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.
Media data agreement preserves exemption and is related business
An educational nonprofit agreed to supply its research database to a major for-profit media organization for fixed periodic fees. The license was nonexclusive, much of the information remained…
VEBA may move life reserve assets to retiree health reserve
A collectively bargained voluntary employees' beneficiary association proposed transferring assets from a retiree life-insurance reserve to a retiree health reserve. The transferred assets would pay…
Housing cooperative denied charitable exemption
A nonprofit housing cooperative applied for recognition as a charitable organization under IRC § 501(c)(3). Its members lived in a jointly operated house, paid fees covering housing expenses,…
Pediatric provider group denied charitable exemption
A nonprofit formed by pediatric health care providers sought charitable exemption for work intended to improve the quality, access, and cost of children's Medicaid services. Its planned activities…
Late IC-DISC election receives 60-day extension
A newly formed domestic corporation intended to elect interest charge domestic international sales corporation status for its first tax year. Its shareholder relied on a longtime accountant to make…
Late ESBT election does not end S corporation status
An S corporation transferred shares to a trust that qualified to be an electing small business trust, but the trustee did not timely make the ESBT election. That omission made the trust an…
Additive-treated coal qualifies for refined coal credit
A partnership produced refined coal by mixing proprietary additives with feedstock coal to reduce nitrogen oxide and mercury emissions when burned at a power plant. The IRS ruled that the process…
Refined coal testing and relocation rules approved
A refined coal partnership mixed proprietary additives with coal to reduce nitrogen oxide and mercury emissions at a power plant. The IRS ruled that the output could qualify as refined coal under…
Insurance company receives late section 831(b) election relief
A property and casualty insurer intended to elect the alternative tax regime under IRC § 831(b). An employee overseeing tax compliance mistakenly believed the insurer's outside tax firm had…
REIT business separation qualifies for tax-free spin-off treatment
A publicly traded real estate investment trust proposed separating a non-REIT business through two internal distributions and an external distribution to shareholders. The plan included borrowing at…
Housing grant income increases S corporation stock basis
An S corporation held a limited partnership interest in a low-income apartment project. The project received cash subawards under section 1602 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of…
Trust funding is incomplete gift, grantor status partly deferred
An individual proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distributions would be directed through a family distribution committee, sometimes with the grantor's consent, and whose remainder the…
Trust funding is incomplete gift, grantor status partly deferred
An individual proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distributions would be directed through a family distribution committee, sometimes with the grantor's consent, and whose remainder the…
Trust funding is incomplete gift, grantor status partly deferred
An individual proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distributions would be directed through a family distribution committee, sometimes with the grantor's consent, and whose remainder the…
Trust funding is incomplete gift, grantor status partly deferred
An individual proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distributions would be directed through a family distribution committee, sometimes with the grantor's consent, and whose remainder the…
Trust funding is incomplete gift, grantor status partly deferred
An individual proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distributions would be directed through a family distribution committee, sometimes with the grantor's consent, and whose remainder the…
Post-majority trust disclaimers avoid gift tax
A young beneficiary held contingent remainder interests in two irrevocable trusts created before 1977. She proposed disclaiming those remainder interests within nine months after turning 18 and…
Cash-or-stock RIC dividends receive section 301 treatment
A publicly traded regulated investment company proposed dividends payable in cash or common stock at each shareholder's election. Shareholders who made no election would receive stock, and aggregate…
Late disregarded entity election receives 120-day extension
A state-law entity had elected S corporation treatment from its formation date. When its S election later terminated, it intended to change its federal classification to a disregarded entity…
Pharmacy seller may revoke installment method opt-out
An S corporation sold its pharmacy assets for immediate cash and a 15-year promissory note. On its return for the sale year, it reported the full gain and thereby elected out of installment method…
Partnership receives 120 days for late section 754 election
A foreign entity classified as a partnership had ownership interests transferred during a tax year. The partnership was unaware that it could elect under IRC § 754 to adjust the basis of partnership…
Subsidiaries may correct disregarded entity election date
An S corporation acquired two single-member limited liability companies whose prior owners had elected S corporation treatment. After the reorganization, the parent intended both subsidiaries to…
LLC receives late corporate classification election relief
A limited liability company intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation for federal tax purposes. It failed to timely file Form 8832, so its desired classification did not…
Failed Roth conversion may be recharacterized late
A taxpayer converted part of a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA in 2009 without being told that the conversion then required modified adjusted gross income below $100,000. The taxpayer's income…
Bank error earns IRA rollover deadline waiver
A taxpayer directed a bank to roll a matured IRA certificate of deposit into a new IRA certificate. The bank instead placed the distribution in a non-IRA certificate and sent no written…
IRA rollover waiver granted only for unspent portion
A taxpayer instructed a financial institution to roll part of an IRA distribution into a new IRA after excluding the required minimum distribution. The institution instead split the intended…
Tax lien does not attach to previously conveyed half interest
Chief Counsel advised that identified IRS guidance applied to a one-half interest conveyed before assessment. For that conveyed portion, the taxpayer no longer had a property interest. The federal…
Partnership rule extends but does not shorten assessment period
Chief Counsel explained that former IRC § 6229(a) supplied a minimum assessment period for tax attributable to partnership and affected items. It could extend a partner's otherwise applicable IRC §…
Restaurants may use precise method for kitchen labor costs
Restaurants under examination held year-end inventories consisting almost entirely of raw ingredients that had not entered production. Some had not capitalized cook and preparation-cook wages, while…
Advisor paperwork error earns plan rollover waiver
A taxpayer received distributions from two retirement plans and took both checks to a financial company within 60 days intending to deposit them in a rollover IRA. The checks were payable for the…
Online application error earns IRA rollover waiver
A taxpayer withdrew funds from an IRA intending to place them in a rollover IRA certificate of deposit at another financial institution. An agent used the institution's online application…
Charter school landlord loses charitable exemption
An organization originally recognized as a section 501(c)(3) school stopped operating a school and instead acquired, renovated, and leased facilities to charter school corporations it helped create.…
Art foundation receives transfer and business-income rulings
A private operating foundation expected to receive more than 25 percent of another private operating foundation's assets before the transferor terminated its private foundation status. The IRS ruled…
Foreign subsidiary funding preserves exemption and deductions
A domestic public charity formed a wholly owned foreign nonprofit subsidiary to carry out its charitable work supporting orphan children, initially by building an orphanage in a foreign country. The…
Employer-related scholarship procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve an employer-related scholarship program for children of employees and independent contractors connected with two businesses. An independent committee of…
Beauty pageant scholarship group denied exemption
An unincorporated association sought section 501(c)(3) status to operate a local beauty pageant and fund scholarships for its contestants. It followed the rules, eligibility requirements, judging…
Mobile donation processor denied charitable exemption
An organization sought section 501(c)(3) status for a text-based donation service that let donors direct gifts to participating charities. It charged charities monthly fees plus per-message,…
Section 6721 penalty is assessable without deficiency procedures
Chief Counsel advised that the penalty under section 6721 could be assessed without following deficiency procedures. A taxpayer generally would have to pay the penalty and bring a refund suit to…
Excess foreign taxes may be carried back to a year with excess limitation
A U.S. taxpayer reported foreign-source compensation from stock options in one year, but the related Hong Kong income tax accrued in the following U.S. taxable year because Hong Kong used a…
Existing tax matters partner controls the 2012 statute extension
Chief Counsel advised that the partnership's tax matters partner for 2012 remained in that role under the regulations. Only that person could sign an agreement extending the limitations period for…
Tax reported on amended returns and partner adjustments may be assessed
Chief Counsel advised that the IRS may assess tax shown on a return, including an amended individual return. Amounts paid before or after a notice of deficiency also may be assessed. For a…
Unassessable interest may offset a refund after an NOL carryback
A net operating loss carryback reduced a taxpayer's liability for an earlier year, but section 6601(d)(1) preserved interest through the filing date for the loss year. Because the underlying tax had…
Form 872-P extension supports affected-item refund claims
Chief Counsel advised that Form 872-P extends a partner's section 6501 limitations period for partnership items and affected items. A partner generally may use the ordinary refund-claim period under…
Bundled certified warranty is not an insurance contract
A seller offered used products through a certification program that automatically included a supplement extending the original warranty. Customers could not remove the supplement, buy it separately,…
Authorized aggregate payroll return with allocation starts limitations period
Chief Counsel examined when an employment tax return filed by a third-party payor starts the section 6501 assessment period for a common-law employer. An agent authorized through Form 2678 starts…
Chinese student may claim teacher treaty benefits without leaving the United States
A Chinese resident studied in the United States and claimed the student exemption under Article 20 of the U.S.-China income tax treaty before accepting a university teaching position. Chief Counsel…
Consolidated parent may make late CNOL carryback waiver election
A consolidated parent intended to elect under Treas. Reg. § 1.1502-21(b)(3)(i) to waive the entire carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss but missed the filing deadline. The group…
Parent receives relief to file late section 338 election
A consolidated parent intended to make a section 338(g) election for a subsidiary's acquisition of all the stock of a controlled foreign corporation but failed to file a valid election by the…
LLC may elect partnership status after ownership change
A limited liability company began as a disregarded entity and later elected S corporation status, which caused it to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation. New owners then…
Trust construction preserves GST exemption without taxable gifts
A trust created under a will that became irrevocable before September 25, 1985, specifically devised real property to a grandson's issue but did not explain how to distribute proceeds after the…
Mistaken trust election does not end S corporation status
Stock of an S corporation was transferred to a trust that qualified to be an electing small business trust and was treated that way in practice. The trustee mistakenly filed a qualified subchapter S…
IRA-funded charitable bequests trigger IRD without trust deduction
A decedent's trust was the beneficiary of an IRA and owed fixed-dollar bequests to two charities that exceeded its non-IRA assets. A state court reformed the trust in an effort to treat IRA payments…
Sibling approval powers are not general powers of appointment
An irrevocable trust created separate trusts for four children and placed broad amendment, distribution, override, and termination powers in an approval committee made up of those children.…
Joint trust committee powers avoid general power treatment
An irrevocable trust established separate trusts for four children and gave an approval committee composed of those children broad powers over amendments, distributions, appointments, and…
Adverse co-holder interests prevent general appointment powers
A trust for four siblings required an approval committee made up of those siblings to consent to distributions and gave the committee broad amendment, override, appointment, and termination powers.…
Multiple sibling co-holders prevent general appointment powers
An irrevocable trust gave four sibling beneficiaries, acting as an approval committee, extensive control over trust amendments, distributions, appointments, and termination decisions. Committee…
Business separation, spinoff, and merger qualify for nonrecognition
A public company planned to separate one business through three internal distributions, contribute that business to a new domestic corporation, and distribute the new corporation's stock pro rata to…
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A partnership failed to elect under section 754 after relying on tax advisers who did not explain that the election was available. The election would adjust the basis of partnership property under…
Late accounting-period change application is treated as timely
A homeowners association filed Form 1128 after the deadline for requesting an accounting-period change under Revenue Procedure 2006-45. The IRS found that the association acted reasonably and in…
Missing tax-return copy does not invalidate section 83(b) election
A service provider received restricted company stock and timely filed a section 83(b) election within 30 days of the transfer. The return preparer later failed to attach a copy of the election to…
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.