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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IRS grants a partnership 120 days to make a late § 754 basis-adjustment election
When interests in a partnership change hands, a section 754 election lets the partnership adjust the tax basis of its assets to match what the new partner effectively paid, which can prevent that…
IRS grants a foreign entity 120 days to make a late "check-the-box" election to be disregarded
Under the "check-the-box" rules, an eligible business entity can choose how it is taxed by filing Form 8832. A single-owner entity can elect to be "disregarded," meaning it is ignored for federal…
An employee who missed the deadline to sign the split-dollar-loan written representation gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit healthcare organization took part in a split-dollar life insurance plan his employer set up on the advice of an outside consulting firm. Under the plan, the…
An employee who missed the deadline to sign the split-dollar-loan written representation gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit healthcare organization took part in a split-dollar life insurance plan his employer set up on the advice of an outside consulting firm. Under the plan, the…
An employee who missed the deadline to sign the split-dollar-loan written representation gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit healthcare organization took part in a split-dollar life insurance plan his employer set up on the advice of an outside consulting firm. Under the plan, the…
An employee who missed the deadline to sign the split-dollar-loan written representation gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit healthcare organization took part in a split-dollar life insurance plan his employer set up on the advice of an outside consulting firm. Under the plan, the…
An employee who missed the deadline to sign the split-dollar-loan written representation gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit healthcare organization took part in a split-dollar life insurance plan his employer set up on the advice of an outside consulting firm. Under the plan, the…
An employee who missed the deadline to sign the split-dollar-loan written representation gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit healthcare organization took part in a split-dollar life insurance plan his employer set up on the advice of an outside consulting firm. Under the plan, the…
An employee who missed the deadline to sign the split-dollar-loan written representation gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit healthcare organization took part in a split-dollar life insurance plan his employer set up on the advice of an outside consulting firm. Under the plan, the…
IRS grants 75 days to make a late § 336(e) election treating an S corporation stock sale as an asset sale
When a buyer purchases all the stock of a corporation, a section 336(e) election lets the parties treat the stock sale as if it were a sale of the company's underlying assets, which usually gives…
IRS grants 75 days to make a late § 336(e) election treating an S corporation stock sale as an asset sale
When a buyer purchases all the stock of a corporation, a section 336(e) election lets the parties treat the stock sale as if it were a sale of the company's underlying assets, which usually gives…
IRS grants 75 days to make a late § 336(e) election treating an S corporation stock sale as an asset sale
When a buyer purchases all the stock of a corporation, a section 336(e) election lets the parties treat the stock sale as if it were a sale of the company's underlying assets, which usually gives…
IRS grants an estate 120 days to make a late § 2010(c)(5)(A) portability election
When someone dies, any unused portion of their federal estate-and-gift tax exemption can be passed to a surviving spouse, but only if the estate makes a "portability" election on a timely filed…
IRS lets a taxpayer reelect the § 911 foreign earned income exclusion early after a change of employers
A U.S. citizen living and working abroad had used the section 911 foreign earned income exclusion, which lets qualifying Americans overseas leave a chunk of their foreign wages off their U.S. tax…
IRS grants a late-filed REIT election under § 856(c) after the accounting firm missed the extension deadline
A limited liability company wanted to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT), which requires making a formal election on a timely filed tax return. To elect as a REIT for its first year,…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a chamber of commerce because it operates for its members' common business interests
A small-town chamber of commerce applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt charity under section 501(c)(3). It had once held 501(c)(3) status through a streamlined Form 1023-EZ, but lost it…
IRS pre-approves a foundation's college-mentoring scholarship and educational-grant procedures under § 4945(g)(1) and (g)(3)
A private foundation asked the IRS to pre-approve two kinds of individual grant programs: scholarships (under section 4945(g)(1)) and educational grants (under section 4945(g)(3)). When a private…
IRS pre-approves a foundation's scholarship and educational-grant procedures under § 4945(g)(1) and (g)(3)
A private foundation asked the IRS to pre-approve two kinds of individual grant programs: scholarships and fellowships (under section 4945(g)(1)) and broader educational grants (under section…
IRS pre-approves a company foundation's employer-related scholarship program for employees' children under § 4945(g)(1)
A private foundation tied to a company asked the IRS to pre-approve its procedures for awarding scholarships to the children of the company's employees. This advance approval matters because a…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a technology-research consortium because it operates as a fee-for-service trade or business
An organization applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt charity under section 501(c)(3). It described itself as an "incubator" or consortium that links organizations needing research done with…
The S portion of an ESBT may carry a net operating loss that passed through from its S corporation into another year
An electing small business trust (ESBT) is a special kind of trust allowed to own S corporation stock. For tax purposes it is split in two: the "S portion," which holds the S corporation stock and…
A merged company gets 9100 relief and 60 days to make the late Rev. Proc. 2011-29 safe-harbor election for its investment banker's success fee
When a company is acquired, it often pays its investment banker a "success-based fee" that only comes due if the deal closes. Tax rules presume such fees are capitalized (not currently deductible)…
A fund whose advisor never filed Form 8996 gets 9100 relief and 60 days to self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership was formed to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), the vehicle investors use to defer capital gains by investing in Opportunity Zones. Becoming a…
A second fund that missed the deadline to self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund gets 9100 relief, so its late Form 8996 counts as timely
A limited liability company was set up to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), the vehicle investors use to defer capital gains by investing them in Opportunity Zones. To become a QOF, an entity…
A fund that missed the deadline to self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund gets 9100 relief, so its late Form 8996 counts as timely
A limited liability company was set up to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), the vehicle investors use to defer capital gains by putting them into Opportunity Zones. To become a QOF, an entity…
A fourth employee who missed the split-dollar-loan written-representation deadline gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit hospital participated in a split-dollar life insurance plan the employer set up with an outside consulting firm. The employer made nonrecourse premium loans to…
A third employee who missed the split-dollar-loan written-representation deadline gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit hospital took part in a split-dollar life insurance plan his employer set up with an outside consulting firm. The employer made nonrecourse premium loans to the…
A second employee who missed the split-dollar-loan written-representation deadline gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit hospital participated in a split-dollar life insurance plan his employer set up with an outside consulting firm. Under the plan, the employer made nonrecourse…
An employee who missed the deadline to sign the split-dollar-loan written representation gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit hospital took part in a split-dollar life insurance plan his employer set up on the advice of an outside consulting firm. Under the plan, the employer made…
A publicly traded REIT's D&O insurance payouts are excluded from its income tests, so recovering litigation costs won't threaten REIT status
A publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) must keep its income mostly passive: at least 95% from listed sources like rents and interest, and at least 75% from real-estate sources. Income…
A REIT's directors-and-officers insurance payouts are ignored for its income tests, so recovering litigation costs won't threaten REIT status
A real estate investment trust (REIT) has to keep most of its income "passive": at least 95% must come from listed sources like rents and interest, and at least 75% from real-estate sources. Income…
A corporate group that missed the deadline to elect consolidated-return filing gets 75 extra days to make the election
A parent company heads an affiliated group of corporations that wanted to file a single consolidated federal income tax return, with the parent as common parent, for a given tax year. Making that…
Transferable development rights count as "like kind" to real estate, so they can be replacement property in a § 1031 exchange
A real estate partnership wanted to sell one property and, in a like-kind exchange under section 1031, use the proceeds to buy "transferable development rights" (TDRs). TDRs are zoning credits: they…
After intangible-owning entities are brought back into the U.S. consolidated group, the § 367(d) "deemed royalty" payments are redetermined as excluded from income
A U.S. parent company heads a consolidated group. In earlier restructurings, the group had moved certain intangible property (patents, trademarks, know-how, and similar assets) offshore in tax-free…
IRS pre-approves a foundation's grant program for high school teachers under § 4945(g)(3)
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, procedures for a grant program (not tuition scholarships) that funds high school teachers' own projects. Under IRC § 4945(g)(3), a…
IRS pre-approves a private foundation's need-based scholarship procedures under § 4945(g)(1)
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, its scholarship award procedures. Private foundations owe an excise tax on grants to individuals for study unless the IRS approves the…
IRS pre-approves a private foundation's scholarship procedures for healthcare-field students under § 4945(g)(1)
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, how it awards scholarships. Private foundations owe an excise tax when they give money to individuals for study unless the IRS blesses the…
202334018: IRS revokes a nonprofit's 501(c)(3) status where its activities were fundraising and gaming, and it had gone inactive
A nonprofit corporation organized for charitable and scientific purposes (educating youth and the public, and raising money for related causes) had its § 501(c)(3) exempt status revoked. During the…
202334017: IRS revokes a group's 501(c)(3) status for paying "scholarships" only to members who worked its concession stands
An organization that had been recognized as a § 501(c)(3) public charity lost that status after an audit. Its main activity was supplying volunteers to work concession-stand-type events in exchange…
202334016: IRS revokes a youth-sports booster group's 501(c)(3) status for running individual fundraising accounts
A youth-sports booster organization had its § 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status revoked. Its main activity was fundraising, but it ran the money through individual accounts: after each fundraiser, the net…
IRS grants a partnership more time to make a § 754 basis-adjustment election missed after a partner's death
A limited partnership had a partner die during the year. When a partnership interest transfers (including at death), a § 754 election lets the partnership adjust the inside basis of its assets to…
After a reorganization brings a foreign subsidiary in-house, § 367(d) "deemed royalties" stop being taxable income
A publicly traded parent corporation heads a consolidated group. Years earlier, it had transferred intellectual property to a foreign subsidiary in a transaction governed by IRC § 367(d), which…
IRS treats a late-filed Form 8996 as timely, preserving an LLC's Qualified Opportunity Fund status
An LLC taxed as a partnership was formed to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), which requires self-certifying by filing Form 8996 with a timely tax return. The managing member assumed the fund's…
IRS treats a late-filed Form 8996 as timely, preserving an LLC's Qualified Opportunity Fund status
An LLC taxed as a partnership was formed to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), which requires self-certifying by filing Form 8996 with a timely tax return. The fund's tax preparer received the…
IRS grants a REIT more time to elect taxable-REIT-subsidiary status after the IRS rejected an e-signed Form 8875
A corporation intending to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT) formed an LLC subsidiary to handle timberland maintenance work that, if done by the REIT itself, could generate…
IRS grants a single-member LLC late corporate-classification and late S corporation elections
A single-owner LLC wanted to be taxed as an S corporation but failed to file either required election on time: Form 8832 (to be treated as a corporation) and Form 2553 (to elect S status). It asked…
IRS lets a nonprofit hospital cure a missed split-dollar-loan written representation under the § 7872 regulations
A tax-exempt § 501(c)(3) nonprofit healthcare corporation set up a split-dollar life insurance plan to reward and retain key employees, using nonrecourse loans to the employees secured by their life…
IRS grants 60 more days to self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund after a mixed-up filing
An LLC taxed as a partnership was formed to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), the investment vehicle that lets investors defer capital gains by putting them into designated Opportunity Zones.…
A REIT's carbon-storage payments on its timberlands count as good REIT income under § 856(c)
A real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns timberlands signed a deal letting an unrelated company inject and permanently store captured carbon dioxide (CO2) in the pore space deep under the…
IRS lets a trust make a late "qualified electing fund" election for a foreign investment its advisers overlooked
A domestic trust invested in a foreign company that was a passive foreign investment company (PFIC). U.S. owners of a PFIC face a harsh default tax regime unless they make a "qualified electing…
IRS gives a corporate buyer 75 more days to file late § 338(g) elections for acquired foreign subsidiaries
A corporation that is the parent of a consolidated group bought all the stock of a target company, and with it indirectly acquired several controlled foreign corporations (foreign subsidiaries). A §…
IRS grants a single-member LLC late corporate-classification and late S corporation elections
A single-owner LLC intended to be taxed as an S corporation but failed to file either required election on time: Form 8832 (to be treated as a corporation) and Form 2553 (to elect S status). It…
IRS lets a single-member LLC file both a late corporate-classification election and a late S corporation election
A single-owner LLC wanted to be taxed as an S corporation, which requires two elections: first electing to be treated as a corporation (Form 8832), then electing S corporation status (Form 2553).…
A city redevelopment nonprofit's income is tax-free under § 115(1) as an essential governmental function
A nonprofit corporation was created as a "component unit" of a public redevelopment authority to carry out a city's economic redevelopment plan, including managing a tax allocation district and…
IRS gives an LLC 120 more days to elect corporation ("check-the-box") tax status it missed
A business converted from a state corporation into a state LLC and wanted to keep being taxed as a corporation, which requires filing Form 8832 (the "check-the-box" election). It missed the filing…
IRS grants a private foundation more time to spend a set-aside for a construction project delayed by COVID-19
A private foundation had earlier been approved to "set aside" money for a specific construction project, a device that lets a foundation count committed-but-unspent funds toward its required annual…
IRS pre-approves a private foundation's high school scholarship procedures under § 4945(g)(1)
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, how it selects and awards scholarships. Private foundations normally owe an excise tax when they hand money to an individual for study, but…
IRS denies 501(c)(6) business-league status to a users' group for one brand of gas-turbine power plant
An organization applied for recognition as a tax-exempt business league under section 501(c)(6). It is a users' group organized around one manufacturer's ("Z") land and marine aeroderivative…
IRS denies 501(c)(4) status to a subdivision road-maintenance association operated for its members
An organization applied for recognition as a tax-exempt social welfare organization under section 501(c)(4). It is a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation whose sole purpose is to maintain a dead-end…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a car club operated for social and recreational purposes
An organization applied for recognition as a tax-exempt charity under section 501(c)(3). It is a car club with social, educational, and training activities: it organizes road rallies, car shows,…
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.