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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Church auxiliary is exempt from filing Form 990
A section 501(c)(3) organization asked to be excused from filing the annual Form 990 information return. The IRS determined that the organization qualifies as an integrated auxiliary of a church…
IRS approves an employer-related scholarship program
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve a scholarship program for dependents of employees of a related employer. The program will make non-renewable awards to graduating high school seniors…
Governmental affiliate is exempt from filing Form 990
A section 501(c)(3) organization asked the IRS to excuse it from filing the annual Form 990 information return. Section 6033(a)(3)(B) gives the IRS discretion to exempt certain organizations from…
IRS approves two children's mental health research fellowship programs
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve two fellowship programs for children's mental health research. One program supports researchers studying the causes, prevention, and treatment of ADHD…
IRS approves student travel and hardship fellowships
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve a fellowship program for students who show promise but lack the resources to pursue educational and career opportunities. Awards may cover travel for…
Church-affiliated school is exempt from filing Form 990
A section 501(c)(3) school asked to be excused from filing the annual Form 990 information return. The IRS determined that it is an educational organization below college level with a general…
IRS revokes a member death-benefit association's 501(c)(4) status
A membership association collected dues and additional amounts when a member died, then paid the collected funds to the deceased member's family after deducting certain costs and retaining a…
IRS revokes an inactive charity's 501(c)(3) status
A charity had been recognized under section 501(c)(3) for a national movement, fundraising to assist other charities, and related administrative and promotional activities. During an IRS…
Dog club denied 501(c)(7) status because public revenue exceeded the limit
A dog club applied for exemption as a section 501(c)(7) social and recreational club. It held dog-sport demonstrations, public classes, pet photo events, and an amateur dog show, and it received…
IRS revokes an inactive charity's tax exemption
A charity had been recognized under section 501(c)(3), but state records showed that it had been dissolved and its representative confirmed that it had been inactive since a redacted date. The…
IRS denies charity status to a grant program benefiting a related business
An organization proposed to give financially needy young people grants for animal-assisted mental health coaching. Each grant could be used only at a for-profit business owned by a person holding a…
IRS denies charity status to a retriever training club
A retriever club sought section 501(c)(3) status as an educational organization. It offered public classes on human and animal first aid, conservation, and search and rescue, but it also trained…
IRS denies charity status to a private road association
A membership organization maintained dirt roads in a mountain community by collecting annual dues from local property owners. Its volunteers repaired roads, dug drainage ditches, spread road base,…
IRS denies agricultural exemption to a farmers' market operator
An organization operated a community farmers' market for local farms, small businesses, and nonprofits. Vendors paid a fee for promotion and a place to sell agricultural goods as well as books,…
IRS grants relief for omitted success-fee election statements
A publicly traded corporation paid success-based fees for two acquisitions. Its return deducted 70 percent of each fee and capitalized 30 percent, which was consistent with the safe harbor in…
IRS grants extra time to allocate GST exemption to a trust transfer
A donor made two transfers to an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer tax potential. The donor's attorney told the accounting firm that the donor intended to allocate enough GST…
IRS grants extra time for opportunity fund self-certification
A partnership intended to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and invested in a company it represented was a qualified opportunity zone business. The accounting firm expected to prepare the…
IRS grants relief for a late real-property debt exclusion election
A taxpayer held an interest in a real-estate partnership through a trust but apparently did not receive the partnership's Schedule K-1 for the relevant year. The taxpayer therefore did not report…
IRS grants late corporate classification and S elections
A limited liability company intended from a specified date to be classified as a corporation and taxed as an S corporation, but it did not file Form 8832 or Form 2553. The company and its owners…
IRS approves consolidation of related private foundations
A private foundation organized as a charitable trust proposed to transfer all its assets to a related private foundation organized as a nonprofit corporation. The foundations were controlled by the…
IRS grants extra time for an entity classification election
A limited liability company intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation from a specified date but did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS found that the company satisfied the…
IRS grants relief for GST allocations to three family trusts
A grantor created three irrevocable trusts for children and later descendants, and the spouses elected to split the gifts made to the trusts. Their first attorney did not advise them about the…
IRS approves a township's governmental deferred compensation plan
A township adopted a nonqualified deferred compensation plan and related trust for its employees and beneficiaries. The plan included salary deferrals, designated Roth contributions, statutory…
IRS revokes a prior revocation of an annuity ruling
The IRS had previously ruled that choosing a new variable-payment, term-certain annuity option would not cause income inclusion before amounts were actually paid. In 2024, it prospectively revoked…
IRS grants relief for a late tax-exempt controlled entity election
A corporation wholly owned by a tax-exempt organization was a tax-exempt controlled entity for the depreciation rules. Its operating agreement stated that no project property would be treated as…
IRS pre-approves a foundation's three scholarship programs
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, how it will award scholarships under three separate programs. This step matters because grants a private foundation makes to individuals…
IRS pre-approves a foundation's competitive educational-fellowship grants
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the procedures for its educational grant program, which funds highly selective fellowships and seminars for undergraduates, recent…
Church auxiliary is exempt from filing Form 990
A Section 501(c)(3) organization asked to be excused from filing the annual Form 990 information return. The IRS determined that the organization qualifies as an integrated auxiliary of a church…
IRS confirms a church's integrated auxiliary need not file Form 990
A church-affiliated organization asked the IRS to confirm it does not have to file Form 990, the annual information return most tax-exempt organizations must submit. Under Treasury Regulation…
IRS denies 501(c)(4) status to a condominium homeowners' association
A condominium homeowners' association applied for tax-exempt status as a section 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, and this is the IRS's final determination denying it (the group did not…
IRS revokes a 501(c)(3) that operated like a social club (bar, gaming, member events)
The IRS revoked a nonprofit's recognition as a tax-exempt charity under section 501(c)(3). The group had been recognized as a public charity, but on audit the IRS found it operated much like a…
IRS denies 501(c)(6) status to a business networking and referral group
A business networking and referral group applied for tax-exempt status as a section 501(c)(6) business league, and this is the IRS's final determination denying it (the group did not protest the…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a members-only makerspace and art co-op
A community makerspace (a shared art and fabrication studio) applied for tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3), and this is the IRS's final determination denying it (the group did not protest…
IRS denies 501(c)(4) status to an employee association that advocates for its members
An employee association applied for tax-exempt status as a section 501(c)(4) social welfare organization (specifically a local association of employees), and this is the IRS's final determination…
IRS denies 501(c)(4) status to a collectively-bargained employee benefit fund
A trust set up as a "Pooled Supplement Fund" applied for tax-exempt status as a section 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, and this is the IRS's final determination denying it (the group did not…
IRS denies 501(c)(8) status to a group that just buys members third-party insurance
A membership group applied for tax-exempt status as a section 501(c)(8) fraternal beneficiary society, and this is the IRS's final determination denying it (the group did not protest the earlier…
IRS denies 501(c)(6) status to a contractor "bid-ready" consulting group
A group that helps construction contractors become "bid ready" applied for tax-exempt status as a section 501(c)(6) business league, and this is the IRS's final determination denying it (the group…
IRS denies 501(c)(4) status to a mutual-aid group that pays death benefits to members' families
A mutual-aid membership group applied for tax-exempt status as a section 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, and this is the IRS's final determination denying it (the group did not protest the…
45-day extension to file a late original Form 3115 for an accounting method change
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership asked the IRS for extra time to fix a filing slip-up, and the IRS said yes. The company had been wrongly treating leased vehicles as if it owned…
60-day extension to make a late § 168(k)(7) election out of bonus depreciation
The parent of a consolidated corporate group asked the IRS for extra time to make a tax election it meant to make but its preparer left off the returns, and the IRS granted it. For property placed…
Bankruptcy liquidating trust keeps its status despite further term extensions
A trust set up under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan to sell off assets and distribute the proceeds to creditors asked the IRS to confirm it still counts as a "liquidating trust" under…
Extension to make a late QTIP election for a marital trust
Property a decedent leaves to a surviving spouse can qualify for the estate-tax marital deduction, which defers estate tax until the second spouse dies. For a "qualified terminable interest…
120-day extension for 10 foreign entities to file late check-the-box classification elections
Ten foreign entities wanted to pick how they are classified for US federal tax purposes under the "check-the-box" rules of Treas. Reg. § 301.7701-3: eight to be disregarded as separate from their…
Inadvertent-termination relief restores an LLC's S corporation status after a second class of stock
An LLC that had elected to be taxed as an S corporation accidentally lost that status. An S corporation is allowed only one class of stock, which means every owner must have identical rights to…
Extension lets a fund self-certify late as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
A limited liability company (taxed as a partnership) was formed to invest in an Opportunity Zone and intended to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), a vehicle that lets investors defer and reduce…
Extension lets a fund self-certify late as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
A limited liability company (taxed as a partnership) was formed to invest in an Opportunity Zone and intended to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), a vehicle that lets investors defer and reduce…
Extension lets a fund self-certify late as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
A limited liability company (taxed as a partnership) was formed to invest in an Opportunity Zone and intended to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), a vehicle that lets investors defer and reduce…
Extension lets a fund self-certify late as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
A limited liability company (taxed as a partnership) was formed to invest in an Opportunity Zone and intended to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), a vehicle that lets investors defer and reduce…
Inadvertent-termination relief for S corporations after trusts missed their ESBT elections
Two related corporations were taxed as S corporations, which are limited to certain kinds of shareholders. When two shareholders died, their estates transferred the stock to trusts under their…
30-day extension for a foreign seller to apply for FIRPTA withholding certificates
When a foreign person sells a "US real property interest" (which includes shares of a US real property holding corporation), the FIRPTA rules in § 1445 generally require the buyer to withhold 15% of…
120-day extension to make a late § 754 partnership basis-adjustment election
A partnership can elect under § 754 to adjust the tax basis of its assets when a partnership interest changes hands (including on a partner's death) or when it distributes property. That adjustment…
120-day extension to make a late § 754 partnership basis-adjustment election
A partnership can elect under § 754 to adjust the tax basis of its assets when a partnership interest is transferred or when it distributes property. The adjustment lets the affected partner's share…
Church integrated auxiliary is not required to file Form 990
A tax-exempt organization asked the IRS to be excused from filing Form 990, the annual information return most exempt organizations must file. The IRS determined that the organization qualifies as…
Advance approval of a private foundation's civil-engineering scholarship procedures
A private foundation asked the IRS to pre-approve how it selects scholarship winners. This step matters because IRC Section 4945 hits a private foundation with an excise tax on "taxable…
Advance approval of a private foundation's fellowship-residency grant procedures
A private foundation asked the IRS to pre-approve how it runs an educational grant program under IRC Section 4945(g)(3). Under Section 4945, a private foundation's grants to individuals for study or…
Advance approval of a need-and-merit scholarship program's procedures
A private foundation asked the IRS to pre-approve how it selects scholarship winners under IRC Section 4945(g)(1). This matters because a private foundation's grants to individuals for study are…
Advance approval of grant procedures for an emerging-sports-photographers program
A private foundation asked the IRS to pre-approve how it awards grants to emerging sports photographers under IRC Section 4945(g)(3). Under Section 4945, a foundation's grants to individuals for…
Advance approval of a heritage-based scholarship program's procedures
A private foundation asked the IRS to pre-approve how it selects scholarship winners under IRC Section 4945(g)(1). Under Section 4945, a foundation's grants to individuals for study are "taxable…
501(c)(7) social-club exemption denied over public bingo income and missing member/non-member records
A membership social club, built around an annual parade and member socials, applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt social club under IRC Section 501(c)(7). The IRS denied the exemption. A…
501(c)(3) exemption denied to government-formed entity operating as a commercial bank
A government-created "semi-autonomous agency" that operates as a lending bank applied to be recognized as a charity under IRC Section 501(c)(3). The IRS denied it on both required tests. On 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.