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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Matchmaking and social-events organization was denied charitable exemption
An organization applied for Section 501(c)(3) status to connect members of a religious community through an online matchmaking service, paid in-person events, social media content, and giveaways. It…
Organization failed the public-support test and was classified as a private foundation
An organization remained exempt under Section 501(c)(3), but the IRS made a final adverse determination that it did not qualify as a public charity under Section 509(a)(2). The organization had not…
For-profit logging company was denied agricultural-organization exemption
A logging company applied for exemption as an agricultural or horticultural organization under Section 501(c)(5). Its operating agreement allocated taxable income and cash flow to its sole member…
Angel-investing group was denied business-league exemption
A membership organization sought Section 501(c)(6) exemption for activities promoting venture capital and angel investing and increasing participation in that ecosystem. It identified early-stage…
Corporation received 45 days to file its original accounting-method change form
A corporation changed from S corporation to C corporation status and determined that it could no longer use the cash method as its overall accounting method. Its CPA prepared an automatic change to…
Foreign entity gets more time to elect partnership status
A foreign limited liability partnership that is eligible to choose how it is classified for U.S. federal tax purposes wanted to be treated as a partnership effective a specific date. To make that…
Taxpayer was denied extra time to request an accounting-period change
A taxpayer asked for extra time to file Form 1128 to change its annual accounting period. The request came more than 90 days after the form's due date. The IRS concluded that the taxpayer had not…
Taxpayer was denied extra time to request an accounting-period change
A taxpayer asked for extra time to file Form 1128 to change its annual accounting period. The request came more than 90 days after the form's due date. The IRS concluded that the taxpayer had not…
Taxpayer was denied extra time to request an accounting-period change
A taxpayer asked for extra time to file Form 1128 to change its annual accounting period. The request came more than 90 days after the form's due date. The IRS concluded that the taxpayer had not…
Taxpayer is denied extra time to file Form 1128 for an accounting-period change
A taxpayer asked for an extension to file Form 1128 and change its annual accounting period under IRC § 442. The application was due with the short-period return, but the taxpayer did not seek…
Taxpayer is denied extra time to file Form 1128 for an accounting-period change
A taxpayer asked for an extension to file Form 1128 and change its annual accounting period under IRC § 442. The application was due with the short-period return, but the taxpayer did not seek…
Taxpayer is denied extra time to file Form 1128 for an accounting-period change
A taxpayer asked for an extension to file Form 1128 and change its annual accounting period under IRC § 442. The application was due with the short-period return, but the taxpayer did not seek…
Taxpayer is denied extra time to file Form 1128 for an accounting-period change
A taxpayer asked for an extension to file Form 1128 and change its annual accounting period under IRC § 442. The application was due with the short-period return, but the taxpayer did not seek…
Taxpayer is denied extra time to file Form 1128 for an accounting-period change
A taxpayer asked for an extension to file Form 1128 and change its annual accounting period under IRC § 442. The application was due with the short-period return, but the taxpayer did not seek…
Spouses get 120 days to allocate GST exemption to transfers made before 2001
Two spouses created separate irrevocable trusts for their children and descendants before 2001, then made additional cash transfers to both trusts that had generation-skipping transfer tax…
Spouses get 120 days to allocate GST exemption to transfers made before 2001
Two spouses created separate irrevocable trusts for their children and descendants before 2001, then made additional cash transfers to both trusts that had generation-skipping transfer tax…
Qualified opportunity fund gets 60 days to file its late self-certification
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and invest in qualified opportunity zone property. A firm handled tax filings for about 75…
Corporation gets 120 days to file its late S corporation election
A corporation and its sole shareholder intended the company to be an S corporation from its formation date, but the company inadvertently failed to file Form 2553 on time. The corporation asked the…
Corporation gets 120 days to file its late S corporation election
A corporation and its sole shareholder intended the company to be an S corporation from its formation date, but the company inadvertently failed to file Form 2553 on time. The corporation asked the…
Corporation gets 120 days to file its late S corporation election
A corporation and its sole shareholder intended the company to be an S corporation from its formation date, but the company inadvertently failed to file Form 2553 on time. The corporation asked the…
Corporation gets 120 days to file its late S corporation election
A corporation and its sole shareholder intended the company to be an S corporation from its formation date, but the company inadvertently failed to file Form 2553 on time. The corporation asked the…
Corporation gets 120 days to file its late S corporation election
A corporation and its sole shareholder intended the company to be an S corporation from its formation date, but the company inadvertently failed to file Form 2553 on time. The corporation asked the…
Estate gets 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 because the decedent's gross estate and adjusted taxable gifts were represented to be below the filing threshold. The estate nevertheless needed…
Spouse gets 120 days to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A donor created and funded an irrevocable trust for the donor's children and their descendants, and the donor and spouse elected to split the gift. Their tax professional prepared their gift tax…
Donor gets 120 days to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A donor created and funded an irrevocable trust for the donor's children and their descendants, and the donor and spouse elected to split the gift. Their tax professional prepared their gift tax…
Investor may make a retroactive qualified electing fund election
A U.S. taxpayer owned less than 10 percent of a foreign company that later became a passive foreign investment company. The taxpayer's longtime tax adviser did not identify the company's PFIC status…
Investor may make a retroactive qualified electing fund election
A U.S. taxpayer owned less than 10 percent of a foreign company that later became a passive foreign investment company. The taxpayer's longtime tax adviser did not identify the company's PFIC status…
Investor may make a retroactive qualified electing fund election
A U.S. taxpayer owned less than 10 percent of a foreign company that later became a passive foreign investment company. The taxpayer's longtime tax adviser did not identify the company's PFIC status…
Investor may make a retroactive qualified electing fund election
A U.S. taxpayer owned less than 10 percent of a foreign company that later became a passive foreign investment company. The taxpayer's longtime tax adviser did not identify the company's PFIC status…
Investor may make a retroactive qualified electing fund election
A U.S. taxpayer owned less than 10 percent of a foreign company that later became a passive foreign investment company. The taxpayer's longtime tax adviser did not identify the company's PFIC status…
Estate gets 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 because the decedent's gross estate and adjusted taxable gifts were represented to be below the filing threshold. The estate nevertheless needed…
Scholarship procedures for members and relatives approved
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve a scholarship program for eligible current, former, and retired members of an organization and their qualifying relatives. Applicants must be accepted…
Rural community project grant procedures approved
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve two programs that make grants to individuals addressing quality-of-life problems in rural communities. One program funds discrete volunteer-led…
Pension plan may use substitute mortality tables for up to five years
A pension plan sponsor asked to use plan-specific base substitute mortality tables when calculating minimum funding under IRC § 430. The IRS approved the tables for combined male and female…
Sculpture-garden construction set-aside approved
A private foundation requested permission to set aside funds for a major redesign of a large urban sculpture garden it had previously helped create. The project would unify the garden, add walkways,…
Athlete and employee scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve two scholarship programs. The first awards four nonrenewable scholarships to high-achieving graduating student athletes in one state, using academic,…
Cemetery denied exemption for nonexempt activity and private interests
An organization applied for IRC § 501(c)(3) status to maintain a public cemetery and sell burial plots. It reported a small number of plot sales each year but did not show that the cemetery had…
Supporting organization revoked for lacking required ties and distributions
An organization claimed exemption as a Type III non-functionally integrated supporting organization under IRC §§ 501(c)(3) and 509(a)(3). The examination found no qualifying distributions to or for…
IRS reclassifies a bank-trusteed charitable trust from supporting organization to private foundation
This letter changes an organization's foundation status, not its tax-exempt status. The organization is a charitable trust whose sole trustee is a bank, and it had been treating itself as a Type III…
Organization reclassified as a private non-operating foundation
An organization exempt under IRC § 501(c)(3) claimed that it was a Type III functionally integrated supporting organization under IRC § 509(a)(3). The IRS found that an independent bank trustee…
IRS revoked an inactive charity's tax exemption
The IRS revoked an organization's Section 501(c)(3) exemption because it could not show that it still conducted charitable activities. The organization had originally supported the implementation of…
Organization remained exempt but was classified as a private foundation
The IRS made a final determination that an environmental organization remained exempt under Section 501(c)(3) but did not qualify as a publicly supported charity under Section 509(a)(2). It was…
Hair-care nonprofit was denied exemption for benefiting a related salon
The IRS denied Section 501(c)(3) exemption to an organization formed to provide hair-care education, free basic hair services, private classes, consultations, and one cosmetology scholarship. The…
Conservation organization remained exempt but became a private foundation
The IRS made a final determination that a land-conservation organization remained exempt under Section 501(c)(3) but did not qualify as a publicly supported charity under Section 509(a)(2). It was…
Neighborhood association did not qualify as a cemetery company
The IRS denied Section 501(c)(13) exemption to a property owners' association because it did not operate a cemetery or perform related burial functions. The association held annual meetings about…
Two-stage business spin-off qualified for tax-free treatment
A publicly traded foreign parent proposed separating one business from its remaining businesses through two linked transactions involving newly formed foreign corporations. For U.S. tax purposes,…
REIT received 60 days to elect out of bonus depreciation
A real estate investment trust intended to elect out of additional first-year depreciation for its 5-year and 15-year property under Section 168(k)(7). Its return preparer did not claim bonus…
Corporation received 45 days to file a late tax-year change request
A domestic corporation had used an S corporation tax year until a foreign corporation acquired all of its stock, terminating the S election. The new shareholder signed Form 1128 to change the…
Opportunity fund received 60 days to file a late self-certification
A partnership was formed to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund and invest indirectly in opportunity-zone property. Its planned business acquisition was delayed into the following year, and its…
S corporation relief granted after election was signed before incorporation
A corporation's sole original shareholder signed Form 2553 before the corporation was legally incorporated, making its intended S corporation election ineffective. The corporation nevertheless filed…
S corporation received relief after a shareholder became a nonresident alien
An S corporation's election terminated when one shareholder became a nonresident alien, who is not an eligible S corporation shareholder. The corporation did not learn of the problem until later. It…
Taxpayers received 60 days to make a late qualified-stock rollover election
One spouse sold shares of a company the spouse had co-founded and invested part of the proceeds in another company within 60 days. The taxpayers intended to elect under Section 1045 to defer gain by…
REIT's late interest-rate hedge identification was inadvertent
A REIT subsidiary entered into an interest-rate cap required by a floating-rate loan used to acquire or carry real estate. The REIT's accounting firm mistakenly believed that no tax hedge…
REIT's late interest-rate hedge identification was inadvertent
A REIT subsidiary entered into an interest-rate cap required by a floating-rate loan used to acquire or carry real estate. The REIT's accounting firm mistakenly believed that no tax hedge…
REIT's late interest-rate hedge identification was inadvertent
A REIT subsidiary entered into an interest-rate cap required by a floating-rate loan used to acquire or carry real estate. The REIT's accounting firm mistakenly believed that no tax hedge…
REIT's late interest-rate hedge identification was inadvertent
A REIT subsidiary entered into an interest-rate cap required by a floating-rate loan used to acquire or carry real estate. The REIT's accounting firm mistakenly believed that no tax hedge…
REIT's late interest-rate hedge identification was inadvertent
A REIT subsidiary entered into an interest-rate cap required by a floating-rate loan used to acquire or carry real estate. The REIT's accounting firm mistakenly believed that no tax hedge…
REIT's late interest-rate hedge identification was inadvertent
A REIT subsidiary entered into an interest-rate cap required by a floating-rate loan used to acquire or carry real estate. The REIT's accounting firm mistakenly believed that no tax hedge…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate failed to timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. It represented that the estate was not otherwise required to file an…
Estate received late relief to sever a marital trust for GST tax purposes
An estate intended to divide a marital trust into generation-skipping transfer tax exempt and non-exempt shares and made related entries on its timely Form 706. Its advisers failed to explain that…
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.