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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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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Private foundation gets an extra five years to sell "excess business holdings" inherited from its founder
A private foundation cannot hold too large a stake in a business (an "excess business holding") without facing an excise tax under Section 4943, and it normally has five years to sell down after…
9100 relief to file two late "check-the-box" elections classifying foreign subsidiaries as disregarded
This letter gives a company extra time to make two late "check-the-box" entity classification elections. A U.S. corporation that had elected S corporation status indirectly owned two foreign…
9100 relief to make late QTIP and reverse-QTIP elections on an estate tax return after the preparer omitted them
This letter gives an estate more time to make two estate-tax elections that its accountant left off the return. A QTIP election (Section 2056(b)(7)) lets property passing into a marital trust for a…
9100 relief treating a late Form 8996 as timely to self-certify a partnership as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
This letter grants a late-filing extension for an Opportunity Zone election, on facts very similar to a companion ruling in the same release week. A Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) self-certifies…
9100 relief treating a late Form 8996 as timely to self-certify a partnership as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
This letter grants a late-filing extension for an Opportunity Zone election. To become a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), an entity must self-certify by filing Form 8996 with a timely tax return.…
Inadvertent-termination relief restoring a corporation's S election after trustees missed the ESBT elections
This letter fixes an accidental loss of S corporation status. An S corporation can only have certain kinds of shareholders; a trust generally has to make an "electing small business trust" (ESBT)…
9100 relief to file a late "check-the-box" election classifying a foreign entity as a partnership
This letter grants extra time to make a "check-the-box" entity classification election, a companion to another ruling issued the same week. Under the Section 7701 regulations, an eligible business…
A contingent deferred annuity linked to a taxpayer's own brokerage account is treated as an annuity under Section 72, with no straddle or loss-deferral side effects
A life insurance company plans to sell a "contingent deferred annuity," a product that guarantees a person lifetime income if their own investment account ever runs dry. Unlike a normal annuity, the…
9100 relief to file a late "check-the-box" election classifying a foreign entity as disregarded
This letter grants extra time to make a "check-the-box" entity classification election. Under the Section 7701 regulations, an eligible business entity can elect how it is treated for federal tax…
Conditional approval of a multiemployer pension plan's 5-year amortization extension, with one improperly extended base denied and required to be reversed
This is an IRS ruling on a multiemployer pension plan's request to stretch out (amortize) certain unfunded liabilities over an extra five years, which eases the plan's minimum funding requirements…
Letter 4038 (202502006): Denial of 501(c)(4) social-welfare exemption to a gated homeowners association operated for its members
This is a final IRS letter denying tax-exempt status as a social welfare organization under Section 501(c)(4). To qualify, a group must operate primarily to promote the common good and general…
A foreign subsidiary's activities are not attributed to its U.S. parent for sourcing services income, because the subsidiary is not the parent's agent
This is Chief Counsel Advice to an Appeals officer about where a company's services income comes from, which matters for the foreign tax credit limitation under Section 904. Services income is…
9100 relief to file a late Form 8996 self-certifying a partnership as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
This letter grants a late-filing extension for an Opportunity Zone election. A Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) is an investment vehicle that lets investors defer and reduce capital-gains tax when…
9100 relief to make late GILTI high-tax-exclusion elections for a CFC group across three years
This letter gives a corporate group more time to make a tax election tied to the GILTI rules for foreign subsidiaries. GILTI (global intangible low-taxed income) requires U.S. shareholders of…
R&D-services income that two U.S. companies earn from their foreign parent qualifies as FDDEI in full under section 250(b)(4)(B)
This ruling is about the deduction for foreign-derived intangible income (FDII) under Section 250, which rewards U.S. corporations for income earned by serving foreign customers. To get the…
9100 relief to file a late statement electing the 70/30 success-based-fee safe harbor under Rev. Proc. 2011-29
This letter grants a company extra time to file a tax election it meant to make but accidentally left off its return. When a business pays fees that are contingent on closing an acquisition…
Advance approval of a private foundation's scholarship and educational-grant procedures under 4945(g)
This is an IRS letter giving a private foundation advance approval of the way it plans to award two kinds of grants to individuals. Private foundations face an excise tax on "taxable expenditures,"…
Letter 4797 (202501017): Approval of a private foundation's 4942(g)(2) set-aside to renovate and expand an affordable-housing complex
This is an IRS letter approving a private foundation's request for a "set-aside" under Section 4942(g)(2). Private foundations normally have to pay out a minimum amount each year for charitable…
Letter 4038 (202501016): Denial of 501(c)(4) social-welfare exemption to a small homeowners association operated for its members' private benefit
This is a final IRS letter denying tax-exempt status as a social welfare organization under Section 501(c)(4). To qualify, a group must operate primarily to promote the common good and general…
Letter 4038 (202501015): Denial of 501(c)(5) labor-organization exemption to a group that could not show it primarily serves employees
This is a final IRS letter denying tax-exempt status as a labor organization under Section 501(c)(5). To qualify, a group must primarily serve the interests of "labor," which the law reads as 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.