IRC § 2041(b)(1). The power could not be…
PLR 1224019: IRS grants more time for a late special-use valuation election
The IRS granted an estate 120 days to make an election under IRC § 2032A to specially value qualified farmland and related structures. The executor did not include the election on the estate's…
PLR 1223012: IRS approves a tax-neutral trust division and modification
The IRS approved corrections to two scrivener's errors in an irrevocable trust and a pro rata division of the trust into two successor trusts for separate family lines. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 1220017: Estate receives more time to file a QDOT citizenship notice
The IRS granted a qualified domestic trust more time to file Form 706-QDT and notify the IRS that the surviving spouse had become a United States citizen. The spouse had continuously resided in the…
PLR 1216045: IRS approves variable ascending payments from a charitable lead annuity trust
An irrevocable testamentary charitable lead annuity trust asked whether a state-court construction of its trust agreement could permit annuity payments to rise each year over a 10-year term. The IRS…
CCA 1216037: Advice addresses late relief for an alternate-valuation election
Chief Counsel advice addresses whether a taxpayer may seek relief to make an IRC § 2032 alternate-valuation election more than one year after the return's due date. The advice says relief may be…
PLR 1216013: IRS grants more time to make an alternate valuation election
The co-executors of an estate timely filed Form 706 but did not make the alternate valuation election under IRC § 2032. They later determined that the election should have been made and filed a…
PLR 1216005: IRS finds a proposed spousal trust arrangement outside Rev. Rul. 71-51
Married spouses who held property as tenants by the entirety proposed an agreement under which half of the property would be held in trust for the surviving spouse after the first spouse's death.…
PLR 1214022: Trust reformation did not create a taxable general power of appointment
The IRS ruled on the federal gift and estate tax effects of a state court reformation of a trust. The trust document mistakenly allowed a surviving spouse to appoint trust property to herself, her…
PLR 1210008: Reformed residuary trust avoids estate inclusion and receives zero GST inclusion ratio
The IRS ruled on a proposed retroactive reformation and modification of a residuary trust created for a surviving spouse. The corrected trust terms limited distributions to an ascertainable support…
PLR 1208005: IRS approves estate, gift, and GST tax treatment of disclaimers
The IRS ruled on disclaimers made by a surviving spouse and an adult child after a decedent's death. The estate could elect not to have estate tax apply and instead apply the basis rules of IRC §…
PLR 1208004: IRS approves trust modifications without GST, gift, estate, or income tax consequences
The IRS ruled on proposed changes to an irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985. The changes would move the trust's administrative situs to another state, add distribution and investment…
PLR 1208003: IRS approves trust modifications without GST, gift, estate, or income tax consequences
The IRS ruled on proposed changes to an irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985. The changes would move the trust's administrative situs to another state, add distribution and investment…
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.