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.
Surviving spouse may roll a trust's inherited IRA distribution into a personal IRA
A deceased IRA owner's estate transferred four traditional IRAs into an inherited IRA for a trust, and the surviving spouse was entitled to a redacted percentage of a specified trust residue. The…
Limited partnership received 120 days to make a late corporate classification election
A limited partnership intended to elect treatment as an association taxable as a corporation but did not timely file Form 8832. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and that…
Late accounting-method change forms did not qualify for an extension
An S corporation intended to make two automatic accounting-method changes involving sections 263A and 472. Its return preparer did not timely file the return or the original and signed duplicate…
Partnership ownership caused an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation's shares were acquired by a limited liability company classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes. Because a partnership is not an eligible S corporation shareholder, the…
Pension surplus transfers qualified for the replacement-plan exception
A public company terminated two defined benefit pension plans and proposed transferring all surplus assets to two corresponding defined contribution profit-sharing plans. At least 95 percent of…
Late qualified opportunity fund election treated as timely
A partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and serve as a qualified opportunity fund. Its members relied on an accountant to prepare the first Form 1065 and attach…
Corporation received 120 days to file a late S election
A corporation's shareholders intended the company to be an S corporation from a specified effective date, but the company inadvertently failed to file Form 2553 on time. Section 1362(b)(5) allows…
Real estate partnership received 60 days to make a late section 163(j) election
A partnership owning and operating a real estate project intended to elect out of the section 163(j) business-interest limitation as an electing real property trade or business. Its operating…
Partnership received 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A general partnership failed to file a section 754 election for the year in which one of its partners died. The election allows partnership-property basis adjustments after certain distributions or…
Litigation-related contingent set-asides approved
A testamentary private foundation trust was required to distribute income to a charitable recipient. After that recipient sold its assets and stopped regular operations, state-law proceedings…
Member-benefit organization denied section 501(c)(3) status
An organization sought recognition as a charitable organization under section 501(c)(3). Its activities included paying members' work-related legal fees, helping members with funeral costs for…
Commercial fitness gym denied section 501(c)(3) status
An organization planned to operate fitness gyms and use profits to support humanitarian and poverty-relief work. The gyms would be open to the public, employ paid managers and trainers, and charge…
Real estate trade association denied section 501(c)(4) status
A real estate trade association sought reinstatement as a section 501(c)(4) social welfare organization after its self-declared section 501(c)(6) status had been automatically revoked. Its bylaws…
Inactive school's section 501(c)(3) status revoked
The IRS revoked the section 501(c)(3) status of an organization that had previously been classified as a school under section 170(b)(1)(A)(ii). The organization stopped operating during the COVID-19…
Extension granted to request revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedules
A corporation owned interests in two nuclear power plants and maintained qualified nuclear decommissioning funds under section 468A. After the Nuclear Regulatory Commission extended both plants'…
Extension granted for nuclear decommissioning fund schedule request
A corporation owned an interest in a nuclear power plant and maintained a qualified nuclear decommissioning fund under section 468A. When the Nuclear Regulatory Commission extended the plant's…
Extension granted for late entity classification election
An eligible domestic entity intended to elect corporate tax treatment but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It asked the IRS for an extension under Treasury Regulations sections…
Extension granted for late section 336(e) election
An individual purchased all the stock of an S corporation, and the parties intended to treat the transaction as an asset sale under section 336(e). They did not timely enter the required written…
Tax-free treatment approved for internal and external spin-off distributions
A multinational corporate group proposed separating one business from its two remaining businesses through three internal stock distributions followed by a pro rata distribution to the parent's…
Extension granted to complete IC-DISC election
A newly formed domestic corporation intended to elect interest charge domestic international sales corporation status for its first tax year. Its president timely filed Form 4876-A but signed only…
No investment credit recapture for intragroup partnership transfers
A member of a consolidated corporate group held interests in partnerships that owned renewable energy projects generating section 48 tax credits. The group proposed moving those partnership…
Extension granted for late section 754 election
A partnership failed to make a timely section 754 election for the year in which a new partner purchased an interest from existing partners. It represented that the failure was inadvertent, that it…
Extension granted for foreign entity's disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its owner for U.S. federal tax purposes but did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS found that the entity satisfied the standards…
Inadvertent S corporation election defects excused
A limited liability company elected S corporation status, but its election was ineffective from the start for two reasons. A corporate owner was treated as holding an interest on the effective date,…
Inadvertent S corporation termination excused after ownership change
An S corporation's shares were held through a disregarded limited liability company owned by two grantor trusts. When the grantor died, the limited liability company became a partnership and…
Tax-free treatment approved for multinational business spin-off
A foreign public company proposed separating one business into a new publicly traded company. Before the pro rata spin-off, U.S. group members would move specified operating assets into a U.S.…
Extension granted to correct missing IC-DISC shareholder signature
A domestic corporation timely filed Form 4876-A to elect IC-DISC treatment but omitted one shareholder's consent signature. The corporation believed the election was effective and consistently filed…
Expanded clergy benefits continue to advance religion
A section 501(c)(3) organization has supported the widows and children of deceased clergy for more than 200 years through grants, stipends, and death benefits. It proposed increasing annual stipend…
Mortgage certificate exchange trust qualifies as fixed investment trust
A mortgage-backed securities sponsor proposed exchange trusts that would hold one class of REMIC or grantor trust certificates. Investors could exchange those certificates for matching classes with…
Employer-related scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed a scholarship program for children of employees of related organizations. An independent organization and selection committee would choose recipients using academic…
Expanded professional fellowship procedures approved
A private foundation operated a two-phase educational program designed to prepare students for professional service in a specified community. It proposed expanding the graduate fellowship phase to…
IRS revokes a recreational club's 501(c)(3) status for operating as a business
This final IRS letter revokes the 501(c)(3) exemption of a recreational sporting club (its grounds include trap clubs). The club had been recognized years earlier as a public charity under Section…
Tax exemption denied for member health care sharing program
An organization sought section 501(c)(3) status for a faith-based health care sharing program. Members would pay monthly fees, and the organization would use subscription revenue to help pay…
IRS revokes a dormant self-declared church's 501(c)(3) status
This final IRS letter revokes the 501(c)(3) status of an organization that had held itself out as a church. Churches are exempt automatically and do not file Form 1023, so this organization had…
Exempt status revoked for failure to provide records
The IRS selected a section 501(c)(3) public charity's filing for examination and repeatedly requested financial, organizational, and operational records. The organization did not respond to mailed…
Farmers market association denied business league exemption
An unincorporated association operated two farmers markets where members paid fees to sell their products. The association managed the venues, provided insurance, advertised individual vendors and…
Exempt status revoked after years of inactivity
A section 501(c)(3) public charity had been dormant and out of operation for several years. Its current and prior Forms 990-EZ reported no income, expenses, assets, or liabilities for the periods…
Disaster relief postpones assessment deadline to end of relief period
Chief Counsel advised that section 7508A postpones covered deadlines that fall within a designated disaster postponement period. Notice 2023-71 established a postponement period from October 7,…
Partnership representative files Tax Court petition for partnership
Chief Counsel addressed whether the partnership representative or the partnership is the petitioner in a case challenging a final partnership adjustment. Section 6234 says the partnership may file…
Partner credits applied after additional reporting year tax calculation
Chief Counsel explained how a partner calculates tax after receiving a section 6226 push-out statement. The additional reporting year tax is an adjustment to the partner's chapter 1 tax for the…
IRS may disclose corrected taxpayer identifiers for FATCA compliance
Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS could provide corrected identifying information for account holders to a foreign tax authority when FATCA reports had incorrectly indicated that no U.S.…
IRS information may be disclosed electronically to state agencies
Chief Counsel confirmed that IRS information may be disclosed to state agencies electronically under the applicable guidance and memorandum of understanding. The relevant statute, regulations, and…
Taxpayer response can trigger supervisory penalty approval
Chief Counsel advised that supervisory approval is required when a taxpayer challenges the amount of tax underlying a proposed penalty. Automated Underreporter case notes should record the substance…
Penalty dispute requires supervisory approval
Chief Counsel advised that supervisory approval is required when a taxpayer responds by disputing either a penalty or the underlying adjustments that affect it. Other taxpayer contacts require a…
Timing of managerial penalty approval varies by circuit
Chief Counsel advised that a proposed regulation on managerial penalty approval was not yet controlling and, as drafted, would not apply retroactively. Current timing standards differ by appellate…
Alternative wording offered for sourcing inventory sales
Chief Counsel reviewed proposed Form 5074 instructions concerning the source of gain from personal property and inventory sales. The existing language was considered defensible, but the advice…
Partner-level adjustment allowed only for non-chapter 1 tax
Chief Counsel advised that Treasury Regulation section 301.6241-6 permits the IRS to adjust an item treated as a PRI at the partner level solely to determine a tax outside chapter 1. The item…
Territory form example should address non-bona-fide residents
Chief Counsel commented on the personal-property instructions for Forms 8689 and 5074. The existing example described source rules for a bona fide resident of a U.S. territory, but such a resident…
Territory inventory sales may require source allocation
Chief Counsel read section 863(b)(2)'s production sourcing rule as applying when the taxpayer selling inventory also produced it. A taxpayer that merely purchased the property may fall under the…
Partner tax generally not collected after partnership pays imputed underpayment
Chief Counsel reviewed a BBA examination case study in which a partnership paid the imputed underpayment and the example also appeared to assess tax against partners. The advice identified that…
Retirement plan compliance letter is not an examination
Chief Counsel concluded that Letter 6519 does not begin an examination under section 7605. The letter tells a taxpayer that the IRS may examine a retirement plan later, asks the taxpayer to review…
Aviation fuel credit payments generally do not earn interest
Chief Counsel advised that sustainable aviation fuel credit payments are generally excluded from interest under the provisions cited in the email. An exception applies when a claim covers a period…
Tax liability, assessment, and delinquency occur at different times
Chief Counsel distinguished the creation of a tax liability from its later assessment and payment deadline. For a calendar-year individual, income tax liability exists when the tax year closes, even…
IRS may extend Form 1099-R filing time but not change deadline
Chief Counsel advised that the IRS may grant extensions for filing Form 1099-R but cannot change the filing deadline itself under the current rules. A filer may obtain an initial 30-day extension…
Form 1099-R electronic filing deadline cannot be moved earlier
Chief Counsel advised that section 6071(b) sets March 31 as the electronic filing deadline for the information return discussed in the email. Section 6047 does not supply a different filing date,…
Appeals should route TAM requests through field counsel
Chief Counsel explained how Appeals should request a Technical Advice Memorandum. Appeals should begin with the local field counsel office rather than contact the National Office directly. The…
Early BBA election is optional for pre-2018 partnership years
Chief Counsel advised that a partnership is not required to elect into the BBA audit regime for a tax year beginning after November 2, 2015, and before January 1, 2018. A partnership may elect in if…
Terminal assets and related payments receive favorable REIT treatment
A corporation planning to elect REIT status asked how several terminal assets, fees, and one-time payments would count under the REIT asset and income tests. The IRS ruled that permanently anchored…
Housing project receives extra time to start its credit period
The owner of a single-building housing project intended to begin its low-income housing credit period in the year the building was placed in service, but it failed to make the required election on…
Estate receives extra time to allocate GST exemption
An executor hired the decedent's regular tax professional to prepare an estate tax return, but the professional failed to file it on time. As a result, the estate did not timely allocate 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.