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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Fundraising website denied exemption for commercial activity and private benefit
An organization planned to operate the unclaimed charity profiles on a fundraising website owned and maintained by a related for-profit company. It would process donations through those profiles for…
IRS revokes exemption after organization fails to provide records
The IRS revoked an organization's § 501(c)(3) exemption after it failed to respond to repeated requests for records about its activities, finances, and employment tax returns. Without that…
IRS denies reinstatement because scholarships benefit a related business
An organization sought reinstatement of its § 501(c)(3) exemption after an earlier revocation for failing to file Form 990 for three consecutive years. It proposed scholarships for youth programs,…
Welfare-benefit trust reversion avoids excise tax and UBIT
A § 501(c)(3) charity sponsored a tax-exempt voluntary employees' beneficiary association that provided health and death benefits. After terminating the trust and making one-time payments to…
IRS revokes a veterans organization operating a public bar
The IRS revoked a veterans organization's § 501(c)(19) exemption after finding that its primary activity was operating a bar, kitchen, gaming machines, and related facilities for the general public.…
IRS revokes a veterans organization dominated by public bar activity
The IRS revoked a veterans organization's § 501(c)(19) exemption because its public bar operations overshadowed its limited exempt activities. The examination report estimated that the bar operated…
IRS denies VEBA exemption for pension-like COLA payments
A union-employer trust sought exemption as a voluntary employees' beneficiary association while providing cost-of-living adjustment payments to retirees of a related pension fund. The trustees…
IRS revokes social club exemption for excess nonmember use
The IRS revoked a sportsmen's club's § 501(c)(7) exemption after its records showed nonmember use above the permitted threshold. The club operated a small members-only bar and meeting space,…
IRS rejects business-league status for member-specific realty services
A real-estate association filed Form 990 as a § 501(c)(6) organization even though it had never obtained a determination letter. Its major activities were operating a multiple-listing service,…
IRS denies reinstatement for hospital leased to a for-profit operator
A nonprofit hospital organization sought reinstatement of its § 501(c)(3) exemption after automatic revocation for failing to file Form 990 for three consecutive years. The hospital had closed after…
IRS denies exemption to farmers' market serving vendors' private interests
A farmers' market sought § 501(c)(3) status while providing recurring sales and promotional opportunities to local vendors. Vendors paid for selling space, membership fees supplied more than half of…
IRS revokes supporting trust that transferred funds for private investment
A charitable supporting trust accepted contributions from its founder, who claimed charitable deductions, but made no grants to its designated supported organizations for years. The trust had no…
IRS revokes charity after improper dissolution distributions
A charity whose main activity was conducting bingo games for senior citizens dissolved under state law and stopped operating. Its governing documents required its assets to go to § 501(c)(3)…
IRS denies social-welfare exemption to nonprofit HMO
A proposed nonprofit health maintenance organization planned to acquire and continue the business of a for-profit HMO while remaining controlled by an affiliated academic health system. Nearly all…
IRS revokes private foundation used for personal assets and expenses
A family private foundation transferred the trustees' residence and other personal property into the foundation, paid recurring expenses that appeared personal, and made loans or investments through…
IRS revokes charity over safari trips, lodging, and donor reimbursement
An environmental charity raised money, operated an education and conference center, supported overseas conservation projects, and organized a safari for a board member and donors. It also provided…
IRS denies social-club exemption to online firearms forum
An unincorporated association operated an internet forum devoted to a for-profit company's firearms and accessories. Anyone with an email address could join, nonmembers could read the site's…
IRS revokes exemption for private benefit and Chapter 42 violations
The IRS revoked a nonoperating private foundation's § 501(c)(3) exemption after finding that it served related private interests and allowed its earnings and assets to benefit insiders. The…
Asset transfer between VEBAs preserves exempt status
Two voluntary employees' beneficiary associations had been funded entirely by employers to provide welfare benefits for different categories of employees. One VEBA transferred its obligations for…
Asset transfer from overfunded VEBA preserves exempt status
Two voluntary employees' beneficiary associations had been funded entirely by employers to provide welfare benefits for different categories of employees. One VEBA transferred its obligations for…
Social club loses exemption over real estate and nontraditional activities
A social club operated a recreational property development and had been exempt under § 501(c)(7). The IRS found that the club continuously sold lots, held mortgage contracts, enforced property…
Housing nonprofit loses exemption for commercial activity and private benefit
A housing nonprofit said it would rehabilitate homes, sell them to low- and moderate-income families, and use profits for after-school programs. The IRS found that its rental and property-sale…
Reinsurance fund loses exemption after insurance activity ceases
A state-created reinsurance fund had been recognized as exempt under § 501(c)(15), but no carriers participated in the program during the examined years. The fund collected investment income and…
Public gaming activity costs veterans organization its exemption
A veterans organization conducted weekly bingo and pull-tab games that were open to the general public and generated substantially all of its income and expenses. The organization did not separately…
IRS denies social-welfare exemption for targeted election activity
An organization applied for exemption under § 501(c)(4) and planned to coordinate affiliates around policy and election-related issues. Half of its activity would target voter registration in areas…
IRS revokes exemption of largely inactive credit-counseling charity
The IRS revoked the § 501(c)(3) exemption of an organization formed to provide financial education, credit counseling, debt management, and debt settlement services. The examination found very…
Private foundation may transfer all assets and later terminate
A trust classified as a private foundation planned to transfer all of its assets to a new private foundation controlled by the same people. It would remain as a dormant shell until receiving more…
IRS revokes social club for excessive investment income
A cultural membership organization had been recognized as a tax-exempt social club under § 501(c)(7). During an examination, the IRS found that investment income made up more than a redacted…
IRS revokes parachuting club for excessive nonmember revenue
A recreational parachuting club had been recognized as a tax-exempt social club under § 501(c)(7). It advertised to the public through a website and phone book, sold packages, classes, jumps, rides,…
Trust loses exemption after lending all assets to its creator
A supporting organization received contributed assets and, within about a year, lent its entire asset balance to its creator and trustee. The IRS found no evidence that the loan was secured, that…
Mutual insurer loses exemption after exceeding gross-receipts limits
A mutual property insurer had long held exemption under IRC § 501(c)(15), but its gross receipts exceeded the applicable $600,000 limit in each of two examined years. Although premium income…
Small insurer loses exemption after premium income disappears
A controlled foreign stock insurance company had elected under section 953(d) to be treated as a domestic corporation and received exemption under section 501(c)(15). After a related business…
Mutual malpractice insurer loses exemption under premium-income tests
A mutual trust provided excess malpractice coverage to qualifying physicians. Its gross receipts remained below the general $600,000 ceiling, but premiums did not make up more than 50 percent of…
Foreign savings cooperative denied credit-union exemption
A nonprofit financial cooperative organized under foreign law sought exemption as a credit union under IRC § 501(c)(14). Its governing law and articles allowed it to accept deposits from nonmembers…
Charity’s exemption revoked for private benefit and investor tax schemes
The IRS revoked a housing organization’s tax exemption retroactively to January 1, 2006. Although the organization operated low-income housing and provided community services, the IRS found that a…
IRS denies exemption to residential construction company operating commercially
A nonprofit residential construction company sought exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3). It performed most of its work for other nonprofits through competitive bidding, charged fees designed to cover…
Merger preserves surviving business league’s exemption
A tax-exempt business league merged with a related social-welfare organization whose membership and advocacy work substantially overlapped with its own. The business league survived, changed its…
Domestication in another state preserves charity’s exemption
A nonprofit corporation planned to change its state of domicile by filing articles of domestication in a second state and a certificate of conversion in its original state. Both states’ laws treated…
Competition club loses exemption for public revenue and entity-only membership
A section 501(c)(7) organization sponsored several annual competitions and operated only 21 to 27 days per year. Its events were open beyond the members of its member clubs, it advertised them…
IRS revokes exemption of commercially operated lodging facility
The IRS revoked the section 501(c)(3) exemption of an organization that originally planned to operate a school but later offered short-term lodging to the public. The organization also hosted…
Dormant reinsurance fund loses section 501(c)(15) exemption
The IRS revoked the section 501(c)(15) exemption of a reinsurance fund formed under a state's small-employer health coverage law. During the year examined, the fund had no participants, insurance or…
Hospital system merger preserves exemption and avoids unrelated business tax
A tax-exempt hospital proposed to absorb its parent organization, an affiliated nursing home, and an affiliated management organization through a statutory merger. The hospital would survive under a…
IRS revokes credit counselor lacking charitable education
The IRS revoked the section 501(c)(3) exemption of a credit-counseling organization formed to provide free debt-management assistance and public education about financial responsibility. The…
Marriage counseling fees shift public charity classification
The IRS changed a marriage-counseling organization's public-charity classification from sections 509(a)(1) and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) to section 509(a)(2). The organization received its primary support…
IRS revokes inactive religious organization's exemption
The IRS revoked the section 501(c)(3) exemption of a religious organization whose activities had been suspended for several years. The organization reported receiving no donations and paying no…
IRS revokes exemption for failure to file annual returns
The IRS revoked the section 501(c)(3) exemption of an organization that had stopped filing Form 990. The examination requested returns for two years, but the organization did not provide them and…
University support organization keeps exemption after buying retail center
A tax-exempt organization that supports a university bought a nearby retail center through a wholly owned limited liability company. The IRS concluded that leasing the retail space was an unrelated…
Exemption denied for organization benefiting founder's business
An organization sought recognition under IRC § 501(c)(3) to develop hydroponic technology intended to address hunger. Its founder held a pending patent and owned a related for-profit company that…
IRS revokes a prepaid vision plan's social-welfare exemption
A nonprofit subsidiary providing prepaid vision-care plans had long been recognized as exempt under IRC § 501(c)(4). The IRS concluded that its operations primarily benefited subscribers and…
Historic-preservation spending on a private club building will not end exemption
A public charity proposed to fund restoration of historically significant interior spaces in a building owned and primarily used by a tax-exempt private social club. The preservation agreement…
Homeowners association loses social-club exemption
A homeowners association originally recognized under § 501(c)(7) required subdivision property owners to be members and maintained swimming pools, tennis courts, a marina, a duck pond, common…
Private foundation loses exemption for inurement and unsubstantiated charity
A private foundation controlled by two trustees could not substantiate the charitable giveaway it claimed, and its ledger showed no related expenditure. Instead, the examination found insider loans…
VEBA may transfer retiree reserves without losing exemption or triggering UBIT
A collectively bargained voluntary employees' beneficiary association proposed moving assets from a retiree life insurance reserve to a retiree health reserve. The transferred assets would fund…
Private foundation gets S corporation stock and ESOP rulings
A private foundation expected to receive more than two percent of an S corporation's stock as a gift when a related revocable trust terminated. The IRS ruled that the foundation would have five…
Media data agreement preserves exemption and is related business
An educational nonprofit agreed to supply its research database to a major for-profit media organization for fixed periodic fees. The license was nonexclusive, much of the information remained…
VEBA may move life reserve assets to retiree health reserve
A collectively bargained voluntary employees' beneficiary association proposed transferring assets from a retiree life-insurance reserve to a retiree health reserve. The transferred assets would pay…
Housing cooperative denied charitable exemption
A nonprofit housing cooperative applied for recognition as a charitable organization under IRC § 501(c)(3). Its members lived in a jointly operated house, paid fees covering housing expenses,…
Pediatric provider group denied charitable exemption
A nonprofit formed by pediatric health care providers sought charitable exemption for work intended to improve the quality, access, and cost of children's Medicaid services. Its planned activities…
Charter school landlord loses charitable exemption
An organization originally recognized as a section 501(c)(3) school stopped operating a school and instead acquired, renovated, and leased facilities to charter school corporations it helped create.…
Art foundation receives transfer and business-income rulings
A private operating foundation expected to receive more than 25 percent of another private operating foundation's assets before the transferor terminated its private foundation status. The IRS ruled…
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.