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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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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
IRS grants relief after a partnership return omitted its QOF self-certification
A partnership was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund (QOF) and hired one accounting firm for its tax filings and another firm for opportunity-zone consulting and oversight. The…
IRS gives a corporate group 60 days to elect out of bonus depreciation
A corporate parent and two subsidiaries claimed additional first-year depreciation on five-year property placed in service during two taxable years. Their internal accounting team lacked federal tax…
IRS grants 120 days for a late corporate classification election
A single-owner limited liability company was treated by default as disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. It intended to change its classification and become an association taxable as…
IRS grants 60 days to perfect a success-based fee safe-harbor election
A corporate group paid success-based fees to three financial consultants in connection with an acquisition of its parent partnership. Revenue Procedure 2011-29 offers a safe harbor that treats 70…
Proposed charitable distributions will not disqualify a charitable remainder unitrust
Two individuals created a charitable remainder unitrust that paid them a five-percent annual unitrust amount for life, then paid the survivor after the first death. After one creator died, the…
Missing ESBT election caused an inadvertent S corporation termination
An individual held S corporation stock through an eligible trust and later died. After the original trust elected to be included in the estate, it distributed the S corporation stock to a second…
Pension amendment increases liabilities but qualifies as reasonable and de minimis
A multiemployer pension plan had received a five-year extension for amortizing unfunded liabilities. Its terms imposed six additional months of benefit suspension when an early retiree returned to…
Private foundation lost exemption after five years without exempt activity
A nonoperating private foundation was examined after reporting no operational or financial activity for five years. Its president said the organization lacked funding and resources and expected a…
Employee discount-card group does not qualify as a business league
An organization of local employers applied for exemption as a business league under Section 501(c)(6). It collected annual dues and provided member employees with a digital card offering discounts…
Partnership receives 60 days to make its qualified opportunity fund election
A partnership intended to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and relied on professional advisers to handle the required tax filings. Although its advisers had discussed the fund's status, the…
Partnership receives extra time to change to its required tax year
A partnership acquired a majority partner whose tax year required the partnership to change its own accounting period. During a transition between service providers, the partnership missed the…
Corporation receives extra time for an outbound intangible-property election
A domestic corporation was treated as transferring operating intangibles to a foreign corporation when a foreign disregarded entity elected corporate status. Its accounting firm reported the…
Corporation keeps S status after trusts miss ESBT elections
Two trusts acquired shares of a newly formed corporation but their trustees failed to make timely electing small business trust elections. That failure made the corporation's S election ineffective…
S corporation receives relief for two missed ESBT elections
Three shareholder trusts initially qualified to hold S corporation stock under the grantor-trust rules. After their terms changed, all three were eligible to become electing small business trusts,…
Partnership receives 45 days to file its original accounting-method form
A partnership affiliated with a corporation in the IRS Compliance Assurance Process sought an automatic accounting-method change under section 446(e). It timely filed the duplicate copy of Form 3115…
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A partnership intended to elect under section 754 after a partner who held an interest through a grantor trust died. It timely filed its partnership return but inadvertently omitted the election.…
S corporation receives 120 days to make a late QSub election
An S corporation indirectly owned all of a subsidiary corporation through a disregarded limited liability company. It intended the subsidiary to be a qualified subchapter S subsidiary, but the…
Partnership receives late section 754 election relief after an interest sale
A partnership failed to make a section 754 election for the year in which a buyer purchased a partnership interest. It represented that the failure was inadvertent, that it acted reasonably and in…
Fund receives 60 days to make a late QOF self-certification
A partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and intended to operate as a qualified opportunity fund. Its accountant lacked QOF experience and, amid COVID-related…
LLC receives 120 days to elect corporate tax status
A domestic limited liability company intended to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation from its formation date. It inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time and requested…
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.