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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Charity status revoked after failure to provide audit records
The IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) status after it failed to respond to repeated audit letters and telephone calls. The organization did not provide records of its receipts,…
Consolidated group received 75 days to waive a loss carryback
The common parent of a consolidated corporate group failed to file a valid election to waive the entire carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss. The group represented that it had not…
Estate received 120 days to make a late carryover-basis election
The executor of an estate for a person who died in 2010 missed the deadline to file Form 8939. That form would elect out of the estate-tax rules then reinstated for 2010 and instead apply section…
Corporate separation qualified as a tax-free reorganization and distribution
A publicly traded corporation planned to separate one of two non-pharmaceutical businesses into a new publicly traded company. Both businesses had conducted regular operational and managerial…
Partnership received 60 days to make a late opportunity fund election
A limited liability company treated as a partnership intended to become a qualified opportunity fund beginning in its formation month. Its two members had not previously formed such a fund and did…
Late opportunity fund certification treated as timely
An LLC taxed as an S corporation was formed as a qualified opportunity fund and invested a shareholder's eligible gains in a partnership intended to hold opportunity-zone property. A financial…
REIT received 90 days to make a late taxable-subsidiary election
A real estate investment trust formed an indirect subsidiary to hold assets connected with a real estate portfolio acquisition. The governing agreement called for the subsidiary to be taxed as a…
Missed trust elections did not end S corporation status
An S corporation had two trust shareholders whose required elections were not timely filed. One trust remained a shareholder after its two-year post-death eligibility period ended, but its…
LLC received 120 days for two missed tax elections
A single-member LLC owned by a tax-exempt organization served as the general partner of a partnership formed for a low-income housing tax-credit project. The LLC intended to elect corporate tax…
Trust split caused an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation shareholder was a qualified subchapter S trust whose income beneficiary died. Until the trust formally divided, it maintained three separate shares for three successor…
Trust split caused an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation shareholder was a qualified subchapter S trust whose income beneficiary died. Until the trust formally divided, it maintained three separate shares for three successor…
Fund's seven late first-year elections were treated as timely
A newly formed investment fund intended to make seven elections on its first regulated investment company return. The elections covered RIC status, deferral of late-year losses, post-year…
Partnership received 60 days to elect out of bonus depreciation
A partnership intended to elect out of additional first-year depreciation for every class of qualified property it placed in service during the relevant year. Its timely filed return and Form 4562…
Missed trust election caused an inadvertent S corporation termination
An estate transferred S corporation stock to a trust under a will. The trust was an eligible shareholder for two years after the transfer, and it met the requirements for electing small business…
Partnership received 60 days to elect out of bonus depreciation
A partnership intended to elect out of additional first-year depreciation for every class of qualified property placed in service during the relevant year. Its timely filed return and Form 4562…
Substitute interest qualified for a RIC's interest-related dividends
A sponsor asked whether substitute interest received by its exchange-traded regulated investment companies in securities lending and sale-repurchase transactions would count as qualified interest…
S corporation received relief for a late QSST election
An S corporation lost its status after a grantor trust shareholder's deemed owner died and the trust's income beneficiary failed to make a timely qualified subchapter S trust election. The trust…
Fuel card issuer could not claim refunds for a blood collector's fuel
A registered fuel credit card issuer asked to claim refunds or payments for federal fuel tax included in gasoline and diesel sold to a qualified blood collector organization. The issuer proposed…
Performing-artist grant procedures approved
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve procedures for grants supporting mid-career performing artists. The program would use nominations, eligibility screening, expert review, interviews, and…
Commercial certification and consulting model denied exemption
An organization sought section 501(c)(3) status for a program promoting a redacted philosophy and movement. It planned to certify businesses, provide consulting, license a label, promote subscribers…
Failure to provide records and state dissolution led to revocation
The IRS revoked a charity's section 501(c)(3) status after it failed to respond to repeated requests for books, financial records, board minutes, and information about its activities. Without those…
Charity lost exemption after ignoring audit record requests
The IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) status after it failed to provide records requested during an examination. The organization had received exemption through Form 1023-EZ and later…
IRS revokes a 501(c)(3)'s exemption on three grounds, including a court-ordered dissolution for fraud
This final IRS letter revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) exemption on three separate grounds. First, the operational test: after the IRS opened an audit and asked for standard financial records, the…
IRS revokes a 501(c)(3)'s exemption for ignoring an audit
This final IRS letter revokes a small charity's 501(c)(3) exemption because it would not cooperate with an audit. The organization had used the streamlined Form 1023-EZ to attest that it was…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a member-artist cooperative gallery that serves its artists' private interests
This is a final IRS letter denying an organization's application for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. The applicant runs an art gallery that exhibits and sells the work of its own member artists.…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a business association that serves its members' private interests
This is a final IRS letter denying an organization's application for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. The applicant is a business association that represents companies of a particular nationality across…
IRS denies 501(c)(5) status to a group that just manages a subdivision's cattle-grazing lease
This is a final IRS letter denying an organization's application for tax-exempt status as an agricultural organization under Section 501(c)(5). The applicant's only activity is managing a…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) exemption to a healing "church" whose ceremonies distribute a Schedule I hallucinogen
This is a final IRS letter denying an organization's application for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. The applicant described itself as a church built around an ancient religious practice: it holds…
IRS revokes a 501(c)(3)'s exemption back to January 2021 for ignoring an audit
This final IRS letter revokes a small charity's 501(c)(3) exemption, effective January 1, 2021, because it would not cooperate with an audit. The organization was incorporated as a nonprofit with a…
IRS revokes a 501(c)(3)'s exemption for ignoring an audit of its records
This final IRS letter revokes a small charity's 501(c)(3) exemption on a single ground: it would not cooperate with an audit. The organization was incorporated as a nonprofit, recognized as a public…
IRS revokes a 501(c)(3)'s exemption for ignoring an audit of its records
This final IRS letter revokes a small charity's 501(c)(3) exemption because it would not cooperate with an audit. The organization was incorporated as a nonprofit, recognized as a public charity,…
IRS revokes a cancer-aid charity's exemption for a defective charter and for ignoring an audit
This final IRS letter revokes a small charity's 501(c)(3) exemption on two independent grounds. First, the organizational test: to be exempt, a nonprofit's articles of incorporation must limit its…
IRS revokes a 501(c)(3)'s exemption for ignoring an audit and being court-dissolved for charity-fraud, made retroactive to the dissolution date
This final IRS letter revokes a small charity's 501(c)(3) exemption on multiple grounds. The organization was incorporated as a nonprofit, recognized as a public charity, and filed Form 990-N (the…
IRS revokes a 501(c)(3) charity's exemption after it ignored an audit of its records
This is a final IRS letter revoking a small charity's tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3). The organization was incorporated under a state Not-for-Profit Corporation Law, won recognition as a…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) status on multiple grounds, a charter purpose broader than 501(c)(3) with no dissolution clause, failure to answer an audit, and court-ordered dissolution after a state attorney general's fraud suit
This is a final IRS determination revoking the federal tax-exempt status of an organization recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity through the streamlined Form 1023-EZ application. The final…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) status on two grounds, ignoring an audit and court-ordered dissolution after a state attorney general won summary judgment for charities-law and consumer-fraud violations, made retroactive to the dissolution date
This is a final IRS determination revoking the federal tax-exempt status of an organization recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity on a Form 1023 application. The revocation rests on two…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) status for not answering an audit and, in its final letter, adds that the state involuntarily dissolved the group for charitable-solicitation and consumer-protection violations
This is a final IRS determination revoking the federal tax-exempt status of an organization first recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity on a full Form 1023 application. Its exemption was…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) status for not answering an audit; the group had been auto-revoked for nonfiling, later reinstated, then renamed, and used a commercial UPS-store mailbox while still active with the state
This is a final IRS determination revoking the federal tax-exempt status of an organization that had a complicated history with the IRS. It was first recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity on a…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) status for not answering an audit; the organization and its managing director shared a commercial UPS-store mailbox, though the entity was still active with the state
This is a final IRS determination revoking the federal tax-exempt status of an organization that had been recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity through the streamlined Form 1023-EZ application.…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) status on two grounds, failure to answer an audit and court-ordered dissolution after a state attorney general's fraud suit
This is a final IRS determination revoking the federal tax-exempt status of an organization that had been recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity through the streamlined Form 1023-EZ application.…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) status for not answering an audit; its officers used two commercial UPS-store mailboxes and the state had forfeited the corporation for unpaid franchise tax
This is a final IRS determination revoking the federal tax-exempt status of an organization that had been recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity through the streamlined Form 1023-EZ application.…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) status for ignoring an audit; the organization, its managing director, and its executive director all used commercial mailbox addresses, though the entity was still active with the state
This is a final IRS determination revoking the federal tax-exempt status of an organization that had been recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity. The organization filed only electronic-notice…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) status on two grounds, a charter purpose too broad for 501(c)(3) and a failure to answer an audit, while its officers used commercial mailbox addresses
This is a final IRS determination revoking the federal tax-exempt status of a nonprofit corporation that had been recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity. The IRS gives two independent reasons.…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) status for ignoring an audit; the group and its officers used commercial mailbox addresses and the state had suspended it
This is a final IRS determination revoking the federal tax-exempt status of a nonprofit corporation that had been recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Its stated purpose was to provide food,…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) status for ignoring an audit; its managing director and the organization shared a commercial mailbox, though the entity was still active with the state
This is a final IRS determination revoking the federal tax-exempt status of an organization that had been recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity. The organization filed only electronic-notice…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) status for ignoring an audit; its officers used a now-closed commercial mailbox and the state had marked it delinquent and mailed a dissolution notice that came back undeliverable
This is a final IRS determination revoking the federal tax-exempt status of an organization that had been recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity. The IRS selected it for a mail audit and requested…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) status for ignoring an audit; its officers and the organization used a UPS-store mailbox, though the corporation was active and filing state annual reports
This is a final IRS determination revoking the federal tax-exempt status of a nonprofit corporation that had been recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity. The organization had used the streamlined…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) status for ignoring an audit; its officers and the organization shared a UPS-store mailbox, though the entity was still active with the state
This is a final IRS determination revoking the federal tax-exempt status of an organization that had been recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity. The organization had used the streamlined Form…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) status for ignoring an audit; its officers shared a now-closed UPS-store mailbox and the state had marked it delinquent for unfiled annual reports
This is a final IRS determination revoking the federal tax-exempt status of an organization that had been recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity. The organization had used the streamlined Form…
IRS revokes a public-benefit corporation's 501(c)(3) status for ignoring an audit; it used commercial mailbox addresses and the state had suspended it
This is a final IRS determination revoking the federal tax-exempt status of a nonprofit public benefit corporation that had been recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity. The organization had used…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) status on two grounds, ignoring an audit and losing its corporate existence, after a state attorney general found the group was procured through fraud
This is a final IRS determination revoking the federal tax-exempt status of an organization that had been recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Its stated purpose was to provide food, clothing,…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) status after it ignored an audit; its officers used commercial UPS-store mailbox addresses and the state had forfeited the entity for unpaid franchise tax
This is a final IRS determination revoking the federal tax-exempt status of an organization that had been recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity. The organization had used the streamlined Form…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) status for failing to respond to an audit; its officers shared a now-closed commercial mailbox and the state had marked it delinquent
This is a final IRS determination revoking the federal tax-exempt status of an organization that had been recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity. The IRS selected the organization for a mail audit…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) status for failing to answer an audit and after the state involuntarily dissolved it in an attorney-general fraud case
This is a final IRS determination revoking the federal tax-exempt status of an organization that had been recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Its stated charitable purpose was providing food,…
IRS grants a corporation a late election to self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund for two years after its preparer left Form 8996 off the returns
An entity becomes a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), a vehicle for deferring and reducing tax on capital gains reinvested in low-income "opportunity zones," by self-certifying on Form 8996 attached…
A foreign parent's redomiciliation keeps its F-reorganization status despite a gap before the disregarded-entity election and stock trading in between
An "F reorganization" is a tax-free corporate reorganization defined as a mere change in a company's identity, form, or place of organization, and moving a corporation's place of incorporation from…
How a surviving spouse's renunciation of her QTIP marital-trust interest is taxed as a gift, with net-gift and estate-inclusion consequences
When a spouse dies, property left in a "QTIP" marital trust escapes estate tax at the first death but is taxed later, either in the surviving spouse's estate when she dies or as a gift if she gives…
IRS blesses a multinational's tax-free spin-off separating two businesses through eight internal reorganizations and a distribution to shareholders
A publicly traded multinational parent company (Distributing Parent) ran two lines of business and wanted to separate them, keeping one (Business A) and spinning the other (Business B) off to its…
IRS grants a surviving spouse's estate more time to make a late portability election for the deceased spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion
When someone dies, any unused part of their federal estate-tax exclusion can be passed to their surviving spouse through a "portability" election, letting the survivor shelter more from estate and…
IRS grants a surviving spouse's estate more time to make a late portability election for the deceased spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion
When someone dies, any unused part of their federal estate-tax exclusion can be passed to their surviving spouse through a "portability" election, letting the survivor shelter more from estate 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.