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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Two community fellowship programs receive advance approval
A private foundation proposed two grant programs for individuals working on charitable, educational, professional-development, and community-improvement projects in two geographic areas. One program w…
Set-aside for a second disability group home is approved
A private foundation requested approval to set aside funds for a second group home serving people with a named syndrome and other developmental disabilities. The foundation needed time to study local …
Global business separation receives tax-free reorganization and spin-off rulings
A publicly traded parent proposed separating one worldwide business from its retained businesses through a long series of domestic and foreign transactions, followed by a distribution of the controlle…
Lump-sum pension settlements do not end eligibility for retiree-benefit transfers
A company proposed offering lump-sum pension payments to retirees who were already receiving annuities, while its pension plans also funded retiree health and life insurance benefits through section 4…
Auto-parts manufacturer receives a conditional pension funding waiver
A privately held auto-parts manufacturer sought a waiver of its pension plan's remaining unpaid minimum funding contribution for the 2011 plan year. The company had experienced a temporary substantial…
Minimum-funding waivers are denied because the hardship was not temporary
A company requested waivers of its pension plan's minimum funding standard for several redacted plan years. Its recovery plan depended in part on merging the plan into a multiemployer plan, but the me…
Temporary lump-sum option does not violate a pension funding waiver
A company whose pension plan was operating under a minimum-funding waiver proposed a temporary lump-sum option for former participants with deferred vested benefits who had not begun receiving payment…
Lump-sum window does not violate an unfunded-liability extension
A pension plan with an existing extension of its unfunded-liability amortization period proposed a temporary lump-sum window. The option would cover terminated vested participants and current employee…
Foreign local-national employees may participate in the company's ESOP
An S corporation whose employee stock ownership plan owned all of its single class of stock amended the plan to cover certain nonresident-alien local-national staff employees working abroad. Those emp…
Financial stress does not justify late retirement-account rollovers
A taxpayer withdrew money from an IRA and an employer plan after losing her job and facing health, housing, vehicle, and family expenses. She did not roll the distributions into eligible retirement ac…
Care for an ill parent justifies a late IRA rollover
A taxpayer withdrew an amount from her IRA intending to roll it over to another financial institution that offered a higher interest rate. During the 60-day rollover period, her mother was ill, and th…
Surviving spouse may roll trust-held IRA proceeds into her own IRAs
A decedent named his estate as beneficiary of ten IRAs, and the residue of his estate passed through one trust to another trust for his surviving spouse. The spouse was the sole trustee and could dema…
Adviser errors justify late IRA rollovers into self-directed accounts
A married couple directed four IRA distributions into a partnership investment after an adviser represented that the investment firm could preserve the funds' IRA status. The adviser failed to arrange…
Aid limited to two designated families did not serve a charitable class
An organization was formed to collect funds for families whose loved ones could not provide adequate support. In practice, it made monetary distributions directly or indirectly for the benefit of only…
Unsubstantiated overseas payments cost a domestic charity its exemption
A domestic public charity sent substantially all of its funds to or for the benefit of a foreign organization that operated schools. It also paid purported teacher salaries directly, reimbursed the fo…
Scholarship and artist-grant procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation proposed scholarships for students who lacked resources for higher education and grants for artists developing their skills and talents. Applicants had to satisfy residency and pr…
Veterinary scholarship procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation operated a scholarship program for graduate students from specified counties who studied animal science and veterinary medicine at a university. A faculty committee ranked applica…
High-school scholarship procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation proposed scholarships for graduating seniors at a specified high school who planned full-time undergraduate study. It publicized the program to all seniors and evaluated applicant…
Law-school diversity scholarship procedures receive approval
A private foundation proposed one-time scholarships for first-year students at accredited law schools to help pay second-year educational costs. Eligible students had to contribute to the diversity of…
Peace-education scholarship procedures receive approval
A private foundation proposed nonrenewable scholarships for financially needy graduate students studying peace education or conflict management. Applicants had to be recent graduates enrolled in quali…
Renewable community scholarship procedures receive approval
A private foundation proposed renewable scholarships for residents of a city and surrounding area attending colleges, universities, or vocational-technical schools. Candidates were nominated by commit…
Organization formed to support one child is denied exemption
An organization was created specifically to pay for the health care, education, therapies, and assistive devices of one named child with autism. The child's parents were its only directors and trustee…
Nursing-facility snack bar did not promote community welfare
A volunteer organization operated a rent-free snack bar and a weekly beauty salon at a nursing and rehabilitation facility. The facility had become owned by a for-profit corporation, and the organizat…
Umpire association denied charitable and social-club exemption
A local association assigned umpires to softball leagues and tournaments, trained registered umpires, and coordinated the local umpire program. Its certified members paid dues and received compensatio…
Entrepreneur support organization revoked for commercial lead referrals and insider benefits
A tax-exempt organization said it would support entrepreneurs through an online community, outreach, education, and grants. The examination found that its major activity was charging prospective busin…
Married taxpayers get 60 days to recharacterize excess Roth IRA contributions
A married couple made monthly contributions to several Roth IRAs, then learned that their income had exceeded the eligibility limits in multiple years and that one earlier contribution exceeded the ph…
Currency-fluctuation contracts with a captive insurer are not insurance
A multinational corporate group used its captive insurance company to issue contracts protecting affiliates against earnings changes caused by movements between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies.…
Partnership cannot deduct payments tied to a predecessor cooperative’s allocation notices
An exempt farmers’ cooperative had issued qualified written notices of allocation to patrons, then converted into a limited liability company taxed as a partnership. The successor partnership later pa…
REIT receives late-election relief for an indirectly owned taxable subsidiary
A real estate investment trust indirectly acquired an interest in a corporation when a tower-company acquisition changed from an asset purchase to a stock purchase. The REIT’s tax professionals were n…
Ponzi-scheme theft loss was discovered when a lead figure died and a receiver was appointed
A taxpayer invested in an alleged fraudulent arrangement involving multiple lead figures and claimed a theft loss under the Ponzi-scheme safe harbor. In one year, a government agency filed a civil com…
Taxpayer may reelect the foreign earned income exclusion after moving countries
A taxpayer working abroad revoked the section 911 foreign earned income exclusion and instead claimed a credit for taxes paid in a high-tax country. Within five years, the taxpayer’s employer moved hi…
S corporation receives relief after shares briefly pass to an ineligible owner
An S corporation’s shareholders placed their shares in two revocable trusts, then some shares were transferred to an owner that was not eligible to hold S corporation stock. That transfer terminated t…
Excess assets transferred with reinsurance may qualify under section 351
A life insurance company proposed transferring part of the insurance risk, assets, and liabilities associated with a closed block of policies to a wholly owned insurance subsidiary. The assets transfe…
Late ESBT election preserves a corporation’s S status
A trust purchased stock in an S corporation and was otherwise eligible to be an electing small business trust, but its trustee did not make the required ESBT election. The trust therefore became an in…
Insurers must spread reserve corrections over ten years under section 807(f)
Two related life insurers discovered that whole-life contracts retained by one company had been miscoded in their valuation system as term-life contracts reinsured to the other company. As a result, t…
Former parent and spun-off subsidiary get 60 days to apportion a section 382 limit
A parent corporation distributed a subsidiary in a tax-free spin-off, after which the subsidiary became the parent of its own consolidated group. The former parent group had a consolidated section 382…
Taxpayer gets 60 days to attach a success-based-fee safe-harbor election
A taxpayer paid success-based fees in an asset acquisition and reported them using Revenue Procedure 2011-29’s safe harbor, deducting 70 percent and capitalizing 30 percent. Its timely electronic retu…
Court-approved farm sale preserves grandfathered trusts’ GST exemption
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985 jointly owned adjoining and sometimes landlocked parcels of a farm. Their trustees proposed a coordinated sale to a limited partnership owned b…
Court-approved farm sale preserves grandfathered trusts’ GST exemption
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985 jointly owned adjoining and sometimes landlocked parcels of a farm. Their trustees proposed a coordinated sale to a limited partnership owned b…
Court-approved farm sale preserves grandfathered trusts’ GST exemption
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985 jointly owned adjoining and sometimes landlocked parcels of a farm. Their trustees proposed a coordinated sale to a limited partnership owned b…
Court-approved farm sale preserves grandfathered trusts’ GST exemption
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985 jointly owned adjoining and sometimes landlocked parcels of a farm. Their trustees proposed a coordinated sale to a limited partnership owned b…
Court-approved farm sale preserves grandfathered trusts’ GST exemption
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985 jointly owned adjoining and sometimes landlocked parcels of a farm. Their trustees proposed a coordinated sale to a limited partnership owned b…
Court-approved farm sale preserves grandfathered trusts’ GST exemption
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985 jointly owned adjoining and sometimes landlocked parcels of a farm. Their trustees proposed a coordinated sale to a limited partnership owned b…
Court-approved farm sale preserves grandfathered trusts’ GST exemption
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985 jointly owned adjoining and sometimes landlocked parcels of a farm. Their trustees proposed a coordinated sale to a limited partnership owned b…
Court-approved farm sale preserves grandfathered trusts’ GST exemption
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985 jointly owned adjoining and sometimes landlocked parcels of a farm. Their trustees proposed a coordinated sale to a limited partnership owned b…
Court-approved farm sale preserves grandfathered trusts’ GST exemption
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985 jointly owned adjoining and sometimes landlocked parcels of a farm. Their trustees proposed a coordinated sale to a limited partnership owned b…
IRS approves specific liquidation and distribution steps in a two-stage spin-off
A public company proposed separating one business through a complex series of subsidiary mergers, liquidations, contributions, debt financings, and internal and external stock distributions. The IRS r…
Bereaved taxpayer receives a waiver for a late IRA rollover
A taxpayer received a distribution from his deceased wife’s IRA but did not complete the rollover within 60 days. His father had died three days before his wife, and his mother died six days after the…
Minimum funding waiver approved with contribution and amendment conditions
A retirement plan sponsor requested a waiver of its minimum required contribution after suffering substantial business hardship. The company’s largest customer changed its business model, forcing the …
Bank error does not break a taxpayer’s substantially equal IRA payment series
A taxpayer was taking monthly substantially equal periodic payments from an IRA using the fixed annuitization method. After one financial institution acquired another and moved the IRA’s bank and secu…
Farmers’ market denied exemption because it primarily benefited its vendors
A membership-based farmers’ market applied for recognition as a tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3). Its members paid annual dues and daily vendor fees to sell products directly to consume…
Scholarship procedures for physically disabled students receive advance approval
A private foundation proposed scholarships for academically promising students with physical disabilities and financial need to attend private primary and secondary schools. The foundation planned to …
Foundation receives five-year extensions to dispose of inherited business holdings
A private foundation acquired interests in several real-estate development businesses through a transfer from another foundation that had received them as part of an unusually large and complex beques…
Foundation receives five-year extensions to dispose of inherited business holdings
A private foundation acquired interests in several real-estate development businesses through a transfer from another foundation that had received them as part of an unusually large and complex beques…
College scholarship procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation proposed scholarships for students pursuing college, graduate, professional, trade-school, or GED-related study who showed academic ability, motivation, or financial need. The fou…
Artist travel-fellowship procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation proposed merit-based travel fellowships for visual artists, curators, and critical writers in a redacted city to pursue professional development outside their home area. Arts prof…
Urban student scholarship procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation took over a related organization's scholarship program for students from selected urban communities. The program began with students entering seventh grade, used objective communi…
Religious-community leadership grant procedures receive approval
A private foundation proposed joining a related foundation and its limited liability company as an additional donor to a two-phase educational grant program. The program would prepare college students…
Court-ordered land auction to disqualified person avoids self-dealing
A private foundation owned a 49.9 percent interest in a partnership holding about 6,000 acres, while a substantial contributor owned 0.1 percent and the remaining interests were held by the contributo…
Community-service scholarship procedures receive approval
A private foundation proposed one-time scholarships for ten high school juniors or seniors who combined strong academic performance with community service, volunteer work, or mentoring. Applicants had…
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.