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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QDOT received more time to report surviving spouse's citizenship
A qualified domestic trust's surviving spouse became a U.S. citizen after continuously residing in the United States, but the co-trustees did not file the required final Form 706-QDT. Although tax…
Noteholder consent payments received debt-modification rulings
A public corporation planned a spin-off and considered paying holders of contingent-payment debentures for consent to amend a successor covenant and avoid litigation. The IRS ruled that the cash…
Structured settlement reorganization received tax-free transfer rulings
An insurance group proposed moving structured-settlement obligations, related annuity contracts, and cash from one subsidiary to another before merging the transferor into an affiliated insurer. The…
Partnership received more time to start housing credit period
A partnership placed a low-income housing building in service but inadvertently failed to elect to begin the section 42 credit period in that year. The IRS found that the requirements for…
Plan participant received waiver for late rollover of loan offset
A retirement-plan participant with Parkinson's disease took disability leave while medication side effects impaired his memory and ability to manage daily details. His employer later changed his…
Surviving spouse may roll trust-held IRA proceeds into her own IRA
A decedent named a revocable trust established by his spouse as the beneficiary of his IRA. The spouse was the trust's sole trustee and could withdraw its income or principal and amend or revoke it…
Taxpayer received waiver after retirement check went to an old address
A former employee's retirement plan terminated after the employer was acquired. The plan sent distribution information and a check to an address the taxpayer had not used for almost four years, so…
Sole beneficiary and executor may roll estate-held IRA proceeds into her own IRA
A decedent named his estate as beneficiary of an IRA and left the estate's remainder to his surviving spouse after payment of debts, funeral costs, and administrative expenses. The spouse was also…
Trust owner and sole trustee may roll IRA proceeds into her own IRAs
A decedent named a revocable trust established by his spouse as the beneficiary of his IRA. After his death, that IRA was transferred to another IRA for the trust's benefit. The spouse was the…
Pension surplus may return to employer without reversion tax
A company terminated a defined benefit pension plan and contributed an estimated amount needed to buy an annuity covering all benefits. After all participant liabilities were satisfied, money…
Multiemployer plan received five-year funding extension
A multiemployer pension plan requested more time to amortize unfunded liabilities. The plan's actuary certified that without an extension the plan would have a funding deficiency in the current or…
Surviving spouse received extra time to roll over inherited annuity funds
A surviving spouse received a lump-sum distribution from her late husband's section 403(b) annuity after friends mistakenly requested that form of payment. She contacted her longtime investment…
Trust could divide inherited IRA among 18 beneficiaries without immediate tax
A decedent named a trust as beneficiary of four IRAs, which were consolidated into one IRA after his death. After other specified distributions, the trust had 18 remaining individual beneficiaries…
Annuity death benefits qualified as direct IRA transfers despite incorrect forms
A decedent's trust was the beneficiary of four annuities held in an IRA. The investment adviser's assistant mistakenly completed claim forms requesting checks payable to the trust instead of direct…
Sole executor and beneficiary could roll estate IRA into her own IRA
A husband named the beneficiary of his IRA through his will, and his wife became the sole beneficiary and sole personal representative of his estate. The original IRA was transferred to an estate…
Car club kept exemption despite advertising and sponsorship income
An automobile owners' club exempt under section 501(c)(7) earned income from magazine advertising, racing-event sponsorships, and a members-only car raffle. The IRS concluded that publishing the…
Electricity market administrator could act as central counterparty
A regional transmission organization asked whether becoming the central counterparty for transactions in its wholesale electricity markets would affect its section 501(c)(6) exemption or produce…
Foundation could hold passive foreign investments through wholly owned corporation
A private foundation planned to create and wholly own a foreign corporation to manage foreign investments, including distressed debt. The corporation would earn at least 95 percent of its income…
Private foundation received advance approval for scholarship procedures
A private foundation proposed scholarships for students in specified engineering, arts, and sciences programs at two colleges. Applicants would be evaluated on financial need, grades, character…
Foundation received approval for scholarships and service-oriented educational grants
A private foundation proposed grants for college students and recent graduates participating in educational programs, service projects, internships, and fellowships. Applicants had to meet academic,…
Consulting organization denied exemption for commercial fee-based operations
A nonprofit applicant provided grant-proposal, organizational, and policy consulting to faith-based groups, charities, local governments, and other clients. Its renewable contracts required deposits…
Exemption revoked for seller-funded homebuyer assistance and insider benefits
A tax-exempt organization made down-payment assistance available to homebuyers without income limits, while home sellers funded the assistance and paid processing fees only when sales closed. The…
Social club lost exemption after opening membership to public patrons
A social club allowed nonmembers to obtain free annual “Social Member” cards so they could enter the club and purchase alcohol. This class had no meaningful admission requirements, no voting rights,…
Bingo operator lost exemption and owed tax on instant pull-tab games
A nonprofit organization’s only operating activities were traditional bingo and instant pull-tab games, with most reported profits intended for youth associations. The IRS concluded that operating…
Taxpayer received an IRA rollover deadline waiver after a bank delay
A taxpayer withdrew funds from an IRA and instructed a financial institution to transfer the amount to another IRA within the 60-day rollover period. The institution did not complete the transfer…
Pension plan received a conditional extension for funding its liabilities
A frozen multiple-employer pension plan requested more time to amortize its unfunded liabilities because many participating employers were under financial stress. The IRS conditionally extended the…
IRA rollover deadline waived after funds entered the wrong account
A taxpayer withdrew IRA funds after a financial-institution employee advised that moving them to another account would produce a higher interest rate without changing their IRA status. The taxpayer…
Illness supported a waiver for three inherited-IRA rollovers
A taxpayer inherited three IRAs from her deceased spouse and received distributions from each account. She deposited the money into checking accounts rather than completing rollovers within 60 days.…
Medical impairment supported a qualified-plan rollover waiver
A taxpayer received a distribution from a qualified retirement plan and intended to roll it into an IRA. During the 60-day rollover period, a medical condition impaired her ability to complete the…
Bank miscommunication supported an IRA rollover waiver
A taxpayer took a full distribution from an IRA and brought the check to a bank intending to keep the funds in an IRA certificate of deposit. She told the bank representative that she wanted a CD…
Rollover waiver denied when taxpayer simply forgot the deadline
A taxpayer received an IRA distribution, deposited it in a nonqualified checking account, and intended to move it to another IRA. He knew about the 60-day rollover deadline but forgot to act until…
Cemetery could buy related-party land at independently appraised value
A tax-exempt family cemetery proposed buying about five acres of adjacent undeveloped land from two trusts. Several cemetery board members were beneficiaries of one or both trusts, creating a…
Employer-related scholarships received advance approval
A private foundation proposed one-year scholarships for children of employees in a group of related companies who were entering college, university, or vocational school. An independent committee of…
Social club could support a separate event organization without attributing its receipts
A tax-exempt social club helped establish a separate social welfare organization to conduct events open to members and nonmembers. The new organization was separately incorporated, independently…
Home-sale exclusion did not absorb suspended passive rental losses
A taxpayer used a home as a principal residence, converted it to a rental property, and accumulated suspended passive activity losses. The taxpayer then sold the entire rental activity to an…
IRS could invalidate an effectively connected income withholding claim after repeated nonfiling
A foreign beneficial owner gave a withholding agent Forms W-8ECI claiming that payments were effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business and exempt from withholding. The beneficial owner did…
Product service contract reinsurer qualified as an insurance company
A newly formed foreign company planned to assume an insurer’s obligations for product service contracts sold by a particular retailer. The service contracts covered mechanical-failure risks after…
Corporation received 90 days to make its late REIT election
A corporation intended to qualify as a real estate investment trust beginning with its first taxable year. Its accounting firm encountered an electronic extension rejection, then filed an extension…
Corporation received 90 days to correct its missed REIT election
A corporation intended to qualify as a real estate investment trust beginning with its first taxable year. Its accounting firm encountered an electronic extension rejection, then filed an extension…
Spouses received more time to elect out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A husband created and funded two grantor retained annuity trusts, and each trust’s assets later passed to a family trust for descendants when its annuity term ended. The husband and wife each…
Redevelopment tax credit refunds were qualifying REIT assets and income
A real estate investment trust redeveloped contaminated land and became eligible for two refundable state franchise tax credits tied to remediation, construction, operation, and real property taxes.…
School district received more time to spend bond proceeds
A public school district issued qualified school construction bonds to expand and rehabilitate a roughly 140-year-old school. Historic-district design changes, unexpectedly extensive fire damage, a…
Insolvent terminated pension plan was denied a funding-extension modification
A collectively bargained multiemployer pension plan had previously received a conditional ten-year extension for amortizing unfunded liabilities. The plan later missed an agreed funded-ratio…
Fraud justified a waiver of the IRA rollover deadline
An IRA owner directed two transfers to a financial entity that claimed it could serve as custodian of a new self-directed real estate IRA. The entity was not qualified as an IRA custodian, and its…
Fraud justified late rollovers from two IRAs
An IRA owner directed transfers from two existing IRAs to a financial entity that claimed it could serve as custodian of a new self-directed real estate IRA. The entity was not a qualified IRA…
Existing work and family pressures did not justify a late IRA rollover
An IRA owner took a distribution after suffering investment losses and intended to roll it into an account at another financial institution. During the rollover period, she worked long hours, cared…
Financial mismanagement by an agent justified a late IRA rollover
An assisted-living resident had given her brother power of attorney over all financial matters, and the ruling record included a physician’s letter stating that she was being treated for senile…
Reliance on an adviser justified late Roth IRA recharacterizations
A taxpayer converted portions of a traditional IRA into two Roth IRAs in 2010. His financial adviser explained that declining investments could be recharacterized back to traditional IRAs but did…
Spinoff shares retained employer-security treatment for net unrealized appreciation
A company spun off a subsidiary, and assets attributable to the subsidiary’s employees were transferred from one profit-sharing and employee stock ownership plan to another. The IRS ruled that the…
Limited lump sum window did not violate minimum distribution rules
A frozen defined benefit plan proposed a 60-to-90-day window allowing participants, beneficiaries, and alternate payees already receiving annuities to elect a lump sum or another available annuity…
Scholarship procedures for students overcoming difficulties received approval
A private foundation proposed scholarships for students who had overcome difficulties to finish high school, needed financial help, and did not qualify for academic or athletic scholarships. Its…
High school scholarship procedures received advance approval
A private foundation proposed scholarships for graduating seniors from a specified high school who would attend accredited four-year U.S. colleges or universities. A committee consisting of the…
Scholarship procedures for high school students and adults received advance approval
A private foundation proposed scholarships for local high school graduates and adults seeking degrees, work-related classes, or trade training. High school recipients had to maintain a 3.0…
Private foundation merger and later termination avoided excise taxes
An irrevocable charitable trust proposed transferring all its assets to another private foundation controlled by the same people, merging into that foundation, and then voluntarily terminating. A…
Synagogue exemption denied for unsupported and inconsistent operations
An organization applied for section 501(c)(3) recognition and classification as a synagogue. The IRS found that unexplained cash withdrawals, weak financial controls, and incomplete records left…
Inadvertently invalid S corporation election received retroactive relief
A limited partnership elected to be taxed as a corporation and also filed an S corporation election. The IRS initially rejected the S election because one shareholder was an ineligible corporation.…
Real estate professional status is determined before testing each rental activity
Chief Counsel advised that the section 469(c)(7)(B) tests for qualifying taxpayer status do not apply separately to each rental property when a taxpayer has not elected to combine all rental real…
Limited testamentary appointment power did not cause estate inclusion
A trust beneficiary held a testamentary power to appoint trust property among the descendants of one of the settlor's children. A state court declared that the power did not permit appointments to…
Limited testamentary appointment power did not cause estate inclusion
A trust beneficiary held a testamentary power to appoint trust property among the descendants of one of the settlor's children. A state court declared that the power did not permit appointments to…
Limited testamentary appointment power did not cause estate inclusion
A trust beneficiary held a testamentary power to appoint trust property among the descendants of one of the settlor's children. A state court declared that the power did not permit appointments 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.