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 qualified opportunity fund self-certification accepted
A partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and intended to operate as a qualified opportunity fund. Its accounting firm did not file partnership returns for its first tw…
Late section 336(e) stock-disposition election allowed
A partnership acquired more than 80 percent of an S corporation through a disregarded entity, and the parties intended to treat the stock sale as an asset sale under section 336(e). They failed to att…
Late section 336(e) agreement and election allowed
An individual bought the stock of an S corporation, and the parties intended to treat the stock disposition as an asset sale under section 336(e). They reasonably relied on a tax professional who fail…
Estate received more time to make a QTIP election
A decedent's trust directed property subject to a qualified terminable interest property election into a marital trust that paid all net income to the surviving spouse at least quarterly. The estate t…
Late opportunity fund self-certification treated as timely
A limited liability company classified as a partnership was organized to be a qualified opportunity fund and invest in qualified opportunity zone property. It relied on another party to prepare its pa…
Three partnerships received late section 754 election relief
An individual held interests in three partnerships through two trusts. After the individual died, the partnerships intended to elect under section 754 to adjust the basis of partnership property, but …
Partnership received late section 754 election relief
A partner held an interest in a partnership through a grantor trust and later died. The partnership inadvertently failed to file a section 754 election for the tax year of the resulting transfer. The …
Inadvertent S corporation termination relief granted
An S corporation shareholder transferred shares to a trust instrument that created a separate trust to hold S corporation stock. The separate trust qualified to make a qualified subchapter S trust ele…
A large one-time grant to a community nonprofit is treated as an "unusual grant" that will not cost it public-charity status
A nonprofit that maintains parkland and runs community programs for residents of a large affordable-housing project asked the IRS to treat a big incoming grant as an "unusual grant." To keep public-ch…
Exemption denial became final after no protest
An organization applied for recognition as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3). The IRS had sent a proposed adverse determination explaining the facts, law, and basis for denial, but the organization d…
Late entity classification and tax-exempt controlled entity elections allowed
A limited liability company wholly owned by a section 501(c)(3) organization served as general partner of a partnership that owned an affordable housing project. The operating agreement required the c…
Affordable housing partner received late election relief
A limited liability company owned by a section 501(c)(3) organization was the general partner of a partnership formed to acquire, rehabilitate, own, lease, and manage a qualified low-income housing pr…
Trust received five more years to sell excess business holdings
A split-interest charitable lead annuity trust received voting and nonvoting stock in a large international company through a bequest, creating excess business holdings under section 4943. The trust t…
Late qualified subchapter S subsidiary election allowed
A corporation hired a tax adviser to obtain S corporation status for itself and qualified subchapter S subsidiary status for its wholly owned subsidiary. Acting on incorrect advice, the corporation fi…
Zero income and assets did not defeat REIT qualification tests
A corporation filed a REIT return for its first tax year even though delays prevented it from receiving investment proceeds, acquiring real estate interests, or earning income until the next year. It …
Estate received more time to elect portability
A decedent left a surviving spouse and an unused estate and gift tax exclusion amount, but the estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability. Based on the represented estate value and adjus…
Acquisition currency option received special hedge integration treatment
A U.S.-dollar subsidiary bought a foreign-currency option to hedge the anticipated cost of acquiring a foreign target's shares. Ordinary integration rules did not apply because the public offer was no…
Opportunity fund received 60 days to file Form 8996
A two-member limited liability company was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and invest in qualified opportunity zone property. Its return preparer mistakenly classified the partnershi…
Late election out of automatic GST exemption allocation allowed
A taxpayer's spouse funded a grantor retained annuity trust, and the spouses elected to split the gift on their timely gift tax returns. They did not intend to allocate generation-skipping transfer ta…
Late GST allocation opt-outs allowed for twelve GRATs
A taxpayer created and funded twelve grantor retained annuity trusts over several years, with each remainder passing to a trust for descendants. The taxpayer did not intend to allocate generation-skip…
Late section 754 election allowed after apartment interest sale
A partnership owned an apartment complex and a vacant development lot that it subdivided into separate parcels and tied to separate classes of partnership interests. One partner sold all of its apartm…
IRS grants a multiemployer pension plan a 5-year extension to amortize its unfunded liabilities
A multiemployer pension plan (the kind jointly sponsored for workers who move among several employers, usually under a union contract) asked the IRS for an automatic extension of the time it has to pa…
IRS grants a multiemployer pension plan a 5-year extension to amortize its unfunded liabilities
A multiemployer pension plan (the kind jointly sponsored for workers who move among several employers, usually under a union contract) asked the IRS for an automatic extension of the time it has to pa…
Court-ordered payments to a regulator and related customer-debt forgiveness are nondeductible under § 162(f)
A taxpayer paid money to a government agency under a court order for violating that agency's laws, and the taxpayer's wholly owned S corporation forgave debt owed by the taxpayer's customers, also as …
"Dealer in commodities" for the section 965 transition tax means the ordinary dictionary sense, a buyer-reseller who does not convert the commodity
A field attorney in Large Business & International asked Chief Counsel to pin down what "dealer in commodities" means for the section 965 transition tax. The 2017 transition tax taxed U.S. shareholder…
IRS grants an extension of time to file a late section 336(e) election for an S corporation stock sale
A buyer acquired all the stock of an S corporation from its seller. The parties wanted to treat that stock sale as if it were a sale of the S corporation's underlying assets, which they could do by ma…
IRS grants a 120-day extension to make a late estate-tax portability election
When someone dies, their estate can elect "portability" to pass the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion (called the DSUE amount) to the surviving spouse, so the survivor can shelter…
IRS grants a 120-day extension to make a late section 754 election for a partnership
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership wanted to make a section 754 election. That election lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its own assets when a partner's interest changes hand…
IRS lets an LLC change its tax classification again inside the 60-month limit after a majority ownership change
An LLC changed its federal tax classification over time. It began as a two-owner partnership, then became a "disregarded entity" (ignored as separate from its owner) when one owner bought out the othe…
IRS grants a 120-day extension to make a late allocation of GST exemption after the accountant omitted it
A married couple created and funded a trust for their children and more remote descendants, a trust that could later trigger generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax when assets pass to grandchildren or…
IRS grants a 60-day extension to file a late Form 8996 self-certifying a Qualified Opportunity Fund
An LLC taxed as a partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and to operate as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), a vehicle that lets investors defer and reduce tax on ca…
IRS grants a 60-day extension to file a late Form 8996 self-certifying a Qualified Opportunity Fund
An LLC taxed as a partnership was formed to acquire qualified opportunity zone property and to be treated as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), a vehicle that lets investors defer tax on capital gain…
IRS grants a 120-day extension to make a late estate-tax portability election
When someone dies, their estate can elect "portability" to pass the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion (called the DSUE amount) to the surviving spouse, so the survivor can shelter…
IRS grants a 120-day extension to make a late allocation of GST exemption after the accountant omitted it
A married couple created and funded a trust for their children and more remote descendants, a trust that could later trigger generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax when assets pass to grandchildren or…
IRS grants a 60-day extension to file a late Form 8996 self-certifying a Qualified Opportunity Fund
An LLC taxed as a partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and to be treated as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), a vehicle that lets investors defer tax on capital ga…
IRS grants relief to make a late corporate-classification election and a late S corporation election for an LLC
An LLC formed under state law intended to be taxed as an S corporation starting on a specific date. For an LLC to be an S corporation, it must do two things: first elect to be treated as a corporation…
A parent partnership computes its section 7519 required payment using only the subsidiary income allocated to it
A partnership uses a fiscal year rather than the calendar year it would otherwise be required to use, under a section 444 election. That election lets a partnership keep a non-calendar tax year (and t…
IRS treats a late Form 8996 as timely, allowing a Qualified Opportunity Fund self-certification after the accountant missed the extension
An LLC taxed as a partnership was formed to invest in Qualified Opportunity Zones and operate as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), a vehicle that lets investors defer tax on capital gains reinvested…
Residents' group denied 501(c)(3) for benefiting a facility's staff
A residents' group at a senior living facility applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt charity under Section 501(c)(3) using the streamlined Form 1023-EZ. Its two main activities were paying higher-e…
Members' association denied 501(c)(3) for member home-downpayment loans and tutoring
An unincorporated members' association applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt charity under Section 501(c)(3) using the streamlined Form 1023-EZ. Its two activities were pooling money to give member…
120-day extension to make a section 754 partnership basis election
A state LLC taxed as a partnership asked the IRS for more time to make an election under Section 754. When some of its owners transferred part of their partnership interests as part of a multi-step de…
60-day extension to file Form 1128 to change a foreign insurer's tax year
A foreign insurance company that had elected under Section 953(d) to be taxed as a U.S. domestic corporation wanted to change its annual accounting period (its tax year end). Changing a tax year gener…
120-day extension for a foreign entity to elect disregarded (check-the-box) status
A foreign entity with a single owner wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" (ignored as separate from its owner) for U.S. federal tax purposes. It could do that by filing a "check-the-box" ele…
Inadvertent invalid S corporation election fixed by late ESBT elections
A corporation elected to be taxed as an S corporation, but two trusts that owned some of its shares never filed the required "electing small business trust" (ESBT) elections on time. Without those ele…
S corporation election restored after a grantor trust missed its ESBT election
A corporation was taxed as an S corporation, and one of its shareholders was a grantor trust treated as owned by an individual, which is a permitted S corporation shareholder. When that individual die…
S corporation election restored after a grantor trust missed its ESBT election
A corporation was taxed as an S corporation, and one of its shareholders was a grantor trust treated as owned by an individual, which is a permitted S corporation shareholder. When that individual die…
S corporation election restored after a grantor trust missed its ESBT election
A corporation was taxed as an S corporation, and one of its shareholders was a grantor trust treated as owned by an individual, which is a permitted S corporation shareholder. When that individual die…
S corporation election restored after a grantor trust missed its ESBT election
A corporation was taxed as an S corporation, and one of its shareholders was a grantor trust treated as owned by an individual, which is a permitted S corporation shareholder. When that individual die…
S corporation election restored after a grantor trust missed its ESBT election
A corporation was taxed as an S corporation, and one of its shareholders was a grantor trust treated as owned by an individual, which is a permitted S corporation shareholder. When that individual die…
S corporation election restored after a trust missed its QSST election
A corporation was taxed as an S corporation, and its shares were held by a revocable living trust treated as owned by a married couple, which is a permitted S corporation shareholder. When one spouse …
S corporation election restored after successive missed QSST and ESBT elections
A corporation's S election was held through a revocable living trust treated as owned by a married couple, which is a permitted S corporation shareholder. When one spouse died, the trust split, and th…
S corporation election restored after successive missed QSST and ESBT elections
A corporation's S election was held through a revocable living trust treated as owned by a married couple, which is a permitted S corporation shareholder. When one spouse died, the trust split, and th…
S corporation election restored after successive missed QSST and ESBT elections
A corporation's S election was held through a revocable living trust treated as owned by a married couple, which is a permitted S corporation shareholder. When one spouse died, the trust split, and th…
Regulator-required spin-off qualifies as a tax-free section 355/368(a)(1)(D) reorganization
A domestic corporation (Distributing) ran two active businesses. Federal and state regulators required it to separate one of them (Business B) from the other (Business A). To comply, Distributing form…
Consent to make a retroactive QEF election for a PFIC investment
A married couple who file a joint U.S. return owned a small stake (under 10 percent) in a foreign corporation. That company later became a "passive foreign investment company" (PFIC), a status that su…
Parade club denied 501(c)(7) social club status over nonmember bingo income
A membership organization that stages an annual parade and related member social events applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt social club under Section 501(c)(7). Its main source of money was bingo…
501(c)(3) supporting organization's exemption revoked for inactivity
A charity that had been recognized as a tax-exempt "supporting organization" (a Section 509(a)(3) group that exists to support a specific public charity) had its exemption revoked. To keep 501(c)(3) s…
Business-promotion group denied charitable status
An organization applied for section 501(c)(3) status to unite local businesses, industries, and civic organizations, promote trade, and conduct community events. Its activities included membership mee…
Opportunity fund received relief for omitted Form 8996
A partnership's operating agreement stated that it was intended to be a qualified opportunity fund and invest only in qualified opportunity zone property. Its members believed the first-year partnersh…
Late corporate classification and S corporation elections allowed
A limited liability company intended from a specified date to be classified as a corporation and taxed as an S corporation. It failed to file either Form 2553, which could have supplied a deemed corpo…
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.