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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Partnership gets more time to make a late Section 754 basis-adjustment election
An LLC taxed as a partnership wanted to make a Section 754 election, which lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its assets when an interest changes hands (here triggered by the death of an indir…
Moving terminated pension surplus into 401(k) plans avoids the reversion excise tax
An employer is terminating two frozen defined benefit pension plans that will have surplus money left over after all promised benefits are paid. Normally, when a company takes back leftover pension mo…
Trust can split inherited retirement accounts to a charity and heirs without triggering tax at the trust level
A woman died owning several retirement accounts that all named her revocable trust as the beneficiary. The trust splits the money two ways: a percentage goes to a private foundation (the charitable sh…
Fleeting stock ownership by ineligible holders under an equity-comp plan does not blow the company's S election
An S corporation can lose its special tax status if it ever has a shareholder who is not allowed to own S corporation stock (for example, another corporation or certain entities). This company runs eq…
Foreign entity gets extra time to elect disregarded-entity (check-the-box) status
A foreign business entity with a single owner wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" for U.S. federal tax purposes, meaning it is ignored as separate from its owner. To do that it had to file …
Hotel management fees don't create private business use of tax-exempt bond-financed property
A governmental issuer used tax-exempt bond proceeds to finance a hotel it owns, and hired a private company to manage the hotel. Interest on state and local bonds is generally tax-free, but that break…
Statute-extension consents signed by the wrong person left partnership audit deadlines expired
Under the centralized partnership audit rules from the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (BBA), only the partnership representative (PR), or the designated individual (DI) when the PR is an entity, can ac…
IRS approves a private foundation's scholarship award procedures
A private foundation asked the IRS to bless its scholarship program in advance under IRC § 4945(g)(1). This matters because grants a private foundation makes to individuals for study are normally "tax…
IRS approves substitute mortality tables for a pension plan's funding calculations
A single-employer defined benefit pension plan asked the IRS for permission to use its own substitute mortality tables, instead of the IRS standard tables, when calculating the plan's minimum funding …
Members-only mutual benefit society denied 501(c)(3) charity status
A membership association applied for tax-exempt charity status under IRC § 501(c)(3) using the streamlined Form 1023-EZ. Membership was open to people of a particular national-origin descent who paid …
Business-referral networking chapter denied 501(c)(7) social club exemption
A membership organization applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt social club under IRC § 501(c)(7). Its sole activity was running weekly meetings and networking events where members exchange busines…
IRS approves a revised schedule of ruling amounts for a nuclear decommissioning fund after the plant's license was extended
The taxpayer is a regulated public utility that owns a partial interest in a nuclear power plant. Under Section 468A, a utility can take a current tax deduction for money it sets aside in a special fu…
IRS approves a revised schedule of ruling amounts for a nuclear decommissioning fund after the plant's license was extended
The taxpayer is a regulated public utility that owns a partial interest in a nuclear power plant. Under Section 468A, a utility can take a current tax deduction for money it sets aside in a special fu…
IRS approves a revised schedule of ruling amounts for a nuclear decommissioning fund after the plant's license was extended
The taxpayer is a regulated public utility that owns a partial interest in a nuclear power plant. Under Section 468A, a utility can take a current tax deduction for money it sets aside in a special fu…
Supplemental ruling giving an entity a fresh 60 days for a late check-the-box election
This short letter supplements and modifies an earlier private letter ruling (PLR-110110-23, issued February 23, 2024). It updates the legend (the redacted list of defined terms) in that earlier ruling…
Retroactive revocation of an earlier pension minimum-funding waiver
Employers that sponsor defined benefit pension plans generally must put in at least a minimum amount of funding each year. Section 412(c) lets the IRS waive that minimum for a plan sponsor facing temp…
9100 relief for a late Form 8996 self-certifying a Qualified Opportunity Fund
A taxpayer set up an entity to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), the vehicle that lets investors defer and reduce tax on capital gains reinvested in designated low-income areas. To become a QOF, …
9100 relief for a late Form 8996 self-certifying a Qualified Opportunity Fund
An LLC was formed to operate as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), the vehicle that lets investors defer and reduce tax on capital gains reinvested in designated low-income areas. To become a QOF, an…
9100 relief for late GILTI high-tax exclusion elections triggered by a treaty MAP adjustment
A US corporation owned a group of controlled foreign corporations (CFCs). US owners of CFCs generally must pay tax each year on "GILTI," a category of their foreign subsidiaries' income, but they can …
9100 relief for a lower-tier partnership's late section 754 election
This ruling involves a tiered partnership structure: an upper-tier partnership (UTP) held a lower-tier partnership (LTP). After some restructuring, the partners of the upper-tier partnership sold thei…
9100 relief for a late taxable REIT subsidiary election on Form 8875
A company that planned to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT) wanted one of its subsidiaries to be treated as a "taxable REIT subsidiary" (TRS). A TRS is a corporation a REIT can own tha…
9100 relief for a foreign entity's late check-the-box election to be disregarded
A foreign entity wanted to be treated as a disregarded entity for US federal tax purposes, effective from the date it was formed. A disregarded entity is ignored as separate from its owner, so its inc…
9100 relief for a late section 336(e) election treating an S corporation stock sale as an asset sale
The shareholders of an S corporation sold its stock to a buyer that is taxed as a partnership. A section 336(e) election lets the parties treat a qualifying stock sale as if it were a sale of the corp…
9100 relief for late check-the-box elections by six foreign entities
A US partnership held, through a foreign corporation, interests in six foreign entities. Those entities wanted to choose how they are treated for US tax purposes: four as partnerships and two as disre…
9100 relief for late Forms 8996 self-certifying a Qualified Opportunity Fund
An LLC taxed as a partnership was formed to operate as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), the vehicle that lets investors defer and reduce tax on capital gains reinvested in designated low-income are…
9100 relief for a late section 754 basis-adjustment election
An LLC taxed as a partnership meant to make a section 754 election for the year in which new buyers acquired interests in it, but it missed the filing deadline. A section 754 election lets a partnersh…
9100 relief for a late section 754 basis-adjustment election
An LLC taxed as a partnership meant to make a section 754 election for the year in which new buyers acquired interests in it, but it missed the filing deadline. A section 754 election lets a partnersh…
9100 relief for a late section 754 basis-adjustment election
An LLC taxed as a partnership meant to make a section 754 election for the year in which new buyers acquired interests in it, but it missed the filing deadline. A section 754 election lets a partnersh…
9100 relief for a late section 754 basis-adjustment election
An LLC taxed as a partnership meant to make a section 754 election for the year in which new buyers acquired interests in it, but it missed the filing deadline. A section 754 election lets a partnersh…
9100 relief to make a late section 754 basis-adjustment election for a partnership
When someone buys into a partnership or the partnership distributes property, a Section 754 election lets the partnership adjust the tax basis of its assets so the new or continuing partners get basis…
9100 relief to file a late election treating a foreign entity as a corporation
A business entity can choose how it is taxed by "checking the box" on Form 8832, an election called an entity classification election. An eligible foreign entity can elect to be treated as an associat…
IVF and surrogacy costs are deductible only when the care is performed on the taxpayers themselves
A married couple asked whether they could deduct the costs of having a child through in vitro fertilization (IVF) and a gestational surrogate. One spouse has a medical condition requiring medication t…
Tax-free Type D reorganization and section 355 spin-off separating a business line from a consolidated group
A publicly traded foreign parent company sits atop a worldwide group that includes a US subsidiary (Distributing) heading a consolidated tax group with several business lines. The group wanted to spli…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) exemption to a members-only mutual-aid association paying benefits for life events
This is a final IRS letter denying tax-exempt charity status under Section 501(c)(3) to a members-only mutual-aid association. The group's members each pay a monthly fee, and the group uses that money…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) exemption to a college-athlete NIL collective that pays student athletes
This is a final IRS letter denying tax-exempt charity status under Section 501(c)(3) to an organization that operates as a college-sports "name, image, and likeness" (NIL) collective. The group signed…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) exemption to a union bargaining organization serving its own members
This is a final IRS letter denying tax-exempt charity status under Section 501(c)(3) to an organization of union representatives. The group applied using the short Form 1023-EZ, attesting that it oper…
Stripping taxpayer identifiers does not make return information disclosable under section 6103
Section 6103 keeps tax returns and "return information" confidential. A carve-out in section 6103(b)(2), known as the "Haskell Amendment," says return information does not include data in a form that …
Tax Court rules require only a "name" in a signature block
This is a brief internal reply about how names should appear in Tax Court filing templates (an "eCITE templating" question). Chief Counsel noted that the Tax Court rule requires only a "name," and tha…
The IRS has discretion, not a legal duty, to process amended returns
A field examiner asked what obligation the IRS has to process amended returns. Chief Counsel explained that the Internal Revenue Manual gives Service employees extensive procedures for handling amende…
Restricted consents to extend the partnership adjustment period under section 6235(b)
Under the centralized partnership audit rules (the BBA regime), the IRS and a partnership can agree to extend the deadline for the IRS to adjust partnership-related items, using Form 872-M. A field at…
Foundation loans to a manager's own companies are self-dealing, private benefit, and jeopardizing investments
A private foundation, run solely by a married couple who were its only board members and officers, made many unsecured balloon loans totaling a large sum to two companies that one of the managers had …
9100 relief to make a late election to file a consolidated corporate return
A group of related corporations can choose to file one combined ("consolidated") federal income tax return instead of separate returns, with a parent company as the common parent. That election is mad…
9100 relief to file a late Form 8996 self-certifying as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
To claim Opportunity Zone tax benefits, an entity must "self-certify" as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) by attaching Form 8996 to a timely filed return. Here, an LLC taxed as a partnership was for…
9100 relief to make a late estate-tax portability election for a surviving spouse
When someone dies without using up their full estate-tax exclusion, the leftover amount (the "deceased spousal unused exclusion," or DSUE) can be passed to the surviving spouse, but only if the estate…
9100 relief to file a late entity election treating a foreign entity as a partnership
A business entity can choose how it is taxed by "checking the box" on Form 8832, an election called an entity classification election. A foreign entity that is eligible can elect to be treated as a pa…
9100 relief to file a late entity election treating a foreign entity as a partnership
A business entity can choose how it is taxed by "checking the box" on Form 8832, an election called an entity classification election. A foreign entity that is eligible can elect to be treated as a pa…
9100 relief to file a late entity election treating a foreign entity as a partnership
A business entity can choose how it is taxed by "checking the box" on Form 8832, an election called an entity classification election. A foreign entity that is eligible can elect to be treated as a pa…
Dividing a marital QTIP trust and disclaiming half is tax-free income-wise and produces a controlled gift, with no surprise estate inclusion
A surviving spouse was the lifetime income beneficiary of a "QTIP" marital trust (property that qualified for the estate tax marital deduction when the first spouse died and that will normally be taxe…
Dividing a marital QTIP trust and disclaiming half is tax-free income-wise and produces a controlled gift, with no surprise estate inclusion
A surviving spouse was the lifetime income beneficiary of a "QTIP" marital trust (property that qualified for the estate tax marital deduction when the first spouse died and that will normally be taxe…
A foreign subsidiary's "hovering deficit" is ignored when computing its undistributed earnings for the Section 245A dividends-received deduction
Under Section 245A, a U.S. corporation can generally take a 100% "dividends received deduction" for the foreign-source part of a dividend it gets from a 10%-owned foreign subsidiary. How much of a div…
9100 relief to make a QTIP election the estate's accountant never advised
Property left to a surviving spouse can qualify for the estate tax marital deduction, and a "QTIP" election under Section 2056(b)(7) lets an executor claim that deduction for a trust that pays the spo…
Inadvertent-termination relief keeps S corporation status after an ineligible shareholder held the stock
An S corporation gets pass-through tax treatment only if all its shareholders are eligible; most partnerships and LLCs are not eligible shareholders. Here, an S corporation's stock was acquired by an …
Request to enlarge an already-made QTIP election is denied because the election is irrevocable
When someone dies, property left to a surviving spouse can escape estate tax through the marital deduction, and a "QTIP" election under Section 2056(b)(7) lets an executor treat certain trust property…
9100 relief to file a late Form 8996 self-certifying as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
An entity that wants Opportunity Zone tax benefits must "self-certify" as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) by attaching Form 8996 to a timely filed return. Here, an LLC taxed as a partnership was fo…
IRS revokes an inactive nonprofit's 501(c)(3) status for failing the organizational and operational tests
This is a final IRS letter revoking a small nonprofit's tax exemption as a charity under Section 501(c)(3). On audit, the organization could not show it was doing any charitable work: it had lost its …
9100 relief to refile the original Form 3115 after a one-day-late return spoiled an accounting-method change
To change a method of accounting under the IRS "automatic consent" procedures, a taxpayer must file Form 3115 twice: a duplicate copy with a designated IRS office, and the original attached to a timel…
9100 relief to file a late Section 336(e) election treating an S corporation stock sale as an asset sale
When buyers acquire at least 80% of a corporation's stock, a Section 336(e) election can let the parties treat the stock sale as if it were a sale of the company's assets, which often gives the buyers…
9100 relief to file a late Form 8996 self-certifying as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
An entity that wants Opportunity Zone tax benefits must "self-certify" as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) by attaching Form 8996 to a timely filed return each year. Here, an LLC taxed as an S corpo…
9100 relief to file a late Form 8996 self-certifying as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
To get the tax benefits of investing in an Opportunity Zone, a fund must "self-certify" as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) by filing Form 8996 with its tax return for its first year. Here, an LLC t…
9100 relief to file a late election opting out of the Section 382(l)(5) bankruptcy rule
When a company with tax losses changes ownership, Section 382 usually limits how much of those losses the new owner can use each year. A special rule, Section 382(l)(5), can apply instead when the own…
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.