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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Corporation receives inadvertent S election termination relief
An S corporation transferred shares to an individual who was a resident alien at the time. The shareholder later became a nonresident alien, making the shareholder ineligible and terminating the…
Adult-adoption trust settlement preserves GST exemption and avoids gift tax
A family disputed whether three people adopted as adults qualified as descendants under a settlor's will and therefore shared in several family trusts. The trusts had become irrevocable before…
Family trust compromise keeps GST protection and creates no taxable gifts
Beneficiaries of several family trusts litigated whether three people adopted as adults counted as descendants under the settlor's will. The trusts were irrevocable before September 25, 1985, had no…
Court settlement leaves grandfathered trusts GST-exempt and avoids gifts
Family members disputed whether three adults adopted by grandchildren were descendants entitled to share in trusts created under a settlor's will. The trusts were irrevocable before September 25,…
Beneficiary settlement preserves GST grandfathering without gift tax
A dispute arose over whether three individuals adopted after reaching adulthood were descendants under a settlor's will and beneficiaries of multiple family trusts. Each trust was irrevocable before…
Trust litigation settlement keeps GST exemption and causes no gifts
A trustee asked a state court to decide whether three adults adopted by the settlor's grandchildren qualified as descendants and remainder beneficiaries under the settlor's will. The affected trusts…
Adult-adoptee compromise does not alter trusts' GST or gift tax treatment
Several beneficiaries contested whether adults adopted by members of the settlor's family were descendants under the settlor's will. The family trusts were irrevocable before September 25, 1985, and…
Negotiated adult-adoption settlement preserves grandfathered tax status
The beneficiaries of several old family trusts disagreed about whether three adults adopted by grandchildren were descendants under the settlor's will. Because the trusts were irrevocable before…
Reasonable trust compromise keeps GST exemption and avoids gifts
A long-running family dispute concerned whether three adult adoptees qualified as descendants and remainder beneficiaries under the settlor's will. The family trusts were irrevocable before…
Family settlement does not disturb GST exemption or trigger gift tax
Family trust beneficiaries litigated whether three people adopted as adults qualified as descendants under a will and could share in the trust remainders. The trusts were protected from…
Court-approved beneficiary compromise preserves old trusts' tax protection
A family disagreed over whether people adopted as adults were descendants for purposes of several trusts created under a will. The trusts were irrevocable before September 25, 1985, and had no later…
Adult-adoptee trust settlement retains GST grandfather protection
The trustee and family beneficiaries disputed whether three individuals adopted as adults fit the will's definition of descendants. The family trusts were irrevocable before September 25, 1985, and…
Settlement of adoptee claims preserves trust tax grandfathering
A family trust dispute centered on whether three adults adopted by grandchildren were descendants under the settlor's will. The affected trusts were irrevocable before September 25, 1985, and had no…
Beneficiary dispute settlement leaves grandfathered trusts unchanged for tax
A trustee sought a state-court ruling on whether three adults adopted by grandchildren qualified as descendants under a settlor's will. The family trusts were irrevocable before September 25, 1985,…
Adult-adoption settlement does not change grandfathered trust taxes
A trustee and family members disagreed about whether three adult adoptees qualified as descendants and remainder beneficiaries under a settlor's will. The affected trusts were irrevocable before…
Family compromise preserves GST-exempt trusts without taxable gifts
Family members contested whether three people adopted as adults qualified as descendants under a will and could benefit from several family trusts. The trusts were irrevocable before September 25,…
Court compromise preserves family trusts' GST and gift tax treatment
Beneficiaries disputed whether three adults adopted by grandchildren fell within a will's definition of descendants. The family trusts involved were irrevocable before September 25, 1985, and had…
Adult-adoptee agreement preserves GST grandfathering and avoids gifts
A state-court dispute asked whether three adult adoptees qualified as descendants and potential remainder beneficiaries under a settlor's will. The family trusts at issue were irrevocable before…
Foreign entity receives more time to elect partnership classification
A foreign entity represented that it was eligible to elect partnership treatment for federal tax purposes but failed to timely file Form 8832. It requested discretionary relief under Treasury…
Foreign pension and charity funds receive treaty and real-property tax exemptions
A foreign insurance and investment-management company proposed new segregated funds for tax-exempt pension plans and charitable organizations resident in a treaty country. Under local law, each fund…
Late opportunity-fund certification accepted after adviser missed filing
A partnership with eighteen members was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and acquire qualified opportunity zone property. It hired a tax adviser to prepare the required filings, but…
Missed extension does not prevent qualified opportunity fund election
A twelve-member partnership was organized to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund and invest in opportunity-zone property. It retained a tax adviser to handle the first-year filings, but the…
Foundation's educational research grant procedures approved
A private foundation proposed grants to individuals who would study issues affecting young people in a community and produce reports recommending possible solutions. The foundation planned public…
Commercial publishing and private benefits defeat section 501(c)(3) exemption
An organization formed to spread the teachings of a spiritual author merged with a for-profit publisher and continued selling, licensing, and subscribing readers to the author's books and other…
Foundation reclassified as a Type III functionally integrated supporting organization
A tax-exempt trust supported a named historical society by funding property maintenance, renovations, historical artifacts, equipment, and the operation of a museum and farm. Its earlier…
Exemption revoked for organizational and recordkeeping failures
The IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption effective January 1, 2018. The organization's articles of incorporation did not satisfy the organizational test for tax-exempt status.…
Data migration company was not a consulting business for qualified small business stock purposes
A shareholder asked whether a company that provides data migration and management services operated a qualified trade or business for the section 1202 exclusion for gain on qualified small business…
Data migration company was not a consulting business for qualified small business stock purposes
A shareholder asked whether a company that provides data migration and management services operated a qualified trade or business for the section 1202 exclusion for gain on qualified small business…
Data migration company was not a consulting business for qualified small business stock purposes
A shareholder asked whether a company that provides data migration and management services operated a qualified trade or business for the section 1202 exclusion for gain on qualified small business…
Extension granted for a section 336(e) election statement
An S corporation's shareholders sold all of its stock to a purchaser, and the parties intended to elect under section 336(e) to treat the stock sale as an asset sale. They failed to file the…
Extension granted to complete a section 336(e) election
An S corporation shareholder sold all of the corporation's stock to a purchaser, and the parties intended to elect under section 336(e) to treat the stock sale as an asset sale. They did not timely…
Extension granted to elect ten-year amortization of research expenditures
A corporation developing automated driving solutions failed to make a timely election under section 59(e) for research and experimental expenditures. That election allows qualifying expenditures…
Art lending collection treated as direct charitable use
A private foundation supported the arts through grants and planned to lend a donated and purchased collection of paintings and sculptures to public museums, galleries, schools, universities, and…
Extension granted to elect out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A taxpayer created two trusts for the taxpayer's children and transferred cash to each trust. The taxpayer intended not to allocate generation-skipping transfer exemption to the transfers, but a CPA…
Extension granted to elect out of bankruptcy ownership-change relief
A parent corporation and its consolidated group underwent an ownership change while the parent and two subsidiaries were under bankruptcy court jurisdiction. The group missed the deadline to elect…
Extension granted for a partnership to self-certify as an opportunity fund
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and bought property in a qualified opportunity zone. Its members failed to file the…
Extension granted to self-certify as an opportunity fund for two years
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership was formed to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund. Its tax adviser timely filed partnership returns for two years but failed to attach the…
Extension granted after an accountant omitted an opportunity fund form
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership was formed to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund. It relied on an accounting firm to file its first-year partnership return and all required…
Extension granted after an adviser omitted an opportunity fund form
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property as a qualified opportunity fund. The partnership retained an adviser to handle its tax…
Foundation receives five more years to sell excess business holdings
A private foundation received a 50 percent membership interest in a health care holding company from a disqualified person. The unusually large gift created excess business holdings, and the company…
S corporation status preserved after a trust failed QSST requirements
An S corporation shareholder transferred stock to a grantor trust and later died. After the two-year period in which the trust remained an eligible shareholder following the owner's death, the…
Filmmaker fellowship grant procedures approved
A private foundation proposed a one-year fellowship program for filmmakers from a redacted ethnic community. The grants would support culturally significant documentary and narrative films, with…
Science fellowship and travel grant procedures approved
A private foundation proposed fellowship and travel awards for early-career scientists. Fellowship candidates would be ranked by a selection committee, with the board making final selections and…
Five-year extension granted for pension funding amortization periods
A multiemployer pension plan requested an automatic extension for amortizing specified unfunded liabilities beginning with its 2023 plan year. The plan submitted an actuarial certification that…
Employee-dependent scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships for dependent children of qualifying full-time employees of a company. An independent tax-exempt organization would manage the program, and an independent…
Estate receives 120 days to make a portability election
An estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 because of the represented value of the gross estate and taxable gifts. It nevertheless needed to file the return to elect portability, which…
Late opportunity fund self-certification treated as timely
A partnership was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and hold an interest in an opportunity zone business. Its members mistakenly believed no first-year return was needed because the…
Oil and gas partnership receives more time to expense drilling costs
An oil and gas joint venture taxed as a partnership failed to timely elect to deduct intangible drilling and development costs for a tax year. Without that election, the regulations generally treat…
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A limited partnership failed to make a section 754 election for the tax year in which a partner died. The election allows partnership property basis adjustments after certain distributions or…
Late REMIC elections for eight mortgage pools treated as timely
A sponsor established eight asset pools for a mortgage securitization program and intended each pool to elect real estate mortgage investment conduit status. The sponsor filed identification and…
Opportunity fund receives 60 days after its CPA omitted Form 8996
A partnership was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund, and an investor reported a capital gain deferral based on an investment in it. The partnership's long-time CPA filed Form 1065…
Estate receives more time for QTIP and reverse QTIP elections
A decedent's revocable trust divided its marital share between an exempt marital trust and a non-exempt marital trust for the surviving spouse. The estate hired a law firm to prepare Form 706 and…
Contract-paid life insurance advisory fees are not owner distributions
A life insurer proposed variable life insurance contracts designed for owners who receive ongoing advice about allocating contract value among investment options. Under a separate authorization, the…
Contract-paid life insurance advisory fees are not owner distributions
A life insurer proposed variable life insurance contracts designed for owners who receive ongoing advice about allocating contract value among investment options. Under a separate authorization, the…
LLC allowed to change from corporation to disregarded entity
A limited liability company had elected to be taxed as a corporation and later wanted to change to disregarded-entity status before the usual 60-month waiting period expired. A new owner had…
Student-athlete scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed at least two one-time annual scholarships for graduating student athletes at a specified high school, one boy and one girl. Applicants would need college acceptance and…
Ten-year substitute mortality table approval for a pension plan
A single-employer pension plan requested approval to use substitute mortality tables for male and female annuitants and nonannuitants, excluding disabled participants. The tables were based on a…
Five-year substitute mortality table approval after stability concerns
A single-employer pension plan requested permission to use substitute mortality tables for male and female annuitants and nonannuitants, excluding disabled participants. The plan originally…
Horse competition organization denied charitable status
An organization applied for section 501(c)(3) status to promote the breeding, development, training, and competition of purpose-bred event horses. It planned to collect entry fees, publicize…
Charity revoked for insider benefits and inadequate grant records
The IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) status after examining its grants and governance. The organization had no active board oversight, and one officer controlled operations and…
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.