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 1116029: IRS approved a private foundation’s artist grant program
The IRS approved a private foundation’s procedures for awarding grants to artists. The program supports innovative and interdisciplinary projects intended to affect communities through art. Grants…
Determination 1116028: IRS denied exemption to a technology-project funding platform
The IRS denied tax exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3) to an organization that planned to operate an online platform for funding public-interest technology projects. The IRS found that the organization…
CCA 1116027: IRS advised that a taxpayer generally may not undo a credit elect
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether a taxpayer could undo a credit elect. The short answer was no. The IRS stated that a taxpayer may not generally undo a credit elect.
CCA 1116026: Form 872-i extends the period for a partner to file an AAR
Chief Counsel Advice addressed the effect of a Form 872-i, or a Form 872 with added language referring to partnership items. The IRS advised that this form extends the period for a partner to file…
CCA 1116025: No interest is allowed on an overpayment used as a credit elect
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether a taxpayer is entitled to interest on an overpayment applied as a credit elect. The IRS advised that no interest is allowed on the portion of an overpayment…
CCA 1116024: A TC 716 signifies a credit elect on a transcript
Chief Counsel Advice addressed the meaning of transaction code 716 on a tax transcript. The IRS advised that a TC 716 signifies a credit elect on the transcript. The memorandum referred the reader…
CCA 1116023: IRS discussed Form 872-P extensions for partnership AARs
Chief Counsel Advice discussed requests for administrative adjustment under IRC § 6227 and extensions made with Form 872-P. The memorandum stated that a taxpayer may file a request resulting in a…
CCA 1116022: IRS discussed a trust's status as a tax matters partner
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether a trust could remain the tax matters partner (TMP) of a partnership for a TEFRA proceeding. The IRS stated that a trust may be designated as TMP even if it is…
CCA 1116021: IRS discussed TEFRA proceedings and interest abatement
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether a TEFRA proceeding belongs to the partners or the partnership and whether an examination could support interest abatement. The memorandum stated that a TEFRA…
CCA 1116020: IRS discussed settlement agreements by pass-through partners
Chief Counsel Advice addressed the effect of a settlement agreement made by a pass-through partner in a tiered partnership structure. It stated that a settlement agreement by a pass-through partner…
CCA 1116019: IRS discussed levies on property of a disregarded LLC
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether the Service could levy property owned under local law by a disregarded LLC to collect the sole member's tax liability. It agreed that the Service could not…
CCA 1116018: IRS advised on a late-filing penalty and reasonable cause
Chief Counsel Advice evaluated asserting a penalty under IRC § 6651 for failure to timely file redacted gift tax returns. It explained that reasonable cause requires proof of ordinary business care…
CCA 1116017: IRS discussed Taxpayer Advocate refund claims
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether a document filed by the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) could be a taxpayer's claim for refund and whether a Taxpayer Assistance Order (TAO) could qualify as…
PLR 1116016: IRS approved late S corporation election relief
The IRS considered a corporation's request to have a late Form 2553 treated as a timely S corporation election. The corporation had intended to elect S corporation status but did not file the form…
PLR 1116015: IRS granted more time for a bond arbitrage election
The IRS considered a political subdivision's request for more time to elect to waive the right to invest bond proceeds in higher-yielding investments during a temporary period. The issuer had failed…
PLR 1116014: IRS treated certain CFC income as qualifying RIC income
The IRS considered three regulated investment companies that planned to invest in wholly owned foreign subsidiaries. The subsidiaries were expected to earn income from commodities and related…
PLR 1116013: IRS granted time to correct consent-dividend elections
The IRS considered a parent company and two real estate investment trust subsidiaries that had reported incorrect amounts for consent dividends because of clerical, transcription, coding, sorting,…
PLR 1116012: IRS accepted a late Form 1128 for an accounting-period change
The IRS considered a taxpayer that filed Form 1128 late to change its federal income tax accounting period from a year ending August 31 to a year ending December 31. The taxpayer had filed the…
PLR 1116011: IRS allowed an LLC to change to disregarded-entity status
The IRS considered an eligible limited liability company that had elected to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation. The taxpayer represented that more than 50 percent of the…
PLR 1116010: IRS granted time to make a section 754 election
The IRS considered a partnership that failed to timely make a section 754 election after one partner sold an interest to another person. The partnership represented that it relied on tax advisers,…
PLR 1116009: IRS allowed a late S corporation election
The IRS considered a corporation that intended to elect S corporation treatment when it was incorporated but did not timely file Form 2553. The IRS concluded that the corporation had established…
PLR 1116008: IRS ruled on separate trust shares and GST tax
The IRS considered two trusts created by a settlor whose income was divided among five children, with a deceased child’s share passing to that child’s descendants. The IRS ruled that each trust…
PLR 1116007: IRS granted a late S corporation election
The IRS considered a corporation whose shareholder intended it to be treated as an S corporation from its incorporation date, but the election was not timely filed. The IRS found reasonable cause…
PLR 1116006: IRS excluded a former spouse’s trust from the decedent’s estate
The IRS considered an irrevocable trust established by a former spouse under a divorce judgment for the decedent’s lifetime benefit. The trust gave the decedent income and limited access to…
PLR 1116005: IRS treated an IRA transfer to a special needs trust as non-sale
The IRS considered a disabled taxpayer who was eligible for public benefits and planned to transfer an inherited IRA share to a newly established special needs trust. The trust would benefit the…
PLR 1116004: IRS granted time for reverse QTIP and GST elections
The IRS considered an estate that had reported a marital trust as QTIP property but had not separately identified its GST-exempt and GST-nonexempt portions, made a reverse QTIP election, or…
PLR 1116003: IRS ruled that two trusts had five separate GST shares
The IRS considered two trusts that paid income to a settlor's five children and, after a child's death, to that child's descendants. It ruled that the settlor remained the transferor for…
PLR 1116002: IRS restored an S corporation election after an inadvertent trust transfer
The IRS considered an S corporation whose stock was transferred from a grantor trust into two trusts intended to be qualified subchapter S trusts. One trust was eligible but did not make a timely…
PLR 1116001: IRS approved recapitalizations and tax-free spin-offs
The IRS reviewed a proposed separation of two businesses held within an affiliated corporate group. The plan included three recapitalizations, a possible redemption of preferred stock, a…
IRS reclassified a supporting organization as a private foundation
The IRS reclassified a redacted organization from a section 509(a)(3) supporting organization to a private foundation, effective January 3, 2002. The organization remained recognized as exempt under…
PLR 1115029: IRS waived the 60-day IRA rollover deadline
The IRS considered a taxpayer who moved money from an IRA into a non-IRA account and did not complete the rollover within 60 days. The taxpayer intended to transfer the money to a new IRA, supplied…
PLR 1115028: IRS allowed a surviving spouse to roll over inherited IRA funds
The IRS considered a surviving spouse who received a deceased spouse’s IRA through a trust and then took a one-time distribution based on advice from a financial professional. The trust gave the…
IRS approved a private foundation scholarship program
The IRS reviewed a private foundation’s proposed scholarship program for academically qualified students with financial need. The program used an advisory committee, objective selection criteria,…
IRS denied exemption to a proposed nonprofit tied to for-profit businesses
The IRS denied section 501(c)(3) recognition to a proposed nonprofit that planned to provide low-cost HVAC services and job training. The organization's founders also owned a for-profit HVAC…
IRS revoked a nonprofit's tax-exempt status for private benefit and reporting failures
This final adverse determination concerned a redacted nonprofit corporation that said it would pursue international student exchange, scholarships, and work-study programs. The IRS found no evidence…
Interest on backup withholding liabilities is deductible
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether financial institutions could deduct interest paid on backup-withholding liabilities disclosed and paid under closing agreements. The advice concluded that the…
A non-member officer may sign for an LLC
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether a non-member of a limited liability company may sign documents for the LLC. The advice states that a non-member may sign if the person is an officer, manager,…
Levy may attach to an entire jointly held account
Chief Counsel Advice addressed ownership of funds in a jointly held account when determining a taxpayer's ability to pay and collecting by levy. It states that ownership is presumed to be divided…
Two-year period runs from the FPAA petition deadline
Chief Counsel Advice addressed the timing of a claim under IRC § 6230(c)(2)(b)(ii) after a no-change closure involving an FPAA. It states that the two-year period runs from the expiration of the…
Partner has two years to claim refund after a no-change FPAA
Chief Counsel Advice addressed the deadline for a partner to claim a refund after a no-change FPAA. It states that a partner entitled to a refund would have two years under IRC § 6230(c)(1)(B) to…
Section 965 taxable-income floor applies when computing the minimum tax credit limit
Chief Counsel Advice addressed whether the section 965 taxable-income floor applies when calculating the section 53(c) limit on minimum tax credits. The advice concludes that the floor applies to…
Applying an overpayment to another liability is not a refund-claim disallowance
Chief Counsel Advice clarified that the IRS did not disallow a taxpayer's refund claim when it determined that an overpayment existed and applied the overpayment to an outstanding liability for…
REIT uses its proportionate partnership income in its gross-income tests
The IRS ruled for a real estate investment trust that planned to invest in commercial real estate through partnerships and wholly owned subsidiaries. For purposes of the REIT gross-income tests, the…
S corporation may use an F reorganization and QSub structure before a stock sale
The IRS ruled on a proposed restructuring in which an S corporation would transfer its stock to a newly formed corporation, make a qualified subchapter S subsidiary election, distribute retained…
IRS grants 120-day extension for a late QSub election
The IRS granted an S corporation an additional 120 days to elect to treat its wholly owned domestic subsidiary as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary. The taxpayer had intended the QSub election to…
Consolidated group liquidations preserve specified tax attributes and exclude intercompany gains
The IRS ruled on a consolidated corporate group's plan to eliminate holding companies through mergers and complete liquidations. The ruling treats the specified liquidations under sections 332 and…
IRS grants relief for a late S corporation election
The IRS granted a corporation 120 days to file a late election to be treated as an S corporation. The corporation had intended the election to be effective on its incorporation date but had not…
IRS waives the reconsolidation waiting period for an insurance group
The IRS waived the general waiting period that would otherwise prevent two life insurance companies from rejoining a consolidated group after leaving it. The companies had become part of another…
IRS grants extra time to waive the carryback period for consolidated net operating losses
The parent of a consolidated corporate group asked for more time to file an election waiving the entire carryback period for the group’s consolidated net operating losses. The IRS concluded that the…
IRS treats a cooperative's grain payments as per-unit retains for section 199
The IRS considered how a farmers’ cooperative should treat cash payments made to members and contract patrons for grain that the cooperative marketed. The IRS ruled that the payments were per-unit…
IRS approves cooperative grain-payment and net operating loss treatment
The IRS considered a grain cooperative’s treatment of cash payments to members and participating patrons, along with the effect of passing through the cooperative’s section 199 deduction in a year…
IRS grants extra time to identify all buildings in a low-income housing project
The IRS granted a taxpayer 120 additional days to elect to treat all buildings in a multi-building project as one project for purposes of the low-income housing credit. The taxpayer had…
IRS grants extra time to elect IC-DISC status
The IRS granted a domestic corporation 60 additional days to file Form 4876-A, the election to be treated as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation. The corporation intended to…
IRS approves a tax-free split-off involving a subsidiary and S corporations
The IRS ruled on a proposed transaction in which an S corporation would distribute all of a subsidiary’s stock to certain shareholders in exchange for some of their parent stock. The transaction…
IRS confirms generation-skipping transfer tax exemption allocations
The IRS determined how two taxpayers’ generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions applied to transfers made to a trust. The IRS concluded that the exemption was automatically allocated to the…
IRS grants extra time for a trust’s 65-day election
The IRS granted a trust 120 additional days to make the section 663(b) election for a distribution made during the first 65 days of a tax year. The trust intended to treat the distribution as paid…
IRS approves a trust reformation into charitable lead and remainder trusts
The IRS ruled that a proposed judicial reformation of a testamentary trust would qualify under section 2055(e)(3). The reformation would create a charitable lead annuity trust that pays charities…
IRS grants extra time for a partnership’s section 754 election
The IRS granted a partnership 120 additional days to make a section 754 election. The partnership had resulted from a merger and later admitted new investors, but it inadvertently failed to make the…
IRS permits a worthless stock loss after a subsidiary conversion
The IRS ruled on a consolidated group’s claim for a worthless stock loss after a wholly owned subsidiary converted from a corporation into a limited liability company treated as a disregarded…
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover requirement
The IRS waived the 60-day rollover requirement for an individual who withdrew money from an IRA intending to redeposit it into another rollover IRA. A financial institution mistakenly placed 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.