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.
Determination 200916036: Real-estate association lost exemption for member services
A real-estate association reported itself as exempt under section 501(c)(6), although it had never applied for a determination letter. Its principal activities included operating a multiple-listing…
Determination 200916035: Memorial foundation denied exemption for family benefit
A foundation formed to preserve a historical family member's legacy sought section 501(c)(3) status. It proposed supporting a separately organized museum, using a for-profit family website to sell…
PLR 200916034: Scholarship grant-making procedures received advance approval
A private foundation requested advance approval of procedures it used to award college scholarships. Applicants had to submit a written funding request and academic record, and the foundation paid…
PLR 200916033: New scholarship programs preserved foundation's exemption
A public charity supporting underserved participants in a particular sport already operated a college scholarship program and proposed three more. The new programs would support graduates of its…
PLR 200916032: Capital-campaign set-asides qualified as distributions
A private nonoperating foundation pledged two amounts to a school's capital campaign for new construction and a building endowment. Each pledge was roughly equal to the foundation's entire…
CCA 200916031: One partnership proceeding can unwind circular allocations
Chief Counsel advised how to handle a partnership that indirectly held an interest in itself through a tier partner. An FPAA issued to the source partnership could disregard income or losses that…
CCA 200916030: Partnership litigation follows Tax Court and CCDM procedures
Chief Counsel responded to a question about a litigation checklist for TEFRA partnership cases. Counsel generally directed attorneys to Tax Court Rules 240 through 251 and the relevant Chief Counsel…
CCA 200916029: Estate must receive process before levy on decedent's income
Chief Counsel addressed collection of an income tax liability that arose before a taxpayer died. Automated records showed continuing income such as rent or royalties, but the IRS could not locate a…
CCA 200916028: Fraud-induced payroll deposits may be returned as restitution
Chief Counsel reviewed two cases involving deposits for fraudulent and fictitious payrolls. It agreed that the purported clients were not entitled to refunds and that the IRS should deny the…
CCA 200916027: Federal and state interest apply in separate transferee periods
Chief Counsel explained how federal and state-law interest apply to transferee liability without overlapping on the same amount for the same dates. Before the transferor's return is due, state law…
CCA 200916026: Frivolous 1099-OID return still could be processed
Chief Counsel considered a tax return using a variation of the frivolous “strawman” scheme. The taxpayer replaced a Form 1099-MISC with a Form 1099-OID that reversed the payer and recipient, then…
CCA 200916025: Later modification request triggers section 6110 disclosure
Chief Counsel considered section 6110's disclosure treatment for a ruling request filed before November 1, 1976, followed by a later modification request. The exception applies only to the original…
CCA 200916024: PEO officer can owe trust fund recovery penalty
A professional employment organization collected employment-tax amounts from client companies but failed to deposit them with the IRS. The organization filed the clients' employment tax returns in…
CCA 200916023: Limited partners recognize gain on distributed loan proceeds
A foreign parent made a recourse loan to a limited partnership, which distributed part of the proceeds among its general and limited partners. Immediately before the distribution, only the general…
CCA 200916022: Gift-tax disclosure recommendation was redacted
Trusts holding a family limited-liability company transferred interests to four children in exchange for annuity payments measured by a terminally ill decedent's life. A timely gift tax return…
PLR 200916021: Cash-or-stock dividend treated as a property distribution
A closed-end regulated investment company planned a dividend that let shareholders elect cash or common stock, with a default to stock and an overall cash cap of 20 percent. If cash elections…
PLR 200916020: Late S corporation election received relief
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from a specified date but did not timely file Form 2553. Based on the submitted facts and representations, the IRS found reasonable cause for the…
PLR 200916019: Corporation received conditional late S-election relief
A corporation intended to elect S corporation status from a specified date but failed to file Form 2553 on time. Based on the information and representations submitted, the IRS found reasonable…
PLR 200916018: Untimely S election became effective from incorporation
A newly incorporated company intended to be treated as an S corporation from its incorporation date but did not timely file its election. The IRS found reasonable cause for the late filing under…
PLR 200916017: S corporation spin-off qualified as a Type D reorganization
An S corporation operating two active businesses planned to place one business in a new corporation and distribute the new company's stock pro rata to its two shareholders. The IRS ruled that the…
PLR 200916016: Production-payment hedge gains qualified as RIC income
A business development company taxed as a regulated investment company invested in volumetric oil and gas production payments. It used swaps and put options to reduce commodity-price risk and…
PLR 200916015: Foreign entity received late partnership-election relief
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as a partnership for federal tax purposes after an acquisition but did not timely make the entity-classification election. The IRS concluded that the…
PLR 200916014: State tax-credit refund excluded from REIT asset test
A real estate investment trust developed a mixed-use project on land contaminated by an oil spill. State tax credits encouraged the site's remediation and development and were refundable when they…
PLR 200916013: Foreign entity received late disregarded-entity election relief
A foreign single-owner eligible entity intended to elect disregarded-entity treatment from a specified date but did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the entity satisfied the…
PLR 200916012: Executive-pay deduction limit did not apply after acquisition
A foreign corporation acquired a domestic corporation after the domestic company ended its securities registration. The foreign parent was a foreign private issuer required to file Form 20-F but not…
PLR 200916011: Foreign entity received late partnership-classification relief
A foreign eligible entity with multiple owners intended to elect partnership treatment for federal tax purposes but failed to timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the entity met the…
PLR 200916010: Late QSub election and stock-option termination received relief
An S corporation acquired all of a subsidiary and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary status from the acquisition date but failed to timely file Form 8869. The subsidiary later…
PLR 200916009: Spouses received late rental-activity grouping election relief
A married couple in a real property business qualified to elect to treat all rental-real-estate interests as one activity. They relied on a professional return preparer, but their joint return…
PLR 200916008: Exporter received late IC-DISC election relief
A newly organized exporter hired a CPA firm to establish it as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation for its first tax year. Management believed the required steps had been…
PLR 200916007: Dedicated infrastructure entered low-income housing basis
A partnership developing low-income rental housing had to build streets, curbs, sidewalks, drainage, water connections, and utility infrastructure, then dedicate those improvements to the city for…
PLR 200916006: Foreign entity received late disregarded-status relief
A foreign single-owner eligible entity wanted to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes from a specified date but failed to timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the entity…
PLR 200916005: Late disregarded-entity classification was permitted
A foreign single-owner eligible entity intended to elect disregarded treatment for federal tax purposes but did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the requirements for discretionary…
PLR 200916004: Nuclear decommissioning liability entered sale-year costs
A taxable electric cooperative agreed to sell its interest in a nuclear generating station and transfer its nonqualified decommissioning fund, while the buyers assumed the decommissioning…
PLR 200916003: Escrow accounts qualified as settlement funds from approval date
The IRS modified an earlier ruling about company escrow accounts established in response to governmental demands and legal requirements. It concluded that the accounts satisfied the three…
PLR 200916002: Estate received late reverse QTIP election relief
A decedent left a QTIP trust for a surviving spouse, but the estate's law firm failed to advise that it should be divided into GST-exempt and nonexempt trusts and that a reverse QTIP election should…
PLR 200916001: Foreign entity received late corporate-classification relief
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a corporation for federal tax purposes from a specified date but failed to timely file Form 8832 because of an oversight. The IRS concluded…
PLR 200915063: Surviving spouse received IRA rollover waiver after bad advice
A decedent named a revocable trust as beneficiary of three traditional IRAs and a Roth IRA. The surviving spouse became sole trustee, and the accounts entered a subtrust that gave her an…
Other determination 200915062: Small reinsurer lost exemption after premiums ceased
A stock reinsurance company had stopped accepting new business and received only investment income while paying refunds on canceled vehicle service contracts. Section 501(c)(15) required its gross…
Other determination 200915061: Social club lost exemption over nonmember receipts
A social club operated a member facility, restaurant, hall rentals, and programs, and also earned income from public hall rentals and reciprocal members. Its nonmember receipts exceeded the limits…
Other determination 200915060: Seller-funded homebuyer program lost exemption
A nonprofit provided homebuyers with down payment and closing-cost assistance funded by payments from participating home sellers plus a fee. The program had no income limits, was not confined to…
Other determination 200915059: Debt management operation lost charitable exemption
A credit counseling organization offered debt management plans, charged clients, received creditor payments, and sent enrolled accounts to a for-profit processor. The IRS found that its counseling…
Other determination 200915058: Small insurer failed the premium-receipts test
A stock insurance company issued one two-year indemnification policy and conducted no other business. Under section 501(c)(15), its gross receipts stayed below the statutory ceiling, but premiums…
Other determination 200915057: Women’s business network did not qualify as a charity
An organization formed after Hurricane Katrina helped women, families, and communities, but its regular activities included business networking, member promotion, and professional development. The…
Other determination 200915056: Exemption revoked after records requests went unanswered
The IRS repeatedly asked an exempt organization for information needed to examine its Form 990 and also called its representative several times. The organization did not provide the requested…
Other determination 200915055: Parachuting club lost exemption over public revenue
A recreational parachuting club sold tandem jumps, classes, student jumps, and related services to the public while also collecting member dues and jump fees. The IRS found that nonmember revenue…
Other determination 200915054: Insurer lost exemption after premium income stopped
A stock insurance company had stopped writing new business and spent the examined year paying claims and refunds on existing vehicle service contracts. Its receipts came from investments and asset…
PLR 200915053: Restricted golf guests counted as member use
A tax-exempt golf club allowed members to sponsor a limited number of unaccompanied and full-privilege guests under formal, restrictive procedures. Guests were personally known to a member, member…
PLR 200915052: Foundation’s scholarship procedures received advance approval
A private foundation proposed renewable college scholarships for financially needy graduates of local high schools, with possible summer funding, study abroad, and credit-bearing internships. An…
PLR 200915051: Foundation's research-fellowship grant procedures received advance approval
A private operating foundation proposed fellowships for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers working on children and youth-serving systems. Candidates would apply with a sponsoring…
PLR 200915050: Foundation's four-year university-building set-aside qualified as a distribution
A private non-operating foundation pledged an amount toward construction of a public university building for an educational program. Its pledge helped the university secure a matching grant, but the…
PLR 200915049: Modified professional-school scholarship procedures received advance approval
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve changes to a scholarship program originally approved in 1976. The program would pay tuition for students at four named colleges and universities who…
PLR 200915048: Foundation's public-park set-asides qualified as distributions
A private operating foundation planned to develop, construct, and maintain a public park on land it partly owned. It would sell part of the property, buy the remaining ownership interest in the park…
CCA 200915047: Taxpayer's ratification validated a representative's timely section 6672 protest
An IRS attorney considered whether a representative's timely protest against a section 6672 penalty was effective for tax periods not covered by the representative's original power of attorney. The…
CCA 200915046: Tax information exchange agreement required no congressional approval
An IRS attorney answered a question about approval of a tax information exchange agreement, commonly called a TIEA. The attorney stated that a TIEA is an executive agreement and does not require…
CCA 200915045: Employee misconduct generally did not establish reasonable cause for filing failures
An IRS attorney analyzed whether an entity had reasonable cause for filing or payment failures when an employee may have interfered with accurate tax reporting. The cited employment-tax cases…
CCA 200915044: Treasury had final authority over federal-service wage treatment
An IRS attorney addressed whether federal loan-repayment payments counted as wages and whether the related services counted as employment. The attorney read section 3122 to preserve the Secretary of…
CCA 200915043: First-time homebuyer credit refund was subject to federal debt offsets
An IRS attorney considered whether a refund generated by the first-time homebuyer credit received different treatment from other tax refunds. After reviewing sections 36 and 6402, the attorney…
CCA 200915042: Innocent-spouse information sharing depended on relevance and disclosure limits
An IRS attorney discussed what information could be shared between spouses in an innocent-spouse proceeding. The attorney said separate returns for the requesting spouse's current year could not be…
CCA 200915041: Funded vested amounts were transfers of property under section 83
An IRS attorney considered whether amounts transferred to a trust constituted property transferred in connection with services. The key question was whether the amounts had been placed beyond the…
CCA 200915040: Lost sale certificate could be replaced by an affidavit for an IRS deed
An IRS purchaser had lost the certificate of sale needed to obtain a deed. Chief Counsel advised that the purchaser could instead execute an affidavit stating that the certificate was lost. 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.