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.
No determinations match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
Travel grants for fellowship reunions receive advance approval
A private foundation proposed travel grants so current and former military fellowship recipients could attend educational and networking reunions. The school and military branch select the fellows,…
Internship and media fellowship grant procedures approved
A private foundation proposed two individual grant programs to develop recipients' professional skills. One program supports unpaid internships and classroom study at section 501(c)(3) educational…
Need-based STEM scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships for college freshmen and sophomores pursuing STEM degrees. Financial need is the primary criterion, and applicants also provide references, a transcript,…
Community-focused scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships for students in a specified location who attended schools it supported or demonstrated service to the local community and people in poverty. Eligible…
Four-year high school scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed four-year scholarships for graduating seniors from a specified high school who enroll full time at accredited four-year institutions. Applicants must meet a minimum…
Employer-related scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships for employees and children of employees connected with a large membership organization and related employers. Eligibility and selection are based on…
Dance troupe denied exemption for private studio and member benefits
A nonprofit dance troupe sought retroactive reinstatement of section 501(c)(3) status after its prior exemption was automatically revoked for failing to file Form 990 for three consecutive years.…
Insurer loses exemption but receives retroactivity relief
An insurance and reinsurance company asked whether it qualified for exemption under section 501(c)(15) for three tax years and whether it should receive relief from retroactive revocation under…
Social club loses exemption for recurring public business
A section 501(c)(7) social club rented its second-floor dance hall to a salsa club on recurring weeknights and weekends. Nonmembers could use the dance hall, bar, and restaurant, and the salsa club…
Social club loses exemption after relying on investment income
A section 501(c)(7) social club sold its real estate and personal property, invested the proceeds, and received no membership dues during the three examined years. Investment income supplied 100% of…
Environmental T-shirt seller loses exemption over commercial activity and private inurement
A section 501(c)(3) organization said it educated the public about environmental issues through public booths, pamphlets, cleanup programs, and message-bearing T-shirts. The IRS examination found…
Breast cancer charity loses exemption after family insiders use funds personally
A section 501(c)(3) organization provided financial and practical assistance related to breast cancer screening, treatment, and recovery. Most of its revenue came from professional fundraising, but…
Unresponsive charity loses exemption for failing to provide records
The IRS selected a section 501(c)(3) organization for examination of its annual information return. Repeated telephone calls, certified letters, and searches for updated addresses did not produce a…
Condominium fundraising foundation loses exemption for serving residents' private interests
A foundation was formed so condominium owners could make deductible contributions for projects outside their homeowners association's operating budget. Its money paid for improvements and services…
National Guard museum foundation loses exemption after rental business becomes primary
A foundation was recognized as exempt to operate a National Guard museum, hall of fame, and library, provide scholarships, and help fund another museum. The IRS found that the foundation's main…
Veterans charity loses exemption after records vanish and insider spending goes unexplained
A short-lived charity said it would assist hospitalized and homeless veterans. During examination, its representative reported that the organization's computer records were lost to a virus and its…
Private foundation loses exemption after failing to complete dissolution records
A private foundation had no activity after donating its only property to a synagogue and wanted to terminate. It supplied the IRS with a recorded grant deed showing the transfer, and the IRS…
Housing applicant denied exemption after years without charitable operations
An organization reapplied for section 501(c)(3) status after its earlier exemption was revoked for failing to file Form 990 for three consecutive years. It proposed housing for low-income, elderly,…
REMIC sponsor may recognize losses despite secured-financing accounting
A life insurance subsidiary transferred mortgage-backed securities to a trust that elected REMIC status. It received regular interests represented by notes, sold those notes to investors, and…
Partnership IDR restructuring is not a taxable exchange
A publicly traded partnership's corporate general partner held incentive distribution rights that entitled it to increasing shares of future profits and distributions. The partnership cancelled…
NOL carryback refund cannot use foreign-tax-credit deadline
A taxpayer amended a return to deduct foreign taxes instead of claiming a foreign tax credit. The deduction created a net operating loss, which the taxpayer carried back to an earlier year and used…
Taxpayer may reelect the foreign earned income exclusion
An individual elected the section 911 foreign earned income exclusion while working in one foreign country. After moving to a second country with a higher individual income tax rate, the taxpayer…
Convertible note is disqualified only if conversion is substantially certain
A U.S. corporation proposed borrowing from its foreign parent through a note that the parent could convert into the corporation's common stock. The issuer had no conversion option, while the holder…
LLC receives consent for an early partnership classification election
A single-owner LLC was initially disregarded for federal tax purposes and later elected S corporation status, which also produced a deemed election to be classified as an association taxable as a…
Settlors receive late elections out of automatic GST allocation
Two settlors created irrevocable insurance trusts for their descendants before enactment of the automatic generation-skipping transfer exemption allocation rules. Later counsel reviewed the trusts…
Educational leadership grant procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation sought advance approval for a two-phase educational grant program intended to develop future professionals and leaders in a religious community. College participants would…
Educational leadership grant procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation sought advance approval for a two-phase educational grant program intended to develop future professionals and leaders in a religious community. College participants would…
Equine scholarships and youth travel grants receive advance approval
A private foundation devoted to horsemanship and horse welfare proposed two grant programs. One would provide need-based scholarships to high school graduates pursuing degrees in equine-related…
Two local scholarship programs receive advance approval
A private foundation proposed two scholarship programs for students with ties to its local area. One program would support seniors from a specified public high school who had at least a 3.0 grade…
Educational leadership grant procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation sought advance approval for a two-phase educational grant program intended to develop future professionals and leaders in a religious community. College participants would…
Educational leadership grant procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation sought advance approval for a two-phase educational grant program intended to develop future professionals and leaders in a religious community. College participants would…
Peace and nonviolence scholarship procedures receive approval
A private foundation proposed a renewable scholarship for graduating students from a specified high school. The program would honor students who promoted peace and nonviolence or pursued…
Educational leadership grant procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation sought advance approval for a two-phase educational grant program intended to develop future professionals and leaders in a religious community. College participants would…
Educational leadership grant procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation sought advance approval for a two-phase educational grant program intended to develop future professionals and leaders in a religious community. College participants would…
Educational leadership grant procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation sought advance approval for a two-phase educational grant program intended to develop future professionals and leaders in a religious community. College participants would…
Art park asset transfers qualify as an unusual grant
A publicly supported charity operated an art park and museum and historically received most of its support from public sources. Related foundations proposed a reorganization that would transfer…
Educational leadership grant procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation sought advance approval for a two-phase educational grant program intended to develop future professionals and leaders in a religious community. College participants would…
Employer and carrier scholarship procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation asked for advance approval of an employer-related scholarship program for domestic and international company employees, employees of qualified truckload contract carriers, and…
Artist cooperative denied exemption for serving members' private interests
An artist cooperative sought recognition as a tax-exempt charitable and educational organization under section 501(c)(3). It operated a gallery that mainly displayed and sold members' artwork,…
U.S. territory businesses must file Form 8300 with the IRS
Chief Counsel considered whether people and entities conducting a trade or business in a U.S. territory must file Form 8300 with the IRS when they receive more than $10,000 in cash in a reportable…
One 60-day CFC loan defeats the short-term obligation exception for all loans
A controlled foreign corporation made several loans to its U.S. parent during one tax year. Some loans were repaid within 30 days and together remained outstanding for fewer than 60 days, but…
Partnership may make a retroactive QEF election after adviser error
A domestic partnership failed to make a qualified electing fund election for a foreign corporation in the first year that the corporation became a passive foreign investment company. The partnership…
Partnership may make a retroactive QEF election after adviser error
A domestic partnership failed to make a qualified electing fund election for a foreign corporation in the first year that the corporation became a passive foreign investment company. The partnership…
Housing project receives more time to make a multiple-building election
A taxpayer intended to treat all buildings in a low-income housing project as one multiple-building project but inadvertently failed to make an effective election on every Form 8609. The IRS found…
LLC receives more time to elect partnership classification
A two-owner limited liability company intended to be treated as a partnership but failed to file Form 8832 on time. The company and both owners had filed their returns consistently with partnership…
LLC receives more time to elect partnership classification
A two-owner limited liability company intended to be treated as a partnership but failed to file Form 8832 on time. The company and both owners had filed their returns consistently with partnership…
LLC receives more time to elect partnership classification
A two-owner limited liability company intended to be treated as a partnership but failed to file Form 8832 on time. The company and both owners had filed their returns consistently with partnership…
LLC receives more time to elect partnership classification
A two-owner limited liability company intended to be treated as a partnership but failed to file Form 8832 on time. The company and both owners had filed their returns consistently with partnership…
Surviving spouse's proposed securities disclaimers qualify under section 2518
A surviving spouse planned to disclaim specified securities received through an outright lifetime transfer and a joint account that became a completed gift at the other spouse's death. He had traded…
QDOT trustee receives more time to report spouse's citizenship
A qualified domestic trust was established for a surviving spouse who was not a U.S. citizen when the decedent died. The spouse later became a citizen after continuously residing in the United…
Corporation receives relief for a late S election
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation but did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and agreed to recognize S corporation status from…
Entity receives relief for late corporate classification and S elections
An eligible entity intended to elect association status taxable as a corporation and S corporation status from the same effective date. It failed to file both Form 8832 and Form 2553 properly and on…
Corporation receives more time to elect IC-DISC status
A domestic corporation was formed solely to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation but did not file Form 4876-A within its first 90 days. Its accounting adviser…
School bond proceeds receive a ten-month expenditure extension
A state instrumentality issued qualified zone academy bonds to rehabilitate and repair public schools. Contract disputes, permitting delays, historic-building redesignations, and unexpected…
REIT cash-and-stock dividends are property distributions under section 301
A publicly traded real estate investment trust proposed distributions in which shareholders could choose cash, common stock of equal value, or a mix, subject to a cash pool of at least 20 percent.…
REIT and subsidiary receive relief for a late TRS election
A real estate investment trust and a partly owned subsidiary intended to elect taxable REIT subsidiary status but each professional adviser assumed another adviser would file Form 8875. The missing…
Entity receives more time to elect corporate classification
An eligible entity intended to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation but did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that the entity acted reasonably and in good faith and that…
REIT elective cash-and-stock dividends are not preferential
A publicly traded real estate investment trust planned distributions in which shareholders could elect cash, common stock, or a 20-percent cash and 80-percent stock combination. Aggregate cash would…
S corporation receives more time to elect QSub treatment
An S corporation formed a wholly owned subsidiary and intended to treat it as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from the formation date. Due to inadvertence, the parent did not file Form 8869 on…
S corporation receives more time to elect QSub treatment
An S corporation formed a wholly owned subsidiary and intended to treat it as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from the formation date. Due to inadvertence, the parent did not file Form 8869 on…
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.