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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Free charter-school meal program advances education
A section 501(c)(3) organization operated public charter schools and served as a state-certified School Food Authority. It expanded its meal program to help unrelated tax-exempt charter schools…
Foreign entity receives 120 days for late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes but failed to file Form 8832 on time. It asked for relief under the regulatory-election…
LLC receives 120 days for late corporate-classification election
A domestic limited liability company intended to elect association status so it would be taxed as a corporation from a specified date. It inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The company…
Taxpayer receives 120 days to elect out of automatic GST allocation
A taxpayer created an irrevocable trust for family members, including the taxpayer's and spouse's children. The trust had generation-skipping transfer potential, so the automatic-allocation rules…
Missing ESBT elections do not invalidate S corporation status
A corporation filed an S corporation election while five trusts held its stock. The trusts qualified in substance as electing small business trusts, but their trustees did not timely file the…
Government retiree health trust receives four favorable rulings
An association of state boards of education created a trust to fund medical, dental, and vision benefits for its retired employees. The IRS had previously ruled that the association performed…
Entity receives late corporate and S corporation election relief
A domestic multi-member eligible entity intended to be treated as an S corporation from the date it was formed. It did not timely file either Form 8832 to elect association status or Form 2553 to…
Partnership receives 120 days for late section 754 election
A partnership timely filed its return for the year in which one of its partners died but omitted a section 754 election. That election would allow a basis adjustment to partnership property…
IRS pre-approves a foundation's archery-tournament scholarship procedures under section 4945(g)
A private foundation asked the IRS to bless the way it hands out scholarships before it starts writing checks. This matters because section 4945 taxes a private foundation on grants it makes to…
IRS revokes a nonprofit's 501(c)(3) status for private benefit from bargain-sale deals and the president's personal use of funds
The IRS revoked a small charity's tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3), effective January 1, 2018. On audit, the IRS found the organization spent much of its effort on real-estate "bargain…
IRS revokes a small charity's 501(c)(3) status because vehicle expenses inured to its CEO
The IRS revoked a small nonprofit's tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3). The group had run a residential guidance home, then sold that property and shifted to outreach and education, and it…
IRS revokes a dormant private foundation's 501(c)(3) status for never operating for exempt purposes
The IRS revoked a private foundation's tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3). The foundation was set up by a declaration of trust and was recognized as exempt after filing a streamlined Form…
Worthless-stock losses in foreign subsidiaries did not "occur in" the COVID disaster area, so no section 165(i) disaster-loss election
A U.S. consolidated corporate group had a subsidiary that owned three foreign corporations (CFCs). Through entity-classification elections and a reorganization, each CFC was deemed to liquidate, and…
IRS grants 120 extra days to make a late QSub election for a subsidiary the taxpayer forgot to elect
An S corporation (X) acquired a chain of companies. One of them (Sub 1) was itself an S corporation that owned a lower-tier company (Sub 2) treated as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary, or QSub.…
IRS grants 60 more days to file a late Form 8996 self-certifying a partnership as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
A limited partnership was set up to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), a vehicle that lets investors defer and reduce tax on capital gains reinvested in designated low-income "opportunity…
S-corporation status restored after two trusts missed their ESBT elections
A company (X) had elected to be taxed as an S corporation, which limits who can own its stock. Over time, two trusts came to hold X shares. Each trust qualified as an eligible S-corporation…
IRS denies a late mark-to-market (section 475(f)) election because the trader relied on hindsight
An individual who traded securities wanted to make a "mark-to-market" election under section 475(f)(1). That election lets a qualifying trader treat gains and losses as ordinary and value positions…
IRS grants 60 days to file three years of late Forms 8996 self-certifying an LLC as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
An LLC taxed as a partnership was formed to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), the vehicle used to invest capital gains in designated opportunity zones for tax benefits. To be a QOF, the entity…
IRS grants 120 extra days to make a late QSub election for a wholly-owned subsidiary
An S corporation (X) owned all of the stock of a subsidiary (Sub) and meant to elect to treat Sub as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary, or QSub, as soon as X became an S corporation. A QSub is not…
IRS pre-approves a foundation's scholarship procedures for local undergraduate students under section 4945(g)
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, how it will award scholarships. This approval matters because section 4945 taxes a private foundation on grants it makes to individuals for…
Exemption denied for commercial software development and private benefit
An organization sought section 501(c)(3) status for developing and supporting an open-source software platform, funding related research and applications, publishing educational materials, and…
Exemption denied to an estate-planning member association
An association of estate-planning professionals applied for section 501(c)(3) status after filing Form 1023-EZ. Its activities included meetings with professional speakers, information about…
Purchaser received more time to file section 338 elections
A U.S. corporate purchaser acquired more than 80 percent of a foreign target and was treated as acquiring the target's foreign subsidiary, but valid section 338(g) elections were not filed on time.…
Parent received more time to file a section 338 election
A consolidated group's parent intended to make a section 338(g) election after a member acquired all the stock of an unrelated foreign target, but a valid election was not filed by the deadline. The…
Qualified opportunity fund received 60 days to file Form 8996
A partnership formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property failed to file its first return, extension request, and Form 8996 on time. Its adviser contacted an accounting firm on the…
Late qualified opportunity fund certifications accepted for two years
A limited partnership formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property hired a long-time tax adviser to prepare its first two federal returns and the forms needed to self-certify as a…
Amended Form 8996 treated as timely for a qualified opportunity fund
A partnership formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property intended to self-certify as a qualified opportunity fund, but its return preparer did not attach Form 8996 to the first-year…
Qualified opportunity fund received relief for a late Form 8996
A partnership formed to invest in a qualified opportunity zone asked the IRS to treat its late Form 8996 self-certification as timely. The partnership had hired a large accounting firm to prepare…
Late qualified opportunity fund certifications accepted for three years
A partnership that owned an interest in real property located in an opportunity zone failed to complete its Form 8996 self-certifications for several years. After a manager hired a certified public…
Late taxable REIT subsidiary election treated as effective
A publicly traded REIT and its foreign corporate subsidiary intended to file Form 8875 so the subsidiary would be treated as a taxable REIT subsidiary from its formation date. The REIT's tax…
LLC received 120 days to file a late corporate classification election
A single-owner limited liability company intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation from its formation date. Its default federal classification was a disregarded entity,…
Late success-fee safe-harbor election denied after audit disallowance
A corporation paid an investment bank a success-based fee in connection with its acquisition and chose not to use Revenue Procedure 2011-29's safe harbor, which would have allowed a 70 percent…
Scholarship and special-education grant procedures approved
A private foundation requested advance approval for scholarships under section 4945(g)(1) and educational grants under section 4945(g)(3). Its program would support undergraduate and graduate study…
Entrepreneurship scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation requested advance approval for a scholarship and summer internship program for high school juniors and seniors interested in entrepreneurship. Participants would work with local…
Employer-related scholarship procedures approved
A family foundation requested advance approval for scholarships publicized through a related employer and available to children or stepchildren of qualifying current or deceased employees. An…
Swim-team booster club denied social-club exemption
A voluntary association of parents and guardians of high school varsity swimmers and divers applied for exemption as a social club under section 501(c)(7). It raised funds through local business…
Private dock owners association denied social-welfare exemption
A dock owners association applied for exemption as a social-welfare organization under section 501(c)(4). Its members were owners of specified residential lots, and annual assessments funded…
Social-club exemption revoked for recurring public-use income
The IRS revoked a section 501(c)(7) social club's exemption after finding that it made its facilities available to the general public and repeatedly earned too much income from nonmembers. The club…
Youth baseball LLC denied exemption under LLC organizational rules
The IRS denied section 501(c)(3) status to a limited liability company that planned to train youth for baseball competitions and teach discipline, sportsmanship, teamwork, respect, and integrity.…
Exemption revoked after organization failed to produce audit records
The IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) exemption because it did not provide records requested during an examination. The IRS sent examination correspondence to several addresses and…
Family reunion organization denied social-club exemption
The IRS denied section 501(c)(7) exemption to an organization formed to continue one family's reunions. Membership was limited to descendants of a family member, and a privately owned family LLC was…
S corporation receives relief for late ESBT elections
Two trusts acquired shares in an S corporation but their trustees did not timely elect electing small business trust status, causing the corporation's S election to terminate. The corporation…
Late REMIC election treated as timely
A trust intended one segregated mortgage asset pool to elect real estate mortgage investment conduit status as part of a tiered REMIC structure. Its administrator timely filed the elections for the…
Fixed wellness payments are taxable wages when no medical expense remains
An employer offered employees a fixed-indemnity health policy funded through $1,200 monthly salary reductions under a Section 125 cafeteria plan. The policy paid $1,000 when an employee completed a…
Employer needs employee repayment or consent for tax-equalization FICA refund
A multinational employer used a tax-equalization agreement that reduced an employee's stated salary and required the employer to pay the employee's United States and foreign taxes. The employer…
Recovery equipment excluded from heavy-wrecker excise-tax price
A manufacturer asked whether specified recovery equipment installed on heavy wreckers could be excluded from the sale price subject to the 12 percent retail excise tax on heavy trucks. The IRS…
LLC gets 120 days to file late corporate classification election
A domestic limited liability company intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation from a redacted effective date. It failed to file Form 8832 on time because of inadvertence…
Estate gets 120 days to make late portability election
An estate below the normal estate-tax filing threshold failed to file Form 706 on time to transfer the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. Because the estate…
Partnership gets 60 days to opt out of bonus depreciation
A partnership claimed 100 percent bonus depreciation on five-year and seven-year property placed in service during a redacted tax year. After filing its return, the partnership and its return…
Scholarship procedures approved for low-income students
A private foundation sought advance approval for a scholarship program serving low-income current or former residents of a state, with a preference for people connected to one county. Awards would…
Economic-development group denied 501(c)(3) status
An organization created by the officers of a Section 501(c)(6) business league sought Section 501(c)(3) status to fund and perform local economic-development work. The IRS found that its articles…
Missed QSST election does not terminate S corporation status
A trust acquired shares of an S corporation and met the substantive requirements for a qualified subchapter S trust, but its beneficiary failed to make the QSST election on time. Without that…
IRS grants 90 more days to file a late IC-DISC election that was never recorded
A company was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation (IC-DISC), a special export-incentive entity that earns commissions on a related business's export…
IRS grants extra time to file a late section 336(e) election on an S corporation stock sale
A partnership bought all the stock of an S corporation from its shareholders. The buyers and sellers wanted the deal treated for tax purposes as if the company had sold its assets rather than its…
IRS blesses a tax-free section 355 spin-off separating two businesses
A multinational corporate group wanted to separate two of its businesses into different corporate branches without triggering tax. A parent company owned a distributing corporation that ran one…
Surviving spouse may roll over a late husband's IRA even though it passed through his estate
A man died owning a traditional IRA but never named a beneficiary, so under the account rules the money went to his estate. His will left the entire residual estate, including the IRA, to his…
Surviving spouse may roll over two inherited IRAs consolidated into an estate-beneficiary IRA
A person owned two traditional IRAs and named their own estate as the beneficiary of both. After death (which occurred before required distributions had to begin), the surviving spouse, who is the…
IRS grants extra time to make a late section 754 partnership basis-adjustment election after a partner died
A general partnership had a partner who died owning roughly a certain percentage of the firm. When a partnership interest changes hands (including on a partner's death), a "section 754 election"…
IRS forgives a botched S corporation election where trusts consented wrong and missed an ESBT election
A company elected to be taxed as an S corporation, which requires that every shareholder be an eligible type of owner and that all shareholders properly consent. Two of its shareholders were grantor…
IRS forgives an inadvertent S corporation termination after a conversion put shares in an ineligible partnership
A company was formed as a corporation and elected S corporation status. Later it converted from a state corporation into a state limited partnership and elected (on Form 8832) to still be taxed as a…
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.