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 extra time to file a missed IC-DISC election
A newly formed domestic corporation intended to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation (IC-DISC), a structure that gives certain exporters a tax benefit. To get that st…
IRS lets a taxpayer re-elect the foreign earned income exclusion early
A U.S. citizen living and working abroad had claimed the Section 911 foreign earned income exclusion, then in a later year switched to taking the foreign tax credit instead, which counts as revoking t…
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…
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…
Pro rata division into five family trusts produced no income, estate, gift, or GST tax
A trust created before September 25, 1985, benefited one grandchild and that grandchild's descendants. Because the five children had different circumstances, the trustees obtained court approval to di…
Pro rata division into five family trusts produced no income, estate, gift, or GST tax
A trust created before September 25, 1985, benefited one grandchild and that grandchild's descendants. Because the five children had different circumstances, the trustees obtained court approval to di…
Pro rata division into five family trusts produced no income, estate, gift, or GST tax
A trust created before September 25, 1985, benefited one grandchild and that grandchild's descendants. Because the five children had different circumstances, the trustees obtained court approval to di…
Pro rata division into five family trusts produced no income, estate, gift, or GST tax
A trust created before September 25, 1985, benefited one grandchild and that grandchild's descendants. Because the five children had different circumstances, the trustees obtained court approval to di…
Acquired utility excess deferred taxes remained protected under normalization rules
A regulated natural-gas utility bought distribution assets and assumed the seller's regulatory liability for protected excess deferred income taxes. Those excess reserves arose when the 2017 tax law r…
Late QSST election did not end the corporation's S status
An individual placed S corporation shares in a revocable grantor trust and later died. The trust remained an eligible S corporation shareholder for two years after the owner's death, but its sole inco…
Estate received 120 days to make the 65-day distribution election
An estate made a distribution during the first 65 days of a fiscal year and intended to treat it as paid on the last day of the preceding year under section 663(b). The estate inadvertently failed to …
Member discount program primarily benefited participating businesses
A group of local employers and businesses proposed a membership program intended to encourage shopping locally. Employer members would pay annual dues so their employees could use an electronic card f…
Social club failed the nonmember-income test after suspending member dues
A self-declared section 501(c)(7) social club had suspended member dues and relied on a single income source outside its membership. The IRS examination found that the club exceeded the permitted nonm…
Private foundation's renewable scholarship procedures received advance approval
A private foundation proposed renewable scholarships for first-time undergraduate or vocational students from specified counties. Applicants needed at least a 2.5 grade point average, and selection co…
Foundation received approval to set aside funds for artist-residency renovations
A private foundation provides undisturbed residency space for writers and visual artists. It sought to set aside funds for extensive renovations that would keep its residency property open year-round …
IRS revoked a charity for insider inurement and no substantiated exempt activity
An organization said it provided food, clothing, transportation, medical equipment, and temporary housing assistance to elderly, disabled, displaced, and recently discharged hospital patients. The IRS…
Cryptocurrency gifts over $5,000 require a qualified appraisal
An individual donated cryptocurrency to a charity and claimed a $10,000 deduction using the price quoted by a cryptocurrency exchange. The IRS advised that cryptocurrency is property, but it is not ca…
A cryptocurrency price collapse alone does not create a deductible loss
An investor bought cryptocurrency for $1 per unit, retained control of it, and claimed a section 165 loss after its price fell below one cent. The IRS advised that a steep decline is not enough becaus…
Parties received more time to complete a section 336(e) election
A purchaser acquired all stock of an S corporation, after which the target converted to a disregarded limited liability company. The parties intended to elect under section 336(e) to treat the qualifi…
S corporation parties received more time for a section 336(e) election
A purchaser acquired all stock of an S corporation in a transaction represented to be a qualified stock disposition. The target, purchaser, and shareholders intended to elect under section 336(e) to t…
An S corporation target received more time for a section 336(e) election
An individual purchased all stock of a limited liability company that had elected S corporation status. The target, seller, and purchaser intended to elect under section 336(e) to treat the qualified …
Foreign earned income elections do not block qualified Roth contributions
A qualified defined contribution plan covered U.S. citizens working abroad and allowed participants to designate elective deferrals as Roth contributions. The plan asked whether employees could make t…
Six foreign entities received late disregarded-entity election relief
Six foreign eligible entities defaulted to association status when their classifications first became relevant for U.S. tax purposes. Each intended to be treated as a disregarded entity from a specifi…
A foreign entity received a late partnership-classification election
A foreign eligible entity wanted partnership treatment from the date its classification first became relevant for U.S. tax purposes. It failed to timely file Form 8832 electing that classification. Ba…
Partnership-style operating terms did not end intended S corporation treatment
A limited liability company elected S corporation status while its operating agreement still contained partnership-style allocation and distribution provisions. Those binding terms created more than o…
A foreign company received a late partnership election with return-filing conditions
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a partnership but failed to timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the entity satisfied the standards for late regulatory-election relief.…
A fund received 45 days to make a late QOF self-certification
A partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and hired an accounting firm to prepare its return and Form 8996. Because of the firm's miscommunication, the first-year retur…
A partnership received 45 days to cure a missed QOF certification
A partnership intended to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and hired one accounting firm for consulting and tax compliance. The firm's consulting team knew about the QOF plan, but a communicati…
Third-party revenue changes did not disturb a conduit-income agreement
A brand-management subsidiary collected licensee payments for a pooled fund restricted to marketing and other activities benefiting the licensees. An earlier consent agreement allowed those licensee p…
Corrected ruling preserved S status after a trust became ineligible
This letter modified and superseded PLR 202218004 to correct facts about a reorganization and the period covered by inadvertent-termination relief. After a shareholder died, S corporation stock passed…
A successor LLC received more time for a section 336(e) election
A partnership purchaser acquired all stock of an S corporation through disregarded entities, after which the target merged into a successor disregarded LLC. The parties intended to elect under section…
A corporation received 60 days to file a success-fee safe-harbor election
A corporation acquired a business in a merger intended to qualify as a tax-free reorganization and paid contingent fees that became due only when the transaction closed. It timely filed its return and…
An S corporation received 120 days to make a late QSub election
An S corporation owned all stock of a domestic subsidiary and intended to treat it as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from a specified date. Through inadvertence, the parent failed to file Form 88…
An S corporation received late QSub election relief
An S corporation owned all outstanding stock of a domestic subsidiary and intended to treat it as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from a specified date. The parent inadvertently failed to file For…
A REIT and hotel subsidiary received 90 days for a late TRS election
A company intended to elect REIT status and formed a wholly owned corporate subsidiary to lease a hotel and hire an eligible independent contractor to operate it. The parent and subsidiary intended th…
A partnership received 45 days to file its missed QOF election and return
Two members formed a limited liability company to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and invested gains that the company placed into an opportunity-zone real estate business. Their longtime advis…
Decanting a grandfathered trust preserved its GST exemption
A grantor created an irrevocable descendants' trust before September 25, 1985, and no later additions were made, so it was exempt from generation-skipping transfer tax. The trustee proposed moving all…
Trust-held interest payments remain subject to reporting and backup withholding
A program paid taxable interest directly to beneficiaries from accounts held in a trust and filed Forms 1099-INT. Many recipients had missing or incorrect taxpayer identification numbers, but the payo…
A partnership received retroactive QEF elections for thirteen PFIC funds
A domestic partnership invested across thirteen sub-funds of a foreign umbrella investment company. Its experienced tax adviser had access to the funds' records but failed to identify the sub-funds as…
A partnership received retroactive QEF elections for twenty-one PFIC funds
A domestic partnership invested in twenty-one sub-funds of a foreign umbrella investment company over two years. Its experienced tax adviser had access to the relevant records but failed to identify t…
A partnership received 120 days to make a late section 754 election
After a member died, a partnership and its lower-tier partnerships intended to make section 754 elections so transferred interests would receive basis adjustments under section 743. The partnership's …
A parent partnership received late section 754 election relief
Following a member's death, a partnership and its lower-tier partnerships intended to make section 754 elections to obtain basis adjustments under section 743. The partnership's representative instruc…
A partnership received late section 754 election relief
A partner died while owning an interest in a partnership, but the partnership did not file a section 754 election with its timely return because its tax adviser failed to explain the election and its …
A partnership received more time to make a section 754 election
A partnership redeemed two partners during a taxable year but did not file a section 754 election because it mistakenly believed a valid election was already in effect. After discovering the error, th…
An LLC received relief to become a disregarded entity
An LLC had elected S corporation status and was later treated as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary. Its corporate parent then transferred all of the LLC interests to an entity treated as a partnersh…
The IRS revoked a social welfare organization's exemption
The IRS revoked an organization's section 501(c)(4) tax exemption after it repeatedly failed to provide records needed for an examination. The organization also failed to file required annual and quar…
Foreign entity received 120 days to file a late disregarded-entity election
A foreign entity wanted to be treated as disregarded from its single owner for U.S. federal tax purposes beginning when its classification first became relevant, but it missed the deadline to file For…
Housing partnership received extra time to defer its credit period
A partnership acquired and rehabilitated a building for low-income rental housing. It intended to begin the ten-year low-income housing credit period in the year after the building was placed in servi…
S corporation kept its status after fixing a second class of stock
An S corporation issued stock to a second shareholder, and the shareholders signed an agreement that allowed unequal rights to distributions and liquidation proceeds. That binding agreement created a …
S corporation received relief after a trust missed its ESBT election
An S corporation's ownership interests were transferred to a trust whose trustees did not timely elect to treat it as an electing small business trust (ESBT). Because a trust must qualify as an eligib…
Foundation received five more years to sell inherited business holdings
A private foundation inherited minority interests in a corporation and an LLC, creating excess business holdings under section 4943. Transfer restrictions, regulatory approval requirements, adversaria…
S corporation received 120 days to file a late QSub election
An S corporation acquired all the stock of a subsidiary and intended to treat it as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub) from the acquisition date. It did not timely file Form 8869 to make the e…
S corporation received relief after two trusts used late ESBT dates
Shares of an S corporation were transferred to two trusts that were eligible to become electing small business trusts (ESBTs). Their trustees filed ESBT elections with an effective date later than the…
Foundation's scholarship, prize, fellowship, and educational grants approved
A private foundation that promotes global citizenship asked to expand the ways it funds individuals. It proposed scholarships for students pursuing relevant studies, achievement awards for members of …
Pension sponsor approved to use substitute mortality tables for three plans
A controlled group with six defined benefit pension plans asked to use substitute mortality tables for the combined male and female populations of three plans, including disabled participants. The spo…
Employer-related scholarships expanded to employees' children abroad
A private foundation had prior approval for an employer-related scholarship program and asked to expand it to dependent children of employees at affiliated companies outside the United States. Interna…
Foundation received more time to build its scholarship headquarters
A private foundation previously received approval to set aside funds for an academy that would serve as headquarters and a workshop site for its scholarship program. The COVID-19 pandemic changed the …
Pension sponsor approved to use substitute mortality tables for two plans
A controlled group asked to use substitute mortality tables for the combined male and female populations of two defined benefit plans, including disabled participants. The plans had transferred partic…
Contingent deferred annuity received favorable tax treatment
A taxpayer planned to buy a contingent deferred annuity linked to a separately owned taxable investment account. The taxpayer would retain ownership and control of the account, while the contract woul…
Insurer's contingent deferred annuity qualified under section 72
A life insurance company planned to issue a contingent deferred annuity linked to an individual's separately owned taxable investment account. The individual would retain control of the account, while…
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.