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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Corporation received 60 days to make a missed basis-reduction election
A corporation transferred built-in-loss assets to its wholly owned subsidiary in transactions represented to qualify under § 351. It missed the deadline for jointly electing under § 362(e)(2)(C) to…
Corporation received 60 days to make a missed basis-reduction election
A corporation transferred built-in-loss assets to its wholly owned subsidiary in transactions represented to qualify under § 351. It missed the deadline for jointly electing under § 362(e)(2)(C) to…
Corporation received 60 days to file its missed IC-DISC election
A newly formed domestic corporation intended to elect interest charge domestic international sales corporation status for its first tax year. Its accountant believed its attorney would file Form…
Multi-step corporate separation qualified for tax-free reorganization treatment
The IRS approved the principal federal income tax consequences of a multinational group's plan to separate two business lines through a long series of internal restructurings and stock…
Loss corporation received 60 days for a missed closing-of-the-books election
A loss corporation underwent an ownership change that limited its use of pre-change losses under § 382. It intended to elect the closing-of-the-books method for allocating income and losses between…
REIT bankruptcy recoveries received favorable gross-income-test treatment
A publicly traded REIT sought guidance on amounts recovered from a former tenant's bankruptcy estate after the tenant defaulted on a master lease. The recovery included unpaid lease obligations,…
Corporation preserved S status after a missed QSST election
A corporation's S election was ineffective because the beneficiary of a shareholder trust did not timely elect qualified subchapter S trust treatment. The trust was represented to have met the…
Two historic buildings counted as one project for the rehabilitation credit
A developer was renovating two adjacent historic buildings as a mixed-use cultural and commercial development. One building had a disqualified lease to a tax-exempt tenant, so the developer asked…
Consolidated parent received 60 days to file missed basis elections
A consolidated parent moved a built-in-loss asset through three subsidiaries and then into a disregarded entity. The federal basis-reduction rule in § 362(e)(2) did not apply to the intercompany…
Consolidated group received 60 days to waive its CNOL carryback period
The common parent of a consolidated group intended to waive the entire carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss but failed to attach a valid election to the loss-year return. The group…
Non-pro-rata trust partitions preserved GST exemption without gifts or gain
Three trusts created under a decedent's will before September 25, 1985 proposed non-pro-rata partitions after appointing successor trustees. Each original trust would retain its limited liability…
Non-pro-rata trust partitions preserved GST exemption without gifts or gain
Three trusts created under a decedent's will before September 25, 1985 proposed non-pro-rata partitions after appointing successor trustees. Each original trust would retain its limited liability…
Three distributions and two mergers received tax-free reorganization treatment
A publicly held parent reorganized regulated business operations within its consolidated group. A subsidiary contributed one business to a controlled corporation and distributed that corporation to…
Increasing a refined-coal reagent rate did not change the production process
A disregarded subsidiary leased and operated a facility that mixed coal with two chemical reagents to reduce nitrogen oxide and mercury emissions. Testing showed emission reductions above the…
Refined-coal process, testing, and facility changes received favorable rulings
A partnership operated two production lines that mixed coal blends with chemical additives to reduce nitrogen oxide and mercury emissions. The IRS ruled that the resulting product could constitute…
Refined-coal process, testing, and facility changes received favorable rulings
A partnership operated two production lines that mixed coal blends with chemical additives to reduce nitrogen oxide and mercury emissions. The IRS ruled that the resulting product could constitute…
Spouses received 120 days to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A husband created and funded three irrevocable trusts for his children, and the spouses elected to split the gifts on timely Forms 709. Their attorney did not advise them that they also needed to…
Liquidating subsidiary's stock loss was disallowed only to the receivable basis amount
A consolidated group sought a second supplement to earlier rulings involving a subsidiary that left the group and liquidated one day after adopting a liquidation plan. During the preceding five…
Full ADIT rate-base reduction complied with utility normalization rules
A regulated natural-gas utility had net operating loss carryforwards and a minimum tax credit carryforward while maintaining an accumulated deferred income tax reserve for accelerated depreciation.…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
A decedent died after portability became available but the estate did not file Form 706 by the normal deadline to transfer the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The…
Farm-credit patronage dividends were excluded from REIT income tests
A publicly held timber REIT borrowed from farm-credit cooperatives to finance timberland acquisitions and refinance related debt. The cooperative lenders paid patronage dividends based on the amount…
Coal-management and drilling-support revenue qualified under § 7704
A publicly traded partnership managed a coal-mining joint venture and received management fees, cost reimbursements, and cost-sharing payments. It also built drill pads, access roads, and…
Consolidated group received 60 days for a missed extended CNOL carryback election
The common parent of a consolidated group missed the election to use an extended carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss. The IRS found that the parent reasonably relied on a…
Shareholder business split qualified as a tax-free Type D reorganization
Two shareholders of a closely held corporation disagreed over management of separate divisions. The corporation proposed transferring one division and its controlled foreign corporation stock to a…
S corporation shareholder split qualified as a tax-free Type D reorganization
Two equal shareholders of an S corporation sought to resolve their conflict by separating two businesses. One shareholder would contribute cash to equalize value, the S corporation would transfer…
Non-pro-rata trust partitions preserved GST exemption without gifts or gain
Three trusts created under a decedent's will before September 25, 1985 proposed non-pro-rata partitions after appointing successor trustees. Each original trust would retain its limited liability…
Consolidated group received 60 days to waive its CNOL carryback period
The common parent of a consolidated group intended to waive the entire carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss but failed to file a valid election with the loss-year return. The group…
Corporation preserved S status after a trust held stock too long
After a shareholder died, the estate distributed S corporation shares to a trust that was temporarily eligible to hold them. The trust failed to transfer the shares to eligible shareholders before…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
A decedent's estate did not file Form 706 by the normal deadline to transfer the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The executor represented that the gross estate was…
Corporation received 60 days to make a missed basis-reduction election
A corporation transferred built-in-loss assets to its wholly owned subsidiary in transactions represented to qualify under § 351. It missed the deadline for jointly electing under § 362(e)(2)(C) to…
Foreign entity received 120 days to make a disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect disregarded-entity treatment from a specified effective date but did not timely file Form 8832. The entity represented that it was eligible to make that…
Estate received 120 days to elect special-use valuation for ranch land
A decedent's estate included ranch land held in a revocable trust. The trustee timely filed Form 706, but the accountant did not advise that the estate could elect special-use valuation under §…
Taxpayer received 45 days to elect the success-based-fee safe harbor
A taxpayer paid a success-based investment-banking fee in a corporate acquisition and capitalized the entire amount on its short-year return. It intended to elect the Revenue Procedure 2011-29 safe…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
A decedent's estate did not file Form 706 by the normal deadline to transfer the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse, who served as executrix. The executrix represented…
Corporation preserved S status after beneficiaries missed QSST elections
After a shareholder died, S corporation shares passed to a family trust that was eligible to hold them for two years. When that period expired, three separate shares were intended to qualify as…
Court-approved trust severance preserved GST exemption without gifts, estate inclusion, or gain
A pre-1985 irrevocable trust became the subject of fiduciary and beneficiary litigation over investments, management, and family-owned farmland corporations. A court-approved settlement proposed…
Foreign entity received 120 days to make a disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect disregarded-entity treatment from the date it was formed but did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS found that the entity satisfied the standards for…
Limited appointment preserved a pre-1985 trust's GST exemption
A granddaughter held a limited power to appoint assets from a pre-September 25, 1985 irrevocable trust to another trust for her son. Neither her power nor the son's new powers could benefit the…
Corporation preserved S status after a missed ESBT election
A trust holding S corporation shares ceased to be an eligible shareholder, terminating the corporation's S election. The trust was represented to qualify as an electing small business trust, but its…
Donors received 120 days to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation
Two donors created three irrevocable trusts for their children and transferred property to each trust. Their accountant prepared timely Forms 709 but omitted the statements needed to elect out of…
Estate could not supplement Form 8939 to correct its unrealized-loss allocation
An estate timely filed Form 8939 for a decedent who died in 2010, but its tax professional mistakenly reported that the decedent owned only a fraction of a closely held company rather than all of…
Court settlements did not disturb a trust's zero GST inclusion ratio
A decedent's trust had a zero generation-skipping transfer tax inclusion ratio because sufficient GST exemption had been allocated to it. Years of family litigation produced a court-approved…
Incapacitated IRA owner received a 60-day rollover waiver
An IRA owner's son, acting under a power of attorney, withdrew funds and placed them in a nonretirement trust because he believed another family member might appropriate the assets. The owner had…
Beneficiaries could not extend the required-distribution deadline
Two daughters learned only after the deadline that they were designated beneficiaries of their father's profit-sharing and money-purchase pension plans. The IRS declined to extend the statutory…
Bank error qualified a late pension-to-IRA rollover for a waiver
A participant elected a direct rollover of a lump-sum pension distribution to another plan. The trustee issued a check payable to itself for the participant's benefit but mailed the check to the…
Mandatory public-plan contributions were picked up and plan transfers were not taxable
A state retirement system added mandatory employee contributions equal to 3 percent of compensation to its defined benefit and defined contribution plans. Participating employers deducted the…
Charity lost exemption after its assets served its trustee's private interests
The IRS revoked a trust's § 501(c)(3) status retroactively after finding that it operated primarily for the personal benefit of its trustee and related private parties. The examination report…
Credit-counseling organization lost exemption for commercial activity and private benefit
The IRS revoked a credit-counseling organization's § 501(c)(3) status after finding that its fee-based debt-management program served a substantial commercial purpose. The examination report said…
Foundation matching gifts avoid private-foundation excise taxes
A private foundation took over most payments under the matching-gift program of its sole corporate contributor, which shared the foundation's officers and directors. The foundation limited matches…
Half of a private foundation's assets may move to a related foundation
Two siblings who controlled a private foundation developed different charitable goals. The foundation proposed transferring half of its assets, for no consideration and not from current income, to…
Recipient foundation may accept half of a related foundation's assets
A private foundation controlled by one sibling proposed receiving half of another private foundation's assets after two siblings developed different charitable goals. The transfer would be for no…
Private foundation loses exemption for self-dealing and nonexempt activity
A private foundation formed to operate a residential center for people with autism failed for years to carry out that purpose. The examination report found that the founder's adult child was the…
Global education program preserves exemption and avoids unrelated business income
A public charity operated educational programs focused on global business and leadership. It proposed replacing one program with a multi-country program managed by a foreign nonprofit controlled by…
Planned religious community denied exemption for private benefit
An organization sought section 501(c)(3) status as a church while planning a residential, recreational, educational, and retreat community on land owned by its founder. Its religious services…
Former citizen may make a retroactive QEF election
A former U.S. citizen indirectly owned a foreign corporation that was a passive foreign investment company while the taxpayer remained a citizen. The taxpayer's original tax adviser did not identify…
Former citizen may make a retroactive QEF election
A former U.S. citizen indirectly owned a foreign corporation that was a passive foreign investment company while the taxpayer remained a citizen. The taxpayer's original tax adviser did not identify…
Former citizen may make a retroactive QEF election
A former U.S. citizen indirectly owned a foreign corporation that was a passive foreign investment company while the taxpayer remained a citizen. The taxpayer's original tax adviser did not identify…
Former citizen may make a retroactive QEF election
A former U.S. citizen indirectly owned a foreign corporation that was a passive foreign investment company while the taxpayer remained a citizen. The taxpayer's original tax adviser did not identify…
Former citizen may make a retroactive QEF election
A former U.S. citizen indirectly owned a foreign corporation that was a passive foreign investment company while the taxpayer remained a citizen. The taxpayer's original tax adviser did not identify…
Former citizen may make a retroactive QEF election
A former U.S. citizen indirectly owned a foreign corporation that was a passive foreign investment company while the taxpayer remained a citizen. The taxpayer's original tax adviser did not identify…
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.