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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Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate that was not otherwise required to file Form 706 missed the deadline to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. The estate requested regulatory relie…
Late taxable REIT subsidiary election treated as timely
A real estate investment trust and its wholly owned subsidiary intended the subsidiary to operate a restaurant as a taxable REIT subsidiary. An internal communication failure left the finance team and…
Late S corporation elections and inadvertent termination relief granted
A corporation and its shareholders intended S corporation treatment, but the entity classification and S elections were not filed on time. The corporation also had an ineligible shareholder, which mad…
Partnership received 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A partnership missed the deadline to make a section 754 election after one of its partners died. The IRS found that the partnership satisfied the standards for regulatory election relief and granted 1…
Late qualified opportunity fund self-certification accepted
A partnership was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund, but its accountant did not know that Form 8996 had to be filed on time to make the required self-certification election. The partne…
REIT may exclude default deposit and legal-fee settlement from income tests
A real estate investment trust agreed to sell residential properties, but the buyer failed to close. After litigation and an appeal, the REIT received the buyer's earnest-money deposit as liquidated d…
Private foundation scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation requested advance approval for a scholarship program serving graduating high school seniors from specified school districts. Recipients would be selected using financial need, aca…
Church-affiliated organization excused from filing Form 990
A section 501(c)(3) organization asked the IRS to excuse it from filing annual Form 990 information returns. Based on the submitted information, the IRS classified it as an organization affiliated wit…
Historic-property matching grant set-aside approved
A private foundation proposed setting aside funds for a matching grant to restore a historic property used for educational programs and public tours. The grant would cover specified construction costs…
Historic-facility rehabilitation set-aside approved
A private foundation proposed setting aside funds for a matching grant to rehabilitate a historic facility under preservation standards. The recipient would raise the remaining project cost from other…
Employer-related scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation requested advance approval for scholarships offered to children and dependents of a company's full-time employees. Applicants would be evaluated using essays, community and school…
Fraternal-beneficiary exemption denied for lack of a lodge system
A membership organization sought exemption as a fraternal beneficiary society under section 501(c)(8). Its primary activity was paying burial or repatriation costs and related death benefits for membe…
Hospital exemption revoked for section 501(r) failures
The IRS revoked a hospital authority's section 501(c)(3) exemption after examining its compliance with the Affordable Care Act's community-health requirements. The hospital used a shared community hea…
Dog-genetics organization denied exemption for private benefit
An organization sought section 501(c)(3) exemption to collect, store, and distribute frozen semen from a particular dog breed and to support related education and research. Its sole member was a secti…
Basketball-officials association denied section 501(c)(3) status
A membership association of basketball officials sought section 501(c)(3) exemption as an organization fostering amateur sports. Its main activity was contracting with school districts and assigning p…
Member art gallery denied exemption for private benefit
An arts organization sought section 501(c)(3) exemption for public classes, exhibits, festivals, artist support, and related programming. It also operated a gift shop where member artists paid monthly…
Late QSub election extension granted
An S corporation acquired all the stock of a subsidiary and intended to treat it as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary, but did not file Form 8869 on time. The parent and subsidiary reported all rele…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate that was not otherwise required to file Form 706 missed the deadline to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount. The estate requested relief so the surviving spous…
Business separation qualifies as a tax-free Type D spin-off
A publicly traded foreign parent planned to separate one business from another by contributing subsidiaries, receivables, and business assets to a controlled corporation and distributing all controlle…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate that was not otherwise required to file Form 706 missed the deadline to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount. The estate requested regulatory relief so the surv…
Partnership received 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A foreign limited partnership intended to make a section 754 election but inadvertently omitted the election from its timely partnership return. The IRS found that the partnership satisfied the regula…
Late section 336(e) election extension granted
A partnership acquired more than 80% of an S corporation through a disregarded entity, and the parties intended to treat the stock sale as an asset sale under section 336(e). They entered the required…
Entity may change classification within the 60-month limit
A single-owner limited liability company previously elected corporate classification, which ordinarily prevents another classification election for 60 months. A new owner later acquired all shares of …
Late section 336(e) election extension granted
A purchaser acquired all stock of an S corporation, and the parties intended to elect under section 336(e) to treat the stock sale as an asset sale. They did not timely attach the election statement t…
Late GST exemption allocations allowed for two trusts
A grantor created two trusts intended primarily to benefit grandchildren and more remote descendants. Although the grantor had enough generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to give both trusts zer…
Partnership received 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership intended to make a section 754 election but failed to include it with its return. The IRS accepted the company's representations that it acted reason…
QOF self-certification accepted after filing with the wrong return
A limited liability company was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and had elected S corporation status. Because its lawyer did not tell the accounting firm about that election, the fir…
Corporation received 120 days to make a late S election
A corporation's sole shareholder intended S corporation treatment from a specified effective date, but the corporation inadvertently failed to file Form 2553 on time. The IRS found reasonable cause fo…
S corporation termination from missed ESBT elections treated as inadvertent
An S corporation transferred shares to two trusts that met the substantive requirements for electing small business trusts, but their trustees failed to file timely ESBT elections. That omission termi…
Executor may make late GST allocations to three trusts
A donor made pre-2001 transfers to three descendant trusts created by the donor's spouse, and the spouses elected to split the gifts. The donor relied on an accounting firm to prepare Form 709, but th…
Partnership may revoke election out of bonus depreciation
A partnership elected out of 100% additional first-year depreciation for its 5-year, 7-year, and 15-year qualified property after relying on its return preparer. A later preparer reviewing the return …
Partnership may revoke election out of bonus depreciation
A partnership elected out of 100% additional first-year depreciation for its 5-year, 7-year, and 15-year qualified property after relying on its return preparer. A later preparer would have advised ag…
Partnership received 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A partnership had previously made a section 754 election, but a later ownership change caused a technical termination under the law then in effect. After another partner-interest purchase, the partner…
S corporation termination from missed ESBT elections treated as inadvertent
Two shareholders transferred S corporation stock to trusts that met the substantive requirements for electing small business trusts, but the trustees failed to file timely ESBT elections. That omissio…
Late QSub elections granted for three subsidiaries
An S corporation acquired all the stock of three subsidiaries and intended to treat each as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from its respective acquisition date. It inadvertently failed to file th…
Prior section 754 election deadline extended by 60 days
The IRS had previously issued a private letter ruling concerning the taxpayer's deadline to file a section 754 election. This supplemental ruling does not restate the facts or analysis from the earlie…
S corporation's QSub spin-off qualifies as a tax-free Type D reorganization
A closely held S corporation planned to separate businesses by transferring assets to a wholly owned QSub and distributing all QSub stock pro rata to family shareholder trusts. The distribution would …
Pre-2018 Roth IRA contributions may be recharacterized
A financial institution removed the word “Roth” from an IRA's displayed account title while processing the taxpayer's name change, although the account remained coded internally as a Roth IRA. Unaware…
Ministry lost exemption after failing to substantiate charitable activity and allowing insider benefit
A religious organization said it would conduct online ministry, Christian programs, community assistance, and promotional activities. During the examination, it acknowledged that it had no website, di…
Research charity lost exemption after failing to document its activities, finances, and use of funds
A charity formed to conduct scientific research reported that it also offered youth basketball, tennis, and swimming programs and employed a foreign worker to research a camera’s capabilities. Its web…
Technology-business accelerator denied exemption for private benefit
An organization sought section 501(c)(3) exemption for an accelerator, conference, networking events, directory, and other programs serving underrepresented owners of small technology businesses. Its …
Cold-storage services and TRS rents qualify for REIT income tests
A publicly traded REIT leased temperature-controlled warehouse space and charged tenants for temperature reduction, tempering, rapid freezing or warming, and handling by taxable REIT subsidiaries. The…
Late qualified opportunity fund self-certification accepted
A partnership was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund, but its manager believed no federal return was required for the first year because the entity had no business activity. After the r…
Late multiple-building housing credit election allowed
A low-income housing taxpayer intended to treat all buildings in a project as one multiple-building project but inadvertently omitted the election from Forms 8609. The IRS found that the taxpayer met …
Late election to treat trust as a GST trust allowed
A taxpayer created a trust for a son and the son's descendants and intended to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to every contribution. Because the trust was not automatically treate…
Late election out of automatic GST allocation allowed
A taxpayer created a grantor retained annuity trust whose remaining assets would eventually pass into separate trusts for two children. The taxpayer intended not to allocate generation-skipping transf…
Late election out of automatic GST allocation allowed
A taxpayer created a grantor retained annuity trust that divided directly into separate trusts for two children when the annuity term ended. The taxpayer intended not to allocate generation-skipping t…
Late election out of automatic GST allocation allowed
A taxpayer created a grantor retained annuity trust that divided directly into separate trusts for two children when the annuity term ended. The taxpayer intended not to allocate generation-skipping t…
S corporation termination from missed ESBT election was inadvertent
Two spouses transferred their S corporation stock to a grantor trust. After one spouse died, the trust became a non-grantor trust and its trustees failed to make a timely electing small business trust…
IRA stock transfer caused inadvertent S corporation termination
A bank holding company's S corporation election terminated when some of its stock was transferred to a shareholder's individual retirement account. The IRA was not a permitted S corporation shareholde…
Reverse improvement exchange qualified for section 1031 safe harbors
A real estate partnership proposed exchanging rental property for a leasehold of more than 30 years plus improvements to be built on land owned by a related partnership. An exchange accommodation titl…
Sports and activity center set-asides approved
A private foundation requested approval to set aside funds over two fiscal years to construct a sports and activity center. The center would operate on a nonprofit basis for community youth activities…
Educational organization lost exemption for private benefit and commercial activity
An educational organization offered fee-based courses, workshops, seminars, and online materials while contracting with related for-profit businesses for teaching services. The IRS examination found t…
Surviving spouse could roll estate-paid IRA proceeds into own IRA
An IRA owner died intestate after the owner's estate had become the IRA beneficiary. The surviving spouse was the estate's sole administrator and, under state law, was treated as its sole beneficiary.…
Corporation received extra time to request tax-year change
A corporate parent wanted to align its federal tax year with a new financial reporting year. Its accounting firm agreed to prepare the short-period filings, but internal miscommunications between two …
LLC received extra time to elect corporate classification
A limited liability company intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation from the date it was formed. It did not timely file Form 8832 to make that entity-classification electi…
Taxpayer received extra time to submit duplicate Forms 3115
A corporate parent filed two original Forms 3115 with its consolidated return for an acquired subsidiary and reported the requested accounting method changes. It failed, however, to send the required …
Late election out of automatic GST allocation allowed
A taxpayer created a trust for the taxpayer's spouse's siblings, their spouses, and their descendants. The taxpayer and spouse elected to split gifts, but their accounting firm failed to report the tr…
Late election out of automatic GST allocation allowed
A taxpayer's spouse created a trust for the taxpayer's siblings, their spouses, and their descendants. The couple elected to split gifts, but their accounting firm failed to report the trust transfer …
Dual citizen satisfied expatriation exception citizenship requirement
A taxpayer acquired both U.S. citizenship and citizenship in another country at birth, returned to that country shortly after birth, and lived there except during graduate studies. The taxpayer used t…
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.