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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Missed QSST election was treated as an inadvertent S-election failure
Shares passed from a deceased shareholder to a trust before a corporation's S election became effective. The trust qualified as a qualified subchapter S trust, but its beneficiary did not timely…
Partnership received late Section 754 election relief after a death
A partnership inadvertently failed to make a Section 754 election for the relevant year after one of its partners died. The IRS found that the partnership met the requirements for late-election…
Inadvertent Section 754 omission received late-election relief
A partnership inadvertently omitted a Section 754 election from the relevant return after a partner died. The IRS granted 120 days to make the election through the appropriate Form 1065-X or Form…
Partnership was allowed to correct a missed Section 754 election
A partnership failed to make a Section 754 election for the relevant taxable year after a partner died. The IRS concluded that the standards for late-election relief were met and gave the…
Missed partnership basis election received 120-day relief
A partnership inadvertently missed a Section 754 election for a taxable year following a partner's death. The IRS granted 120 days to make the election through Form 1065-X or Form 8082 and attach…
Consolidated group received more time to expire unusable losses
A consolidated group acquired a target corporation with separate-return-year loss carryovers that could never be used because of a Section 382 limitation. The group intended to elect under the…
Corporation could revoke its election out of bonus depreciation
An S corporation placed three-year, five-year, and seven-year qualified property in service but elected not to claim additional first-year depreciation because its timely filed return showed an…
Acquirer received more time for success-based-fee safe harbor
A consolidated group incurred financial-adviser fees in acquiring a target company and reported part of the reimbursed costs as 70 percent deductible and 30 percent capitalizable under the Rev.…
Opportunity fund received 60 days to add its missed Form 8996
A partnership was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund, but its managing member lacked detailed federal tax and QOF knowledge. The partnership missed both its first Form 1065 deadline…
S corporation received more time for a QSub election
An S corporation formed a wholly owned domestic subsidiary and intended to treat it as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from formation. The parent inadvertently failed to file the QSub election…
Estate received relief for a late alternate-valuation election
An executor hired an attorney to administer an estate and an accountant to prepare Form 706. Neither adviser told the executor to make the Section 2032 alternate-valuation election, so the timely…
Pipeline-use fees qualified as REIT rents from real property
A REIT owned a partnership interest in a subsidiary that operated regulated oil and gas pipelines treated by the taxpayer as real property. Pipeline users reserved monthly capacity and paid…
Parent received 120 days to file a QSub election
An S corporation wholly owned a domestic subsidiary and intended QSub treatment from the same date as the parent's S election. The parent inadvertently failed to file the subsidiary election on…
Late S corporation and two QSub elections received relief
A corporation intended S corporation status from its formation date but did not timely file Form 2553. It also wholly owned two corporations intended to be QSubs from the same date but did not file…
Missed QSST election received inadvertent termination relief
A trust acquired shares in an S corporation and met the substantive requirements for qualified subchapter S trust status, but no timely QSST election was made. The trust therefore became an…
Partnership obtained 120 days for a missed Section 754 election
A partnership inadvertently failed to make a Section 754 election for the relevant year after a partner died. The IRS granted 120 days to file the election with Form 1065-X or Form 8082 and attach…
Environmental leadership and student project grants were approved
A private foundation proposed two educational grant programs supporting environmental conservation and sustainability. One was a year-long fellowship for young environmental leaders, with awards…
Exemption was revoked for missing records and no shown exempt activity
An educational charity was examined after filing returns that, according to the IRS, showed little or no spending on exempt program services. A former officer also reported a dispute involving…
Related for-profit use caused community center's exemption denial
A nonprofit planned to own and maintain a community center used for church services, free community activities, and paid events. A for-profit company created and directed by two members of the…
Contract-bound pageant awards did not support charitable exemption
An organization promoted western culture and rodeo through pageants, clinics, schools, and scholarships for winning contestants. Its articles provided that assets on dissolution would go to a…
Exemption was revoked after examination requests went unanswered
A Section 501(c)(3) organization had filed a mix of Forms 990-N and Form 990 and had not filed a Form 990-series return for another period. The IRS selected one Form 990-N year for examination and…
Charity lost exemption for uncontrolled and undocumented transfers
A charity raised funds for assistance in the United States and foreign countries and made many payments to individuals and organizations. The IRS found that recipients were often identified through…
Form 8300 guidance for legalized-substance businesses
Chief Counsel answered examination questions about Form 8300 compliance by businesses in the legalized-substance industry. The advice covers transaction descriptions and Fifth Amendment concerns,…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return did not timely elect portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. Based on the submitted…
Housing project received 120 days to make 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), as shown by contemporaneous records, but inadvertently…
Clean-transportation incentives qualified for the general welfare exclusion
A state-created air-quality program provided need-based incentives to lower- income residents who scrapped high-polluting vehicles and selected cleaner vehicles or mobility options. Payments…
Clean-vehicle replacement incentives were excluded from recipients' income
A state-created air-quality program provided need-based incentives to lower- income residents who scrapped high-polluting vehicles and selected cleaner vehicles or mobility options. Payments…
Air-quality mobility incentives qualified for the general welfare exclusion
A state-created air-quality program provided need-based incentives to lower- income residents who scrapped high-polluting vehicles and selected cleaner vehicles or mobility options. Payments…
Low-income clean-mobility incentives were excluded from gross income
A state-created air-quality program provided need-based incentives to lower- income residents who scrapped high-polluting vehicles and selected cleaner vehicles or mobility options. Payments…
Vehicle-scrappage mobility incentives qualified for the general welfare exclusion
A state-created air-quality program provided need-based incentives to lower- income residents who scrapped high-polluting vehicles and selected cleaner vehicles or mobility options. Payments…
Partnership's late Form 8996 was treated as a timely QOF election
A partnership intended from formation to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund, and its members contributed capital gain for that purpose. Its accountant timely filed Form 1065 but inadvertently…
LLC's amended-return Form 8996 was accepted as a timely QOF election
An LLC intended to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund, received members' capital-gain contributions, and acquired stock in a qualified opportunity zone business. Its accountant timely filed…
Foreign entity received 120 days for a late corporate-classification election
A foreign eligible entity had initially elected disregarded-entity status and later intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation, but it did not timely file Form 8832 for the…
Partnership received 120 days to make a late Section 754 election
A partnership inadvertently failed to make a Section 754 election for the year in which one of its partners died. The IRS found that the partnership satisfied the standards for regulatory-election…
Five acquired entities could change to disregarded status within 60 months
A buyer acquired a corporation whose five domestic eligible entities had previously elected corporate classification, and the buyer and seller made Section 338(h)(10) elections for the acquisition.…
Partnership received late-election relief after a partner's death
After a partner died, a partnership intended to make a Section 754 election to adjust the basis of partnership property, but the election was inadvertently omitted from its timely return despite…
Brownfield-credit receivable and income qualified for REIT tests
A REIT indirectly owned an interest in a redeveloped brownfield site through partnership and disregarded-entity tiers. Its share of refundable state brownfield credits arose from remediation and…
LLC received 60 days to file its omitted QOF self-certification
An LLC was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund, but its manager did not know the partnership-return and Form 8996 deadline and believed the accountant would begin the filing process.…
Youth-facility renovation set-aside approved
A charitable trust serving orphaned and other destitute children requested a 2022 set-aside to renovate or construct a facility for sports, arts, creative media, music, dance, emerging technology,…
Museum-gallery renovation set-aside approved
A small private operating foundation requested a multi-year set-aside to research, redesign, and renovate a museum's main exhibit and gallery spaces, which had not been significantly renovated since…
Homeowners association denied Section 501(c)(3) exemption
A homeowners association sought recognition under Section 501(c)(3). Its articles focused on managing and maintaining common areas, preserving and controlling residential lots, and promoting the…
Organization loses exemption over real-estate deals and private benefits
The IRS revoked a tax-exempt organization's status under section 501(c)(3) after finding that substantial parts of its operations did not further exempt purposes. The organization directed proceeds…
Foreign entity received 120 days to elect corporate classification
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation but did not timely file Form 8832 with the requested effective date. The IRS found that the entity…
Taxpayer could reelect the foreign earned income exclusion after moving countries
A U.S. citizen had elected the foreign earned income exclusion while living in one country, then effectively revoked it by claiming a foreign tax credit. Before the usual six-year waiting period…
LLC received 120 days to file a late corporate-classification election
A domestic limited liability company intended to be classified as a corporation from a specified date but did not timely file Form 8832. Based on the submitted facts and representations, the IRS…
Partnership received 120 days for a late Section 754 election
A partnership inadvertently failed to make a Section 754 election for the year in which one of its partners died. The IRS found that the partnership satisfied the standards for regulatory-election…
Two foreign entities received late partnership-classification relief
Two foreign eligible entities whose default classifications were associations were owned by a married couple who later became U.S. tax residents. After one spouse died, the surviving spouse became…
Elective transfer between governmental retirement plans avoided current tax
A county proposed allowing participants in its governmental defined-contribution plan to elect participation in a governmental cash-balance defined-benefit plan and transfer their balances directly…
Late ESBT election did not end the corporation's S status
A trust eligible to be an electing small business trust acquired all shares of an S corporation, but its trustees did not timely file the ESBT election, technically terminating the corporation's S…
Scholarship procedures for future litigators approved
A private foundation proposed two annual, nonrenewable scholarships intended to diversify the pipeline of future litigators: one for an entering law student and one for a college-bound high school…
Missing elections for nine trusts caused only an inadvertent S termination
After a shareholder died, an original trust covered by a Section 645 election transferred its S-corporation shares to nine successor trusts. Eight were intended to be qualified subchapter S trusts…
Estate received 120 days to divide a reverse-QTIP trust for GST purposes
A decedent's estate made both a QTIP election and a reverse-QTIP election for an entire marital trust. A later transitional regulation allowed certain pre-1995 reverse-QTIP trusts with allocated GST…
Partnership could aggregate royalty interests in three adjacent mineral leases
A partnership acquired royalty interests covering three adjacent mineral leases and used cost depletion, but it lacked reserve information needed to calculate depletion separately by property. It…
Delinquent Form 8996 was treated as a timely QOF self-certification
An LLC was organized to be a qualified opportunity fund and used members' contributions to buy stock in a qualified opportunity zone business. Its first accountant incorrectly concluded that the…
Foreign entity received 120 days to elect partnership classification
A foreign eligible entity requested additional time to file Form 8832 electing partnership classification from a specified date. The IRS found that the entity satisfied the standards for…
Employee-dependent scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed annual, nonrenewable scholarships for dependents of a company's full-time employees attending two- or four-year colleges, universities, or vocational schools. An…
Pension plan may use substitute mortality tables for up to two years
A pension plan sponsor asked to use plan-specific substitute mortality tables for minimum-funding calculations under section 430. The IRS approved the tables for union male, non-union male, and…
Two pension plans may use substitute mortality tables for five years
A parent company asked to use plan-specific base substitute mortality tables for two pension plans when calculating minimum funding under section 430. The IRS approved aggregated male and female…
Multiemployer plan receives retroactive funding relief with two bases excluded
A multiemployer pension plan requested a five-year extension of the amortization periods for unfunded liabilities beginning October 1, 2014. The plan timely submitted the request in 2015, resent it…
Pension plan may use four substitute mortality tables for five years
A pension plan sponsor asked to use separate substitute mortality tables for male and female annuitants and nonannuitants, including disabled participants. The IRS approved all four populations for…
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.