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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Surviving spouse may roll trust-held inherited IRA into own IRA
A decedent’s IRA was paid to an inherited IRA established for a trust rather than directly to the surviving spouse. After the trust was restated, the spouse became its sole trustee and had authority t…
LLC gets 120 days to file late corporate classification election
A limited liability company intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation from a specified effective date. It failed to timely file Form 8832 to make that election and requested…
Opportunity fund gets 60 days to file late self-certification
A partnership formed to be a qualified opportunity fund received capital contributions but had no income, deduction, gain, or loss in its first year. Its accountant incorrectly advised that no return …
Private foundation scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed annual scholarships for qualifying high school graduates who planned to attend four-year colleges or universities in the United States. Applicants would submit academic r…
Need-based college scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed nonrenewable scholarships for full-time students in four-year college programs who met location, citizenship or residency, ancestry, and minimum-grade requirements. Appli…
Business membership group denied charitable exemption
An organization applied for section 501(c)(3) status with a mission of promoting the future growth of a defined business community. Its activities included business workshops, member meetings and appr…
Exemption revoked for missing records and apparent inurement
A section 501(c)(3) organization gave inconsistent accounts of its fundraising events, income, and expenses and did not provide adequate records for many bank transactions. The IRS found numerous unsu…
Educational group denied social-club exemption
An organization applied for exemption as a social club under section 501(c)(7), but its main activity was holding educational events about a particular philosophy for members and the public. It treate…
Family reunion group denied charitable exemption
An organization applied for section 501(c)(3) status to organize recurring family reunions with meals at a hotel. Participation was limited to family members and friends, and fees were based on vendor…
Community business group denied charitable exemption
An organization applied for recognition under section 501(c)(3) while operating much like a local chamber of commerce. Its charter promoted the civic, commercial, industrial, and agricultural interest…
Online matchmaking service denied social-club exemption
An organization sought section 501(c)(7) social-club status for an online dating and matchmaking service. Subscribers created accounts, answered survey questions, received recommended matches, and pur…
Hunting and fishing group denied charitable exemption
An organization applied for section 501(c)(3) status with purposes that included protecting wildlife, enhancing hunting and fishing, and uniting sportsmen. It gave members and their immediate families…
Timely revocation of section 83(b) election approved
A service provider received restricted class A units subject to a risk of forfeiture and filed an election under section 83(b). The taxpayer then asked the IRS for permission to revoke the election le…
Estate granted 120 days to make QTIP election
A decedent's revocable trust became irrevocable at death and divided into marital and family trusts. The marital trust required income distributions to the surviving spouse and permitted principal dis…
Late section 336(e) election relief granted
A partnership-classified buyer acquired all the stock of an S corporation through a disregarded entity. The parties intended the stock sale to be treated as an asset sale under section 336(e), but the…
Spouse granted time to elect out of automatic GST allocation
A taxpayer funded a three-year grantor retained annuity trust whose remainder would pass to a separate trust for descendants. The taxpayer and spouse elected gift splitting, so each was treated as the…
Taxpayer granted time to elect out of automatic GST allocation
A taxpayer funded a three-year grantor retained annuity trust whose remainder would pass to a separate trust for descendants. The taxpayer and spouse elected gift splitting, so each was treated as the…
Late section 336(e) election statement relief granted
A purchaser acquired all the stock of an S corporation, and the parties intended to elect under section 336(e) to treat the stock disposition as an asset disposition. They did not timely attach the re…
Late mark-to-market election denied for hindsight and prejudice
An individual who actively traded securities sought permission to make a late section 475(f)(1) mark-to-market election. The taxpayer had not known about the election when trading began and later lear…
LLC granted late partnership-classification election relief
A limited liability company elected S corporation status when it was formed, which caused it to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation. It later intended to change its classification…
County captive reinsurer's income excluded under section 115
A nonprofit captive insurance company was wholly owned by an authority whose members were counties. The authority operated a self-insurance pool for the counties, and the captive provided reinsurance …
Six late corporate tax elections granted relief
A corporate group intended to make six elections involving bankruptcy loss limits, subsidiary stock basis, tangible-property capitalization, alternative depreciation, and bonus depreciation. Its accou…
S election restored after two missed ESBT elections
An S corporation transferred ownership interests to two trusts, but their trustees did not timely elect to treat the trusts as electing small business trusts. Those failures caused the corporation's S…
S election restored after inherited shares entered two trusts
Two trusts acquired shares in an S corporation under a will, but their trustees did not timely elect to treat them as electing small business trusts. The missed elections caused the corporation's S el…
IRS finds a self-declared 501(c)(4) "social welfare" group is really a political organization
This final IRS letter tells a group that had been treating itself as a tax-exempt social welfare organization (a self-declared 501(c)(4)) that it does not qualify, because its primary activity is poli…
Charity lost exemption after ceasing operations without formally dissolving
A section 501(c)(3) organization stopped its exempt activities and closed its bank account, but it did not complete the required steps to terminate formally. It did not file a final return, provide a …
Community training organization denied farmers cooperative exemption
A nonprofit sought exemption under section 521 as a farmers cooperative. It planned educational training for youth, homeless individuals, and young entrepreneurs, including some instruction about agri…
Wargaming club denied charitable exemption
A club applied for section 501(c)(3) status to grow a wargaming community through in-person games and tournaments. It charged participation and membership fees, offered members free entry and guest pa…
Fraternal subordinate lost exemption after failing to provide records
A subordinate organization covered by a group ruling had been classified as a fraternal beneficiary society under section 501(c)(8). During an examination, it gave only sporadic and incomplete respons…
IRS exam teams may share return information when tax administration requires it
Chief Counsel advised when information from one IRS examination could be shared with other examination teams and with taxpayers or their representatives. Section 6103(h)(1) permits internal sharing wh…
Partnership received 60 days to make a late qualified opportunity fund election
A partnership was formed to invest in a qualified opportunity zone business and serve as a qualified opportunity fund. Its accounting firm mistakenly believed the entity was a corporation, so it did n…
Litigation-related extension did not end liquidating trust status
A liquidating trust was created under a Chapter 11 reorganization plan to convert assets to cash, resolve claims, and distribute proceeds to beneficiaries. Unresolved litigation had already required s…
Employee could revoke a section 83(b) election within the original deadline
An employee received an option to buy employer stock that was subject to a risk of forfeiture and filed a section 83(b) election covering all of the shares. Less than 30 days after the grant, the empl…
Parties received extra time to file a section 336(e) election statement
Shareholders sold all of an S corporation's stock to a purchaser through a disregarded entity, and the parties intended to elect under section 336(e) to treat the qualified stock disposition as an ass…
Partnership received 60 days to make its first qualified opportunity fund election
A partnership was formed to serve as a qualified opportunity fund and received investor contributions during its first year, but it had no income or loss activity. Its accounting firm mistakenly belie…
Late-filed qualified opportunity fund election was treated as timely
A limited partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and serve as a qualified opportunity fund. Its general partner asked its accountant to extend the partnership's first …
Shorter utility asset life complied with tax normalization rules
A regulated natural-gas utility had excess deferred income tax after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced the corporate tax rate. Because its accounting records lacked the vintage data needed for the ave…
Forest carbon offsets produced qualifying income for a REIT
A company intending to elect REIT status owned commercial forestland and participated in a verified carbon-sequestration project. It agreed to long-term limits on timber harvesting and other land uses…
Amended qualified opportunity fund election was treated as timely
A partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and intended to be a qualified opportunity fund from its first month. Its accountant agreed to prepare the required filings bu…
Charity lost exemption after ignoring record requests and making an unexplained payment
A section 501(c)(3) organization did not respond to repeated IRS requests for records needed to verify its continued exemption. Its return preparer told the examiner that the organization had never op…
Social club lost exemption after gas rights income exceeded the nonmember limit
A social and recreation club entered an agreement to sell its gas and mineral rights. The resulting investment income and royalties consistently exceeded 35 percent of the club's total income, the lim…
Opportunity fund received more time to file its omitted self-certification
A partnership-taxed limited liability company was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund. Its accountant prepared both the company's partnership return and Form 8996 for self-certification,…
Late opportunity-fund self-certification was treated as timely after intervening health issues
A limited liability company was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and operate as a qualified opportunity fund. A trust owned a redacted percentage of the company and was responsi…
Annuity-funded advisory fees were not treated as distributions to the owner
A life insurance company proposed annuity contracts designed for owners who receive ongoing advice about allocating the contracts' cash value among available investment or crediting options. An owner …
Three elections were treated as timely after an adviser failed to file the extension
A foreign corporation hired a tax adviser to file an extension and prepare its federal return. The adviser sent the corporation a copy of Form 7004 and indicated that it had been filed, but an interna…
Foreign entity received 120 days to make a late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes but did not timely file Form 8832. It requested discretionary relief under the regulatory electi…
Foreign entity received an extension for a late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity wanted to be treated as disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes but failed to file Form 8832 on time. It asked the IRS for discretionary relief under the rules fo…
Forest carbon-offset issuance produced qualifying REIT income
A company planning to elect real estate investment trust status owned commercial forestland and proposed a project that would generate carbon offsets through improved forest management. The project re…
LLC received 120 days to make a late disregarded-entity election
A limited liability company had previously elected to be taxed as a corporation. It later intended to change its classification and become disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes, but it i…
LLC received an extension to change to disregarded-entity status
A limited liability company had elected corporate tax treatment and later intended to become disregarded from its owner. It inadvertently missed the deadline to file the required Form 8832 for the cha…
Late disregarded-entity election received a 120-day extension
A limited liability company had elected to be taxed as a corporation and later intended to change to disregarded-entity treatment. It inadvertently did not file Form 8832 by the deadline for the inten…
LLC was allowed to file a late disregarded-entity election
A limited liability company had chosen corporate tax status and later intended to elect disregarded-entity treatment. It inadvertently missed the Form 8832 filing deadline for the desired effective da…
Corporate-classified LLC received more time to elect disregarded status
A limited liability company had elected to be classified as a corporation for federal tax purposes. It later intended to become disregarded from its owner but inadvertently failed to make the Form 883…
LLC received 120 days to elect disregarded-entity treatment
A limited liability company had elected to be treated as a corporation and later planned to change to disregarded-entity status. The company inadvertently did not file the classification election by t…
Missed QSST election did not end the corporation's S status
An S corporation's shares were held by a grantor trust that later stopped qualifying as an eligible S corporation shareholder. The shares were transferred to another trust that could qualify as a qual…
Corporation received 120 days to file its late S election
A corporation's 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 IRS concluded that the company…
Opportunity fund's late Form 8996 was treated as timely after adviser oversight
A partnership-taxed limited liability company was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund. Its accounting firm was responsible for filing an extension, the partnership return, and Form 8996,…
Taxpayer received 60 days to file an omitted success-fee safe-harbor election
A corporate group paid contingent fees for services related to a merger acquisition. Its tax return applied the Revenue Procedure 2011-29 safe harbor by deducting 70 percent of the success-based fees …
Employer-related scholarship procedures received advance approval
A private foundation proposed a renewable scholarship program for children of an employer's owner-operators, employees, and contractors. An independent committee would evaluate academic involvement, f…
Insurance subsidiary was allowed to join its parent's consolidated return
An affiliated corporate group timely filed a consolidated return but left out its wholly owned property and casualty insurance subsidiary. The return preparer mistakenly believed that insurance compan…
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.