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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Private foundation received advance approval for a public visual-art grant program
A private foundation proposed grants for visual artists to create or develop projects intended to be accessible to the public. Eligible uses include producing new work, researching concepts,…
Private foundation received advance approval for college scholarships to public-school graduates
A private foundation proposed renewable educational grants for graduating seniors from U.S. public high schools who had been accepted into four-year college programs. It initially planned four…
Private foundation received approval to set aside funds for a community arts facility
A private foundation sought to set aside a redacted amount to renovate four commercial properties into a public contemporary-art exhibition space. The facility will support local arts and cultural…
Professional gardeners’ trade association was denied charity status
A membership organization of gardening and landscaping professionals applied for recognition under IRC § 501(c)(3). Its articles described it as a trade association and mutual-benefit corporation…
Internet campaign for a discontinued product was denied social-club status
An organization conducted an Internet campaign seeking the return of a discontinued consumer product. It used emails, letters, phone calls, an online petition, a billboard, social media, and a…
Open video-game meetups were denied charity status because recreation was a substantial purpose
An organization ran weekly in-person and online video-game meetups that it described as safe spaces for marginalized groups. Its events were open to people of all ages and backgrounds, and it did…
Blockchain standards coalition was denied charity status because it primarily benefited an industry
An organization sought IRC § 501(c)(3) status to develop and promote an international blockchain standard for representing industry items as non-fungible tokens. Its articles described an industry…
Social dining group with a member loan fund was denied charity status
An unincorporated association met monthly in members’ homes to cook, entertain one another, socialize, and provide emotional support, with two restaurant gatherings each year. Members contributed a…
Church lost exemption after ceasing religious activities and operating rental properties
A recognized church filed annual information returns reporting contributions, rental income, mortgaged properties, and outside-service expenses. During a church tax inquiry and examination, it did…
Fundraiser for its founder’s heart transplant was denied charity status
An unincorporated association planned raffles, spaghetti dinners, and breakfasts to raise money for its founder’s heart transplant, food, and other expenses. Family and friends would organize the…
Rebate refund created an underpayment subject to deficiency procedures, limiting the erroneous-claim penalty
Chief Counsel considered a large erroneous income tax refund that was issued because the IRS treated the tax imposed as lower than the tax shown on the original return. The advice concludes that the…
Accuracy-related penalty generally takes priority when an erroneous refund creates an underpayment
Chief Counsel advised that the first question for a large erroneous refund is whether the refund created an underpayment under IRC § 6664. If it did and the underpayment resulted from negligence or…
Levy may reach mandatory trust income distributions but not discretionary corpus
Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS could levy a trust’s corpus when the taxpayer was a trust beneficiary. The trust required its trustee to distribute all net income to the beneficiary at…
Partnership received 120 more days to make a Section 754 election after a partner’s death
Two individuals held partnership interests through grantor trusts, and one individual died during the year at issue. The partnership inadvertently failed to include an IRC § 754 election with its…
Estate received relief for a late alternate-valuation election after appraisals arrived
An estate timely filed Form 706 before third-party appraisers had completed valuations for estate assets. The personal representatives did not know about the IRC § 2032 alternate-valuation election,…
QDOT trustee received 120 more days to report the surviving spouse’s U.S. citizenship
A noncitizen surviving spouse received estate assets through a qualified domestic trust and later became a U.S. citizen after continuously residing in the United States since the decedent’s death.…
Estate received 120 more days to elect portability of unused exclusion to the surviving spouse
A decedent’s estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 because of the represented value of the gross estate and taxable gifts. The decedent left a surviving spouse, who had since died, and…
Private foundation received advance approval for grants to journalists and publishers
A private foundation proposed grants for experienced journalists and publishers pursuing an in-depth reporting activity identified by a redacted legend term. The program emphasizes free speech,…
Private foundation received advance approval for scholarships to employees’ children
A private foundation proposed one-time, nonrenewable scholarships for dependent children of a company’s full-time employees. Eligible applicants must be no older than 24, have completed high school…
Community foundation’s exceptionally large restricted donation qualified as an unusual grant
A community foundation expected an exceptionally large donation, more than one hundred times the donor’s usual support and many times the foundation’s average annual donations. The funds will create…
Firefighter labor union was denied charity status because it served members’ employment interests
A local firefighter union applied for exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3). Its constitution and bylaws lacked both a purpose clause and a dissolution clause, so the IRS found that it failed the…
Bankruptcy liquidating trust kept trust status after a court-approved term extension
A Chapter 11 plan created a trust to pursue and settle litigation claims, liquidate assets, and distribute proceeds to claimants without continuing a trade or business. Unresolved legal claims made…
Line-of-duty disability and death benefits received specified income-tax exclusions
A state governmental retirement plan asked about special benefits for public safety officers who are permanently disabled, catastrophically injured, or killed in the line of duty. The disability…
Inactive land-holding charity lost exemption for conducting no charitable activity
A publicly supported organization had been inactive for multiple years. Its original directors faced health issues and pandemic restrictions, and its only current activity was maintaining donated…
Scam-loss deduction depends on the victim’s profit motive
Chief Counsel analyzed five common scams involving funds held in IRA and non-IRA investment accounts. All five victims discovered theft losses in 2024 and had little to no reasonable prospect of…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate that represented it was not otherwise required to file Form 706 missed the deadline to elect portability of the decedent’s unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse.…
S corporation’s business separation qualified as a tax-free spin-off
A privately held S corporation proposed separating two active businesses. It would contribute the subsidiary operating one business to a newly formed qualified subchapter S subsidiary and distribute…
S corporation target received more time to file section 336(e) election
The parties to the sale of all stock in an S corporation intended to elect under IRC § 336(e) to treat the qualified stock disposition as an asset disposition, but the target did not timely attach…
Ineligible shareholder caused an inadvertent S election termination
An S corporation unknowingly issued shares to an ineligible shareholder, terminating its S election. After counsel identified the problem, the ineligible shareholder distributed the shares to an…
Partnership received 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A partnership failed to make an IRC § 754 election for the year in which a partner died. The IRS concluded that the partnership met the standards for late regulatory-election relief and granted 120…
Foreign joint-venture company remained eligible to elect its tax classification
A foreign private limited company was a single-owner eligible entity that had elected to be disregarded for U.S. federal tax purposes. A proposed joint venture would add direct and indirect owners,…
Partnership received 60 days to self-certify as an opportunity fund
A partnership formed to invest in qualified opportunity zones did not timely file its first Form 1065 or attach Form 8996 to self-certify as a qualified opportunity fund. Its manager believed an…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate that represented it was not otherwise required to file Form 706 missed the deadline to elect portability of the decedent’s unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse.…
Partnership received 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A limited partnership failed to make an IRC § 754 election for the year in which two partners died because its tax advisers did not adequately advise it about the election. The IRS found that the…
Late ESBT elections caused an inadvertent S corporation termination
After two shareholders died, their S corporation stock passed to two trusts that qualified to elect treatment as electing small business trusts. The trustees did not timely make the ESBT elections,…
Renewable facility received more time to elect the investment tax credit
A partnership upgraded two electricity-generating units but treated the upgrades as one project in its financial records. Because those records did not show that one unit had already been placed in…
LLC received 120 days to elect disregarded-entity status
A limited liability company had elected corporate tax treatment when it was formed. After a restructuring, it became eligible to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner but did not…
Second class of stock caused an inadvertent invalid S election
An LLC elected corporate and S corporation treatment, but its operating agreement allowed non-pro rata contributions, special allocations and distributions, and liquidation distributions based on…
Irrevocable reduced research-credit election could not be withdrawn
A corporation intended to claim its full IRC § 41 research credit after changes to the treatment of research expenses, and its financial statements and workpapers reflected that decision. During…
Bilingual-teacher grant procedures received advance approval
A private foundation proposed two annual grant cycles for licensed K–5 Spanish-English bilingual teachers in specified communities. Teachers must have at least two years of relevant experience,…
Multi-focus scholarship procedures received advance approval
A private foundation proposed scholarships for students attending high school, college, graduate school, or vocational school, with focus areas covering animal welfare, education, Christianity, and…
Community high-school scholarship procedures received advance approval
A private foundation proposed annual renewable scholarships for graduating seniors from a specified high school to encourage growth in the local community. Eligible students must plan to pursue…
Downtown merchant group denied charitable exemption for serving member businesses
An organization of downtown brick-and-mortar businesses applied for IRC § 501(c)(3) status. Its bylaws focused on promoting the downtown business district, merchant cooperation, community events,…
Inactive church lost exemption after insider property transfer
An organization recognized as a church had conducted no recent religious activities and had no funds in its bank account during the examined year. Court records and the IRS examination also…
Airport terminal charges and deemed-loan interest qualified as REIT income
A REIT held an interest in a partnership developing and operating a new international airport terminal. Airlines would pay for exclusive space based on square footage and for common terminal space…
Airport terminal charges and deemed-loan interest qualified as REIT income
A REIT indirectly owned an interest in a partnership developing and operating a new international airport terminal. Airlines would pay for exclusive space based on square footage and for common…
Foreign entity received 120 days to elect corporate classification
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation but did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the entity met the standards for late…
Partnership received 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A partnership failed to make an IRC § 754 election for the year in which a new partner purchased interests in it. The IRS concluded that the partnership met the standards for late…
Foreign purchaser received more time for section 338(g) elections
A foreign corporation intended to make IRC § 338(g) elections for its deemed acquisitions of two controlled foreign corporations but discovered after the deadline that valid elections may not have…
Partnership received 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A partnership failed to make an IRC § 754 election for the year in which new partners purchased interests in it. The IRS concluded that the partnership met the standards for late regulatory-election…
Missed corporate extension did not defeat four regulatory elections
A corporate group doubled its federal and state filing workload after entering the mortgage-banking business, lost a recently hired tax director shortly before extension deadlines, and was…
Litigation-driven extension preserved liquidating-trust status
A liquidating trust was created under a Chapter 11 reorganization plan to convert assets to cash, resolve claims, and distribute proceeds, without operating a business. Unresolved litigation had…
Partnership ownership caused an inadvertent S election termination
An S corporation’s election terminated when a partnership, an ineligible S corporation shareholder, acquired all of its stock. The partnership later transferred the stock in equal shares to its two…
Late QSST and ESBT elections caused an inadvertent S termination
An S corporation’s stock was held by a grantor trust that remained an eligible shareholder for two years after its owner died. The stock then passed to a trust that qualified as a QSST, but its…
Late ESBT election caused an inadvertent S termination
An S corporation’s stock was held by a grantor trust that remained an eligible shareholder for two years after its owner died. The stock then passed to a second trust that qualified as an electing…
Three late trust elections caused an inadvertent S termination
After an S corporation shareholder died, stock held in the shareholder’s grantor trust passed to three successor trusts. Two qualified to elect treatment as electing small business trusts, and one…
Fine-artist grant procedures received advance approval
A private foundation proposed one-time grants to emerging and mid-career fine artists who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents and no longer students. Applicants must submit past work, a…
Unresponsive supporting organization lost exemption for failing to provide records
A functionally integrated Type III supporting organization did not respond to repeated IRS requests for records needed to verify its continued qualification under IRC § 501(c)(3). The IRS mailed the…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate that represented it was not otherwise required to file Form 706 missed the deadline to elect portability of the decedent’s unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse.…
Affiliated group received 75 days to elect consolidated filing
An affiliated corporate group failed to timely elect to file a consolidated federal income tax return with its parent as common parent. The group sought relief before the IRS discovered the…
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.