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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Partnership may make a late bonus depreciation election
A partnership allocated bonus depreciation to a new partner for a section 743(b) basis adjustment, although the new partner did not intend to claim it. The partnership misunderstood that it could…
Partnership receives extra time for opportunity-zone deferral election
A partnership invested distributive shares of capital gains in a qualified opportunity fund within 180 days after the gain partnerships' return due date. Its tax adviser mistakenly concluded that…
Foreign company may make a late partnership election
A foreign private limited company intended to be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes but did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS found that the company met the standards for…
Late opportunity-fund self-certification is treated as timely
A partnership formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund filed its first return without Form 8996 because its return preparer omitted the form. A later adviser discovered the omission and…
Law student scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships for entering and current law students interested in serving an identified community. Applicants would be evaluated on community service, leadership,…
Theatre restoration set-aside approved
A private foundation proposed setting aside a matching grant for the second phase of a charitable organization's theatre restoration project. The grant agreement required the recipient to raise…
Historic property restoration set-aside approved
A private foundation proposed setting aside a matching grant for restoration of a historic property owned by a community foundation and supported through a fiscal sponsorship fund. The agreement…
Charity loses exemption after failing to provide records
The IRS revoked a charity's section 501(c)(3) status after the organization did not respond to repeated requests for its books, records, receipts, disbursements, and information about its…
Medical fundraiser denied charitable exemption
An organization formed to raise money for a designated individual's medical expenses applied for section 501(c)(3) status using Form 1023-EZ. It later acknowledged that it had no organizing…
Cat café denied agricultural organization exemption
A limited liability company operating a cat café and caring for adoptable rescue cats applied for exemption as an agricultural organization under section 501(c)(5). Its principal revenue came from…
Late section 382 value-restoration election allowed
A corporate parent and another member of its controlled group missed the deadline to elect to restore value reduced under the section 382 controlled-group rules. The election affects how the value…
Multi-step corporate separation receives tax-free rulings
A public company proposed separating one business through four internal separations followed by an external separation of a newly formed controlled corporation. The plan included contributions and…
Late qualified opportunity fund certification accepted
A multi-member limited liability company formed to invest in qualified opportunity zones filed Form 8996 late with its partnership return. Its longtime accountant mistakenly believed the company was…
S corporation status preserved after missed trust elections
Several trusts received interests in an S corporation, but their beneficiaries did not timely make qualified subchapter S trust elections and the original trust documents did not meet the QSST…
Late S corporation year-splitting election allowed
Two shareholders transferred a substantial portion of an S corporation's stock to two trusts during the corporation's tax year. The corporation intended to elect under Treas. Reg. § 1.1368-1(g)(2)…
Late foreign disregarded-entity election allowed
A foreign eligible entity intended from formation to be treated as disregarded from its single owner for U.S. federal tax purposes. Its owner consistently reported the entity's tax items, but no…
Foreign entity gets late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect disregarded-entity treatment from its formation date, and its owner reported all of the entity's tax items on the owner's returns from that date. Because…
Early change to disregarded status permitted
A limited liability company had elected S corporation status, which caused it to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation. A new owner later acquired more than half of the company…
Missed trust election does not invalidate S status
A trust owned stock in a corporation when the corporation's S election became effective, but the trust beneficiary did not file the required qualified subchapter S trust election. The trust was…
Affordable senior housing set-aside approved
A private foundation sought approval to set aside funds for construction of an apartment building that would provide affordable housing to low-income older adults. The foundation already housed…
Art educator grant procedures approved
A private foundation proposed grants for K-12 art educators to attend professional development events in Los Angeles and create art projects about overlooked historical figures. Applicants would be…
Large health-care grant classified as unusual
A publicly supported charity expected a large grant from an unrelated section 501(c)(6) organization to create a program for patient-centered care and innovative practices serving mothers and young…
Need-based scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed nonrenewable scholarships for students in a specified location who lacked the financial means to earn a degree. Applicants would be evaluated using academic records,…
Members-only pier association denied exemption
An unincorporated association collected annual dues from a limited group of non-waterfront property owners to repair and maintain a pier. Only members and their accompanied guests could use the pier…
Veteran-group-owned LLC denied charitable exemption
A nonprofit limited liability company sought section 501(c)(3) status to raise money for a war memorial replica and distribute remaining funds to military charities. Its sole member was exempt under…
Social club exemption revoked for public business
A section 501(c)(7) social club operated a bar, golf course, pool, ballroom, and other facilities for members, guests, and nonmembers. Its returns showed recurring nonmember receipts above the…
Retroactive PFIC elections allowed after adviser error
A U.S. taxpayer invested in two foreign corporations that were passive foreign investment companies, but the taxpayer's qualified adviser did not identify their PFIC status. The adviser therefore…
Late election to amortize research costs allowed
A corporation that develops and sells software tools failed to timely elect under section 59(e) for a fiscal year. That election allows qualifying research and experimental expenditures otherwise…
Business separation receives tax-free reorganization rulings
A public company proposed moving one business, related entities, pension assets, and associated liabilities into a controlled corporation and then distributing at least 80 percent of that…
Opportunity fund gets 60 days for late certification
A partnership formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund hired an accounting firm to prepare and file its first partnership return. The firm timely filed the return but inadvertently…
Late mixed straddle account elections allowed
An individual traded exchange-listed put options while holding interests in the same publicly traded trust, creating potential mixed straddles. The taxpayer's return-preparation firm learned of the…
Former employees cannot purchase missed service credit
A county retirement plan had offered certain employees election periods to participate, but some employees said they were not explicitly notified and were defaulted into nonparticipation. After…
Late partnership basis election allowed with adjustments
A limited liability limited partnership intended to make a section 754 election but did not attach it to its timely partnership return. The election applies sections 734(b) and 743(b) basis…
Late real-property election for advertising displays allowed
A partnership in an outdoor advertising business agreed during a partial sale to elect to treat its outdoor advertising displays as real property under section 1033(g)(3). Its accountant filed the…
Mistaken REIT return does not trigger five-year bar
A company intended to wait until it acquired real property before electing real estate investment trust status. Its tax advisers agreed to file a regular corporate return and even requested an…
Late opportunity fund self-certification permitted
A partnership was organized to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and invest in qualified opportunity zone property. It later sought advice about completed transactions and learned that it had…
S status restored after testamentary trust deadline
An estate transferred S corporation shares to a trust under a will. The trust could remain an eligible S corporation shareholder for two years after the transfer, and it otherwise met the…
S status restored after second stock class
An S corporation's operating agreement gave shareholders different rights to distributions and liquidation proceeds by allocating amounts through capital accounts before using ownership percentages.…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded election relief
A foreign eligible entity intended to be disregarded from its owner for U.S. federal tax purposes from its formation date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The entity was eligible…
S status preserved after shareholder becomes nonresident
Shares in an S corporation were transferred to a resident alien who later changed residence and became a nonresident alien. Because an S corporation cannot have a nonresident alien shareholder, the…
Late opportunity fund election allowed after bad advice
A partnership formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and operate as a qualified opportunity fund relied on its accounting firm for its first return. The firm incorrectly concluded…
International professional fellowship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed a fellowship program that would place experienced professionals with public institutions and nonprofit organizations in another country. Fellows would receive living…
Scholarship and talent-development grant procedures approved
A private foundation proposed two programs for people with financial need. One would pay tuition and related educational costs for students of any age attending accredited schools. The other would…
Social justice scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed a scholarship program for full-time students pursuing degrees related to law, social justice, criminal justice, and similar fields. A selection committee would consider…
Social club denied reinstatement because outside income was too high
A social club sought reinstatement of its section 501(c)(7) tax exemption after an earlier automatic revocation for failing to file required returns. The club received substantial income from…
Songwriting and book-promotion organization denied section 501(c)(3) status
An organization applied for section 501(c)(3) status to provide free educational podcasts and online sessions about a program described in a book published by its sole director. It also created…
Foreign-government investment partnership was not classified as a corporation
Two foreign-government controlled corporations formed a general partnership to pool investments, including possible investments in U.S. real property holding corporations. The partnership had at…
Foreign-government limited partnership was not classified as a corporation
A foreign-government asset manager used a limited partnership to pool investments for several public-sector investors. The partnership had a general partner and four limited partners, had elected…
Large foreign-government investment partnership was not a corporation
A foreign-government asset manager formed a limited partnership with a general partner and twelve limited partners to pool public-sector investments. Several investors were represented to be…
Estate gets more time to elect portability of a late spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion
When someone dies, any unused part of their federal estate-tax exclusion can be passed to a surviving spouse (the "deceased spousal unused exclusion," or DSUE) so the spouse can use it later. But…
Affiliated group receives more time to elect consolidated return filing
The common parent of an affiliated corporate group missed the deadline to elect to file a consolidated federal income tax return for a taxable year. It requested relief under Treasury Regulation…
Housing project receives more time to make average-income election
A taxpayer owned a single-building low-income housing project and intended to make the average-income minimum set-aside election under section 42(g)(1)(C). Its contemporaneous records showed that…
Estate receives more time to allocate GST exemption to trust transfers
A donor transferred property to three trusts for descendants and elected with a spouse to treat the gifts as made one-half by each spouse. The donor relied on an accounting firm to prepare the gift…
Estate receives more time to make reverse QTIP election
A decedent's revocable trust created a marital trust for the surviving spouse and directed that trust to be divided into exempt and non-exempt portions if a reverse QTIP election was made. A…
Successor keeps acquired target's pre-2017 inversion date
A domestic corporate group proposed to acquire a foreign target that had become a surrogate foreign corporation before November 9, 2017. The buyer would acquire the target for cash, make section…
Estate receives more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 because the decedent's gross estate and taxable gifts were below the section 6018 filing threshold. The decedent left a surviving spouse and had…
Fund receives more time to self-certify as a qualified opportunity fund
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and invest in qualified opportunity zone property. It relied on a tax adviser to make the…
Corporate business separation qualifies for tax-free reorganization treatment
A publicly traded corporation proposed to separate one business into a newly formed controlled corporation while retaining its other businesses. The plan included asset and stock contributions,…
Successor corporation may make early S corporation election
A corporation became the successor to a limited liability company whose S corporation election terminated when the company became a disregarded subsidiary. The successor corporation's shareholders…
Late QOF self-certification treated as timely after filing misunderstanding
A partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and operate as a qualified opportunity fund. Its members used an accountant who misunderstood the structure of two separate…
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.