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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Partnership received late section 754 election relief after interest purchase
A buyer purchased a partnership interest from existing partners, and the partnership intended to elect under section 754 to adjust the basis of partnership property. It inadvertently failed to file…
Foreign entity received late corporate classification election relief
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect corporate classification for U.S. federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The entity represented that it acted reasonably…
Late S corporation and section 336(e) elections allowed
Multiple purchasers acquired all the stock of a target, and the parties intended to treat the stock sale as an asset sale under section 336(e). They also intended for the target to have S…
Late IC-DISC election allowed after law firm oversight
A domestic corporation was formed to serve as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation for its owner. Its chief financial officer signed Form 4876-A and sent it to the law firm…
Local college scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed a scholarship program for residents of a specified county and state pursuing undergraduate, graduate, or vocational education. An outside administrator will publicize…
Three subsidiaries deemed to join consolidated returns
A parent corporation filed Forms 1120 that included all income, deductions, assets, and liabilities of three wholly owned subsidiaries. It did not identify the subsidiaries on Form 851, attach Forms…
Late entity classification and S corporation elections allowed
A limited liability company intended from its formation date to be classified as a corporation and taxed as an S corporation. It inadvertently failed to properly and timely file Form 2553. The IRS…
Filed Form 8996 treated as timely for first QOF year
A six-member partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property. Its tax group incorrectly concluded that no first-year Form 1065 was required and did not know that the…
Late estate tax portability election allowed
A decedent left a surviving spouse and an unused exclusion amount, but the estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability. Based on the represented estate value and taxable gifts, the…
Late corporate classification and S elections allowed
A limited liability company intended to be classified as a corporation and treated as an S corporation from a specified date. It failed to file Form 2553, which could have supplied a deemed…
Late GST exemption allocations allowed for two trusts
Before 2001, a grantor transferred corporate stock to two trusts for the grantor's children, with descendants receiving the property after each child's death unless a limited appointment was…
Late GST exemption allocations approved for child trusts
Before 2001, a grantor transferred corporate stock to two trusts for the grantor's children. The trustee could support the child and the grantor's spouse, and after the grantor and spouse died, each…
Estate received 120 days to elect portability
A decedent's estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 based on the represented gross estate, adjusted taxable gifts, and filing threshold. The estate had not timely filed the return needed…
Replacement plan qualified and final reversion taxed at 20 percent
An employer transferred all surplus assets from a terminated defined benefit plan to a suspense account in a defined contribution plan. The IRS ruled that the receiving plan was a qualified…
Pension funding waiver approved with conditions
An employer asked the IRS to waive unpaid minimum required contributions for two pension plans for one plan year. The IRS found a temporary substantial business hardship under section 412(c), citing…
Craft distillery was not a prohibited liquor store
A property owner planned to lease space to a craft distillery that would produce, store, and sell spirits. The owner sought the ruling because a qualified opportunity zone business cannot be a store…
Late success-based fee election allowed
A corporate group deducted 70 percent and capitalized 30 percent of represented success-based acquisition fees, consistent with the safe harbor in Revenue Procedure 2011-29. Its timely return…
Late duplicate Form 3115 filing allowed
A partnership timely filed its federal return with an original Form 3115 requesting an automatic accounting-method change for depreciation. It reflected the change and the related section 481(a)…
Late opportunity fund certification allowed
A partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and operate as a qualified opportunity fund. Its accounting firm timely filed the first partnership return but omitted Form…
Late opportunity fund certification allowed
A partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and operate as a qualified opportunity fund. Its accounting firm timely filed the first partnership return without Form…
Late section 382 apportionment election allowed
Subsidiaries left a consolidated group when the group had a consolidated section 382 limitation. The former parent and subsidiaries missed the deadline to elect under Treasury Regulation section…
Five scholarship programs approved
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve procedures for five scholarship programs serving students connected with two schools. The programs use academic, enrollment, school,…
Scholarship and teacher grant procedures approved
A private foundation proposed a scholarship program for members of a federal credit union and a grant program for teachers nominated by students they had inspired. Scholarship applicants must…
Need-based scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships primarily for disadvantaged students from a specified central area of a state. Applicants must show financial hardship, educational commitment, state…
Employee social organization denied exemption
An employee activity organization sought recognition as a charitable organization under section 501(c)(3). It sold coffee and snacks slightly above cost and used fundraising proceeds to subsidize…
Condominium association denied exemption
A condominium owners' association sought exemption as a social welfare organization under section 501(c)(4). It used member dues and assessments to maintain shared building systems, gated parking,…
Member benefit pool denied exemption
An organization sought charitable exemption under section 501(c)(3) and stated a purpose of helping poor, hungry, homeless, and underprivileged people. Its primary current activity, however, was…
Punitive regulatory costs disallowed but corrective costs not barred
A subsidiary incurred several categories of costs after a state regulator found civil violations and imposed a package of fines, remedies, and corrective orders. The IRS advised that section 162(f)…
Late GST exemption allocation allowed
A married couple created trusts with generation-skipping transfer tax potential before 2001. Their accountant failed to prepare the required gift tax returns for either spouse, so the wife's GST…
Late GST exemption allocations allowed
A married couple created several trusts with generation-skipping transfer tax potential before 2001. Their accountant failed to prepare the required gift tax returns for either spouse, so the…
Late tax-exempt controlled entity election allowed
A nonprofit wholly owned a limited liability company that elected corporate tax status and indirectly invested in a partnership operating low-income housing. The company intended to elect under…
Foreign entity allowed late partnership election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect partnership status for federal tax purposes but did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS found that the requirements for discretionary filing relief were…
Flexible employer benefit allocation approved
An employer proposed letting eligible employees make an annual irrevocable choice to allocate an additional employer contribution among its 401(k) plan, retiree health reimbursement arrangement,…
Foreign entity granted late partnership election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect partnership status for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the entity met the standards for…
Pension medical account may cover eligible active employees
An employer maintained a defined benefit pension plan with an overfunded section 401(h) account for retiree medical benefits. It proposed allowing employees age 59½ or older to begin pension…
Late branch profits tax election allowed
A foreign corporation reported that an increase in its U.S. net equity fully offset effectively connected earnings and profits for branch profits tax purposes. It later determined that the reported…
Late opportunity fund self-certification allowed
A partnership was formed to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund, but its tax adviser mistakenly filed the partnership return without Form 8996. The adviser discovered the omission while…
Late opportunity fund self-certification allowed
A partnership was formed to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund, but its tax adviser mistakenly filed the partnership return without Form 8996. The adviser discovered the omission while…
Family private-banking organization denied exemption
An organization sought exemption under section 501(c)(3) for activities it described as processing family transactions and providing private banking to identify one family's birthright and heritage.…
Imputed underpayment used for penalty threshold
Chief Counsel advised that, when a partnership has an imputed underpayment under the centralized partnership audit rules, section 6233 treats that amount as the underpayment or understatement for…
Partner bad debt claim excluded from modification
Chief Counsel advised that an amended return modification under the centralized partnership audit rules may consider only partnership adjustments and partner tax attributes affected by those…
Puerto Rico community property remains undivided until liquidation
Chief Counsel summarized Puerto Rico community-property law using an English translation of the Puerto Rico statutes. The default community regime begins at marriage unless the spouses choose…
State-law representative signs for disregarded entity partner
Chief Counsel advised that a disregarded entity owning a partnership interest is itself the partner. Because a reviewed-year partner signs Form 8979, the person authorized under state law to bind…
Non-income partnership adjustments are positive for imputed underpayment
Chief Counsel explained that an imputed underpayment is calculated from net positive partnership adjustments. Adjustments to non-income items, including distributions, self-employment earnings, and…
Inadvertently ineffective QSub election relieved
An S corporation acquired all the stock of another S corporation in a transaction represented to be an F reorganization. The acquired corporation later converted to a limited liability company, but…
Foreign entity granted late corporate election
A foreign entity converted from an entity classified as a corporation into an eligible entity for U.S. federal tax purposes. It intended to continue corporate treatment but inadvertently failed to…
Late opportunity fund certifications allowed for two years
A partnership was organized to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund and indirectly invest in opportunity-zone property. Its federal partnership returns and Forms 8996 were not filed for two…
Pension funding waiver conditions modified
An employer had previously received a waiver of its pension plan's minimum required contribution for the 2020 plan year while it faced temporary substantial business hardship and Chapter 11…
Revised nuclear decommissioning funding schedule approved
An investor-owned electric utility requested a revised schedule of ruling amounts for the qualified fund used to pay for decommissioning its nuclear plant. The plant's operating license had been…
Late section 382 closing-of-the-books election allowed
A loss corporation experienced an ownership change that limited its use of pre-change losses under section 382. It missed the deadline to elect to close its books on the ownership-change date, which…
New holding company transaction qualifies as F reorganization
A corporate parent proposed placing a newly formed holding company above itself through a merger followed by the parent's conversion into a disregarded limited liability company. Existing…
Family-owned business split-off receives nonrecognition rulings
Two related families owned a corporate group conducting two separate businesses. The group proposed distributing all stock of the subsidiary conducting one business to the second family in exchange…
Lodge-purchase set-aside approved
A private foundation devoted to land and wildlife preservation requested permission to set aside funds to buy a rural lodge as its operating headquarters. It was negotiating with an owner whose…
Student scholarship and career grants approved
A private foundation proposed one-time grants to high school seniors who completed and remained in good standing with its multiyear youth leadership program. Recipients could use the grants for…
College athlete speaker program denied exemption
An organization raised donations to pay college athletes to give free motivational presentations at schools and community events. It contracted with a for-profit logistics company whose president…
Late research expenditure elections allowed for three years
A corporation failed to make section 59(e) elections for research and experimental expenditures in three fiscal years. That election permits qualifying section 174 expenditures to be deducted…
Foreign entity allowed late partnership election
A foreign limited liability partnership defaulted to corporate classification because all its members had limited liability. When a U.S. citizen became a partner, the entity and its owners intended…
Late taxable REIT subsidiary election allowed
A real estate investment trust wholly owned a subsidiary formed to facilitate industrial real estate investments. The parties intended to elect both corporate classification for the subsidiary and…
Court-approved trust construction and division preserve GST exemption
A trust became irrevocable before September 25, 1985, and therefore was exempt from the generation-skipping transfer tax. Its distribution language was ambiguous about whether a per-stirpes division…
Late S corporation election treated as timely
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation but inadvertently failed to file Form 2553 by the statutory deadline. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late election under section…
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.