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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One-time cash grant from a dissolving hospital is an "unusual grant" excluded from the public-support test
Public charities have to keep getting enough of their money from the general public to stay "publicly supported"; a single huge gift can throw off that math and jeopardize their status. The tax…
Advance approval of a foundation's leadership-development fellowship procedures under section 4945(g)(3)
A private foundation asked the IRS to pre-approve how it awards educational grants, which private foundations must do under section 4945(g) to avoid an excise tax on grants to individuals. The…
Advance approval of a fire department foundation's memorial scholarship procedures under section 4945(g)
A private foundation asked the IRS to pre-approve how it awards scholarships, which private foundations must do under section 4945(g) to avoid an excise tax on grants to individuals. The foundation…
Advance approval of a private foundation's STEM scholarship procedures under section 4945(g)
A private foundation asked the IRS to pre-approve the way it awards scholarships. Private foundations owe an excise tax on grants to individuals for study unless the IRS approves the grant-making…
Dog-training and breed-evaluation club denied 501(c)(3) exemption
A club applied for 501(c)(3) charitable/educational status using the streamlined Form 1023-EZ, describing its mission as training owners and handlers of a certain breed of dogs and promoting the…
Racing-sport organization denied 501(c)(6) business-league exemption
An organization applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt business league under section 501(c)(6), the category that covers chambers of commerce and boards of trade. Its actual purpose was to promote…
Gain from repeatedly selling syndicated conservation easement LLC interests is ordinary income under section 1221
A promoter ran syndicated conservation easement (SCE) deals: it would buy into land-holding LLCs, subdivide the land, package interests into new LLCs, and sell those interests to investors who were…
Disaster-driven power and gas costs are extraordinary items a city utility can finance with tax-exempt refunding bonds
A municipal electric and gas utility got hit with extraordinary power and fuel costs when a disaster caused massive, unprecedented outages and price spikes across its regional grid. The utility is…
Tax-free split-off separating an S corporation's two businesses among feuding shareholders
An S corporation ran two separate businesses, one directly and one through a wholly owned subsidiary that had elected QSub status. Its shareholders split into camps that disagreed about the two…
Late-election relief to enter the agreement and statement treating an S corporation stock sale as an asset sale under section 336(e)
When a buyer purchases all the stock of an S corporation, the parties can jointly elect under section 336(e) to treat the sale as if the company sold its assets. Making that election requires two…
Late-election relief to treat an S corporation stock sale as an asset sale under section 336(e)
When someone buys all the stock of an S corporation, the buyer and the selling shareholders can jointly elect under section 336(e) to treat the deal as if the company had sold its assets instead of…
Buyer of foreign-subsidiary targets gets 75 days to make late Section 338(g) elections its tax advisor failed to file
When one corporation buys the stock of another in a "qualified stock purchase," Section 338(g) lets the buyer elect to treat the deal as if it had bought the target's assets instead of its…
Opportunity-zone fund gets 45 days to self-certify for its first year, after its manager did not realize a Form 8996 was required
A Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) must self-certify each year by attaching Form 8996 to its timely filed tax return. Here, a tiered set of LLCs (all taxed as partnerships) set up a fund to invest…
Opportunity-zone fund gets 45 days to file a late self-certification after its advisor missed the extension deadline
A Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) lets investors defer and reduce tax on capital gains they roll into businesses located in designated opportunity zones. To become a QOF, an entity…
IRS rules that a rancher's perpetual water-diversion rights are "real property" like-kind to land, so they can be swapped tax-free under Section 1031
Section 1031 lets a taxpayer swap one piece of real property for another "like-kind" real property without paying tax on the gain right away. The question here was whether water rights count…
Couple gets 120 days to elect out of automatic GST exemption allocation for four stepchild trusts, after their accountant left the election off three years of gift tax returns
The generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax applies when wealth passes to grandchildren or other beneficiaries more than one generation down. Everyone has a GST exemption, and when someone funds…
S corporation gets 60 days to make a late election opting out of bonus depreciation after its tax firm forgot to attach the statement
Bonus depreciation (the "additional first year depreciation" under Section 168(k)) normally lets a business deduct 100% of the cost of qualifying property in the year it is placed in service.…
LLC owned by a charity gets 120 days to make two missed elections so a rehab project isn't stuck with slower depreciation as tax-exempt use property
When property is owned (through partnerships) by a tax-exempt entity, part of it can be treated as "tax-exempt use property," which forces slower depreciation and can undercut credits. The Code…
Married couple gets 120 days to make a late election grouping all their rental real estate as one activity, after their tax pro never told them the election existed
Rental real estate is normally treated as "passive," which limits how much of its losses can offset other income. A real estate professional who qualifies under Section 469(c)(7) can escape that…
IRS blesses a nonprofit health insurer's "unstacking" into a holding-company structure, ruling its membership interests count as stock and it stays a Section 833 organization
A nonprofit, non-stock health insurance company (the kind taxed under Sections 501(m) and 833, which covers Blue Cross Blue Shield-type organizations) wanted to reorganize its corporate family under…
Corporate group gets 60 days to make a late success-based-fee safe-harbor election it forgot to attach, conditioned on fixing which subsidiary paid the fee
When a company pays an investment banker a fee that is contingent on closing an acquisition (a "success-based fee"), the tax rules presume the whole fee must be capitalized unless the company…
IRS approves a private foundation's set-aside to fund multi-year construction of a public cultural and educational 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…
202308012: IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a "time bank" barter cooperative that mainly served the private interests of its own members
The IRS denied tax-exempt status under 501(c)(3) to a nonprofit that ran a "time bank." In a time bank, members earn one time-dollar for each hour of service they give and can spend those…
202308011: IRS revokes a 501(c)(3) that ignored an audit, after repeated mailed notices and roughly twenty unanswered phone calls to its officers
The IRS revoked a charity's 501(c)(3) status because it never responded to an audit. The organization had been recognized as exempt after filing the streamlined Form 1023-EZ. When the IRS selected…
Late success-based-fee election denied because the investment banking fee was the private-equity seller's selling cost, not the target's deduction
When a business is sold, investment banking "success-based fees" tied to closing the deal can sometimes be split under a safe harbor (Rev. Proc. 2011-29), deducting 70 percent and capitalizing 30…
Consolidated group gets 120 days to make a late GILTI high-tax exclusion election after misreading the 24-month deadline
U.S. companies that own controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) generally have to include the CFCs' "GILTI" (global intangible low-taxed income) in their own income under Section 951A. A regulation…
LLC gets 120 days to re-file a check-the-box election that was missing required signatures
Under the "check-the-box" rules, an LLC with two or more members is treated as a partnership by default but can elect to be taxed as a corporation by filing Form 8832. That form has to be signed by…
Late relief lets an LLC self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund after its advisor missed the extension deadline
To be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), which lets investors defer tax on capital gains reinvested in opportunity zones, an entity must self-certify each year by filing Form 8996 with a timely tax…
S corporation status preserved after three trusts missed their ESBT elections
An S corporation passes income through to its shareholders untaxed at the corporate level, but only eligible owners may hold the stock. A trust can qualify only if its trustee timely files an…
S corporation status preserved after an invalid election by an ineligible shareholder and a later missed trust election
This is a companion ruling to a same-day request (its file reference PLR-111038-22 sits next to PLR-111031-22) with the same fact pattern. An S corporation passes its income through to shareholders…
S corporation status saved after an invalid election by an ineligible shareholder and a later missed trust election
An S corporation is a small business that passes its income through to shareholders instead of paying corporate tax, but only certain owners are allowed to hold the stock. This company had two…
Real estate professionals get 120 days to make a late election grouping all rental properties as one activity
Rental real estate is normally treated as a "passive activity," so losses from it can only offset passive income. Section 469(c)(7) gives an exception to taxpayers who qualify as real estate…
Partnership gets 120 days to make a late Section 754 basis-adjustment election it meant to make on a buyout
When someone buys into a partnership (here an LLC taxed as a partnership), the partnership can elect under Section 754 to adjust the tax basis of its assets so the new partner's inside basis lines…
Late relief granted so an LLC can self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund for two missed years
An investor put capital gains into a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) to defer tax on those gains, a benefit created by the Opportunity Zone rules in Section 1400Z-2. To be a QOF, the entity (here…
Private foundation's scholarship-award procedures approved in advance, so the grants aren't taxable expenditures
A private foundation asked the IRS to pre-approve the way it runs its scholarship program. This matters because when a private foundation gives money to individuals for study, that grant is normally…
Faith-based matchmaking and social-event club denied 501(c)(3) status as a commercial venture serving private interests
An organization applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt charity under Section 501(c)(3). It planned to run an exclusive faith-based social club, a paid matchmaking service where clients hire it to…
Late portability election allowed, estate gets 120 more days to claim a deceased spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion
When a married person dies without using up their federal estate-tax exclusion (the amount that can pass tax-free, roughly $13 million in recent years), the leftover, called the DSUE amount, can be…
S election that was invalid from the start (and later at risk) restored as inadvertent
A company's S corporation election was defective from day one, and the IRS forgave the defect. When the company first elected S status, its shares were owned by an ineligible shareholder, and no…
S corporation status preserved after a trust shareholder missed its ESBT election
An S corporation's tax status accidentally lapsed and the IRS restored it. An S corporation can only have certain kinds of shareholders. A trust may hold S corporation stock if it elects to be an…
45 days granted to file a late Form 8996 QOF election after the tax preparer's oversight
An LLC taxed as a partnership was formed to qualify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) and invest in an Opportunity Zone. To get QOF treatment, an entity must self-certify by filing Form 8996…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.