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 homeowners association operated for the private benefit of its residents
A homeowners association applied for charitable tax-exempt status under IRC Section 501(c)(3) using the streamlined Form 1023-EZ, and the IRS denied it. The association maintains common areas,…
IRS revokes a dormant Type I supporting organization's 501(c)(3) exemption for years of no exempt activity
A charity that had been recognized as a Type I supporting organization under IRC Section 501(c)(3) lost its exemption because it stopped doing anything. To keep 501(c)(3) status, an organization…
IRS grants a partnership 120 more days to make a late Section 754 basis-adjustment election after a partner's death
A partnership asked the IRS for extra time to make a late election under Section 754 of the tax code, and the IRS agreed. A Section 754 election lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its assets…
IRS grants a lower-tier partnership 120 more days to make a late Section 754 basis-adjustment election after a partner's death
A partnership asked the IRS for extra time to make a late Section 754 election, and the IRS granted it. A Section 754 election lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its assets when a partner…
IRS grants a corporate parent 75 more days to make a late election to file a consolidated return
A parent corporation that heads a group of affiliated companies wanted to file one combined ("consolidated") federal income tax return for the whole group, but it missed the deadline to make that…
IRS grants an LLC 120 more days to make a late Section 754 basis-adjustment election after new members bought in
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership meant to make a Section 754 election but missed the filing deadline. A Section 754 election lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its assets…
Settling a grandfathered trust's ambiguous per-stirpes clause keeps its GST-exempt status and triggers no gift or income tax
A family trust created before September 25, 1985 is "grandfathered," meaning it is exempt from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax. The trust's will language directed that, when the last of…
Settling a grandfathered trust's ambiguous per-stirpes clause keeps its GST-exempt status and triggers no gift or income tax
A family trust created before September 25, 1985 is "grandfathered," meaning it is exempt from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax. The trust's will language directed that, when the last of…
Settling a grandfathered trust's ambiguous per-stirpes clause keeps its GST-exempt status and triggers no gift or income tax
A family trust created before September 25, 1985 is "grandfathered," meaning it is exempt from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax. The trust's will language directed that, when the last of…
Settling a grandfathered trust's ambiguous per-stirpes clause keeps its GST-exempt status and triggers no gift or income tax
A family trust created before September 25, 1985 is "grandfathered," meaning it is exempt from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax. The trust's will language directed that, when the last of…
Settling a grandfathered trust's ambiguous per-stirpes clause keeps its GST-exempt status and triggers no gift or income tax
A family trust created before September 25, 1985 is "grandfathered," meaning it is exempt from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax. The trust's will language directed that, when the last of…
IRS treats a late Form 8996 as timely, letting an LLC self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
An investment LLC set up to develop real estate in Qualified Opportunity Zones wanted to be treated as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), which requires filing Form 8996 with a timely tax return…
IRS rules a facility-relocation reimbursement deal is a long-term construction contract accounted for under the percentage-of-completion method
A company provides services to a customer at facilities the company owns on land the customer owns, under an easement that lets the customer force a relocation of those facilities. The customer…
9100 relief to treat a late Form 8996 QOF self-certification as timely
A limited partnership was formed to be a qualified opportunity fund (a "QOF"), the vehicle investors use to defer capital gains by investing in low-income "opportunity zones" under Code § 1400Z-2.…
9100 relief to treat a late Form 8996 QOF self-certification as timely
A limited liability company, taxed as a partnership, was formed to be a qualified opportunity fund (a "QOF"), the vehicle that lets investors defer capital gains by investing in low-income…
Late corporate-classification and S-corporation elections allowed for an LLC
A limited liability company wanted to be taxed as an S corporation. To get there, an LLC normally has to take two steps: first elect (on Form 8832) to be treated as a corporation, then elect…
FCC spectrum-clearing payments and replacement satellites qualify for Section 1033 nonrecognition
A satellite communications company held FCC licenses to use part of the radio spectrum called the "C-band." The FCC ordered satellite operators to vacate the lower portion of the C-band so it could…
9100 relief to file a late Form 8996 QOF self-certification
A limited liability company, taxed as a partnership, was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund (a "QOF"), the vehicle investors use to defer capital gains by investing in low-income…
9100 relief for a foreign entity's late check-the-box election to be a partnership
A foreign business entity wanted to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal tax purposes. Under the "check-the-box" rules (Treas. Reg. § 301.7701-3), an eligible entity can choose its tax…
IRS revokes, going forward only, part of an earlier ruling on a taxpayer's 6041 reporting duty
The IRS had earlier issued a private letter ruling (PLR 202016001) to this taxpayer that, in part, addressed whether the taxpayer had to file information returns under Code § 6041 for payments it…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) exemption after it would not let the agency examine its records
This is a final adverse determination letter revoking an organization's tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3). The organization ran an annual performing and visual arts festival and had been…
IRS revokes a 501(c)(3)'s exemption after it would not produce records to prove it met the organizational and operational tests
This is a final adverse determination revoking an organization's tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3). The group had obtained recognition by filing a streamlined Form 1023-EZ and was later…
IRS revokes a swim club's 501(c)(7) exemption for excess nonmember income from renting its parking lot
This is a final adverse determination revoking a social club's tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(7). The club was formed to run a swimming pool for its members, but the pool closed for lack of…
IRS revokes a 501(c)(3)'s exemption, finding it ran a commercial behavioral-health business, was not a church, and let earnings inure to its officers
This is a final adverse determination revoking an organization's 501(c)(3) exemption after a church tax inquiry and examination under Section 7611. The group was recognized as a charity but later…
IRS denies 501(c)(4) status to an economic-development corporation that buys, develops, and sells land like a for-profit
An organization applied for tax-exempt status as a social welfare group under Section 501(c)(4). It was an economic-development corporation for a small rural town, formed to attract businesses and…
Every FSA claim must be substantiated by an independent third party, or the whole cafeteria plan's benefits become taxable
This Chief Counsel Advice tells IRS employment tax policy staff how strict the substantiation rules are for health and dependent care flexible spending arrangements (FSAs) inside a Section 125…
IRS grants a corporate parent 60 more days to make a late consolidated-return election
A corporate parent wanted its affiliated group of corporations to file a single consolidated federal income tax return, with itself as the common parent, for a particular tax year. That choice, the…
Independent retirement living facilities are not "health care facilities," so a REIT's TRS may run them and resident services keep the rents qualifying
A subsidiary of a real estate investment trust (REIT) owns age-restricted "independent retirement living" facilities and asked the IRS three related questions about the special REIT rules. REITs get…
Independent retirement living facilities are not "health care facilities," so a REIT's TRS may run them and resident services keep the rents qualifying
A real estate investment trust (REIT) that invests in senior housing, post-acute communities, and outpatient medical properties asked the IRS the same three questions posed in a companion ruling…
IRS grants 90 more days to make a late IC-DISC election after a defective Form 4876-A
A company was set up to be an interest charge domestic international sales corporation (IC-DISC), a special export-incentive entity that earns commissions on a related company's exports and gives…
Inadvertent S-corp termination relief after a trust missed its QSST election following the owner's death
A corporation was taxed as an S corporation, which passes income through to eligible shareholders. One shareholder held his stock through a grantor trust (treated as owned by him for tax purposes,…
Inadvertent S-corp termination relief after a trust missed its QSST election following the owner's death
A corporation was taxed as an S corporation, which passes income through to eligible shareholders. One shareholder held his stock through a grantor trust (treated as owned by him, so it was a…
Estate gets extra time to make a late portability election
When one spouse dies without using all of their federal estate tax exemption, the leftover amount (the "deceased spousal unused exclusion," or DSUE) can be passed to the surviving spouse. But this…
Buyer gets late-election relief to treat an S-corp stock purchase as an asset purchase
A partnership bought all the stock of an S corporation through a disregarded subsidiary. The parties intended to treat the deal, for tax purposes, as if the S corporation had sold its assets rather…
Court-approved settlement of an ambiguous trust term triggers no GST, gift, or income tax
An old trust, created and made irrevocable before September 25, 1985 (so it is grandfathered as exempt from generation-skipping transfer, or GST, tax), had a will provision that was ambiguous about…
Court-approved settlement of an ambiguous trust term triggers no GST, gift, or income tax
An old trust, created and made irrevocable before September 25, 1985 (so it is grandfathered as exempt from generation-skipping transfer, or GST, tax), had a will provision that was ambiguous about…
Foreign entity gets late-election relief to be taxed as a corporation
A foreign business entity meant to be treated as a corporation for U.S. tax purposes from the day it was formed, which requires filing Form 8832 (an "entity classification" or "check-the-box"…
Laid-off startup employee gets more time to make a QSBS gain-rollover election
An early startup employee held qualified small business stock (QSBS), sold some of it after being laid off, and within 60 days used the proceeds to buy more stock in the same company. Section 1045…
Partnership gets late-election relief to deduct demolished building components
A partnership renovated a building it owned, demolishing parts of it (walls, windows, roofing, plumbing, HVAC, wiring). When you demolish part of a depreciable building, tax rules let you make a…
Fund gets late-election relief to self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
Investors rolled capital gains into an LLC intending it to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), a vehicle that lets taxpayers defer (and potentially reduce) tax on gains reinvested in economically…
LLC gets extra time to make a late section 754 basis-adjustment election
A partnership (an LLC taxed as a partnership) wanted to make a section 754 election, which lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its property when a partner's interest is transferred or…
LLC gets late-election relief to be taxed as a corporation
A single-member LLC, wholly owned by a corporation, meant to elect to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation for federal tax purposes (rather than being disregarded, which is the…
S corporation keeps its status after stock went to an ineligible shareholder
An S corporation can only have certain kinds of shareholders. Here, the sole shareholder transferred some shares to another party that did not qualify as an eligible S-corporation shareholder, which…
S corporation keeps its status after shares briefly passed through a partnership
An S corporation can only be owned by eligible shareholders, and a partnership is not one of them. Here, shares of the S corporation were sold to an LLC that is treated as a partnership for tax…
Court-approved settlement of an ambiguous trust term triggers no GST, gift, or income tax
An old trust, created and made irrevocable before September 25, 1985 (so it is grandfathered as exempt from generation-skipping transfer, or GST, tax), had a will provision that was ambiguous about…
IRS denies 501(c)(10) fraternal exemption to a property-holding entity
An organization applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt domestic fraternal society under Section 501(c)(10). Its only activity was owning a building it rented to a related fraternal lodge; its…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a foreign political party organization
An organization applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt charity under Section 501(c)(3). Its own articles of incorporation described it as a political party, and its stated aims were to build and…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a recreational soccer club
A recreational soccer club applied for tax-exempt charitable status under Section 501(c)(3) using the streamlined Form 1023-EZ. After the IRS asked for more detail, the facts showed the club exists…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a business networking group
A group of business owners and skilled tradespeople applied for tax-exempt charitable status under Section 501(c)(3) using the streamlined Form 1023-EZ. Its activities were running a farmers market…
A blockchain's change from proof of work to proof of stake does not tax existing cryptocurrency holders
Chief Counsel considered a cryptocurrency holder whose blockchain changed its transaction-validation method from proof of work to proof of stake. The holder kept the same ten units, the earlier…
Parties received more time to elect asset-sale treatment for an S corporation stock sale
An S corporation's shareholders sold all of its stock to a purchaser, and the parties intended to treat the transaction as an asset sale under section 336(e). A qualified tax professional failed to…
Donor received 120 days to elect GST trust treatment for prior transfers
A donor created a trust for descendants and transferred cash and securities to it over two years. The donor instructed an attorney to elect on Form 709 to treat the trust as a generation-skipping…
Partnership received 120 days to make a late GILTI high-tax exclusion election
A partnership that owned a controlled foreign corporation wanted to make the GILTI high-tax exclusion election for an earlier tax year. Its accounting firm prepared an administrative adjustment…
Subsidiary received 45 days to file the original Form 3115 after a due-date error
A corporate parent acquired a subsidiary in a transaction described as a tax-free merger, which ended the subsidiary's tax year. The subsidiary sought automatic accounting-method changes for…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
A decedent left a surviving spouse and an unused portion of the federal estate and gift tax exclusion. The estate represented that it was not otherwise required to file Form 706 because of the…
Missed trust elections did not end the corporation's S status
Five trusts acquired shares of an S corporation. The beneficiaries of three trusts failed to make timely qualified subchapter S trust elections, making the corporation's original S election…
Late Form 8996 was treated as timely after an adviser used the wrong tax year-end
A corporation that had been a qualified opportunity fund converted to a partnership and later merged into another entity, creating a short tax year. The resulting partnership intended to…
Virtual-reality entertainment platform did not qualify under section 501(c)(3)
A nonprofit corporation proposed to build and maintain an open virtual-reality platform where users could socialize, play games, enter tournaments, and connect with proprietary platforms. Its…
Charity revoked for undocumented activity and personal expenses
The IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(3) status because it did not document activities that furthered an exempt purpose and did not substantiate that its president's expenditures served…
Insurer cannot deduct future retiree benefits as unpaid losses
A nonlife insurance company included the discounted actuarial value of future retiree medical, reimbursement, and life insurance benefits in unpaid loss adjustment expenses for three tax years. It…
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.