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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Referral network denied business-league exemption
A networking group sought exemption as a business league under § 501(c)(6). Its members represented different professions, membership generally excluded direct competitors, and weekly meetings…
Trust reformation correcting clerical error was not self-dealing
A married couple amended a trust to reduce the share passing to a private foundation and increase the share passing to family members, but a clerical error left one of three remainder clauses…
Vocational scholarship procedures received advance approval
A private foundation proposed vocational scholarships for students and graduates of specified local schools who lacked sufficient funds for further education. An independent committee would select…
Service-learning scholarship procedures received advance approval
A private foundation proposed up to two annual scholarships for full-time college students in a specified department who participated in service-learning, cooperative education, or internships. The…
Trust changing U.S. status files a dual-status return
Chief Counsel addressed a trust that changes from a U.S. trust to a foreign trust, or the reverse, during a tax year. The advice treats the conversion year like the dual-status year of an individual…
Converted partnership items must be assessed against the parent
Chief Counsel advised that a disregarded-entity partner and its parent are treated as the same taxpayer for income tax liability. The disregarded entity had no separate several liability because it…
Missing Form 5471 kept the assessment period open
Chief Counsel addressed the limitations period when a taxpayer failed to file Form 5471 before the HIRE Act amended § 6501(c)(8). The pre-HIRE rule had kept the limitations period open for the…
Parent bankruptcy did not convert subsidiary partnership items
Chief Counsel advised that a parent's bankruptcy does not convert the partnership items of a nonbankrupt subsidiary that is the actual partner. The IRS could assess the subsidiary after the TEFRA…
Closed-period post-settlement comments were not prohibited ex parte contacts
Chief Counsel considered statements that examination personnel made to Appeals at a post-settlement conference without the taxpayer present. Similar statements about credibility and alleged…
IRS could send preparer information requests through the CPA's lawyer
An examining agent sought records from a CPA who had prepared amended returns reporting previously undisclosed foreign bank accounts. After initially cooperating, the CPA and an attorney claiming to…
Section 475 mark-to-market applied to basket transactions
A securities trader that had elected § 475(f) could not omit its basket transactions from mark-to-market accounting. Whether the arrangements were recharacterized as direct ownership of the…
Whether startup stock issuances caused a section 382 ownership change
Chief Counsel analyzed whether several early stock issuances by a startup loss corporation should be treated separately or integrated as part of its initial capitalization for § 382. Treating the…
Inadvertent REIT election treated as never made
A corporation intended to file as a regular C corporation until it became eligible to elect REIT status, but its return preparer mistakenly filed Form 1120-REIT for its first year. After discovering…
Blue Cross plan retained section 833 status while winding up
A nonprofit Blue Cross and Blue Shield organization sold its insurance operations to another nonprofit plan, retained disputed claims and other assets while winding up, and committed its remaining…
Nuclear decommissioning funds could pay severance and preparation costs
The IRS ruled that employee severance payments and broad categories of pre-dismantlement costs connected with shutting down two nuclear plants were nuclear decommissioning costs under § 468A. The…
REIT received 60 days to file its first election return
An investment vehicle was formed and structured with the clear intent to qualify as a REIT, but its sponsor omitted the new entity from the return-preparation engagement and a replacement tax team…
LLC received 120 days to file a retroactive corporate election
A wholly owned domestic limited liability company intended to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation from the date it became wholly owned, but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832…
Partner received 45 days to elect real-property debt exclusion
A partner's share of partnership debt cancellation potentially qualified for the § 108(c) exclusion for qualified real property business indebtedness, but the partner's tax professional overlooked…
Late GST exemption allocations received 120-day extension
A taxpayer transferred property to two irrevocable trusts with generation-skipping-transfer potential and hired a tax professional to prepare Form 709, but the professional failed to allocate or…
Taxpayer received 30 days to file duplicate Form 3115
A taxpayer timely e-filed its return with Form 3115 to change from full inclusion to deferral of qualifying advance payments, but its return preparer failed to instruct it to send the required…
Transfers to ineligible shareholders caused an inadvertent S termination
An S corporation transferred shares to two ineligible shareholders, terminating its election, but later moved those shares to eligible shareholders. The corporation represented that no one intended…
Administrative trust modifications preserved estate and GST treatment
Four irrevocable pre-September 25, 1985 trusts proposed adding distribution trustees, separating investment and distribution authority, and limiting replacement trustees by family relationship. The…
Mistaken GST allocation received retroactive correction
A grantor's accountant reported a gift to the wrong trust and failed to allocate GST exemption to the actual irrevocable trust. After the error was discovered, the grantor made a late allocation but…
Foreign entity received 120 days for partnership election
After a married U.S. couple became the owners of a foreign eligible entity, the entity intended to elect partnership classification but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found…
Foreign reorganization and stock offerings did not create a surrogate foreign corporation
A foreign parent planned an F reorganization moving a foreign subsidiary under a newly formed foreign corporation, followed by a private placement and public offering. The IRS ruled that offering…
Repeated transfers to an ineligible shareholder were inadvertent S terminations
An S corporation twice transferred shares to an ineligible shareholder because its owners did not know the shareholder was prohibited from holding S corporation stock. After discovering the problem,…
Roth recharacterization relief granted after return preparer misconduct
A taxpayer instructed a financial institution to recharacterize five Roth IRAs after their values declined, but his longtime return preparer failed to file the taxpayer's return and did not disclose…
Minimum funding waiver granted with contribution and collateral conditions
A company sought a waiver of its pension plan's minimum funding standard after a prolonged economic downturn caused operating losses and weaker cash flow. The IRS concluded that the business…
IRA rollover waiver granted after adviser-led investment loss
Two taxpayers withdrew amounts from three retirement accounts after a financial adviser proposed a short-term investment that was supposed to return principal and interest within the 60-day rollover…
IRA rollover waiver granted after illness impaired financial decisions
Shortly after hospitalization for possible amnesia, a taxpayer experienced months of dizziness, headaches, and confusion and moved maturing IRA certificates of deposit into a taxable non-IRA account…
Lump-sum window for current annuitants did not violate distribution rules
A company proposed amending two defined benefit plans to offer a one-time, 180-day window in which participants, alternate payees, and beneficiaries already receiving annuities could elect lump-sum…
IRS approves grants supporting mid-career poets
A private foundation proposed grants for mid-career American poets to develop original lectures on poetry and poetics for free public presentation. A knowledgeable selection committee would identify…
Automobile foremen association denied tax-exempt status
A membership association organized educational meetings for automobile dealership foremen working with one manufacturer's vehicles. The IRS concluded that the association primarily benefited its…
Broadband gateway cooperative denied section 501(c)(12) exemption
A state-law telephone cooperative provided gateway and network-traffic services to telecommunications companies seeking access to a 4G broadband network. The IRS found that it was not operated as a…
Dissolved TEFRA entities could not perform every procedural act
Chief Counsel advised that a TEFRA proceeding could continue despite dissolution of the partnership because the proceeding operated for the partners and did not depend on the entity's continued…
S corporation received retroactive QEF election relief
An S corporation invested in a publicly traded foreign corporation that was a passive foreign investment company, but two qualified tax firms failed to identify the PFIC status or advise the…
Charitable trust received retroactive QEF election relief
A domestic charitable trust invested in a publicly traded foreign corporation that was a passive foreign investment company, but its qualified tax firm failed to identify the PFIC status or advise…
Charitable trust received retroactive QEF election after repeated adviser failures
A domestic charitable trust invested in a foreign passive investment company, but two successive trustees and a later tax firm all failed to identify the PFIC status or advise the trust about a…
Charitable trust received retroactive QEF election relief
A domestic charitable trust invested in a publicly traded foreign corporation that was a passive foreign investment company, but its qualified tax firm failed to identify the PFIC status or advise…
Individual received retroactive QEF election relief
A U.S. individual invested in a publicly traded foreign corporation that was a passive foreign investment company, but his qualified tax firm failed to identify the PFIC status or advise him about a…
Individual received retroactive QEF election relief
A U.S. individual invested in a publicly traded foreign corporation that was a passive foreign investment company, but his qualified tax firm failed to identify the PFIC status or advise him about a…
Taxpayer received retroactive QEF election relief
A U.S. citizen acquired direct and indirect interests in a foreign passive foreign investment company while he was a minor. His parents and later the taxpayer relied on qualified tax firms that…
Taxpayer received retroactive QEF election relief
A U.S. citizen acquired direct and indirect interests in a Canadian passive foreign investment company while he was a minor. His parents and later the taxpayer relied on qualified tax firms that…
Married taxpayers received retroactive QEF election relief
A married U.S. couple acquired direct and indirect interests in a foreign passive foreign investment company. They relied on two qualified tax firms that failed to identify the PFIC or advise them…
Outdoor advertising company received REIT qualification rulings
A corporation that owned and leased outdoor advertising displays planned to elect REIT status and to treat qualifying displays as real property under section 1033(g)(3). The IRS ruled that specified…
QDOT received more time to report surviving spouse's citizenship
A surviving spouse who was not a U.S. citizen when the decedent died later became a citizen after continuously residing in the United States. The trustee of the qualified domestic trust relied on an…
Outdoor advertising company received REIT income and asset rulings
A corporate group that built and leased outdoor advertising displays planned to elect REIT status and to treat specified displays as real property under section 1033(g)(3). The IRS ruled that rents…
Estate received more time to elect alternate valuation
An estate's executors relied on accountants to prepare a timely Form 706, but the accountants neither made the section 2032 alternate valuation election nor advised the executors that it was…
Consolidated group received more time to elect extended NOL carryback
A federal agency acting as receiver and authorized agent for a consolidated group sought to carry a consolidated net operating loss back beyond the usual two-year period under section 172(b)(1)(H).…
Consolidated group received more time to elect extended NOL carryback
A federal agency acting as receiver and authorized agent for a consolidated group sought to carry a consolidated net operating loss back beyond the usual two-year period under section 172(b)(1)(H).…
Consolidated group received more time to elect extended NOL carryback
A federal agency acting as receiver and authorized agent for a consolidated group sought to carry a consolidated net operating loss back beyond the usual two-year period under section 172(b)(1)(H).…
Consolidated group received more time to elect extended NOL carryback
A federal agency acting as receiver and authorized agent for a consolidated group sought to carry a consolidated net operating loss back beyond the usual two-year period under section 172(b)(1)(H).…
Consolidated group received more time to elect extended NOL carryback
A federal agency acting as receiver and authorized agent for a consolidated group sought to carry a consolidated net operating loss back beyond the usual two-year period under section 172(b)(1)(H).…
Consolidated group received more time to elect extended NOL carryback
A federal agency acting as receiver and authorized agent for a consolidated group sought to carry a consolidated net operating loss back beyond the usual two-year period under section 172(b)(1)(H).…
Consolidated group received more time to elect extended NOL carryback
A federal agency acting as receiver and authorized agent for a consolidated group sought to carry a consolidated net operating loss back beyond the usual two-year period under section 172(b)(1)(H).…
Consolidated group received more time to elect extended NOL carryback
A federal agency acting as receiver and authorized agent for a consolidated group sought to carry a consolidated net operating loss back beyond the usual two-year period under section 172(b)(1)(H).…
Consolidated group received more time to elect extended NOL carryback
A federal agency acting as receiver and authorized agent for a consolidated group sought to carry a consolidated net operating loss back beyond the usual two-year period under section 172(b)(1)(H).…
Foreign entity received more time to elect partnership status
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes but failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the entity satisfied the requirements for…
Corporation received inadvertent invalid S election relief
A corporation's S election was invalid because two shareholder trusts intended to qualify as electing small business trusts, but their trustees failed to file the required ESBT elections. The…
Consolidated group received more time to elect extended NOL carryback
A federal agency acting as receiver and authorized agent for a consolidated group sought to carry a consolidated net operating loss back beyond the usual two-year period under section 172(b)(1)(H).…
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.