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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PLR 1130016: IRS denied a minimum funding waiver because the business hardship was not temporary
A company requested a waiver of the minimum funding standard for its pension plan for the year ending March 31, 2009. The IRS found that the company was experiencing significant financial distress,…
PLR 1130015: IRS approved a five-year extension for amortizing unfunded pension liabilities
The IRS approved a plan's request for a five-year automatic extension to amortize specified unfunded liabilities. The extension applied to eligible amortization charge bases established as of July…
PLR 1130014: IRS denied a waiver of the 60-day IRA rollover requirement
A taxpayer withdrew funds from an IRA intending to roll them over, but redeposited the funds after the 60-day period. The taxpayer cited job loss, a house fire, financial pressure, and a pending…
PLR 1130013: IRS waived the 60-day IRA rollover requirement after emotional distress and divorce proceedings
An older taxpayer unintentionally transferred funds from an IRA to a non-IRA account while moving assets to a bank near a new residence. The taxpayer then experienced severe emotional distress,…
IRS revokes an organization’s tax exemption because fundraising proceeds benefited specific families
The IRS revoked an organization’s section 501(c)(3) tax exemption because its only activity was operating a concession stand and distributing the proceeds to the parents who worked there. Those…
IRS denies exemption to a synagogue because its funds paid the founder’s personal expenses
The IRS denied a small synagogue’s application for recognition as a section 501(c)(3) organization. The organization transferred the founder’s home and mortgage to itself, paid the founder’s…
IRS denies exemption to a scholarship organization tied to a for-profit dance company
The IRS denied exemption to an organization that planned to award scholarships and grants for performing-arts education. The organization’s founders also owned for-profit dance companies, and the…
IRS denies exemption to a condominium association serving only its members
The IRS denied exemption to a 16-member condominium association under both sections 501(c)(6) and 501(c)(4). The association maintained hallways, a laundry room, a courtyard, and other common areas…
PLR 1130008: IRS finds a planned property exchange was not self-dealing after trustees resigned
A private foundation planned to exchange a residential property it owned for another house owned by a former trustee. The former trustee and her spouse had resigned from the foundation’s board…
PLR 1130007: IRS approves a foundation’s set-aside for a group home project
The IRS approved a private operating foundation’s set-aside for the purchase and modification of a residential facility for people with a specified medical condition. The foundation planned to use…
PLR 1130006: IRS approves a private foundation’s transfer of assets to another foundation
A private foundation planned to transfer about half of its assets, consisting of cash and securities, to another private foundation established to pursue separate charitable objectives. The IRS…
PLR 1130005: IRS approves a hospital-system reorganization without adverse tax consequences
The IRS approved a reorganization in which a public hospital authority would transfer management and healthcare operations to affiliated tax-exempt entities, including a merger of one healthcare…
PLR 1130004: IRS grants more time to make a section 197(f)(9)(B) election
The IRS granted a taxpayer 60 calendar days to make a section 197(f)(9)(B) election for section 197 intangibles involved in a stock sale. The taxpayer had timely made a related section 338(h)(10)…
PLR 1130003: IRS approves credits for a solar energy system and modified air-conditioning unit
The IRS approved a methodology for allocating the cost of a solar energy system and a specially modified air-conditioning condensing unit between the residential energy credit under section 25C and…
PLR 1130002: IRS grants more time to elect out of additional first-year depreciation
The IRS granted a partnership 60 calendar days to make an election not to deduct additional first-year depreciation for all classes of qualified property placed in service during a prior taxable…
PLR 1130001: IRS grants more time to file a LIFO inventory election
The IRS granted a taxpayer 30 days to file Form 970 and adopt the LIFO inventory method for inventory transferred in a section 351 transaction. A subsidiary had transferred inventory to a newly…
Determination 1129056: IRS denies section 501(c)(3) exemption because activities served private interests
The IRS issued a final adverse determination denying an organization exemption under section 501(c)(3). The organization described its activities as investigating alleged academic misconduct and…
Determination 1129055: IRS revokes a debt-management organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption
The IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption effective October 1, 2004. The organization provided credit counseling and debt management plans, but the IRS found that its primary…
Determination 1129054: IRS revokes an organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption for charitable gaming
The IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption effective January 1, 2006. The organization operated recurring charitable gaming sessions and sold pull-tabs, but the IRS found that…
Determination 1129053: IRS approves a five-year extension for amortizing an employee plan's unfunded liabilities
The IRS approved a five-year automatic extension for a plan to amortize unfunded liabilities as of July 1, 2010. The extension applies to eligible amortization charge bases identified in the plan's…
Determination 1129052: IRS approves a five-year extension for amortizing an employee plan's unfunded liabilities
The IRS approved a five-year automatic extension for an employee plan to amortize unfunded liabilities as of January 1, 2010. The extension is effective for the plan year beginning January 1, 2010,…
Determination 1129051: IRS approves a five-year extension for amortizing an employee plan's unfunded liabilities
The IRS approved a five-year automatic extension for an employee plan to amortize unfunded liabilities as of September 1, 2010. The extension is effective for the plan year beginning September 1,…
TAM 1129050: IRS denies abatement of private foundation excise taxes and declines a set-aside request
The IRS considered whether to abate first-tier excise taxes imposed on a private foundation's undistributed income for 1999 through 2003 and whether the foundation could treat planned projects as…
PLR 1129049: IRS approves a private foundation's receipt of promissory notes from estate transactions
The IRS ruled that a private foundation could receive and hold promissory notes arising from the purchase of non-voting corporate shares held by two estates. The estates were expected to transfer…
PLR 1129048: IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after an advisor's deposit error
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover requirement for an individual whose IRA distribution was mistakenly deposited into a non-IRA account. The taxpayer intended to roll the full distribution into…
PLR 1129047: IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after an advisor's deposit error
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover requirement for an individual whose IRA distribution was mistakenly deposited into a joint non-IRA account. The taxpayer intended to roll the funds into another…
PLR 1129046: IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline after a financial institution's deposit error
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover requirement for an individual whose distribution from an IRA was mistakenly deposited into a non-IRA account. The taxpayer intended to use the funds to purchase a…
PLR 1129045: IRS waives the 60-day rollover deadline for two IRA distributions transferred to a grantor trust account
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover requirement for two IRA distributions that were mistakenly transferred into a standard non-IRA account maintained within a grantor trust. The taxpayer intended to…
PLR 1129044: IRS waived the 60-day rollover deadline after a retirement distribution was deposited into a non-IRA account
A taxpayer received a retirement-plan distribution that was intended for an IRA, but a financial advisor deposited it into a non-IRA account. The taxpayer later moved the remaining amount into an…
Determination 1129043: IRS denied exemption to a children's television organization
The IRS denied tax-exempt status to a nonprofit that planned to produce educational children's television programs using characters and other intellectual property owned by a related for-profit…
Determination 1129042: IRS revoked exemption after an organization failed to provide examination records
The IRS revoked an organization's recognition as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) after the organization failed to provide information requested during an examination of its Form 990. The final…
Determination 1129041: IRS revoked exemption after an organization failed to substantiate its operations and records
The IRS revoked an organization's exemption under section 501(c)(3) after it failed to provide documents showing that it operated for exempt purposes and kept the required books and records. The…
CCA 1129040: Section 6702(b) penalty may apply to a representative who submits a frivolous filing
Chief Counsel Advice considered whether the section 6702(b) penalty for a specified frivolous submission can apply to a representative who sends the submission to the IRS for another person. The…
CCA 1129039: TEFRA procedures apply despite later questions about partnership status
Chief Counsel Advice considered amended partnership returns filed after three years and concluded that the TEFRA partnership procedures still applied. The advice stated that section 6233 makes the…
CCA 1129038: Representatives may sign tax returns only under specified authorization rules
Chief Counsel Advice addressed when a representative may sign a tax return or refund claim for a taxpayer. It stated that the act must be permitted under the Code and regulations and specifically…
CCA 1129037: Estate tax liens and transferee liability for probate and non-probate assets
Chief Counsel Advice collected authorities on two estate-tax questions. It addressed whether personal liability under section 6324(a)(2) is limited to transferees of non-probate property and whether…
CCA 1129036: At-risk limits are determined separately for each partner
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether a TEFRA partnership case's schedule of adjustments reflected only partnership-level at-risk limits. The advice stated that the at-risk rules under IRC § 465…
CCA 1129035: Section 6707A penalties use the reported tax decrease
Chief Counsel Advice addressed how to calculate section 6707A penalties for failing to disclose reportable transactions. For one scenario, it advised treating the tax decreases shown on multiple…
PLR 1129034: IRS grants more time to make a taxable REIT subsidiary election
A REIT and a related company asked for more time to elect to treat the company as the REIT's taxable REIT subsidiary. An employee of the firm preparing Form 8875 mistakenly listed the partnership…
PLR 1129033: Gifts of a separate stock class qualify for the charitable deduction
The IRS considered a plan under which a donor and the donor's spouse would transfer shares of a nonvoting stock class to a public charity while other shares would pass to family trusts or a…
PLR 1129032: IRS grants extra time for an entity classification election
An eligible entity asked for more time to file Form 8832 and elect to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation for federal tax purposes. The entity intended the election to be effective…
PLR 1129031: REIT investments and property sales do not disqualify stated activities
A publicly held REIT asked whether certain property sales and investments involving property operators and management companies would affect its REIT income and its taxable REIT subsidiary…
PLR 1129030: IRS grants more time for a section 754 election
An entity that began as a disregarded limited liability company later became a partnership and then underwent a technical termination under section 708(b)(1)(B). It inadvertently failed to make a…
PLR 1129029: Contract receives annuity treatment without offsetting account losses
An insurance issuer proposed a contract tied to a customer's investment account that would provide a benefit if the account fell below a specified minimum, while also allowing permitted withdrawals…
PLR 1129028: Petroleum blending and processing income qualifies under section 7704
A publicly traded partnership planned to acquire operations for blending, processing, packaging, and marketing specialty lubricant oils. The IRS ruled that income from processing refined petroleum…
PLR 1129027: IRS grants more time to allocate GST exemption to trusts
A married couple failed to allocate their generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions to transfers made to two irrevocable trusts. The IRS found that they acted reasonably and in good faith because…
PLR 1129026: Trust granted more time to make a 65-day election
A trust made a distribution during the first 65 days of a tax year and reported it on the prior year's return, but did not timely make the election required under IRC § 663(b). The IRS concluded…
PLR 1129025: Company granted relief for late S corporation election
A company intended to elect S corporation status effective on its incorporation date, but its Form 2553 was not timely filed. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election and granted relief…
PLR 1129024: Partnership granted more time to make a section 754 election
A limited liability company became a partnership and later underwent a technical termination, but it failed to file a section 754 election with its return. The partnership represented that it relied…
PLR 1129023: IRS preserves S corporation status after disproportionate distributions
An S corporation made disproportionate distributions to its shareholders, which could have created a second class of stock and terminated its S corporation election. The corporation later made…
PLR 1129022: Taxpayer granted more time to elect prior-year disaster loss treatment
A married couple's rental properties were damaged by a federally declared disaster. Their accountant missed the deadline to elect to claim the disaster loss on the prior year's return, and the IRS…
PLR 1129021: Trust consolidation preserves GST exemption and tax attributes
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 26, 1985, had substantially identical terms and beneficiaries. A state court authorized their consolidation into one trust without changing the…
PLR 1129020: LLC transfer and crop-based lease preserve farmland valuation treatment
A qualified heir received an interest in farmland that had been valued under the special estate-tax rules of IRC § 2032A. The IRS ruled that transferring the interest to a wholly owned LLC would not…
PLR 1129019: Trust-to-LLC transfer and farm lease preserve section 2032A treatment
A trust held an interest in farmland that had been valued under the special estate-tax rules of IRC § 2032A for the benefit of qualified heirs. The IRS ruled that transferring the trust's farmland…
PLR 1129018: Trust-to-LLC transfer and farm lease preserve section 2032A treatment
A trust held an interest in farmland that had been valued under the special estate-tax rules of IRC § 2032A for the benefit of a qualified heir. The IRS ruled that transferring the trust's farmland…
PLR 1129017: QPRT modification avoids section 2702 treatment and creates a gift
A grantor created a qualified personal residence trust (QPRT) that held the grantor's home for a retained term, with the grantor's children as remainder beneficiaries. The children proposed…
PLR 1129016: Trust-to-LLC transfer and farm lease preserve section 2032A treatment
A trust held an interest in farmland that had been valued under the special estate-tax rules of IRC § 2032A for the benefit of qualified heirs. The IRS ruled that transferring the trust's farmland…
PLR 1129015: Trust reformation preserves tax treatment and GST exemption
A family trust created before September 26, 1985, had not been divided as originally planned and was being administered for two beneficiaries. The trustees and beneficiaries proposed a nonjudicial…
PLR 1129014: Trust reformation preserves tax treatment and GST exemption
A family trust created before September 26, 1985, was held for a beneficiary and later generations. The trustees and beneficiaries proposed a nonjudicial agreement to clarify investment authority,…
PLR 1129013: Trust reformation preserves tax treatment and GST exemption
A family trust created before September 26, 1985, had not been divided as originally planned and was being administered for two beneficiaries. The trustees and beneficiaries proposed a nonjudicial…
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.