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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An S corporation election that failed for a missing ESBT election, a partnership shareholder, and no shareholder consents gets inadvertent-termination relief
A corporation tried to elect S corporation status but the election was invalid from the start for three reasons. Its shares were held by a trust and a partnership, both ineligible S corporation shareh…
Third companion ruling on a family private foundation moving at least 80% of its assets, including a large bequest, to two related foundations tax-free
This is the third of three companion letters (control numbers PLR-116647-21, PLR-116648-21, and PLR-116649-21) issued the same day on a single transaction. A family-run grant-making private foundation…
Companion ruling letting a family private foundation move at least 80% of its assets, including a large bequest, to two related foundations without termination or excise taxes
This ruling is a companion to PLR 202231006, issued the same day on the same transaction (the two letters carry consecutive control numbers, PLR-116648-21 and PLR-116647-21). A family-run grant-making…
A family private foundation can move at least 80% of its assets, including a large bequest, to two related family foundations without termination or excise taxes
A family-run grant-making private foundation expected to receive a large bequest from a deceased donor. It planned to transfer at least 80 percent of its assets, including that bequest, to two other p…
Family foundation cleared to move most of its assets, including a large bequest, to two related foundations without triggering private-foundation excise taxes
A family controls three private foundations: an existing family foundation, a company foundation, and a newly created foundation. The family foundation expects a large bequest from a donor who died se…
Supplemental spin-off ruling treats a bank debt-for-equity exchange, with a price "true-up," as tax-free under section 361
A corporation ("Distributing") had already received a private letter ruling that a planned separation of a subsidiary ("Controlled") would be a tax-free spin-off under sections 355 and 368. This lette…
Corporation granted 60 more days to make a late success-based-fee safe-harbor election its preparer omitted
A corporation acquired another company through a merger and paid its advisor a fee that was contingent on the deal closing, a "success-based fee." Under Rev. Proc. 2011-29, a taxpayer can elect a safe…
Parent corporation granted 75 more days to make a late election to file a consolidated return
A parent corporation that headed an affiliated group of companies missed the deadline to elect to file a single consolidated federal income tax return (with itself as the common parent) for one tax ye…
Partnership granted 60 more days to file the missing duplicate "Ogden copy" of its accounting-method-change application
A partnership wanted to change a depreciation-related accounting method using the IRS's automatic-consent procedures. To do that it files a Form 3115 (Application for Change in Accounting Method) in d…
IRS pre-approves a foundation's grant program for illustrators and picture-book writers
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the procedures it uses to award educational grants to individuals. This step matters because a private foundation's grants to individuals for…
IRS pre-approves a foundation's scholarship and issue-analysis grant programs
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, two sets of procedures: one for awarding scholarships under section 4945(g)(1) and one for awarding educational grants to individuals under s…
IRS revokes a dormant nonprofit's 501(c)(3) status for years of inactivity
The IRS revoked a nonprofit's recognition as a tax-exempt charity under section 501(c)(3). The organization had been incorporated to run educational and cultural programs, but an examination found it …
IRS revokes a nonprofit's 501(c)(3) status after it failed to produce records for an audit
The IRS revoked a nonprofit's recognition as a tax-exempt charity under section 501(c)(3) because it did not cooperate with an examination. The organization had been recognized as a charity after fili…
IRS revokes a social club's 501(c)(7) exemption because it had no members and lived on rentals to the public
The IRS revoked a nonprofit's recognition as a tax-exempt social club under section 501(c)(7). The organization had started life as a 501(c)(2) title-holding company that simply owned a building; afte…
IRS denies 501(c)(4) status to a homeowners' group that maintains one private road for its own members
The IRS denied recognition as a tax-exempt social welfare organization under section 501(c)(4) to a group of homeowners formed as a mutual benefit corporation. Their sole purpose was to maintain and r…
IRS revokes a 501(c)(7) club's exemption where it had no members and lived entirely on investment income
The IRS revoked an organization's recognition as a tax-exempt social club under section 501(c)(7). The group had been an alumni-support fund: it held the cash value of a former chapter house in an inv…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a disc golf club because its recreational purpose is substantial
The IRS denied recognition as a tax-exempt charity under section 501(c)(3) to an organization that promotes disc golf in its local area. The group applied on Form 1023-EZ, claiming charitable and educ…
IRS finds a title-holding "social club" that runs public bingo does not qualify under 501(c)(7)
The IRS determined that an organization did not qualify as a tax-exempt social club under section 501(c)(7) for the years examined. The group had never filed an exemption application; it self-declared…
IRS revokes a charity's 501(c)(3) status after it sold its assets but never formally dissolved
The IRS revoked an organization's recognition as a tax-exempt charity under section 501(c)(3). The group had wound down its affairs: it sold all of its property, collected the sale proceeds in monthly…
Each third-party contact notice must list the tax period, or a summons for that period may not be enforceable
This is an email of Chief Counsel Advice answering a revenue agent's question about third-party contact notices and summons enforcement. Before the IRS contacts someone other than the taxpayer (a bank…
9100 relief for an estate to make late QTIP and reverse-QTIP elections its accountant omitted
After a person died, their revocable trust split into a family trust and two marital trusts (an exempt and a non-exempt marital trust) for the surviving spouse. To defer estate tax on the marital trus…
Transferring excess pension assets to three defined-contribution plans as one qualified replacement plan avoids the 4980 reversion tax
An employer was terminating an overfunded defined benefit pension plan that would leave excess assets after paying all participant benefits. Normally, when excess assets revert to the employer they ar…
Cost of removal is excluded from the ARAM calculation returning a utility's TCJA excess deferred taxes to ratepayers
A regulated natural gas utility asked the IRS how the tax "normalization" rules apply to the way it returns to customers the excess deferred taxes created when the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) cu…
9100 relief to file a late Form 8832 electing foreign-disregarded-entity treatment
A foreign company that had become a wholly owned subsidiary of a U.S. corporation wanted to be treated as a disregarded entity (ignored as separate from its owner) for U.S. federal tax purposes, which…
9100 relief for a non-filing estate to make a late portability (DSUE) election
When someone dies, any unused portion of their federal estate-and-gift tax exclusion can be passed to their surviving spouse (the "deceased spousal unused exclusion," or DSUE, amount), but only if the…
9100 relief for a non-filing estate to make a late portability (DSUE) election
When someone dies, any unused portion of their federal estate-and-gift tax exclusion can be passed to their surviving spouse (the "deceased spousal unused exclusion," or DSUE, amount), but only if the…
9100 relief to self-certify a late qualified opportunity fund election (Form 8996)
An LLC taxed as a partnership was organized to invest in a qualified opportunity zone and intended to self-certify as a qualified opportunity fund (QOF) by filing Form 8996 with its partnership return…
Nonlife insurance subsidiary treated as joining the consolidated return
A parent corporation acquired a nonlife insurance subsidiary (Sub 1) and, when it filed the initial consolidated return for its affiliated group, left Sub 1 out: Sub 1's income and other items were no…
IRS approves a private foundation's scholarship procedures
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the procedures for a scholarship program it planned to run to help students afford the schools of their choice. To qualify, a student had to …
IRS denies 501(c)(4) status to a condominium homeowners' association
A homeowners' association organized as a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation applied on Form 1024 to be recognized as a tax-exempt social welfare organization under section 501(c)(4). Its only activi…
An activity that meets the 5/10 material-participation test cannot also be a significant participation activity
A taxpayer owned an S corporation (through grantor trusts) that conducted many separate business activities, and wanted to avoid the passive activity loss limits of section 469 by showing "material pa…
120-day extension to make a late estate-tax portability (DSUE) election
When one spouse dies without using all of their federal estate and gift tax exclusion, the surviving spouse can inherit the leftover amount (the deceased spousal unused exclusion, or DSUE) through a "…
Consent to make a late retroactive QEF election for a PFIC investment
A U.S. investor (a domestic trust) held stock in a foreign corporation that was a passive foreign investment company (PFIC). U.S. shareholders of a PFIC can elect to treat it as a "qualified electing …
9100 relief lets an LLC self-certify late as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (Form 8996)
An LLC taxed as a partnership was set up to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and intended to certify itself as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) under section 1400Z-2 by attaching Form 8…
120-day extension to make a late estate-tax portability (DSUE) election
When one spouse dies without using all of their federal estate and gift tax exclusion, the surviving spouse can inherit the leftover amount (the deceased spousal unused exclusion, or DSUE) through a "…
Consent to re-elect S corporation status before the five-year waiting period
A corporation's S corporation election ended when its shares were transferred to an ineligible shareholder, which automatically terminated the S election under section 1362(d). Normally, once an S ele…
75-day extension to elect apportionment of a consolidated section 382 limitation to a departing subgroup
Two corporate consolidated groups asked the IRS for more time to file an election that splits up a tax attribute when a subgroup leaves one group and joins another. Section 382 limits how much of a co…
120-day extension to make a late estate-tax portability (DSUE) election
When one spouse dies without using all of their federal estate and gift tax exclusion, the surviving spouse can inherit the leftover amount (the deceased spousal unused exclusion, or DSUE) through a "…
120-day extension to make a late QTIP election after the accountant omitted it from the estate tax return
A married couple's trust split into a Marital Trust and a non-marital (Exempt) Trust when the first spouse died, and the estate planning intended the Marital Trust to qualify as qualified terminable i…
120-day extension to file check-the-box elections disregarding six foreign subsidiaries
Under the "check-the-box" rules of Treas. Reg. § 301.7701-3, an eligible business entity can choose how it is taxed, and a single-owner entity can elect to be disregarded (treated as part of its owner…
Inadvertent-termination relief keeps S corporation status after a trust flaw and a missed ESBT election
An S corporation's tax status can end automatically if its stock ends up in the hands of an ineligible shareholder, such as the wrong kind of trust. Here shares were transferred to an irrevocable trus…
120-day extension to make a late estate-tax portability (DSUE) election
When one spouse dies without using all of their federal estate and gift tax exclusion, the surviving spouse can inherit the leftover amount (the deceased spousal unused exclusion, or DSUE) through a "…
120-day extension for two foreign entities to file check-the-box classification elections
Under the "check-the-box" rules of Treas. Reg. § 301.7701-3, a foreign business entity can elect how it is classified for U.S. tax purposes by filing Form 8832: one with two or more owners can be a pa…
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
120-day extension to make a late estate-tax portability (DSUE) election
When one spouse dies without using all of their federal estate and gift tax exclusion, the surviving spouse can inherit the leftover amount (the deceased spousal unused exclusion, or DSUE) through a "…
Consent to make a late retroactive QEF election for a PFIC investment
A U.S. investor (a domestic limited partnership) bought a 10-percent interest in a foreign company that turned out to be a passive foreign investment company (PFIC). U.S. shareholders of a PFIC can el…
120-day extension to make a late estate-tax portability (DSUE) election
When one spouse dies without using all of their federal estate and gift tax exclusion, the surviving spouse can inherit the leftover amount (the deceased spousal unused exclusion, or DSUE) through a "…
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.