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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90-day extension for a consolidated group to elect to waive its NOL carryback period
When a group of affiliated corporations files one consolidated tax return and reports a net operating loss (NOL), it can normally carry that loss back to earlier years to recover past taxes, or it can…
75-day extension to elect apportionment of a consolidated section 382 limitation to a deconsolidating subgroup
Section 382 limits how much of a company's built-up losses can be used each year after an ownership change. When a subgroup that carries such a limitation leaves a consolidated group, Treas. Reg. § 1.…
Late-election relief lets a corporation file Form 4876-A and be treated as an IC-DISC for its first year
A newly formed corporation, wholly owned by an S corporation, was set up to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation (IC-DISC), a structure that lets exporters defer some…
Estate gets 120 more days to make a late portability (DSUE) election for the surviving spouse
When someone dies without using up their full estate-and-gift tax exemption, their surviving spouse can inherit the leftover amount (the deceased spousal unused exclusion, or DSUE) and add it to their…
A hotel management contract does not create private business use, so the bonds that financed the hotel stay governmental
A state economic-development authority owns a hotel that it financed with tax-exempt governmental bonds. To keep the interest on those bonds tax-free, the hotel generally cannot be used more than 10 p…
Estate gets 120 more days to make a late portability (DSUE) election for the surviving spouse
When someone dies without using up their full estate-and-gift tax exemption, their surviving spouse can inherit the leftover amount (the deceased spousal unused exclusion, or DSUE) and add it to their…
IRS approves a union-affiliated organization's scholarship procedures for children of local-union members
A private foundation associated with a labor organization asked the IRS to approve, in advance, how it will award college scholarships. Without advance approval, a private foundation's grants to indiv…
IRS approves a foundation's need-based scholarship procedures for students at Christian grade and high schools
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, how it will award need-based scholarships to children attending private Christian grade schools and high schools. Without advance approval, a…
IRS approves scholarship procedures for underrepresented, first-generation undergraduates
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, how it will award scholarships aimed at underrepresented students. Without advance approval, a private foundation's grants to individuals for…
IRS approves a foundation's scholarship procedures for high school students bound for four-year colleges
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, how it will award college scholarships to high school students, primarily for four-year colleges. Without advance approval, a private foundat…
IRS treats a large trust grant to a theater company as an "unusual grant," protecting its public-charity status
A public charity keeps that status only if it draws a broad base of public support; one very large gift can distort the math and threaten the charity's classification. To handle that, the tax rules le…
IRS approves a foundation's grants funding flights for healthcare professionals' medical mission trips
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, how it will award grants to individuals. Without advance approval, a private foundation's grants to individuals can trigger an excise tax und…
IRS approves scholarship procedures funding low-income students at high-graduation-rate colleges
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, how it will award college scholarships. Without advance approval, a private foundation's grants to individuals for study can trigger an excis…
IRS denies 501(c)(4) social-welfare exemption to a baseball umpire association that mainly serves its members
A membership organization of baseball umpires applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt social welfare organization under IRC § 501(c)(4). It recruits, trains, and assigns umpires as independent contra…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a climate-product venture that is primarily commercial
An organization applied (on the streamlined Form 1023-EZ) to be recognized as a charity under IRC § 501(c)(3), describing a mission around global cooling, carbon sequestration, and climate-friendly ma…
Timberland partnership gets more time to make the late § 194 reforestation-amortization election
A partnership (later an LLC) that acquires and manages timberlands can elect under IRC § 194 to write off reforestation costs over 84 months. Making the election requires attaching a specific statemen…
IRS grants relief for an S corporation whose S status lapsed when trust shareholders missed their QSST elections
An S corporation can lose its special tax status if an ineligible shareholder holds its stock. Here, four trusts acquired the company's stock and each qualified as a qualified subchapter S trust (QSST…
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 …
Consolidated group gets more time to elect out of bonus depreciation after its preparer filed the extension late
Businesses that buy qualifying equipment can normally take a large "additional first year" (bonus) depreciation deduction under IRC § 168(k), but they can also elect out of it for whole classes of pro…
Consolidated group gets 75 more days to elect to waive the carryback of its net operating loss
When a consolidated group of corporations has a net operating loss, it can choose to carry that loss back to earlier years or instead waive the carryback and only carry it forward. Waiving the carryba…
IRS treats a large multi-year grant to an arts public charity as an "unusual grant," protecting its public-support status
A small arts public charity, classified under IRC § 509(a)(2), asked the IRS whether a large grant it expected to receive would count as an "unusual grant." The charity advocates for a particular cult…
IRS approves a foundation's scholarship program for graduating seniors whose families belong to a sponsoring organization
A private foundation asked the IRS to bless the way it hands out college scholarships. Private foundations owe an excise tax on "taxable expenditures," and grants to individuals for study count unless…
IRS approves a foundation's research-grant program to document endangered oral literature and ecological knowledge
A private foundation runs a research-grant program that funds anthropologists, linguists, and local researchers to document and preserve endangered oral literature and traditional ecological knowledge…
IRS approves a company-linked foundation's scholarships for students entering the skilled trades
A private foundation funded by a company (the company's owners serve as the foundation's officers) asked the IRS to approve its scholarship procedures under IRC § 4945(g)(1). The program awards schola…
IRS denies 501(c)(4) status to a manufactured-home community's homeowners group as private-benefit, not social welfare
A homeowners group from a manufactured-home community applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt social welfare organization under IRC § 501(c)(4), and the IRS said no. The homeowners own their manufact…
IRS denies 501(c)(4) status to a member-funded burial-benefit association as a mutual self-interest group
An unincorporated mutual-aid association rooted in a particular ethnic community's burial custom applied for tax exemption as a social welfare organization under IRC § 501(c)(4). The group collects me…
IRS denies 501(c)(7) social-club status where lease and rental income from nonmembers is the club's main revenue
An organization that holds and manages property for a fraternal group applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt social club under IRC § 501(c)(7), and the IRS denied it. A § 501(c)(7) club is meant to …
IRS accepts appraisals establishing preferred-stock fair market value for a section 1059(c)(4) extraordinary-dividend election
A corporate shareholder bought newly issued, non-publicly-traded preferred stock and, within two years, received two large quarterly dividends. Because each dividend topped 5% of the stock's basis, th…
IRS rules a publicly traded parent's spin-off separating two businesses qualifies as a tax-free section 355/368(a)(1)(D) reorganization
A publicly traded parent corporation wants to split its two lines of business into two separate public companies. To do it, the parent (Distributing) forms a new subsidiary (Controlled), contributes c…
IRS consents to a cost-sharing participant switching to the elective method for counting stock-based compensation
A U.S. company shares the cost of developing intangible property with a foreign affiliate under a cost sharing arrangement (CSA) governed by the transfer-pricing rules of IRC § 482. When employees who…
IRS consents to a cost-sharing participant switching to the elective method for counting stock-based compensation
A U.S. company shares the cost of developing intangible property with a foreign affiliate under a cost sharing arrangement (CSA) governed by the transfer-pricing rules of IRC § 482. When employees who…
IRS lets a surviving spouse roll a trust-inherited IRA into her own IRA because she fully controls the trust
When a spouse dies and leaves an IRA to a trust rather than directly to the surviving spouse, the survivor usually cannot roll that IRA into her own IRA, because the money is treated as passing throug…
IRS rules a state workers'-comp insurer's shift from tax-exempt to taxable status is not a sale or exchange
A state-sponsored workers' compensation insurer had been tax-exempt under IRC § 501(c)(27). State legislation began privatizing it by gradually shifting control of its board to its policyholders. Once…
IRS grants an estate a 120-day extension to make the section 663(b) "65-day rule" election
An estate made distributions to its beneficiaries within the first 65 days of a new tax year. IRC § 663(b) (the "65-day rule") lets an estate or trust elect to treat such early-year distributions as i…
IRS rules a water utility need not reduce rate-base deferred taxes for an NOL that was shrinking, revisiting an earlier ruling after a court decision
A regulated water and wastewater utility uses accelerated depreciation on its tax return but straight-line depreciation when setting customer rates. The tax law's "normalization" rules (IRC § 168(i)(9…
IRS grants extension and inadvertent-error relief to fix dozens of botched QSub elections after an S corp reorganization
An S corporation reorganized, pulling other S corporations and their many subsidiaries under a new S corporation parent (X). To keep those subsidiaries from being taxed as separate corporations, X nee…
IRS revokes 501(c)(7) status of a women's cultural club whose investment income exceeded the limit on receipts from outside the membership
A women's club organized to promote cultural, intellectual, and civic activities was tax-exempt as a social club under IRC § 501(c)(7), and the IRS revoked that exemption. A § 501(c)(7) club is suppos…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to an equine-events club because its horsemanship competitions serve a substantial recreational purpose
A club that runs equine speed events and horsemanship competitions applied for tax-exempt charitable and educational status under IRC § 501(c)(3) using the short Form 1023-EZ, and the IRS denied it. T…
IRS denies 501(c)(25) title-holding status to a group organized as a self-proclaimed sovereign nation
An organization applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt title-holding entity under IRC § 501(c)(25), and the IRS denied it. A § 501(c)(25) organization exists for one narrow purpose: to acquire real …
IRS denies 501(c)(7) status to a family landholding group living on product sales and oil-and-gas royalties
A group made up of the descendants of one ancestor, who own inherited land and meet once a year, applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt social club under IRC § 501(c)(7), and the IRS denied it. A § …
IRS disqualifies a self-declared 501(c)(7) immigrant social club that lived on rental income from its building
A social club that served working-class immigrants had treated itself as tax-exempt under IRC § 501(c)(7) without ever getting a determination letter from the IRS ("self-declared" status). On audit, t…
IRS denies 501(c)(4) status to a gated-community homeowners' association whose amenities are walled off from the public
A homeowners' association for a gated residential community applied for tax-exempt status as a social welfare organization under IRC § 501(c)(4). The association maintains private streets, greenbelts,…
IRS revokes 501(c)(3) status of a charity that never actually operated
A nonprofit had received IRS recognition as a § 501(c)(3) public charity, proposing an ambitious slate of programs (peer support and independent-living services, financial literacy for young adults, e…
IRS disqualifies a self-declared 501(c)(7) social club whose bar, banquet-hall rentals, and bingo drew too much public income
A social club, tied to a local fraternal chapter, treated itself as tax-exempt under IRC § 501(c)(7) without ever getting a determination letter from the IRS ("self-declared" status) and filed Forms 9…
IRS revokes a foundation that a trade group used to pay member-only insurance and benefits
A § 501(c)(3) charitable foundation had been set up by a related trade group, a § 501(c)(6) professional membership organization (whose members included owners, trainers, and grooms in a particular li…
A federal tax lien attaches to alimony payments a taxpayer routed through a business-sale contract
This Chief Counsel Advice answers whether a federal tax lien reaches money that a delinquent taxpayer has arranged to be paid to his ex-wife. As part of his divorce (ordered before the tax lien arose)…
IRS grants a corporate parent extra time to make the elections that close its foreign subsidiaries' tax years
A U.S. corporate parent needed to make special elections to avoid an unfavorable result under the dividends-received-deduction rules for foreign subsidiaries (§ 245A and Treas. Reg. § 1.245A-5). When …
IRS grants extra time to make a late section 338(g) election for a foreign stock purchase
When one corporation buys the stock of another, § 338 lets the buyer elect to treat the stock purchase as if it had instead bought the target's assets, which can reset the tax basis of those assets. H…
IRS grants extra time to elect out of tax-exempt-entity status so a housing project keeps its normal depreciation
A tax-exempt § 501(c)(3) housing charity owned a for-profit corporation, and that corporation was part of a partnership structure that built and operates a mixed-income (low-income housing tax credit)…
IRS lets a fund drop mark-to-market treatment of two foreign investments after they started issuing PFIC statements
A U.S. regulated investment company (a RIC, essentially a registered fund) invests in foreign corporations that are "passive foreign investment companies" (PFICs). U.S. owners of PFIC stock generally …
IRS grants a late estate 120 extra days to make a portability election so the surviving spouse can use the decedent's unused exclusion
When someone dies, any part of their federal estate-and-gift tax exclusion they did not use can be transferred to a surviving spouse. This transfer is called a "portability" election, and the estate m…
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.