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.
Late ESBT election does not end S corporation status
A grantor trust held shares of an S corporation, but its grantor-trust status later ended and the trustee failed to elect electing small business trust status. The trust then became an ineligible…
Subsidiary merger into a disregarded LLC qualifies as a reorganization
A public parent proposed forming a disregarded LLC and merging a lower-tier corporate subsidiary into it under state law. The subsidiary's shareholder would receive only parent stock, while the…
REIT segment contributions and spin-offs receive nonrecognition rulings
A publicly traded REIT proposed separating either or both of two business segments into newly formed controlled REITs. Its operating partnership would contribute the relevant segment assets to a new…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Retained powers make trust funding an incomplete gift
A grantor proposed an irrevocable family trust whose distribution committee could direct payments and whose grantor retained consent, sole-distribution, and limited testamentary appointment powers.…
Grantor-trust remainder sale does not bar ESBT status
An individual planned to contribute S corporation stock to a new grantor trust that would elect to be an electing small business trust, then sell the new trust's remainder interest to another trust…
Grantor-trust remainder sale does not bar ESBT status
An individual planned to contribute S corporation stock to a new grantor trust that would elect to be an electing small business trust, then sell the new trust's remainder interest to another trust…
Separate insurance fund avoids investor-control ownership
An investment company planned a new regulated investment company series available only through life insurance and variable annuity separate accounts, plus limited permitted holders. The new…
Corporation receives late S election relief
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from a specified date but did not file its election on time. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing and granted relief under §…
Administrative trustee changes preserve trust tax treatment
A settlor and the trustees of four irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985, proposed adding a distribution trustee and revising how trustees could be replaced. A beneficiary could…
Corporation receives extra time for IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, but its accounting and law firms each mistakenly believed the other would file Form…
Pharmaceutical support company is a qualified trade or business
Shareholders asked whether a company that helped pharmaceutical clients commercialize experimental drugs was disqualified from § 1202 because its work was close to the health field. The company…
Inactive arts school loses tax-exempt status
An arts school had been recognized as exempt under § 501(c)(3), but its president told the IRS that it had stopped operating after losing funding and had no operational or financial activity for…
Missed statements do not defeat section 1042 election
A shareholder sold closely held company stock to the company's employee stock ownership plan and intended to defer the gain under § 1042 by purchasing qualified replacement property. One accounting…
Issuer may revise bond allocations and spend reserve earnings
A public issuer financed an electric generating project with tax-exempt bonds and direct-pay Build America Bonds, then expected project costs to be lower than originally estimated. The IRS ruled…
Acquiring group receives more time for loss-expiration election
After acquiring a consolidated target group, an acquiring group failed to elect to treat a specified amount of the target's unusable consolidated net capital losses as expiring immediately before…
Rehabilitated insurer may include deferred claim obligations in losses
A non-life insurer restructured certain policies through a court-supervised rehabilitation plan after suffering significant losses. For each allowed claim, the insurer would pay a cash portion…
Trustee changes and unitrust conversion avoid gift tax
Before October 8, 1990, family members used their own funds to buy life and remainder interests in real property, and sale proceeds later entered an irrevocable trust preserving those interests. The…
Trustee changes and unitrust conversion avoid gift tax
Before October 8, 1990, family members used their own funds to buy life and remainder interests in real property, and sale proceeds later entered an irrevocable trust preserving those interests. The…
Trustee changes and unitrust conversion avoid gift tax
Before October 8, 1990, family members used their own funds to buy life and remainder interests in real property, and sale proceeds later entered an irrevocable trust preserving those interests. The…
Trustee changes and unitrust conversion avoid gift tax
Before October 8, 1990, family members used their own funds to buy life and remainder interests in real property, and sale proceeds later entered an irrevocable trust preserving those interests. The…
Indexed structured settlement and hardship option qualify under section 130
An assignment company planned to assume responsibility for structured settlement payments owed to a person permanently injured in an accident. The payments could increase annually with the S&P 500…
Corporate split-off qualifies as a tax-free reorganization
A public company proposed separating one business into a controlled corporation and distributing that corporation's two series of stock to holders of the corresponding tracking-stock series. Before…
Late original issue discount elections receive filing relief
A corporate group and its bank subsidiary treated interest on credit card receivables acquired in 2009 and 2010 as original issue discount but failed to attach the required annual election…
Bankruptcy group receives section 382 ownership-change rulings
A consolidated corporate group reorganized in chapter 11 and combined with another company, causing an ownership change under § 382. The plan distributed new stock and related rights to creditors,…
Late section 338(h)(10) election receives filing relief
A corporate purchaser acquired all the stock of an S corporation from individual sellers and intended to make a joint § 338(h)(10) election. The parties filed their returns consistently with the…
Late bonus depreciation elections receive filing relief
A consolidated corporate group claimed 100-percent first-year depreciation for eligible components of larger self-constructed properties placed in service during two tax years. The returns applied…
Divorce transfer does not modify substantially equal IRA payments
An IRA owner began a series of substantially equal periodic payments calculated under Revenue Ruling 2002-62. After the owner and a former spouse divorced, the decree required about half of the IRA…
Financial institution error receives 60-day rollover waiver
A participant asked to roll an entire employee stock ownership plan account directly into an IRA. Cash moved to the IRA, but a financial institution declined to hold two promissory notes and failed…
Pension lump-sum window satisfies minimum distribution rules
A company proposed a limited window allowing certain pension participants and beneficiaries already receiving annuities to elect a lump sum or a different annuity form. The company represented that…
Bank error receives 60-day IRA rollover waiver
An IRA owner's certificate of deposit matured, and she instructed a nearby financial institution to place the proceeds in a rollover IRA. The institution instead opened a certificate of deposit…
Hedged stock funds avoid debt-financed income treatment
A charitable remainder unitrust proposed investing through partnerships that maintained offsetting long and short stock positions. The funds would borrow securities, not money, for short sales and…
Retiree VEBA settlement is exempt function income
A tax-exempt voluntary employees' beneficiary association was created through a bankruptcy settlement to provide medical reimbursements for eligible retirees and their families. The debtors paid the…
Hedged stock funds avoid debt-financed income treatment
A charitable remainder unitrust proposed investing through partnerships that maintained offsetting long and short stock positions. The funds would borrow securities, not money, for short sales and…
Business-focused Wi-Fi project denied charitable status
A nonprofit built a free public Wi-Fi network and sold participating businesses equipment, private network access, and advertising benefits intended to increase customer traffic and sales. The…
Online sorority denied social-club exemption
A national online sorority for students of a for-profit online university sought exemption as a social club under § 501(c)(7). Most recruiting, training, meetings, classes, and support groups…
Late portfolio-interest documentation depends on refund period
A financial institution treated interest paid to two nonresident individuals as portfolio interest but lacked the required foreign-status documentation when it made the payments. Chief Counsel…
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.