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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Late relief to elect out of automatic GST exemption on eleven GRATs (companion ruling)
This is the companion ruling to PLR 202451010, addressing the other spouse in the same married couple. Here the taxpayer personally set up the children's trust and funded eleven grantor retained annui…
Late relief to elect out of automatic GST exemption on eleven GRAT transfers
A married couple set up eleven grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) whose remaining property would pass to a trust for their children when the annuity terms ended. Because the trusts could later tr…
Two disregarded LLCs' education-and-workforce activities ruled charitable and educational
A 501(c)(3) public charity focused on connecting education to careers owns two single-member LLCs that are disregarded (treated as part of the charity) for tax purposes. It asked the IRS to confirm th…
Late-filed Form 8996 treated as timely, self-certifying an LLC as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
An LLC taxed as a partnership was organized to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), a structure that gives investors capital-gains tax benefits for investing in designated opportunity zones. To beco…
Late Form 8996 relief lets an LLC self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
An LLC was set up to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), a vehicle that lets investors defer capital gains tax when they reinvest gains into designated low-income "opportunity zones." To become a Q…
Late election extended for a foreign entity to be a disregarded entity
A foreign business entity wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" for U.S. federal tax purposes, meaning it would be ignored as separate from its single owner. To get that treatment it had to f…
Defective trusts that ended a company's S corporation status are excused after being fixed
This ruling closely mirrors PLR 202451004 (file reference PLR-105737-24). An S corporation's shareholder and his spouse set up two trusts for his children and transferred company stock into them. The …
Defective trusts that ended a company's S corporation status are excused after being fixed
An S corporation's two shareholders set up trusts for their children and transferred their company stock into them. The trusts were meant to be qualified subchapter S trusts (QSSTs), which are permitt…
A partnership gets 120 more days to make a late basis-adjustment election after a partner buys in
An LLC taxed as a partnership had one partner (A) buy another partner's (B's) interest in the business. When a partnership interest changes hands, the partnership can file a Code section 754 election …
A struggling employer wins a one-year waiver of its pension funding requirement, with strings attached
An employer that sponsors a defined benefit pension plan could not make its required minimum contribution for the plan year without serious financial strain. Code section 412(c) lets the IRS waive the…
A foreign company gets more time to file the "check-the-box" election making it a disregarded entity
A company formed under the laws of a foreign country wanted to be treated as a disregarded entity for U.S. federal tax purposes, meaning it is ignored as separate from its single owner. That election …
A charity whose funds paid for casinos, mortgages, and personal expenses loses its 501(c)(3) exemption
The IRS revoked an organization's tax-exempt status under Code section 501(c)(3) on two grounds. First, it failed the operational test: the group could produce no records showing it conducted any exem…
A charity that stopped operating and kept no records has its 501(c)(3) exemption revoked
The IRS revoked a small organization's tax-exempt status under Code section 501(c)(3). The group had been recognized as a public charity, but an examination found it had stopped operating: the buildin…
An apartment partnership gets more time to elect out of the business interest deduction limit
A limited partnership owns and operates an apartment complex. Code section 163(j) caps how much business interest a taxpayer can deduct, but a real property trade or business can elect out of that cap…
A company gets more time to make the election that keeps a built-in loss from being duplicated
A taxpayer transferred property to a corporation in a tax-free section 351 exchange, but the property's tax basis was higher than its fair market value, meaning it carried a built-in loss. Section 362…
A foreign buyer that missed its deadline gets extra time to elect asset treatment for its stock purchases
A foreign company bought all the stock of several foreign target companies, each a controlled foreign corporation for U.S. tax purposes. Code section 338(g) lets a buyer of stock elect to treat the pu…
A fifth beneficiary of the same terminating trust gets the same favorable like-kind exchange ruling
This is another companion ruling in the same set as PLR 202450005 through PLR 202450008 (file reference PLR-105751-24), addressing a further beneficiary of one testamentary trust. The trust held undev…
A fourth beneficiary of the same terminating trust gets the same favorable like-kind exchange ruling
This is another companion ruling in the same set as PLR 202450005 through PLR 202450007 (file reference PLR-105750-24), addressing a further beneficiary of one testamentary trust. The trust held undev…
A third beneficiary of the same terminating trust gets the same favorable like-kind exchange ruling
This is another companion ruling in the same set as PLR 202450005 and PLR 202450006 (file reference PLR-105748-24), addressing a further beneficiary of one testamentary trust. The trust held undevelop…
A second beneficiary of the same terminating trust also gets a favorable like-kind exchange ruling
This is a companion ruling to PLR 202450005 (file reference PLR-105747-24), addressing a second beneficiary of the same testamentary trust. The trust held undeveloped land for investment and ended aut…
A beneficiary who receives land from a terminating trust can still use it in a like-kind exchange
A testamentary trust held undeveloped land as an investment for many years. The trust was set to end automatically when the last surviving daughter of the person who created it died, and that death (t…
A partnership that forgot to file a basis-adjustment election gets 120 more days to do it
An LLC taxed as a partnership let a new partner buy into the business. When a partnership interest is sold, the partnership can file a Code section 754 election so the buyer gets a basis step-up (or s…
A trust holding S corporation stock under a will missed its election deadline, and the IRS restores the company's S status
A shareholder of an S corporation died, and the S corporation stock passed through the shareholder's estate into a trust set up by the will. A trust that receives S corporation stock under a will can …
Late trust election is excused so a family business keeps its S corporation status
A company that had elected to be taxed as an S corporation held some of its stock through a trust. While the trust's creator was alive, the trust counted as a permitted S corporation shareholder becau…
Taxpayer received time to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A spouse created and funded a trust for family members, including the couple's children, and the trust had generation-skipping transfer tax potential. The couple intended not to allocate GST exemption…
Healthcare scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships for people from a specified area who enroll in health sciences professional schools. The program aims to increase the number of healthcare professionals serv…
Contemporary art grant procedures approved
A private foundation proposed grants for artists to create original artwork, writing, research, or projects inspired by the life and work of a redacted individual. Art experts would nominate candidate…
Merit-based scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships for people under age 24 pursuing post-high-school education at universities, community colleges, technical schools, or vocational schools. Eligibility is tie…
Milestone-based youth scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships for vulnerable and disadvantaged youth already participating in its charitable programs. The eligible group includes young people affected by child welfare, …
Women's golf club denied section 501(c)(3) status
An organization of adult women golfers applied for recognition under section 501(c)(3). Its governing documents did not state a qualifying exempt purpose, and its activities consisted mainly of weekly…
Credit counseling business denied section 501(c)(3) status
An organization offered credit restoration, dispute resolution, monitoring, budgeting, debt assistance, and homebuyer services through enrollment and monthly-fee packages. Most of its revenue came fro…
Farmers' market denied section 501(c)(3) status
An organization operated a weekly market where local farmers, crafters, food vendors, and artists paid small fees to sell goods to the public. The organization provided the location, promotion, signag…
Burial-benefit association denied section 501(c)(3) status
A membership association collected fees to pay lump-sum burial benefits to beneficiaries named by its members. Membership was limited by ancestry and residence, but the organization imposed no financi…
Casino may use a gaming day for withholding deposits in this instance
Chief Counsel considered whether a casino could use its gaming business day rather than a calendar day when determining deposit timing for withheld gambling taxes. Gambling winnings subject to withhol…
Nuclear facility sale qualifies as an applicable asset acquisition
A seller proposed transferring a shut-down nuclear facility, related assets, and a decommissioning trust to a purchaser that would assume the nuclear decommissioning liability. The purchaser would bec…
Nuclear facility sale qualifies as an applicable asset acquisition
A seller proposed transferring a shut-down nuclear facility, related assets, and a decommissioning trust to a purchaser that would assume the nuclear decommissioning liability. The purchaser would bec…
IRS revoked a 2009 real-property-interest ruling without retroactive effect
The IRS revoked Private Letter Ruling 200923001, issued to the same taxpayer in 2009. It stated that the earlier ruling and its related discussion had been reconsidered and no longer reflected the IRS…
Late Form 3115 and bonus depreciation election treated as timely
A corporation intended to file an accounting method change for self-constructed asset costs and elect out of bonus depreciation for specified property placed in service during the year. It timely sent…
Estate received 120 days to make a portability election
An estate was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return but needed Form 706 to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The estate did not …
Qualified opportunity fund self-certification treated as timely
A partnership was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and relied on tax professionals to prepare its first-year return and Form 8996. The tax preparer believed an accounting firm would p…
Mandatory trust distribution does not defeat section 1031 holding purpose
A testamentary trust held undeveloped real estate for investment and began negotiating a sale as part of a planned like-kind exchange. Before a contract was signed, the trust's governing termination e…
Multi-step corporate separation received tax-free reorganization rulings
A corporate group proposed a broad separation involving preliminary asset and entity transfers, multiple internal spin-offs, an external distribution to the public company's shareholders, and a merger…
Taxpayer received time to opt out of GST allocation after GRAT term ended
A taxpayer created a grantor retained annuity trust, and when the retained interest ended the remaining property passed to a trust with generation-skipping transfer tax potential. That event closed th…
Taxpayer received time to opt out of GST allocation after GRAT term ended
A taxpayer created a grantor retained annuity trust, and when the retained interest ended the remaining property passed to a trust with generation-skipping transfer tax potential. That event closed th…
Foreign entity received 120 days to elect corporate classification
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation from its formation date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that the error…
Nuclear decommissioning fund schedule of ruling amounts approved
A regulated utility requested a schedule of annual ruling amounts for deductible contributions to a nuclear decommissioning fund covering its ownership share of a nuclear plant. The schedule used deco…
Late QSST election received inadvertent S termination relief
An S corporation shareholder held stock through a grantor trust. After the deemed owner's death, the trust remained an eligible S corporation shareholder for two years, but its beneficiary did not tim…
Public-interest-law fellowship grant procedures approved
A foundation proposed or expanded several grant programs for lawyers serving at section 501(c)(3) public-interest legal organizations. The programs cover professional licensing costs, law-school loan …
Scholarship procedures for graduating seniors approved
A private foundation proposed a scholarship program for graduating seniors from a specified school who pursue postsecondary education at an accredited technical school, community college, state school…
Professional artist grant procedures approved
A private foundation proposed grants to support the creative development and career advancement of professional artists who reside in a specified state. Applicants must have a significant body of orig…
Teachers' union denied section 501(c)(3) status
An association of certified teachers applied for recognition as a tax-exempt charity under section 501(c)(3). The association operates as a union, collects membership fees through payroll deductions, …
Cemetery denied section 501(c)(3) status
An organization that maintains a cemetery in a rural, economically depressed county applied for recognition under section 501(c)(3). It provides perpetual care without a separate fee but sells burial …
IRS revokes a scholarship charity's 501(c)(3) status for private inurement
This final IRS letter revokes the 501(c)(3) exemption of a small scholarship charity because its own money ended up paying its insiders' personal expenses. The organization had incorporated using gene…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a recreational archery club
An organization applied for recognition as a charity under Section 501(c)(3). It operated an outdoor archery range, sold individual and family memberships, held public 3-D shoots, and scheduled team c…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a downtown business association
A downtown and waterfront business association applied for recognition as a charity under Section 501(c)(3). Its members were local business owners and managers who organized events, decorated an unde…
IRS grants relief for a late qualified opportunity fund self-certification
A partnership intended from its formation to operate as a qualified opportunity fund (QOF), but it did not timely file its first Form 1065 or the Form 8996 needed to self-certify as a QOF. The partner…
IRS grants more time for a Section 336(e) election on an S corporation stock sale
A partnership bought all the stock of an S corporation from its shareholders, and the parties intended to elect under Section 336(e) to treat the stock sale as an asset sale. They did not timely attac…
IRS treats a late qualified opportunity fund self-certification as timely
A partnership and its tax-return preparer knew that the partnership intended to be a qualified opportunity fund (QOF) and that it needed to attach Form 8996 to its first Form 1065. The preparer comple…
IRS gives an estate 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate asked for more time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion, known as the DSUE amount, for the surviving spouse. Based on the estate's representati…
IRS consents to a captive insurer's revocation of its Section 831(b) election
A licensed captive insurance company had elected under Section 831(b) to be taxed only on its taxable investment income. It asked the IRS for consent to revoke that election beginning with a later tax…
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.