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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Employer-related scholarship procedures received advance approval
A private foundation proposed nonrenewable scholarships for employees of a company group and their dependents who pursued undergraduate or graduate education. An independent committee would select…
Historic preservation matching grant qualified for set-aside treatment
A private foundation planned a matching grant to an organization restoring a historic property in a National Historic Landmark neighborhood. The grant would fund about one-third of the project's…
Historic property rehabilitation grant received set-aside approval
A private foundation planned a matching grant to rehabilitate a property listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The project covered interior and exterior features including plaster,…
Renewable postsecondary scholarship procedures received approval
A private foundation proposed scholarships for graduating seniors at a specified high school who were accepted to accredited two-year, four-year, or vocational programs. Selection considered grades,…
IRS revoked a foundation that used fundraising to pay members' private expenses
The IRS revoked a private foundation's section 501(c)(3) status because its fundraising primarily benefited participating families and a related for-profit youth athletics program. Families received…
IRS revoked exemption after a founder used organization funds for personal expenses
The IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) status after finding that its founder and chief executive received substantial private benefits. Bank and mortgage records showed unsubstantiated…
Homeowners association denied social welfare exemption
A homeowners association applied for exemption as a social welfare organization under IRC § 501(c)(4). It collected annual dues to insure and maintain common areas, provide utilities, and perform…
Fundraiser for one medical patient denied charity status
An organization applied for recognition as a charity after forming to raise money for one named person and that person's parents following a heart transplant, hospitalization, complications, and…
Corporation received relief after trust missed QSST election
An S corporation had a trust shareholder whose deemed owner died. The trust remained an eligible shareholder for the two-year post-death period, but its income beneficiary did not timely elect…
Pension plan sponsor received five-day extension for prefunding election
A defined benefit plan sponsor intended to use part of the plan's prefunding balance to satisfy its remaining minimum required contribution. Because of an oversight, it delivered the election to the…
REIT received more time to elect taxable subsidiary status
A REIT indirectly owned a corporation through a joint venture and intended the corporation to be its taxable REIT subsidiary. Another REIT connected to the joint venture timely filed its own Form…
REIT received more time to elect taxable subsidiary status
A REIT indirectly owned a corporation through a joint venture and intended the corporation to be its taxable REIT subsidiary. Another REIT connected to the joint venture timely filed its own Form…
REIT received more time to elect taxable subsidiary status
A REIT indirectly owned a corporation through a joint venture and intended the corporation to be its taxable REIT subsidiary. Another REIT connected to the joint venture timely filed its own Form…
REIT received more time to elect taxable subsidiary status
A REIT indirectly owned a corporation through a joint venture and intended the corporation to be its taxable REIT subsidiary. Another REIT connected to the joint venture timely filed its own Form…
QSF need not withhold on principal repayments to foreign claimants
A court-appointed receivership qualified as a settlement fund after the SEC sued an internet-advertising company and its owner for operating a Ponzi scheme. The court-approved claims process allowed…
Corporation retained S status after trust missed ESBT election
A trust that owned stock in an S corporation ceased qualifying under its prior shareholder status and became eligible to be an electing small business trust, but its trustee failed to make the ESBT…
Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation was eligible to elect S corporation treatment from the date it was incorporated but inadvertently failed to file Form 2553 on time. It nevertheless filed its returns consistently with…
Ineffective S election treated as valid until QSub reorganization
An LLC's S corporation election was ineffective for two independent reasons: spouses with community-property interests did not provide all required shareholder consents, and the operating agreement…
Estate received more time to elect portability of unused estate tax exclusion
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return missed the deadline to elect portability for the decedent's unused exclusion amount. The estate asked for relief under Treas.…
Corporation received 30 days to file branch-tax election statement
A foreign parent conducted a U.S. trade or business through disregarded entities. When the lowest-tier U.S. LLC elected corporate status, its assets were treated as contributed to a new corporation…
Local high-school scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed renewable, need-based scholarships for graduating seniors from high schools in one school district who would attend accredited colleges, universities, or trade schools…
Kindness-based scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed one-time scholarships for graduating high-school seniors entering accredited college degree or certificate programs. Participating schools would first operate a…
Scholarship and youth educational-grant procedures approved
A private foundation proposed two individual-grant programs. The first would provide nonrenewable scholarships to graduating seniors, selected primarily by financial need, academic performance, and…
Mission-aligned scholarship and skill grants approved
A private foundation proposed two mission-aligned grant programs. One would provide college or vocational scholarships to graduating high-school students whose planned studies fit the foundation's…
Church-affiliated school exempted from Form 990 filing
An educational organization operating below the college level asked to be excused from filing Form 990. Based on the submitted information, the IRS classified it as a school with a general academic…
Scientific conference travel-grant procedures approved
A private foundation proposed grants for individuals with scientific expertise in preserving, protecting, and restoring a specified area to travel to academic and scientific conferences relevant to…
IRS revoked exemption because bingo operations became the primary activity
The IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) status because operating bingo for another exempt organization became its primary activity. The organization received nearly all of its income…
Taxpayer may make a retroactive qualified electing fund election
A taxpayer asked for permission to make a qualified electing fund election retroactive to the year he first invested in a foreign corporation. Two tax professionals failed to identify the…
Partnership received extra time to self-certify as a qualified opportunity fund
A partnership formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property missed the deadline to file Form 8996 and self-certify as a qualified opportunity fund. Its manager had hired a firm to prepare…
LLC received relief for a late qualified opportunity fund election
An LLC formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property asked the IRS to treat its late Form 8996 as timely. The LLC had hired an accountant to prepare its partnership return and extension,…
LLC received 60 days to make a late qualified opportunity fund election
An LLC formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property failed to attach Form 8996 to its timely filed partnership return. Its accountant had misapplied the Form 8996 filing requirement, and…
Tax-exempt controlled entity received 60 days to file a depreciation election
A corporation wholly owned by a tax-exempt entity intended to elect not to be treated as a tax-exempt controlled entity for depreciation purposes. Its tax advisor prepared the return as if the…
Corporation retained S status after a trust missed its ESBT election
An S corporation's stock was held by a grantor trust whose deemed owner died. The trust remained an eligible S corporation shareholder for two years after the death but then missed the deadline to…
Lower-tier partnership received 120 days to make a section 754 election
A lower-tier partnership missed its section 754 election after a partner in an upper-tier partnership sold its interest. The upper-tier partnership had a section 754 election in effect, and the…
Foreign entity received 120 days to file a late corporate classification election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect corporate tax classification but failed to file Form 8832 on time. It asked the IRS for discretionary relief under the regulatory election rules. The IRS…
Corporation retained S status after a trust failed to elect ESBT treatment
An S corporation's shares were transferred to a trust intended to qualify as an electing small business trust. The trust failed to file the ESBT election, making it an ineligible shareholder and…
Partnership received 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A partnership intended to make a section 754 election after an ownership change but failed to file the election on time. It requested discretionary late-election relief. The IRS concluded that the…
LLC's late qualified opportunity fund certification was treated as timely
An LLC formed as a qualified opportunity fund missed the deadline for its partnership return and Form 8996 after its accounting firm overlooked the extension filing. Investors had already…
LLC's late qualified opportunity fund election was treated as timely
An LLC formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund did not timely file Form 8996 because of intervening events outside its control. After discovering the omission, it filed the partnership…
IRS approved a private foundation's college scholarship procedures
A private foundation requested advance approval for a college scholarship program serving graduating high school seniors in a defined local area. Applicants must show academic achievement, financial…
501(c)(3) revoked for failing to file Form 990 for three years and conducting no exempt activities
The IRS revoked an organization's 501(c)(3) tax exemption for two independent reasons. First, on examination the IRS found the organization normally had more than $50,000 in gross receipts (its…
Pension plan may pay 401(h) retiree-medical benefits to active employees eligible for in-service retirement
A defined benefit pension plan can include a special "401(h) account" that pays medical benefits for retired employees and their dependents. The account here had a surplus, and the employer wanted…
120-day relief for an LLC to make late corporate-classification and S corporation elections
An LLC is not a corporation by default, so to be taxed as an S corporation it must both elect to be classified as a corporation and elect S status. Here an LLC intended to be an S corporation as of…
120-day extension to fix the effective date of an LLC's corporate-classification election
An LLC can choose to be taxed as a corporation by filing Form 8832, and it specifies on the form the date the election takes effect. Here an LLC wanted its corporate classification to be effective…
75-day extension to make a late section 336(e) election on an S corporation stock sale
A section 336(e) election lets the sale of a corporation's stock be treated, for tax purposes, as if the company had sold its assets, which can give the buyer a stepped-up basis in those assets.…
Surviving spouse may roll inherited retirement plan assets paid through the estate into her own IRA
A surviving spouse usually gets favorable rollover treatment for a deceased spouse's retirement accounts, but here the accounts named the decedent's estate (not the spouse) as beneficiary, which…
120-day extension for an estate to make a late portability (DSUE) election
When someone dies without using up their full estate-tax exemption, a "portability" election lets the surviving spouse inherit the unused amount (the deceased spousal unused exclusion, or DSUE), but…
120-day extension for three foreign entities to file late disregarded-entity elections
A single-owner foreign business entity can elect to be "disregarded" for U.S. tax purposes (treated as part of its owner) by filing Form 8832 on time. Here three related foreign entities, each…
120-day relief for two late elections tied to a tax-exempt-owned low-income housing entity
When property is used by a tax-exempt entity, special "tax-exempt use property" rules force the owner to depreciate it slowly under the alternative depreciation system, which reduces deductions.…
120-day extension for a foreign entity to file a late disregarded-entity election
A foreign business entity with a single owner can choose to be "disregarded" for U.S. tax purposes (treated as part of its owner rather than a separate taxpayer) by filing Form 8832, but the…
Partnership received 120 days to make a section 754 election after a partner's death
A partnership failed to make a section 754 election for the tax year in which one of its partners died. It requested discretionary relief to make the election late. The IRS concluded that the…
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 relief so the…
Housing project received 120 days to make the average-income election
The owner of a single-building low-income housing project intended to elect the average-income minimum set-aside. Contemporaneous documents supported that intent, but the owner inadvertently omitted…
IRS approved five-year extensions for a multiemployer plan's amortization bases
A multiemployer pension plan requested automatic extensions for amortizing several unfunded liability bases. The IRS initially proposed denial because one base did not match the actuarial valuation…
Bankruptcy trust remained a liquidating trust despite a further extension
A trust created under a Chapter 11 reorganization plan had received several court-approved term extensions because litigation remained unresolved. The trust's agreement limits its activities to…
Corporation received 120 days to make a late GILTI high-tax election
A domestic corporation intended to make the GILTI high-tax exclusion election for a group of 29 controlled foreign corporations. Its timely return reported zero GILTI consistently with that intent,…
Corporation received 60 days to make a late success-based fee election
A corporate group used the Rev. Proc. 2011-29 safe harbor for success-based transaction fees, deducting 70 percent and capitalizing 30 percent. It reported the merger fees consistently with the safe…
Partnership received 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A limited partnership intended to elect under section 754 after a partner died, but it inadvertently omitted a valid election from its timely partnership return. The election would allow partnership…
Estate received 120 days to make a late QTIP election
A decedent's revocable trust became irrevocable at death and divided into family and marital trusts. The surviving spouse was entitled to all marital trust income for life, and the trust was…
Consolidated group received 75 days to waive a loss carryback
A consolidated corporate group generated a consolidated net operating loss and carried it forward on its returns. The group intended to waive the loss's carryback period but relied on a tax…
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.