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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120 days granted to make a late election to amortize R&E costs over 10 years
A corporate group that files a consolidated tax return asked the IRS for more time to make an election under IRC Section 59(e). That election lets a taxpayer spread the deduction of research and exper…
Late Form 8996 QOF self-certification allowed after owner missed the partnership filing
An LLC was formed to invest in an Opportunity Zone and to serve as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF). To get QOF benefits, an entity must "self-certify" by filing Form 8996 with a timely tax return. …
Pension sponsor approved to use a combined annuitant/nonannuitant substitute mortality table
A company that sponsors two single-employer defined benefit pension plans asked the IRS for permission to use its own "substitute" mortality tables, instead of the standard IRS tables, when calculatin…
Plan sponsor approved to use custom (substitute) mortality tables for pension funding for up to 10 years
A company that sponsors several single-employer defined benefit pension plans asked the IRS for permission to use its own "substitute" mortality tables, instead of the standard IRS tables, when calcul…
501(c)(7) social club status revoked from a fraternity chapter that lost its members and lived on investment income
The IRS revoked the tax-exempt status of a social club under IRC Section 501(c)(7). The club was a local fraternity chapter that had been granted exemption as a social club and, for years, owned a hou…
Self-declared social-welfare group that was never active disqualified under 501(c)(4)
The IRS issued a final determination that an organization does not qualify as a social welfare organization under IRC Section 501(c)(4) for the years examined. The organization had never applied for o…
501(c)(3) status revoked from a charity that raised almost no funds and kept no records
The IRS revoked a charity's tax-exempt status under IRC Section 501(c)(3). The organization said its mission was to raise funds for other charities by buying assets, having them appraised, giving sell…
Home-care agency serving one disabled person denied 501(c)(4) social-welfare exemption
A nonprofit corporation applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt social welfare organization under IRC Section 501(c)(4). It was a state-approved "home provider agency" formed exclusively to care for …
Self-declared "social welfare" group that was never active is disqualified from 501(c)(4) status
A group had filed Forms 990 claiming to be a 501(c)(4) civic league or social welfare organization, but it never got a formal determination from the IRS and never filed the required notice of intent t…
Foster-care charity loses 501(c)(3) status for funneling a percentage of its revenue to a for-profit management company owned by its founder and his wife
A tax-exempt charity that placed children in foster homes signed a management agreement handing day-to-day control of its operations to a for-profit management company. The catch: that company was fou…
A Form 4868 extension listing an overpayment was not a valid "informal claim" for refund because it never stated the basis for the refund
To get a tax refund you generally have to file a claim within a deadline. Courts sometimes accept an "informal claim" that is imperfect, as long as it put the IRS on notice that a refund is sought and…
Estate gets more time to make a late "portability" election so the surviving spouse can use the decedent's unused estate-tax exclusion
When someone dies without using up their federal estate-tax exclusion, their estate can elect "portability" so the surviving spouse can add the leftover (the deceased spousal unused exclusion, or DSUE…
Late Form 8996 treated as timely after the accountant never filed the partnership return or an extension
A partnership set up a subsidiary as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) to invest in opportunity-zone property, and it had to self-certify the QOF by filing Form 8996 with a timely tax return. It hire…
Late Form 8996 treated as timely after the accountant never filed the partnership return or an extension
A partnership set up a subsidiary as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) to invest in opportunity-zone property, and it had to self-certify the QOF by filing Form 8996 with a timely tax return. It hire…
Low-income-housing entity gets more time to file two late elections (corporate classification and opting out of tax-exempt-entity depreciation rules)
An entity owned entirely by a 501(c)(3) charity serves as the managing member of a partnership that builds and operates low-income housing (claiming Section 42 tax credits). The entity meant to make t…
Opportunity fund gets 45 more days to file the Form 8996 its accountant forgot to attach
To get the tax benefits of a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), an entity has to "self-certify" each year by attaching Form 8996 to its timely-filed tax return. Here, an LLC taxed as a partnership was …
Foreign entity gets extra time to file a late "disregarded entity" classification election
A foreign business entity with a single owner wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" for U.S. tax purposes, meaning it is ignored as separate from its owner. To get that treatment it had to fi…
Foreign entity gets extra time to file a late "disregarded entity" classification election
A foreign business entity with a single owner wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" for U.S. tax purposes, meaning it is ignored as separate from its owner. To get that treatment it had to fi…
One-time cash grant from a dissolving hospital counts as an "unusual grant," so it will not blow the recipient charity's public-support status
A public charity has to keep drawing a broad base of public support to stay classified as publicly supported rather than a private foundation. A single very large gift can distort that math and push t…
IRS grants advance approval of a foundation's teacher-fellowship grant procedures under 4945(g)(3)
A private foundation asked the IRS to bless the procedures it uses to award educational grants to individuals. This approval matters because section 4945 hits a private foundation with an excise tax o…
IRS approves a private foundation's set-aside to fund construction of a youth center
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve a "set-aside." Private foundations normally must pay out a minimum amount for charitable purposes each year, but section 4942(g)(2) lets a foundation inst…
501(c)(3) application denied to a membership hunting club that serves its members' recreational interests
An organization applied for 501(c)(3) charitable status using the short Form 1023-EZ, describing itself as a "Hunting Organization." On closer review, the IRS found it was a membership hunting club: m…
501(c)(3) supporting organization loses exemption after it ceased operations and went inactive
The IRS revoked the tax exemption of a public charity that had been recognized under section 501(c)(3) and classified as a supporting organization under section 509(a)(3). The organization had been fo…
501(c)(3) application denied to a for-profit corporation that funds and advises businesses for "repayment fees"
An organization applied for recognition as a 501(c)(3) charity, describing its mission as creating opportunities for the underprivileged and helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses. The IRS denied…
501(c)(3) private foundation loses exemption after it went inactive; founder agreed to revocation
The IRS revoked the tax exemption of a small organization that had been recognized as a 501(c)(3) private foundation. To keep exemption, a 501(c)(3) must be both organized and operated exclusively for…
501(c)(7) social club loses exemption because investment income repeatedly exceeded the 35% limit
The IRS revoked the tax exemption of a social club that had been recognized under section 501(c)(7). Social clubs (think recreation associations supported by member dues) get their exemption on the co…
501(c)(3) status revoked from a group that sold luxury "trip" auction packages for other nonprofits' fundraisers, ruled a commercial business, not education
The IRS revoked the federal tax exemption of an organization that had been recognized as a 501(c)(3) public charity. The group described its mission as educating and training other nonprofits about fu…
A stamped-as-received Form 1120 was a valid return, so the assessment statute of limitations had already expired
This is a short internal email from an IRS Chief Counsel attorney answering a field inquiry about whether the IRS could still assess tax against a corporation for a particular year. The question turne…
Tax-free spin-off of a business subsidiary to public shareholders under section 355
A publicly traded parent company (Distributing) that runs three lines of business wanted to separate one of them (Business B, held through a wholly owned subsidiary called Controlled) into a standalon…
The IRS rules a REIT's state brownfield redevelopment credits count as a good asset and as qualifying income
A company that will elect to be a real estate investment trust (REIT) is cleaning up and redeveloping a contaminated "brownfield" site to lease to unrelated tenants. Under a state cleanup program, its…
The IRS grants extra time to file a late check-the-box election so a foreign entity can be treated as a corporation
A foreign entity wanted to elect to be treated as an "association taxable as a corporation" for U.S. federal tax purposes, the opposite of the disregarded-entity choice. That election is made by filin…
The IRS grants extra time to file a late check-the-box election so a foreign entity can be treated as disregarded
A foreign entity with a single owner wanted to be a "disregarded entity" for U.S. federal tax purposes, meaning it would be ignored as separate from its owner (its income and assets treated as the own…
The IRS grants extra time to file a late check-the-box election so a foreign entity can be treated as disregarded
A foreign entity with a single owner wanted to be a "disregarded entity" for U.S. federal tax purposes, meaning it would be ignored as separate from its owner (its income and assets treated as the own…
The IRS lets a company undo a REIT election it filed by mistake, and treats the amended return as if the REIT election was never made
A company that buys and leases single-family homes and manufactured homes planned to become a real estate investment trust (REIT) eventually, but only once it actually met the REIT qualification rules…
The IRS grants inadvertent-termination relief after a grantor trust shareholder became ineligible when its owner died without a timely QSST election
An S corporation had a trust as one of its shareholders. That worked fine while the trust was a "grantor trust," meaning it was treated for tax purposes as owned by one living individual, which is an …
The IRS rules a web platform for trading limited partnership interests is a "qualified matching service," so partnerships using it are not publicly traded
A company built a web-based platform where holders of limited partnership interests can list them for sale and prospective buyers can express interest. This matters because of section 7704: a partners…
The IRS grants inadvertent-termination relief so an LLC keeps its S corporation status despite operating-agreement language creating a second class of stock
A limited liability company that had elected to be taxed as an S corporation accidentally broke one of the S corporation rules. To stay an S corporation, a company can have only one class of stock, me…
Paying 401(h) retiree medical benefits to age-59½ in-service participants does not disqualify the pension plan
An employer runs a defined benefit pension plan that also has a section 401(h) account, a separate sub-account inside the pension plan used to pay retiree medical benefits. The plan was amended, as se…
The IRS approves combined substitute mortality tables covering four pension plans in a controlled group for five years
A company that sponsors several single-employer defined benefit pension plans asked the IRS to let it use "substitute" mortality tables (tables built from the plans' own participant experience rather …
The IRS approves a foundation's set of scholarship programs for at-risk youth, so the grants are not taxable expenditures
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the procedures for several scholarship programs it runs to help at-risk and disadvantaged high school graduates go on to trade school or coll…
The IRS approves a private foundation's scholarship procedures, so the awards are not taxable expenditures
A private foundation asked the IRS to bless the way it runs a college scholarship program before it starts handing out money. This advance approval matters because section 4945 hits private foundation…
The IRS revokes an online media nonprofit's 501(c)(3) status after it stopped cooperating with the audit and its content pointed to political-campaign activity and private benefit
The IRS revoked the 501(c)(3) exemption of an online media and public-engagement organization that ran a proprietary "Engagement Broadcast" platform said to inform the public and encourage participati…
The IRS revokes a 501(c)(3) organization's exemption because it never conducted any activities and would not let the IRS examine its records
The IRS revoked a charity's tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3). The organization had been formed to take over another entity that appeared to be winding down, but once that situation was resolv…
The IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a single-family reunion and genealogy group because it serves the private interests of one family, not the public
An organization applied for 501(c)(3) charitable/educational status using the streamlined Form 1023-EZ. Its activity was an annual reunion for one family (the "Z family"): educational presentations on…
The IRS revokes a cultural-heritage 501(c)(7) social club's exemption because it funded itself by selling food to the public at festivals, exceeding the 35 percent non-member income limit
A membership club organized to share and teach a cultural heritage (its activities centered on traditional planting and harvest celebrations) had been recognized as a tax-exempt social club under sect…
The IRS revokes a public charity's 501(c)(3) status because it mainly functioned as a property holder collecting debt-financed rent that benefited a related for-profit's shareholders
An organization recognized as a public charity under section 501(c)(3) (and as a 509(a)(2) publicly supported organization) lost its exemption after an IRS examination found it was really operating as…
The IRS revokes a women's 501(c)(7) social club's exemption because rental and investment income from its building pushed non-member income over the 35 percent ceiling year after year
A women's social club recognized as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(7) lost its exemption after an IRS examination found it drew too much of its money from outside its membership. A 501(c)(7) club may…
The IRS revokes a 501(c)(7) social club's exemption because it had no real members, was open to the general public, and its non-member income blew past the 35 percent ceiling
A social club that had been recognized as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(7) lost that status after an IRS examination. To qualify, a 501(c)(7) club must be operated substantially for the pleasure and…
A drug company must capitalize what it pays to buy an FDA Priority Review Voucher, and how it later recovers that cost depends on whether it uses the voucher or resells it
The FDA gives drug companies a "Priority Review Voucher" (PRV) when they develop treatments for certain neglected, rare-pediatric, or national-security diseases. A voucher lets its holder jump the FDA…
A supplemental ruling confirms no foreign use of a dual consolidated loss and lets a shareholder count its section 961(a) basis increase before reducing CFC stock basis on a previously-taxed-earnings distribution
This is a supplemental letter updating an earlier private ruling (from January 2021) about a multinational group's series of transactions. The only factual change is that several steps happened on lat…
A cross-border internal spin-off separating a foreign holding company from its parent chain qualifies as a tax-free section 368(a)(1)(D) reorganization and section 355 distribution
A publicly traded multinational wanted to separate one foreign business (held through a chain of foreign entities) from a related foreign holding company, all inside its corporate group. The plan invo…
A small captive insurer gets IRS consent to revoke its section 831(b) alternative-tax election, conditioned on not re-electing for five years
A small captive insurance company had elected under section 831(b) to be taxed only on its investment income (an option available to insurers with limited premiums). That election is meant to be perma…
A public company's external spin-off of a business, funded with debt monetization, qualifies as a tax-free section 368(a)(1)(D) reorganization and section 355 distribution
A publicly traded parent company wanted to split one of its businesses into a separate public company and hand that new company's stock to its own shareholders (a classic "spin-off"). To do it tax-fre…
IRS forgives a botched S corporation election as inadvertent
A corporation elected to be taxed as an S corporation, but the election was ineffective because it did not collect all the required shareholder consents. The corporation had also acquired three subsid…
A REIT's office-building parking revenue counts as rents from real property, and storage areas, fitness centers, and building services do not create impermissible tenant service income
A publicly held real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns Class A office buildings asked the IRS to confirm that various tenant amenities would not jeopardize its rental income tests. REITs must e…
IRS grants late relief for a foreign entity's disregarded-entity election
A single-owner business entity formed abroad wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" for U.S. tax, meaning its owner reports the entity's income directly as if the entity did not exist separate…
A city's dual-plan pension election and Plan A to Plan B service-purchase transfer are not an impermissible cash-or-deferred arrangement, and the picked-up contributions stay untaxed until distributed
A city that runs its own retirement system for a group of employees asked the IRS to bless a change to how those employees save for retirement. The employees must contribute 12 percent of pay no matte…
IRS pre-approves a private foundation's scholarship and teacher-grant procedures
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, how it will award two kinds of grants to individuals: graduate fellowships for students studying teaching and education (under Section 4945(g…
IRS revokes a memberless 501(c)(7) club funded almost entirely by investment income
This final IRS letter revokes the exemption of an organization that had been recognized as a 501(c)(7) social club. In practice the organization was a support fund: it holds investments and pays its i…
Splitting a GST-grandfathered trust into five family trusts triggers no tax
A family asked the IRS how dividing one irrevocable trust into five separate trusts, one for each branch of the family, would be taxed. The original trust was created before the generation-skipping tr…
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.