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.
No determinations match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
Estate receives 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, but the estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability. The estate represented that…
Buyer and sellers receive late section 338(h)(10) election relief
A corporate buyer acquired all the stock of an S corporation from its shareholders and their trusts in a transaction represented to be a qualified stock purchase. The parties intended to make a…
Tax-exempt-controlled company receives 60 days for late depreciation election
A taxable corporation was wholly owned by a section 501(c)(3) organization and therefore was a tax-exempt controlled entity for depreciation purposes. Through a partly owned subsidiary, it held…
Two foreign subsidiaries receive late disregarded-entity election relief
A foreign parent owned two foreign eligible entities that each intended to elect disregarded-entity status from its formation date but missed the Form 8832 deadline. The IRS concluded that both…
Partnership-style operating agreement does not end S status
An S corporation's operating agreement contained partnership provisions that allowed liquidation distributions based on members' capital interests or section 704 capital accounts. Those terms failed…
Late QSST election preserves S corporation status
An S corporation issued shares to a trust that qualified to be a qualified subchapter S trust, but the trust beneficiary did not timely make the QSST election. The trust and beneficiary nevertheless…
Missed ESBT election does not end S corporation status
After a shareholder died, S corporation shares passed under the shareholder's will to a trust that could hold the stock for two years without a special election. The trust was eligible to be an…
Missed QSST election does not end S corporation status
Shares of an S corporation were transferred to a trust that was eligible to be a qualified subchapter S trust, but the trust beneficiaries did not timely make the required QSST election. That…
Invalid S corporation and QSub elections treated as effective
A limited liability company elected S corporation status, but its operating agreement allowed disproportionate liquidation distributions and therefore created a prohibited second class of stock.…
Member fishing club denied section 501(c)(3) status
An organization applied for section 501(c)(3) status for activities centered on fishing meetings, member tournaments, and discussions of fishing and outdoor topics. It also held some events…
Partnership receives 30 days to file a late tax-year change request
A partnership became majority-owned by a corporation with a March 31 tax year, requiring the partnership to change from a calendar year to the majority partner's fiscal year. Its tax professionals…
Consolidated group receives 75 days to waive a loss carryback
A consolidated group incurred a consolidated net operating loss and intended to give up the entire carryback period, but its return did not include a valid election statement. The parent represented…
Corporation receives 90 days to perfect its IC-DISC election
A corporation formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation mailed Form 4876-A within the first tax year's 90-day election period. Its tax professional did not…
Opportunity fund receives 60 days for late self-certification
A partnership was formed to invest capital gains in qualified opportunity zone property and hired an adviser to prepare its returns and required elections. Although the adviser had the information…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded-entity election relief
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as a disregarded entity from its formation date but failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that the entity met the standards for…
REIT receives 90 days to make a late taxable-subsidiary election
A real estate investment trust formed a subsidiary to lease and operate a hotel and intended to elect taxable REIT subsidiary status from the REIT conversion date. The election was missed because…
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A partnership failed to make a section 754 election after a deceased partner's interest passed to several successors. The IRS concluded that the partnership met the standards for discretionary…
Annuity-paid investment advisory fees are not owner distributions
A life insurance company proposed variable, fixed-indexed, and hybrid nonqualified deferred annuity contracts designed for owners who receive ongoing investment advice about the contracts' available…
Annuity-paid investment advisory fees are not owner distributions
A life insurance company proposed variable, fixed-indexed, and hybrid nonqualified deferred annuity contracts designed for owners who receive ongoing investment advice about the contracts' available…
Late qualified opportunity fund self-certification accepted
A partnership formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund missed the deadlines for its Form 1065 and Form 8996 after a communication failure over which accounting firm would prepare the…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded-entity election relief
A foreign entity with one owner failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect disregarded-entity status from a redacted effective date. The IRS concluded that the entity met the standards for…
Late accounting-method-change forms treated as timely
A parent company requested filing relief for controlled foreign corporations that changed how they accounted for rent expense under the automatic consent procedures. The parent intended to extend…
Partnership's late qualified opportunity fund certification is treated as timely
A partnership was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and stated that purpose in its operating agreement. One member told an experienced tax preparer about the investment and the…
Foreign entity receives 120 days for late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a disregarded entity for U.S. federal tax purposes but failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that the failure was inadvertent, that…
Corporation receives 90 days to make late IC-DISC election
A corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation and attempted to file Form 4876-A for its first tax year. The filing was outside the normal 90-day…
202313012: IRS approves need-based college scholarship procedures
A private foundation proposed scholarships for financially needy graduating high school students attending accredited postsecondary institutions in a specified state. The program would prioritize…
202313011: IRS approves applied-science and engineering scholarship procedures
A private foundation proposed renewable scholarships for students pursuing engineering, applied sciences, or related fields in a specified area. A selection committee appointed by the board would…
202313010: Large stock bequest qualifies as an unusual grant for public-support testing
A publicly supported charity expected a large bequest of company stock that, if counted normally, would cause it to fail the public-support test. The donor had no control over the charity and had…
202313009: IRS denies exemption to social fraternity involved in political campaigning
A fraternity-like organization sought section 501(c)(3) status and described its members as sharing democratic, freedom, and equal-justice principles tied to a related organization in another…
Donor receives 120 days to elect GST trust treatment for prior transfers
A donor created a trust for descendants and made several transfers of cash and securities to it over two years. The donor instructed an attorney to elect on Form 709 to treat the trust as a…
Corporate group receives 120 days for late GILTI high-tax election
A U.S. corporate group wanted to make the GILTI high-tax exclusion election for income of its wholly owned controlled foreign corporation. Its accounting firm recognized the benefit before the…
Trust settlement causes no GST, gift, gain, or excess-income tax consequences
A trust that became irrevocable before September 25, 1985 contained ambiguous instructions for dividing its remainder among descendants when it terminated. The potential beneficiaries negotiated a…
Housing project receives 120 days to make average-income set-aside election
The owner of a single-building low-income housing project intended to choose the average-income minimum set-aside under section 42(g)(1)(C). Its contemporaneous records reflected that intent, but it…
Estate receives 120 days to complete GST exemption allocation to trust
A decedent's will created separate residuary trusts for three children. The estate's attorney intended to allocate all available generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to one trust on Form 706,…
LLC may change from S corporation status to disregarded entity within 60 months
A single-owner limited liability company had elected S corporation status, which also caused it to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation. It later came under new ownership, with…
Late tangible-property elections are treated as timely after missed extension filing
A corporate group intended to extend its federal income tax return but failed to file Form 7004 after pandemic filing relief changed its normal extension process and staff turnover contributed to…
Three partnerships receive 120 days to make late section 754 elections
Three related partnerships missed section 754 elections after deaths and transfers of partnership interests. The elections would have permitted basis adjustments to partnership property under…
Partnership cannot elect out of BBA on a late return
IRS Chief Counsel was asked whether a delinquent partnership return could make an election out of the centralized partnership audit regime commonly called BBA. The response was no. An election out…
202311009: IRS approves scholarship procedures for student athletes
A private foundation requested advance approval for a scholarship program that would help student athletes pay for textbooks and study materials at colleges, universities, and technical or…
202311008: IRS approves employer-related scholarship procedures
A private foundation sought advance approval for an employer-related scholarship program benefiting children or relatives of employees of a corporation. An independent nonprofit would run the…
202311007: IRS denies exemption to group promoting a local business district
An organization sought section 501(c)(3) status for activities promoting a local industrial market where the public could visit craft beverage producers and other businesses. It held wine tastings,…
202311006: IRS denies exemption to commercial credit-repair organization
An organization applied for recognition as a section 501(c)(3) charity and described its work as credit education, budgeting help, and document preparation. Its website offered several paid service…
Tax-free spin-off of a business division, with a debt-repayment step
A parent company owns a subsidiary, "Distributing," that runs two businesses: Business A and, through a separate division, Business B. Distributing wants to split the two apart. It will form a new…
45-day extension to file a late Form 8996 after a firm/management-team mix-up
An LLC (taxed as a partnership) was formed to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) as one of many entities in a single large development project. Because it formed late in the year and had no…
Late Form 8996 accepted so a fund can self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
A partnership (an LLC) was formed to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), a vehicle that lets investors defer tax on capital gains reinvested in opportunity-zone property. Becoming a QOF requires…
Late Form 8996 accepted so a fund can self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
A partnership (an LLC) was set up to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), a vehicle that lets investors defer tax on capital gains reinvested in opportunity-zone property. To become a QOF, an…
Specially formulated infant food is not a deductible medical expense
A parent asked the IRS whether the cost of a specially formulated food for their infant qualifies as a medical-care expense deductible under § 213. The product delivers a specific nutrient early in…
Two subsidiaries omitted from a consolidated return by mistake of law may be folded back in
A holding company that elected to be taxed as a corporation filed a consolidated federal income tax return for its group. All members of an affiliated group must be included in a consolidated…
501(c)(3) exemption denied to an employees' collective-bargaining association
An organization made up of employees of a local school district applied for 501(c)(3) charitable/educational status using the streamlined Form 1023-EZ. When the IRS asked for more detail, its…
501(c)(7) social-club exemption denied to a student-athlete funding group
A membership organization applied for tax exemption as a 501(c)(7) social club using Form 1024. Its sole purpose was to raise money from members and donate it to local student athletes, giving funds…
501(c)(3) exemption denied to a city-promotion events group
A nonprofit applied for 501(c)(3) charitable status using the streamlined Form 1023-EZ. Its mission was to hold events promoting a city, with the goal of attracting new businesses and residents and…
Late election granted to treat an S corporation stock sale as an asset sale
A buyer (taxed as a partnership) bought all the stock of an S corporation. The parties wanted the stock purchase to be treated, for tax purposes, as if the company had sold its assets, which a §…
Estate gets extra time to make a late portability election for the surviving spouse
When one spouse dies, the estate can make a "portability" election so the surviving spouse can use the deceased spouse's unused estate-and-gift-tax exclusion (the DSUE amount). That election is made…
S corporation status restored after stock was transferred to an IRA
A company taxed as an S corporation transferred some of its shares into an individual retirement account (IRA) set up for one person. An IRA is not an allowed S corporation shareholder, so the…
Tax-free spin-off separating two businesses of a public company
A publicly traded parent company runs two distinct lines of business and wants to separate them so that one becomes a standalone public company. It plans to gather the second business (held through…
Extra time granted to file a late check-the-box election to be taxed as a corporation
A business started as a state-law corporation, then converted to a single-owner LLC. After the conversion, its default federal tax status was "disregarded" (treated as part of its owner), but the…
Late extension request granted for three tax elections missed after a botched Form 7004
A corporation that files a consolidated return meant to make three tax elections on its return for one year: the de minimis safe harbor for small capital purchases, a controlled foreign corporation…
S corporation election restored after two trusts missed their ESBT elections
An S corporation asked the IRS to forgive an accidental loss of its S status. Two of its shareholders were trusts. One trust had been a qualified subchapter S trust (QSST); after its income…
Late-election relief to self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund on Form 8996
A company that wanted to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), the vehicle investors use to defer capital gains by investing in opportunity zones, has to self-certify by filing Form 8996 with a…
Inadvertent S corporation termination relief where an LLC operating agreement created a second class of stock
An LLC that had elected to be taxed as an S corporation ran into a common trap: to stay an S corporation, a company can have only one class of stock, meaning all owners must have identical rights to…
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.