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.
No determinations match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
Shareholder may make a retroactive QEF election for a PFIC
A U.S. shareholder owned less than 10 percent of a foreign company that later became a passive foreign investment company. The shareholder's tax adviser did not identify the company's PFIC status or…
Scholarship procedures for members' children received advance approval
A private foundation proposed scholarships for children of members of a statewide society who attend undergraduate or graduate programs. Applicants must meet academic, enrollment, Selective Service,…
Charity lost exemption after routing donations to related for-profit entities
The IRS revoked a charity's Section 501(c)(3) status after finding that its primary activity was collecting donations and making grants to related for-profit entities. The organization did not…
Homeowners association received more time to make two Section 528 elections
A homeowners association failed to file Forms 1120-H for two tax years because its officers relied on a tax professional and did not fully understand the association's federal filing requirements. A…
Estate received 60 more days to make a QTIP election
A decedent's estate intended to claim the estate tax marital deduction for all property placed in a marital trust for the surviving spouse. The estate's lawyer claimed the deduction on a timely Form…
Foreign corporation received more time to file its branch profits tax waiver
A foreign corporation sold its only U.S. real property and intended to completely terminate its U.S. trade or business. Its tax preparer initially believed that expected tax refunds remained U.S.…
Opportunity fund's late self-certification was treated as timely
A partnership intended to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and invest in a qualified opportunity zone business. Its tax return preparer did not know that Form 8996 had to accompany the…
Two partnerships received more time to make Section 754 elections
Two partnerships failed to attach Section 754 elections to their returns for the year a common partner died. The IRS found that both partnerships satisfied the standards for regulatory-election…
Corporation kept S status after a trust missed its QSST election
After a shareholder died, the shareholder's S corporation stock passed to a trust that was temporarily eligible to hold the stock. The trust met the substantive requirements for a qualified…
Tax-exempt controlled corporation received more time to make a depreciation election
A corporation wholly owned by a Section 501(c)(3) organization was a tax-exempt controlled entity and the managing member of a partnership. The corporation intended to elect under Section…
Partnership received more time to make a Section 754 election
A partnership intended to make a Section 754 election but did not attach a valid election to its return by the deadline. The IRS found that the partnership satisfied the standards for…
Foreign entity gets more time to elect disregarded-entity status
A foreign business entity that is eligible to choose how it is classified for U.S. federal tax purposes wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" (that is, ignored as separate from its single…
Partnership received more time to make a Section 754 election
A partnership missed the deadline to make a Section 754 election after the death of a partner's spouse in a community property state. The IRS concluded that the partnership satisfied the standards…
Corporation received relief for an inadvertent S election termination
Three trusts that met the substantive requirements for qualified subchapter S trusts acquired stock in an S corporation, but their respective income beneficiaries did not timely file QSST elections.…
Entity received more time to elect corporate tax classification
An eligible business entity intended to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation but did not timely file Form 8832. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and…
Testing company was a qualified trade or business for Section 1202
A founder asked whether a company's redacted testing activity was a qualified trade or business for the Section 1202 exclusion for gain on qualified small business stock. The company performed tests…
IRS revokes charity status for private benefit and inurement
A charity collected donations and transferred funds to related for-profit companies, including companies connected to a former officer. The IRS found that the charity did not control how the…
Skilled-trade scholarship and educational-grant procedures approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships and educational grants for graduating high school seniors pursuing skilled-trade programs, vocational schools, technical training, or apprenticeships.…
Substitute mortality tables approved for non-union pension plans
A plan sponsor asked to use plan-specific substitute mortality tables when calculating minimum funding obligations for an aggregated group of two non-union defined-benefit plans. The proposed tables…
Substitute mortality tables approved for union pension plans
A plan sponsor asked to use plan-specific substitute mortality tables when calculating minimum funding obligations for an aggregated group of two union defined-benefit plans. The proposed tables…
Member burial-benefit group was denied charitable exemption
A membership organization sought Section 501(c)(3) exemption for a program that paid a fixed burial benefit to a member's family when the family lost a loved one. Member dues and new-member…
Exemption revoked after charity ceased operations and became for-profit
A Section 501(c)(3) organization had provided day-care services but later stopped those services, ceased exempt operations, and was administratively dissolved by its state. The examination report…
Cannabis-festival organization's exemption was revoked
A Section 501(c)(3) organization created and operated a street festival featuring entertainment, food, a beer garden, and vendors connected to the cannabis industry. Its articles listed charitable,…
Credit card rewards may qualify for the recurring item exception
Chief Counsel analyzed when an accrual-method credit card issuer may deduct reward liabilities under Section 461. A reward liability becomes fixed and reasonably determinable when the cardholder can…
IRS may retain foreign-resident partnership representative designation
A partnership designated a representative who had a U.S. taxpayer identification number but lived abroad. The partnership supplied its own U.S. street address and telephone number for the…
Internet research saved by the IRS becomes protected return information
Chief Counsel advised that an IRS employee may search the internet for information without creating a disclosure concern. Once the employee collects information about a property and saves it in a…
Partnership penalties differ under collection and push-out rules
Chief Counsel explained that partnership-level penalties are handled differently under Section 6232(f) and the partnership push-out rules. Under Section 6232(f), partners become liable for the…
Partners calculate their own tax changes after a BBA push out
Chief Counsel addressed who performs the tax calculation after a partnership subject to the centralized BBA audit rules elects to push adjustments out to its partners. Each partner computes the…
Public Tax Court docket access differs from access through IRS systems
Chief Counsel identified a disclosure distinction between viewing filed documents on the Tax Court's public docket and viewing them through an IRS system. Public docket documents can be accessed…
DAWSON timing question turns on the Tax Court's EST-based rules
This brief Chief Counsel email raises a system-design question about how DAWSON should display or adjust filing dates and times. It asks whether the electronic Tax Court system should adjust those…
Final partnership adjustment may add QBI omitted from proposed notice
Chief Counsel advised that a final partnership adjustment may include a qualified business income adjustment that was not proposed in the earlier notice of proposed partnership adjustment. Section…
Final partnership adjustments need not match the proposed notice
Chief Counsel advised that adjustments in a final partnership adjustment do not have to match those in the earlier notice of proposed partnership adjustment. The earlier notice contains proposed…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return missed the deadline for electing portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount. The estate asked for an…
Qualified opportunity fund received 60 days for late self-certification
A partnership formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property intended to elect qualified opportunity fund status from its formation date. Its accountant knew Form 8996 had to accompany the…
Transfer between related group trusts was not an impermissible assignment
A qualified retirement plan wanted to move its investment from one bank-sponsored group trust fund to another. Both the active and passive funds were Revenue Ruling 81-100 group trusts, both…
Volunteer emergency-service awards qualified as a LOSAP
A state plan paid retirement and death benefits to long-serving volunteer firefighters and emergency medical workers. Eligible volunteers received only expense reimbursements, reasonable benefits,…
Professional corporations must join parent's consolidated return
A public company's subsidiary and disregarded entities planned service and stock-transfer agreements with two professional corporations. State law required licensed professionals to hold legal title…
Estate received 120 days to elect portability
An estate that was not otherwise required to file Form 706 failed to make a timely portability election for the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount. The estate requested discretionary relief…
Intragroup life-policy transfers preserved death-benefit exclusion
A consolidated corporate group planned to move pools of employee life insurance policies through several wholly owned subsidiaries. The first contribution would exchange the policies for cash below…
Foreign entity received 120 days for late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner but did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the entity satisfied the standards for…
Company received 120 days for late foreign disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its sole owner but inadvertently missed the deadline for filing Form 8832. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Foreign company received 120 days to file Form 8832
A foreign company intended to elect disregarded-entity treatment from a specified date but failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and that…
Utility's decoupled attrition method violated normalization rules
A regulated utility's three-year rate plan used activity from the first year as a proxy for parts of the third-year rate base. That method produced depreciation-reserve and deferred-tax-reserve…
Amended Form 8996 was treated as a timely QOF election
A partnership formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property timely filed Form 1065 but omitted Form 8996. Neither the partnership representative nor the experienced CPA who prepared the…
Scholarship procedures for veterans' and first responders' children approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships for children of veterans and first responders in a defined geographic area. The awards would support two-year or four-year undergraduate study or…
Foundation's building-renovation set-aside was approved
A private foundation that supports criminal-justice and youth-justice reform asked to set aside funds for a long-term renovation of its headquarters. The building housed foundation staff and also…
Multiemployer plan received five-year amortization extensions
A multiemployer pension plan requested automatic extensions for amortizing specified unfunded-liability charge bases as of July 1, 2022. The plan actuary certified that without relief the plan would…
Toxicology research and training grant procedures approved
A private foundation proposed grants for toxicology research and for health workers to attend seminars, conferences, and training related to poison control. Nurses, physicians, public-health…
NIL collective was denied charitable exemption
An organization collected donations and entered name, image, and likeness agreements with university student-athletes. The athletes performed community-service hours with local charities and…
Homebuyer counseling and realtor referral group was denied exemption
An organization offered free budgeting, credit-review, financial-literacy, and mortgage-readiness services to prospective home buyers. After a client chose to lease or buy, the client could work…
Housing project received 120 days to make omitted average-income elections
The owner of a multi-building low-income housing project intended to elect the average-income minimum set-aside under Section 42(g)(1)(C). Contemporaneous records showed that intent, but the owner…
Trust termination did not defeat beneficiary's Section 1031 holding purpose
A testamentary trust held real property for investment and began negotiating its disposition before the death that required the trust to terminate. Under a proposed court-approved termination plan,…
Partnership received 120 days to make late Section 754 election
A limited partnership failed to file a Section 754 election for the tax year in which a partner died while owning an interest through a grantor trust. The partnership represented that it had relied…
Partnership received conditional relief for late Section 754 election
A limited liability limited partnership intended to make a Section 754 election for the year a partner died, but its qualified tax professional neither made nor advised it to make the election.…
Borough's deferred compensation plan qualified under Section 457(b)
A political subdivision adopted a nonqualified deferred compensation plan and related trust for its employees and beneficiaries. The plan allowed timely compensation-deferral elections, designated…
Foreign entity received 120 days for late corporate classification election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect association status, making it taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes, but failed to file Form 8832 for the intended effective date. Based…
Taxpayer received 60 days for late success-based fee election
A consolidated group's subsidiary paid a success-based financial-adviser fee in connection with acquiring one business and selling another. The taxpayer intended to elect the Revenue Procedure…
LLC received conditional relief for late Section 754 election
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership inadvertently failed to make a Section 754 election for the year one of two spouses holding an interest as community property died. Based solely on…
LLC received inadvertent S corporation election relief
An LLC's operating agreement gave owners nonidentical distribution and liquidation rights, creating a second class of stock that made its S corporation election ineffective. The LLC also made…
Late QSST election did not terminate S corporation status
An S corporation's stock was held by a grantor trust until the grantor died. The trust agreement then required separate shares, including one for an individual beneficiary that qualified as a…
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.