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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IRS approves liquidations and asset transfers for a cooperative utility
A member-owned utility cooperative planned a series of mergers, conversions, asset distributions, and a subsidiary liquidation. The parent had previously qualified for exemption under IRC §…
IRS provides relief for an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation's shareholder transferred shares to a grantor trust, and the trust later became irrevocable when the deemed owner died. The trust was eligible to hold S corporation stock, but its…
IRS approves a complex series of corporate spin-offs and liquidations
A group of affiliated corporations proposed a coordinated set of spin-offs, split-downs, cross-border restructuring steps, subsidiary mergers, asset transfers, and liquidations. The IRS ruled that…
IRS classifies removable partitions as five-year property
A business planned to install two types of interior non-load-bearing drywall partitions in owned and leased buildings. The IRS treated the removable zip-type partitions as tangible personal property…
IRS waives the 60-day rollover deadline after a financial institution's error
An individual asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling a retirement-plan distribution into an IRA. The individual had requested a trustee-to-trustee transfer, but the financial…
IRS waives the 60-day rollover deadline after IRA transfers were misdirected
An individual asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline after amounts from a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA were transferred into the wrong types of IRA accounts. The individual had signed transfer…
IRS waives the rollover deadline after a taxpayer cared for an ill spouse
An individual asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling an IRA distribution into a traditional IRA. During the rollover period, the individual's husband became seriously ill and…
IRS waives the rollover deadline after a caregiver missed it while managing dementia-related affairs
An individual acting under a durable power of attorney asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline for rolling over a distribution from his wife's IRA. The wife had dementia, was entering assisted…
IRS waives the rollover deadline after a broker mishandled an RMD
An individual asked the IRS to waive the 60-day deadline after a brokerage firm distributed the wrong amount from an IRA. A former broker had moved from one company to another, and the new company…
Political party organization denied section 501(c)(4) exemption
The IRS issued a final adverse determination to an organization that sought exemption under IRC § 501(c)(4). The organization promoted participation in a political party, endorsed party candidates,…
Public-policy advocacy organization denied section 501(c)(4) exemption
The IRS issued a final adverse determination to a research and advocacy organization that sought exemption under IRC § 501(c)(4). The organization planned to promote public-policy debate and…
Talmudic scholarship organization denied section 501(c)(3) exemption
The IRS issued a final adverse determination to a religious and educational organization that provided stipends to Talmudic scholars in a foreign country. The organization’s records showed payments…
Internet consulting organization denied section 501(c)(3) exemption
The IRS issued a final adverse determination to an organization that provided internet training, website development, and related consulting services to small and medium-sized businesses. The…
Community trust and nonprofit corporation treated as a single entity
An existing community trust asked whether it and a newly formed nonprofit corporation could be treated as one entity for federal tax purposes. The IRS found that the trust and corporation had a…
Open-transaction to realization treatment requires a section 481(a) adjustment
Chief Counsel advised that changing a taxpayer's treatment of certain transactions from open-transaction treatment to realization treatment is a change in method of accounting under IRC § 446. The…
Chassis assembly scenarios subject to excise tax
Chief Counsel advised that assembling highway-truck chassis from new and used components generally creates a taxable article and triggers the excise tax under IRC § 4051. The advice covered four…
Foreign entities granted extra time to elect corporation status
The IRS granted seven foreign entities an extension of time to file Form 8832 entity-classification elections. The entities had failed to timely file valid elections to be classified as corporations…
Estate restructuring will not accelerate installment payments
The IRS ruled that an estate's proposed restructuring of interests in a closely held business would not accelerate its deferred estate-tax installment payments. The business would distribute…
Taxpayer granted extra time to elect current deduction of drilling costs
The IRS granted a taxpayer 120 additional days to make an election under IRC § 263(c) to deduct intangible drilling and development costs. The taxpayer's disregarded LLC had incurred those costs,…
S corporation election relief granted for reasonable cause
The IRS granted a corporation relief for failing to timely file an election to be treated as an S corporation. The corporation had intended the election to take effect on a specified date and…
LLC granted extra time to elect corporation classification
The IRS granted a domestic LLC 120 additional days to file Form 8832 and elect to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation. The LLC's members had intended the election to be…
Petroleum product operations produce qualifying income
The IRS ruled that income from a publicly traded partnership's grease blending and packaging operation and re-refining operation was qualifying income under IRC § 7704(d)(1)(E). The partnership…
Public company may rely on SEC filings to identify economic owners under section 382
A publicly traded loss corporation asked whether it could use Securities and Exchange Commission filings and related stock-surveillance procedures to identify five-percent shareholders for IRC § 382…
IRS examination information may be disclosed to OPR during a practitioner investigation
Chief Counsel advised that the IRS examination unit may provide a practitioner’s revenue agent’s report and unagreed case package to the Office of Professional Responsibility during an investigation…
Proposed trust disclaimers would not be taxable gifts
An individual who was a contingent beneficiary of two irrevocable trusts asked about disclaiming future interests after reaching the age of majority. The trusts were created before 1977, and the…
Petroleum product blending and additization fees are qualifying income
A publicly traded partnership asked whether fees from fuel additization, ethanol blending, and biodiesel blending at its petroleum terminals were qualifying income under IRC § 7704. The partnership…
Late entity-classification and S corporation elections granted relief
An entity asked for more time to elect corporate classification for federal tax purposes and to make a late S corporation election. The entity’s sole member intended both elections to be effective…
Split-off of a real-estate business qualifies as a reorganization
A privately held corporation asked about transferring real property and related liabilities to a wholly owned subsidiary, then distributing the subsidiary’s stock to one shareholder in exchange for…
Early replacement S corporation election denied
An S corporation asked for permission to make a new S election before the five-year waiting period following termination of its prior election. The corporation had transferred shares to an…
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after incorrect financial advice
An IRA owner missed the 60-day rollover deadline after placing a distribution into a savings account based on incorrect advice from a financial advisor. The owner deposited the amount into another…
Foundation’s exemption revoked for failing the operational test
The IRS revoked a foundation’s exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3) after finding that it was not operating and therefore did not satisfy the operational test. The foundation had described music and arts…
IRS revoked a charity's section 501(c)(3) exemption
The IRS revoked an organization's tax exemption under section 501(c)(3). The IRS found that the organization did not operate exclusively for exempt purposes, commingled its account with the…
IRS revoked a foundation's section 501(c)(3) exemption
The IRS revoked a foundation's exemption under section 501(c)(3), effective January 1 of the redacted year. The foundation reported charitable services, but the IRS found that it could not produce…
Dissolution of a designated tax matters partner
The Chief Counsel advice addresses what happens to Tax Matters Partner status when the designated partner dissolves. It states that dissolution terminates the partner's status and designation.…
Limitations period for income tax and information-return penalties
The Chief Counsel advice addresses whether the assessment period remained open for income tax and penalties related to Forms 3520-A and 5471. It concludes that the limitations period remained open…
Statute extension after a tax matters partner's bankruptcy
The Chief Counsel advice considers whether a statute extension was valid after the Tax Matters Partner entered bankruptcy. It states that the bankruptcy likely terminated the partner's status and…
Assessment period for partnership-loss carryforward adjustments
The Chief Counsel advice states that a carryforward amount from a partnership adjustment is a computational affected item. It concludes that when the Tax Matters Partner signs Form 872-P, the…
Penalties for unreported foreign gifts and interests
The Chief Counsel advice addresses penalties for failing to report a large foreign gift on Form 3520. It states that the assessment period has not begun when a taxpayer has not filed the form, and…
Partnership assessment periods and FPAAs
The Chief Counsel advice states that the IRS may issue an FPAA if a partner's section 6501 assessment period remains open. If the period is open because of Form 872, the form must specifically…
Competing extended carryback elections
The Chief Counsel advice considers competing carryback elections for consolidated-group net operating losses. One taxpayer requested a two-year carryback for one year, while a fiduciary and the…
Adjusting partnership years and partner credit carryforwards
The Chief Counsel advice addresses TEFRA adjustments for partnership years that may be closed or open under the period-of-limitations rules. It states that each partnership year is a separate cause…
Obsolete regulations did not change prior foreign-trust advice
The Chief Counsel advice revisits earlier email advice about how sections 6013(g) and 6677 interact. The earlier advice had stated that a nonresident alien was not subject to section 6048 reporting…
Notice timing before issuing an FPAA
The Chief Counsel advice addresses the timing of notice before the IRS issues an FPAA to a tax matters partner. It states that the IRS must issue an NBAP at least 120 days before issuing the FPAA to…
Qualified joint ventures and Schedule C reporting
The Chief Counsel advice considers how a business jointly owned by a married couple should be reported for federal tax purposes. It states that the business would generally be treated as a…
Refund claims after an unexecuted Form 872
The Chief Counsel advice considers whether a taxpayer's refund claim was timely after the taxpayer sent the IRS a Form 872 extending the assessment period. It concludes that the extension was not…
Tax treatment of a corporate split-up into four businesses
The IRS considered a proposed transaction in which an S corporation would form four wholly owned S corporations, transfer separate portions of its operating business to them, and distribute one…
Intercompany gain in a consolidated-group restructuring
The IRS considered a multinational consolidated-group restructuring involving a previously deferred intercompany gain on stock transferred among subsidiaries. The proposed steps included the sale of…
Tax treatment of government relocation payments
The IRS considered relocation payments made to a business displaced by a state agency's federally assisted eminent-domain project. The payments qualified for exclusion from gross income under the…
CCA 201352009: Counsel explains the credit consequences of losing a qualified nonprofit partner
Chief Counsel analyzes the consequences when a low-income housing project no longer has the qualified nonprofit organization required for a state ceiling set-aside under IRC § 42(h)(5). The advice…
PLR 201352008: IRS grants extra time for a partnership section 754 election
A limited partnership asked the IRS for more time to make a section 754 election after a transaction caused a limited liability company to be treated as a partnership and an interest in the…
PLR 201352007: IRS approves tax treatment for a multinational corporate restructuring
A multinational corporate group requested rulings on the federal income tax consequences of a large restructuring involving subsidiary liquidations, stock redemptions, spin-offs, a downstream…
PLR 201352006: Public employee disability and death benefits qualify for section 104 exclusion
A public pension administrator asked whether accidental disability allowances and death benefits paid under five public employee plans qualify for the gross-income exclusion in IRC § 104(a)(1). The…
PLR 201352005: Consolidated group receives extra time for an NOL carryback election
A consolidated corporate group asked for more time to elect an extended carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss. The election would allow the group to carry the loss back three, four,…
PLR 201352004: IRS grants extra time for a foreign entity classification election
A foreign business entity asked for more time to file Form 8832 and elect partnership classification for federal tax purposes. The entity had two individual owners when it was formed, but all…
PLR 201352003: IRS rules on GST tax for an annuity left to a grandchild's trust
An executor asked how the generation-skipping transfer tax applies when a decedent's annuity passes to a trust for a grandchild. The IRS concluded that the trust is a skip person and that the…
PLR 201352002: IRS approved GST-tax treatment for a 2010 annuity transfer to a grandchild's trust
An executor who elected the 2010 basis regime under IRC § 1022 asked how an annuity passing at a decedent's death to a trust for a grandchild would be treated for generation-skipping transfer tax…
PLR 201352001: IRS approved GST-tax treatment for a 2010 annuity transfer to a grandchild's trust
An executor who elected the 2010 basis regime under IRC § 1022 asked how an annuity passing at a decedent's death to a trust for a grandchild would be treated for generation-skipping transfer tax…
PLR 201351032: IRS approved tax treatment for picked-up pension contributions and plan transfers
A governmental employer asked how mandatory employee contributions picked up by the employer for a qualified pension plan should be treated for federal income tax purposes. It also asked whether…
PLR 201351031: IRS waives the 60-day rollover deadline after a spouse's death
The ruling concerns a beneficiary who received an IRA distribution after her spouse died unexpectedly. She intended to roll the distribution into an IRA, but misunderstood a financial institution's…
PLR 201351030: plan transfer and picked-up contributions do not harm qualification
The ruling addresses two governmental retirement plans sponsored by a state. One is a defined benefit plan and the other is a money purchase pension plan, and a new statute would let certain members…
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.