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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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 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 the…
LLC receives 120 days to make a late corporate election
A limited liability company intended from its formation date to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation for federal tax purposes. It inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 by the…
Insurance-only funds avoid investor-control ownership
An investment adviser planned regulated investment company funds available only through insurance company separate accounts and other permitted holders. Each fund would invest in publicly available…
Alternative basis recovery approved for contingent sale
A partnership's disregarded subsidiary sold another disregarded subsidiary for an initial payment, assumed liabilities, and formula-based contingent payments over seven years. The normal…
Tanker charter income qualifies for publicly traded partnership
A newly formed limited partnership planned a public offering and an initial fleet of product tankers. Under time charters, the partnership would provide the crews and remain responsible for vessel…
Extended bankruptcy trust remains a liquidating trust
A trust created under a Chapter 11 plan was established to liquidate and distribute estate assets, not to carry on a business. Its agreement limited retained cash and investments, required periodic…
Taxpayers may make late GST allocation elections
Two taxpayers created an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer tax potential and each gave cash to it. They hired a tax professional to prepare Forms 709 and elect out of the automatic…
Grandchild trust modifications avoid estate, gift, and GST consequences
A settlor and spouse created three irrevocable trusts, each for one grandchild, and allocated enough GST exemption to give each trust a zero inclusion ratio. They proposed allowing two trusts to…
Grandchild trust modifications avoid estate, gift, and GST consequences
A settlor and spouse created three irrevocable trusts, each for one grandchild, and allocated enough GST exemption to give each trust a zero inclusion ratio. They proposed allowing two trusts to…
Taxpayer receives IRA rollover waiver after adviser error
A taxpayer received an IRA distribution and intended to return it before the 60-day rollover deadline. A financial adviser provided a written deadline that was one day late, and the taxpayer relied…
Incorrect account information supports IRA rollover waiver
A taxpayer wanted to move assets from an IRA at one financial institution to another institution. The account statement did not identify the account as an IRA, and the original institution twice…
Postal delay qualifies for IRA rollover waiver
A taxpayer received distributions from two IRAs while changing custodians and later received trailing dividends from both accounts. Four days before the first 60-day deadline, the taxpayer mailed…
Exemption revoked for political campaign intervention
A section 501(c)(3) organization published website articles and newsletters and sent fundraising solicitations containing repeated statements supporting or opposing candidates in presidential and…
Fundraising training organization denied exemption as commercial
A nonprofit sold memberships that included books, digital materials, newsletters, fundraising instruction, and help designing and implementing fundraising programs. Its president owned or claimed…
Foreign cooperative institution denied credit-union exemption
A nonprofit financial institution organized in a foreign country applied for exemption as a state-chartered credit union under section 501(c)(14). It translated the foreign law governing its…
Refund period after partnership administrative adjustment requests
Chief Counsel advice addresses how long the IRS may issue refunds after a tax matters partner files an administrative adjustment request. It says the refund period generally expires two years after…
Marital deduction does not cover trust assets passing to a child
Chief Counsel considered whether an estate could claim a marital deduction for the full amount of a surviving spouse's elective share under state law. The decedent had placed assets in a foreign…
One exchange accommodation titleholder may serve related parties sharing replacement property
The IRS approved a proposed reverse like-kind exchange in which a taxpayer and two related parties would use separate qualified exchange accommodation arrangements to park the same replacement…
Tax-free separation of two businesses into separate corporations
The IRS approved a proposed reorganization that would separate two businesses operated by a domestic corporation into different corporate groups. The corporation would transfer one business and…
Inadvertent S corporation termination cured after missed ESBT elections
The IRS ruled that a corporation's S corporation election terminated when shares were transferred to two trusts that qualified as electing small business trusts but had not made the required ESBT…
Fluid handling services for oil and gas producers generate qualifying income
The IRS ruled that income from a publicly traded partnership's planned fluid handling services would be qualifying income under section 7704(d)(1)(E). The services include supplying and transporting…
Mutual insurance company restructuring receives tax treatment rulings
The IRS ruled on a proposed restructuring of a not-for-profit mutual insurance company into a mutual holding company with separate stock insurance and controlled corporations. The transaction…
Trust modification preserves grandfathered GST tax exemption
The IRS approved a proposed court-ordered modification of an irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985. The modification would divide the trust property among then-living descendants,…
Excise tax waivers granted for unpaid pension contributions
The IRS granted waivers of the 100 percent excise tax under section 4971(b) for four plans' unpaid minimum required contributions for the plan year ending December 31, 2011. The company had filed…
Health plan qualifies as a church plan
Two tax-exempt nonprofit corporations jointly operated a continuing care retirement community under the control and sponsorship of a church conference. They established a health plan for their…
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline
An individual received a distribution from an IRA but did not complete the rollover within 60 days because of an abusive spouse's actions. The funds remained unused in a non-IRA account, and the…
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after a bank error
An individual intended to move money from a savings account to a checking account to buy a vehicle, but a bank representative instead processed an IRA distribution. The taxpayer had limited…
Revised scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve revised procedures for scholarships awarded to graduating high school students with financial need. The IRS approved the procedures under IRC §…
VEBA may provide limited health benefits to domestic partners
A tax-exempt voluntary employees' beneficiary association asked about health reimbursement arrangement benefits for employees' domestic partners. The IRS concluded that coverage for qualifying…
Museum expansion and leases approved under private-foundation rules
A private operating foundation that runs an art museum planned a major expansion on land leased from its founder and a founder-owned entity. The IRS ruled that specified construction, utility,…
University youth programs treated as educational activities
A land-grant university asked whether its youth Club activities would be treated as part of the university’s educational operations and whether designated contributions could be deductible. The IRS…
VEBA may add non-union employees of member organizations
A voluntary employees’ beneficiary association asked whether it could add non-union common-law employees of member organizations to its health-benefit plan. The IRS concluded that the proposed…
Exemption denied for a community-organizing support organization
The IRS denied tax-exempt status under IRC § 501(c)(3) to an organization formed to train, fund, and support community-organizing groups. The organization planned to provide leadership development,…
Digital-resource nonprofit denied exemption
The IRS denied IRC § 501(c)(3) exemption to an organization formed to preserve and develop digital resources with scientific and educational content. The organization planned to raise donations and…
Exempt status revoked after dissolution and inactivity
The IRS proposed revoking an organization's IRC § 501(c)(3) exemption after the original entity dissolved and a new organization began using the dissolved entity's employer identification number.…
Housing rehabilitation program denied exemption
The IRS denied IRC § 501(c)(3) recognition to an organization that planned to buy, rehabilitate, and sell single-family homes to low- and moderate-income buyers. The organization did not identify…
Exemption revoked for a gaming operator with private-benefit concerns
The IRS revoked an organization's IRC § 501(c)(3) exemption after finding that its primary activity was operating weekly games and that its charitable donations were insubstantial compared with its…
Foreclosure qualifies as a fully taxable disposition of a passive activity
Chief Counsel advised that a foreclosure on real property securing recourse debt can be a fully taxable disposition of a taxpayer's entire passive activity. That conclusion applies even when…
Utility management agreement does not create private business use of bond-financed systems
A governmental authority asked whether an amended agreement for operating and maintaining electric transmission and distribution systems would create private business use of tax-exempt bond-financed…
IRS permits a retroactive qualified electing fund election
The IRS consented to a taxpayer's retroactive qualified electing fund election for shares of a foreign corporation treated as a passive foreign investment company. The taxpayer's accountant knew…
IRS grants more time for a closing-of-the-books election after an ownership change
The IRS granted a consolidated group 60 days to make a late closing-of-the-books election after an ownership change limited the group's use of pre-change losses. The group intended to file the…
IRS consents to a regulated investment company's revocation of its taxable-year election
The IRS granted a regulated investment company's request to revoke its election under IRC § 4982(e)(4)(A) to use its taxable year instead of the one-year period ending October 31 when calculating…
Oil and gas services income qualifies under the publicly traded partnership rules
The IRS ruled that income a publicly traded partnership expected to earn from specified services for customers in the oil and natural gas industry would be qualifying income under IRC §…
Taxpayer may make a retroactive qualified electing fund election
The IRS consented to a taxpayer's retroactive election to treat stock in a passive foreign investment company as stock in a qualified electing fund. The taxpayer had relied on a qualified tax…
Late election to pass through a rehabilitation credit is treated as timely
The IRS granted a limited liability company's request for more time to make an election that would treat its tenant as having acquired rehabilitated property for purposes of passing through an…
Extra time granted to waive a consolidated net operating loss carryback
The IRS granted a consolidated group 60 days to file an election waiving the entire carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss. The taxpayer had intended to make the election for a short…
S corporation status preserved after late ESBT elections
The IRS ruled that an S corporation's election had terminated when shares were transferred to two trusts whose trustees did not timely make electing small business trust elections. The corporation…
Securities-litigation settlement and related costs are deductible business expenses
The IRS ruled that a corporation may deduct liabilities paid to settle a securities lawsuit, including related legal fees and other expenses, as ordinary and necessary business expenses under IRC §…
Passive investment activities treated as an insurance business
The IRS ruled that a subsidiary's passive investment activities would be treated as an insurance business after a planned check-the-box election, allowing the related income and expenses to be…
IRS declines to waive the 60-day IRA rollover requirement
The IRS declined to waive the 60-day rollover requirement for a taxpayer who received a distribution from an individual retirement annuity and did not complete a timely rollover. The taxpayer and…
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover requirement after a wiring error
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover requirement for a taxpayer who attempted to return an IRA distribution within the required period. The taxpayer initiated a wire transfer based on a belief about…
IRS declines to waive the 60-day IRA rollover requirement
An individual asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling a distribution from an IRA into another IRA. The individual said the financial institution distributed the amount after notifying…
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover requirement after a financial institution error
An individual asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling an IRA distribution into another qualified retirement account. The individual intended to keep the money in a tax-qualified…
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover requirement because of a medical condition
An individual asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling an IRA distribution into a self-directed IRA or a 401(k) plan. The individual said a chronic medical condition, a new diagnosis,…
IRS approves a spousal rollover after a financial institution mistake
An executor and surviving spouse asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for an IRA distribution made to a decedent. The decedent instructed a financial institution to put the funds into an IRA,…
IRS approves a private foundation's scholarship grant procedures
The IRS approved a private foundation's procedures for awarding scholarships to qualifying high school graduates. The program selects students on an objective and nondiscriminatory basis, with merit…
IRS approves a private foundation's music scholarship procedures
The IRS approved a private foundation's procedures for scholarships supporting young musicians. The program is aimed at minority students with musical proficiency, leadership potential,…
IRS revokes an association's tax-exempt status after finding its activities were substantially social
The IRS issued a final adverse determination that an association did not qualify for exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3), effective January 1, 20XX. The IRS found that a substantial part of the…
IRS denies exemption to a proposed multi-employer supplemental unemployment benefit trust
The IRS denied tax-exempt status to a proposed trust seeking classification under IRC § 501(c)(17) as a supplemental unemployment benefit trust. The trust was designed to provide benefits 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.