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 denies 501(c)(3) status to a group formed to fund equipment for the founder's disabled grandson
An organization applied for recognition as a tax-exempt charity under section 501(c)(3). Its founder's grandson, who is severely autistic and has special needs, had aged out of a former facility and…
IRS grants a 75-day extension to make a late consolidated-return election
A corporate parent asked the IRS for extra time to make an election that lets an affiliated group of corporations file a single consolidated federal income tax return, with the parent as the common…
Federal credit unions can claim the COVID employee retention credit for 2021 wages, but not for 2020 wages
This Chief Counsel Advice answers a non-taxpayer-specific question from the IRS's exempt-organizations counsel: can federal credit unions claim the COVID-19 employee retention credit (ERC)? The…
IRS approves a foundation's grant procedures for a religious teen learning program run with a university
A private foundation asked the IRS for advance approval of its educational-grant procedures under section 4945(g)(3), the category for grants that let a recipient achieve a specific objective or…
IRS approves a foundation's grant procedures for goal-oriented individuals to achieve a specific objective or improve a skill
A private foundation asked the IRS for advance approval of its educational-grant procedures under section 4945(g)(3), the category for grants that let a recipient achieve a specific objective or…
IRS approves a foundation's scholarship procedures for underprivileged children's primary and secondary education
A private foundation asked the IRS for advance approval of its scholarship procedures under section 4945(g)(1). Without this approval, a private foundation's grants to individuals for study can be…
IRS approves a foundation's three fellowship programs for improving youth mental health
A private foundation asked the IRS for advance approval of its educational-grant procedures under section 4945(g)(3), the category for grants that let a recipient achieve a specific objective or…
IRS approves a foundation's scholarship procedures for low-income students in a partner program
A private foundation asked the IRS for advance approval of its scholarship procedures under section 4945(g)(1). Without this approval, a private foundation's grants to individuals for study can be…
IRS approves a private foundation's scholarship procedures for children of an organization's members
A private foundation asked the IRS for advance approval of the procedures it uses to award scholarships, as section 4945(g)(1) requires. Without this approval, grants a private foundation makes to…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a members' business association that promotes its members' commercial interests
An organization applied for recognition as a tax-exempt charity under section 501(c)(3), describing itself as a group that increases members' knowledge, promotes best practices and higher business…
IRS denies 501(c)(8) fraternal-society exemption to a one-member online order not operating under the lodge system
An organization applied for recognition as a tax-exempt fraternal beneficiary society under section 501(c)(8), the category for lodge-based fraternal orders (like the Elks or Masons) that pay life,…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a group formed to pay one board member's child's medical bills
An organization applied for recognition as a tax-exempt charity under section 501(c)(3). Its sole stated purpose was to raise and receive funds to pay the medical bills of a single minor child who…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a family reunion association that serves its own members
An unincorporated group applied for recognition as a tax-exempt charity under section 501(c)(3), describing itself as a not-for-profit dedicated to providing an organized space for family reunion…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a family-controlled media and services company operated for its founder's benefit
An organization applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt charity under section 501(c)(3). It described itself as a family foundation and holding company built around its founder (referred to as "D")…
IRS waives the requirement that assets be formally conveyed to a qualified domestic trust for the estate marital deduction
When a surviving spouse is not a U.S. citizen, property left to that spouse does not qualify for the estate tax marital deduction unless it passes through a qualified domestic trust (QDOT), which…
IRS gives a limited partnership 60 more days to file Form 8996 and self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
An entity self-certifies as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) by filing Form 8996 with its timely filed tax return, which lets investors defer and potentially reduce tax on capital gains reinvested…
IRS rules a trust's IRA income paid on to a charity is offset by a charitable deduction
A decedent named a trust as the sole beneficiary of his IRA, and the trust document directs that the IRA proceeds go to a public charity (a donor advised fund). When the trust receives IRA…
IRS gives an estate 120 more days to make the "65-day rule" election for a distribution to a trust
Under the "65-day rule" in section 663(b), an estate or trust can elect to treat a distribution made within the first 65 days of a tax year as if it had been made on the last day of the prior year.…
IRS gives an LLC 60 more days to file Form 8996 and self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
A Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) self-certifies by filing Form 8996 with its timely filed tax return; doing so lets investors defer and potentially reduce tax on capital gains reinvested in…
IRS treats a late Form 8996 as timely, letting an LLC self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
A Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) is an investment vehicle that lets investors defer and potentially reduce tax on capital gains they reinvest in designated low-income "opportunity zones." An…
IRS gives a foreign real estate partnership 60 more days to elect out of the business-interest deduction limit
Section 163(j) generally caps how much business interest a taxpayer can deduct. A real property trade or business can elect out of that cap under section 163(j)(7)(B) (the "RPTOB election"),…
IRS gives three foreign entities 120 more days to elect to be disregarded for U.S. tax purposes
A foreign business entity with a single owner can elect, under the "check-the-box" rules, to be disregarded as separate from its owner for U.S. federal tax purposes (so its income and assets are…
IRS lets an entity change its tax classification to a partnership inside the normal 60-month lock-out after an ownership change
When a business entity elects to change how it is taxed (its "check-the-box" classification), it normally cannot elect to change again for 60 months. There is an exception: the IRS may allow an…
IRS gives a trust 120 more days to elect to deduct its charitable payments in the earlier tax year
Under section 642(c)(1), a trust or estate can deduct amounts of its gross income that it pays to charity under its governing instrument. A special timing rule lets the trustee elect to treat a…
IRS gives a consolidated group 75 more days to make late section 338(g) elections for a foreign subsidiary's stock purchases
A section 338(g) election lets a corporation that buys at least 80% of another corporation's stock (a "qualified stock purchase") treat the deal as if it bought the target's assets instead, which…
IRS grants a late estate 120 more days to make a portability election for the deceased spouse's unused exclusion
When someone dies without using all of their federal estate and gift tax exclusion, the surviving spouse can inherit the unused portion (the "deceased spousal unused exclusion," or DSUE) through a…
IRS approves a tax-free corporate spin-off separating two businesses through a chain of internal and external reorganizations
A corporate parent wanted to separate two of its business lines (Business A from Business B) and distribute Business A to its public shareholders. To do that it planned a series of transactions:…
IRS pre-approves a foundation's fellowship grants for educators' professional development
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the procedures for grants it awards to educators for professional development and leadership. This approval matters because grants a…
IRS pre-approves a foundation's graduate scholarship program in a targeted field
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the procedures for a scholarship program that funds students pursuing graduate or doctoral degrees in a particular field. This approval…
IRS grants a 36-month extension to pay out a foundation's set-aside for an arts facility delayed by COVID-19
A private foundation had earlier received IRS approval for a "set-aside," a way for a foundation to earmark money for a specific long-term project and count it toward the annual payout the tax law…
IRS pre-approves a memorial scholarship for graduating high school seniors
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the procedures for a scholarship it runs in memory of a named individual. This approval matters because grants a private foundation makes…
IRS pre-approves a foundation's grant program for low-income amateur athletes
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the procedures it will use to award grants to individual amateur athletes. This approval matters because grants a private foundation makes…
IRS denies 501(c)(4) social-welfare status to a nonprofit pharmacy-benefit manager converting from a for-profit
An organization applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt social welfare organization under section 501(c)(4). It planned to run a pharmacy-benefit and pharmacy-services administration business,…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) exemption for operating as a conduit in an abusive donated-LLC-interest tax scheme
A public charity recognized under section 501(c)(3) had its exemption revoked after an IRS examination. Its main assets and revenue came from donated interests in dozens of limited liability…
Late Form 8996 self-certification as a Qualified Opportunity Fund treated as timely
An LLC taxed as a partnership was formed to operate as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), the vehicle that lets investors defer capital gains by investing in designated opportunity zones. To become…
Late election to file a consolidated return granted a 75-day extension
A parent corporation heading an affiliated group missed the deadline to elect to file a consolidated federal income tax return for one tax year. The election under Treas. Reg. § 1.1502-75(a)(1) must…
IRS pre-approves a firm foundation's diversity scholarship for future CPAs
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the way it plans to award scholarships. This step matters because grants a private foundation makes to individuals for study are normally…
IRS pre-approves a foundation's scholarship program for students facing socio-economic barriers
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the way it plans to award college scholarships. This step matters because grants a private foundation makes to individuals for study are…
New owner gets IRS consent to re-elect S corporation status inside the usual 5-year waiting period
A corporation had been an S corporation, but its S election terminated. Under section 1362(g), once an S election is terminated, the corporation normally cannot elect S status again for five years…
Tax-exempt controlled entity gets 60 more days to elect out of tax-exempt treatment after its preparer misclassified it
An LLC was part-owned by tax-exempt organizations, which made it a "tax-exempt controlled entity" under section 168(h). That status can force slower depreciation on property the entity uses through…
Fund gets 60 more days to self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund after its accountant left off Form 8996
An LLC taxed as a partnership was set up to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), the kind of investment vehicle created by the 2017 tax law that lets investors defer capital gains by reinvesting…
A nonprofit cooperative's conversion to a for-profit corporation qualifies as an "F" reorganization, and redeemed capital credits are ordinary income
A nonprofit cooperative corporation (with members instead of shareholders, and "capital credit" accounts tracking each member's patronage) planned to convert into a for-profit corporation. The…
Trust gets consent to make a late "qualified electing fund" election for its foreign fund investment
A domestic trust held an interest in a foreign company that is a passive foreign investment company (PFIC). U.S. owners of a PFIC can elect to treat it as a "qualified electing fund" (QEF) under…
Buyers and seller of an S corporation get 75 more days to elect to treat the stock sale as an asset sale
Two individuals bought all the stock of an S corporation from its shareholder, acquiring it through disregarded entities. When a stock purchase qualifies as a "qualified stock disposition," a…
Corporate parent gets 75 more days to elect to file a consolidated return after its tax pro missed the deadline
A parent corporation heading an affiliated group of companies wanted the group to file a single consolidated federal income tax return, with the parent as the common parent, for a particular year.…
Tax-free spin-off of one business line, funded by a debt-for-equity exchange with investment banks
A publicly traded parent company (Distributing) wanted to separate one of its four business lines into a new standalone public company (Controlled) without triggering corporate or shareholder-level…
LLC gets 120 more days to elect corporation treatment after missing the Form 8832 deadline
A limited liability company wanted to be treated as a corporation for federal tax purposes. Under the "check-the-box" rules in Treasury Regulation section 301.7701-3, an eligible entity makes that…
IRS pre-approves a foundation's bank-administered college scholarship program
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the way it plans to award college scholarships. This step matters because grants a private foundation makes to individuals for study are…
IRS denies a multiemployer pension plan permission to add a one-time "13th check" while under an amortization extension
A collectively bargained multiemployer defined-benefit pension plan was operating under an approved extension of its amortization period under section 431(d). While such an extension is in place,…
IRS pre-approves a foundation's grants covering conference travel for those who cannot afford it
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, how it will award grants that cover travel and lodging so people who cannot afford it can attend the foundation's financial-education…
IRS pre-approves a foundation's fellowship grant procedures for financial-education scholars
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the way it plans to award educational grants. This step matters because grants a private foundation makes to individuals for study or…
Corporation gets 60 more days to elect out of tax-exempt-controlled-entity status after its firm forgot the election
A corporation was majority-owned by a section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, which made it a "tax-exempt controlled entity" under section 168(h). That status can force slower depreciation (the…
Extra 60 days granted to a corporation to elect out of bonus depreciation after its preparer omitted the required statement
A C corporation that files a consolidated return decided to opt out of the additional first year (bonus) depreciation deduction under section 168(k) for all classes of property it placed in service…
IRS denies a late mark-to-market election because the trader used hindsight
An individual securities trader asked the IRS for extra time to make a late "mark-to-market" election under section 475(f)(1). That election lets a trader treat securities gains and losses as…
REIT gets more time to elect taxable-REIT-subsidiary treatment after a law firm dropped the ball
A real estate investment trust (REIT) and its wholly owned subsidiary wanted the subsidiary treated as a "taxable REIT subsidiary" (TRS), a taxable corporation a REIT can own to hold assets or earn…
REIT gets more time to elect taxable-REIT-subsidiary treatment after a law firm dropped the ball
A real estate investment trust (REIT) and its wholly owned subsidiary wanted the subsidiary treated as a "taxable REIT subsidiary" (TRS), a taxable corporation a REIT can own to hold assets or earn…
Late Form 8996 opportunity-fund self-certification treated as timely after CPA's filing mistake
A newly formed LLC, taxed as a partnership, was set up to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), an investment vehicle that offers capital-gains tax breaks for putting money into designated…
S corporation status restored after four trusts forgot to file their ESBT elections
A company had elected to be taxed as an S corporation, a pass-through structure that limits who may own the stock. Four trusts later acquired shares. Each trust could have qualified as an eligible…
Estate gets more time to elect alternate valuation after its preparer never mentioned the option
When someone dies, their estate may value the assets either as of the date of death or six months later. That six-month option, the alternate valuation election under section 2032, can cut the…
IRS approves a private foundation's scholarship procedures under section 4945(g)(1)
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve in advance its procedures for awarding scholarships. Under section 4945, a private foundation's grants to individuals for study count as taxable…
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.