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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Charity for disabled children's therapies revoked for stonewalling an audit and aiding the founder's family
The IRS revoked a small charity's section 501(c)(3) exemption after it repeatedly failed to respond to an audit and produce financial records. The organization had obtained exemption through the strea…
Charity revoked for running real-estate "bargain sales" instead of education, with inurement to its founder
The IRS revoked a nonprofit's section 501(c)(3) exemption after an examination found it was not operated for charitable or educational purposes. The organization claimed its primary activity was free …
Social club loses 501(c)(7) exemption for too much nonmember income
The IRS revoked the section 501(c)(7) exemption of a social club that runs a clubhouse, swimming pool, and tennis courts, because too much of its income came from nonmembers. A tax-exempt social club …
Adult recreational sports club denied 501(c)(3) exemption
The IRS denied section 501(c)(3) status to a recreational sports group made up of former players of a particular sport who gather about once a week to play. The denial became final because the group d…
Veterans' post loses 501(c)(19) exemption for having too few veteran members
The IRS revoked the tax exemption of a veterans' post that had been recognized as a section 501(c)(19) organization under a national group ruling. To qualify under 501(c)(19), at least 75 percent of a…
Open-source software worker cooperative denied 501(c)(3) exemption
The IRS denied section 501(c)(3) status to a nonprofit worker cooperative whose main activity is developing and distributing open-source software and related educational materials. The denial became f…
Title-holding company loses its 501(c)(2) exemption for leasing property and running a bar
The IRS revoked a corporation's tax exemption as a section 501(c)(2) title-holding company. To qualify under 501(c)(2), an organization must be organized and operated exclusively to hold title to prop…
Partnership granted extra time to file the duplicate copy of its Form 3115 for a depreciation accounting-method change
To change an accounting method under the automatic-consent procedures, a taxpayer must file Form 3115 twice: attach the original to the timely filed tax return, and separately file a duplicate copy wi…
A drug-distribution pharmacy is a "qualified trade or business" for the small business stock gain exclusion, not a health-services business
Section 1202 lets investors exclude much or all of their gain when they sell "qualified small business stock" held more than five years, but only if the company is engaged in a "qualified trade or bus…
Buyer and sellers of an S corporation get extra time to make a late Section 338(h)(10) election treating the stock purchase as an asset sale
A § 338(h)(10) election lets the buyer and sellers of a corporation jointly treat a stock purchase as if the target had sold all its assets and liquidated, which often gives the buyer a stepped-up bas…
Foreign entity granted extra time to make a late check-the-box election to be a disregarded entity
Under the "check-the-box" rules, a single-owner eligible entity can file Form 8832 to elect to be disregarded (treated as part of its owner) instead of being taxed as a corporation. Here a foreign ent…
S corporation's election preserved after an interest was transferred to an ineligible shareholder, because the termination was inadvertent
An S corporation loses its status if an ineligible shareholder ends up owning stock. Here a company's ownership interests were transferred to a person who was an ineligible shareholder (a nonresident …
State pandemic funds applied to customers' overdue utility bills are tax-free disaster relief, so the utilities need not file information returns
During a presidentially declared emergency, a state set up a fund and gave money to regulated electric and gas utilities to wipe out overdue balances (arrearages) on the accounts of eligible, mostly l…
Late portability election granted so a surviving spouse's estate can use the first decedent's unused estate tax exclusion
Portability lets a surviving spouse add their late spouse's unused estate tax exclusion (the DSUE amount) to their own, but only if the deceased spouse's estate makes the election on a timely filed es…
Notices of deficiency can be sent to a Form 8821 designee, and a firm (not just a named individual) can be the designee
Form 8821 (Tax Information Authorization) lets a taxpayer authorize a third party to inspect and receive their confidential tax information. This Chief Counsel advice, written as an email answering tw…
Married couple allowed to make a retroactive QEF election for a foreign fund their tax preparers failed to flag as a PFIC
U.S. investors in a passive foreign investment company (PFIC) face punitive tax rules unless they elect to treat the company as a "qualified electing fund" (QEF), which is normally due with the tax re…
Late portability election granted so a surviving spouse can use the decedent's unused estate tax exclusion
Portability lets a surviving spouse add their late spouse's unused estate tax exclusion (the DSUE amount) to their own, but only if the deceased spouse's estate makes the election on a timely filed es…
A REIT's accounting-method-change income adjustment is not counted against its 95%/75% income tests
To qualify as a real estate investment trust (REIT), a company must earn most of its income from real-estate sources: at least 95% and 75% of gross income must come from the qualifying categories list…
Late portability election granted so a surviving spouse can use the decedent's unused estate tax exclusion
Portability lets a surviving spouse add their late spouse's unused estate tax exclusion (the DSUE amount) to their own, but only if the deceased spouse's estate makes the election on a timely filed es…
Late portability election granted so a surviving spouse can use the decedent's unused estate tax exclusion
Portability lets a surviving spouse add their late spouse's unused estate tax exclusion (the DSUE amount) to their own, but only if the deceased spouse's estate makes the election on a timely filed es…
Estate granted extra time to elect out of automatic GST-exemption allocation for 2010 gifts to grandchildren's trusts
When someone makes a "direct skip" gift (for example, to a grandchild or a trust for grandchildren), the tax law automatically uses up part of the giver's generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exempt…
Foreign entity granted extra time to make a late check-the-box election to be a disregarded entity
Under the "check-the-box" rules, a single-owner eligible entity can file Form 8832 to elect to be disregarded (treated as part of its owner) instead of being taxed as a corporation. Here a foreign ent…
Foreign entity granted extra time to make a late check-the-box election to be a disregarded entity
Under the "check-the-box" rules, an eligible business entity can choose how it is taxed by filing Form 8832: a single-owner entity can elect to be disregarded (treated as part of its owner) rather tha…
Late portability election granted so a surviving spouse can use the decedent's unused estate tax exclusion
Portability lets a surviving spouse add their late spouse's unused estate tax exclusion (the DSUE amount) to their own, but only if the deceased spouse's estate makes the election on a timely filed es…
Buyer and seller of an S corporation get extra time to make a late Section 336(e) election treating the stock sale as an asset sale
A § 336(e) election lets the parties to certain stock sales treat the deal as if the company had sold its assets instead of its stock, which can give the buyer a stepped-up basis in the underlying ass…
Partnership granted extra time to make a late Section 754 basis-adjustment election after a partner's death
When a partner dies (or a partnership interest otherwise transfers), a partnership can make a § 754 election to adjust the basis of its assets so the new owner's inside basis matches what they effecti…
Tax-free split-off of a family-owned S corporation's business into a new company distributed to one family branch
A closely held S corporation owned by two family branches wanted to separate its businesses so one branch could go its own way. It proposed a "split-off": the company would drop part of its assets int…
S corporation's election treated as continuing after grantor trusts lost shareholder eligibility, because the termination was inadvertent
An S corporation can only have certain kinds of shareholders. A grantor trust qualifies while its deemed owner is alive, and it can stay an eligible shareholder for two years after that owner dies, bu…
Late portability election granted so a surviving spouse can use the decedent's unused estate tax exclusion
When someone dies, their estate can elect "portability," which lets the surviving spouse add the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion (the DSUE amount) to their own. That election is made by …
IRS grants advance approval of a foundation's scholarship program for parents and caregivers pursuing post-secondary education
A private foundation runs a scholarship program to help parents and caregivers in a particular area access post-secondary education (2- to 4-year colleges, trade, vocational, and certificate programs)…
IRS grants advance approval of a foundation's first-year college scholarship program for local high school seniors
A private foundation runs a scholarship program helping graduating high school seniors from a specific area with their first-year college expenses. Grants to individuals can trigger an excise tax on a…
IRS grants advance approval of a foundation's trade-school scholarship program for low-income high school seniors
A private foundation runs a scholarship program for graduating high school seniors from low-income households who want to train for a trade rather than attend a traditional college. Grants to individu…
IRS grants advance approval of a foundation's international scholarship program with a youth-mentoring requirement
A private foundation runs a scholarship program funding college, university, and vocational (TVET) study for qualifying students tied to a particular geographic region, with a distinctive "give back" …
Waiving the NOL carryback also waives the 10-year carryback for non-product specified liability losses
Under the version of IRC § 172 in effect before the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, certain "specified liability losses" (SLLs) could be carried back 10 years instead of the ordinary 2 years. SLLs came in…
IRS grants extra time to file the duplicate copy of a Form 3115 accounting-method change
To change an accounting method under the IRS automatic-consent procedures, a taxpayer must file Form 3115 twice: the original with its tax return, and a duplicate copy with the IRS office in Ogden, Ut…
IRS grants extra time for a corporate group to make a late election to file a consolidated return
An affiliated group of corporations can elect to file a single consolidated federal income tax return, but the election must be made by filing that consolidated return by the due date (including exten…
IRS grants extra time for a new consolidated group to elect to waive the loss-carryback period to its former parent's group
When companies leave one consolidated tax group and form or join another, their later net operating losses could normally be carried back to years when they belonged to the old group. A regulation (Tr…
IRS grants extra time to file the statement waiving family attribution so a stock redemption qualifies as a sale
When a corporation buys back (redeems) all of a shareholder's stock, the shareholder generally gets favorable sale-or-exchange treatment only if their interest is completely terminated. But tax rules …
IRS grants a partnership extra time to make a late Section 754 basis-adjustment election
A Section 754 election lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its property when it distributes property or when a partnership interest is transferred, so a partner's inside basis better reflects e…
IRS grants a late estate to make a portability election to preserve a deceased spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion
"Portability" lets a surviving spouse use the unused portion of a deceased spouse's estate-tax exclusion (the DSUE amount), but only if the deceased spouse's estate makes the election on a timely file…
IRS again rules the electric-vehicle credit belongs to the party that buys and leases the cars, not the beneficial-interest holder
This is a companion ruling to PLR 202219006 and 202219007, with the same facts and the same result; here the corporation called Taxpayer submitted the request itself. The Section 30D credit for a new …
IRS again rules the electric-vehicle credit belongs to the party that buys and leases the cars, not the beneficial-interest holder
This is a companion ruling to PLR 202219006, with the same facts and the same result, differing only in which trust submitted the request. The Section 30D credit for a new plug-in electric vehicle goe…
IRS rules the electric-vehicle credit belongs to the party that buys and leases the cars, not the beneficial-interest holder
The Section 30D credit for a new plug-in electric vehicle goes to the taxpayer who is the vehicle's original user and who acquires it for use or lease (not resale). Here, two statutory trusts bought q…
IRS grants relief for an inadvertently invalid S corporation election and QSub election
An S corporation can have only one class of stock, meaning all shares must confer identical rights to distributions and liquidation proceeds. An LLC that had elected S corporation status adopted an op…
IRS grants a lower-tier partnership extra time to make a late Section 754 basis-adjustment election
A Section 754 election lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its property when a partner's interest transfers (including at a partner's death), so the new owner's inside basis matches what they p…
IRS grants extra time for an LLC to file a late election to be taxed as a partnership instead of an S corporation
An LLC first elected to be taxed as an S corporation, effective its date of formation, then was advised to be a partnership instead. It tried to change its classification but, through inadvertence, ne…
IRS lets a consolidated group exclude two deferred intercompany gains from income after internal reorganizations
When members of a consolidated group sell or distribute property to each other, the resulting gain is generally deferred rather than taxed right away, and it comes back into income (a "deferred interc…
IRS grants a late-filing extension to let an LLC self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
To qualify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), an entity must self-certify by filing Form 8996 with a timely filed tax return. An LLC taxed as a partnership, formed to invest in opportunity zone pr…
IRS grants advance approval of a foundation's grant procedures funding vocal study for program alumni
A private foundation makes grants to individual singers who are alumni of its program, funding summer study and young-artist programs (tuition, housing, travel, or private study with a voice teacher o…
IRS grants advance approval of a foundation's scholarship and educational grant procedures
A private foundation runs two programs that pay money to individual students: a scholarship program for graduating high school students, and a broader educational grant program funding things like mus…
IRS grants advance approval of a foundation's procedures for scholarship grants supporting middle and high school students
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, how it will award grants to individual students. The program supports middle and high school students by preparing them for post-secondary ed…
IRS grants advance approval of a private foundation's procedures for awarding medical research grants
A private foundation that wants to make grants to individuals for study or research normally risks an excise tax on those grants unless the IRS approves its grant-making procedures in advance. This fo…
IRS waives the 60-day deadline to roll over a 401(k) and IRA distribution after a serious illness
When you take money out of a 401(k) or an IRA, you normally have 60 days to put it into another retirement account, or the distribution becomes taxable income. A taxpayer here missed that 60-day windo…
Advance approval of a private foundation's grant procedures for an opera-singer training program
A private foundation runs a month-long training and coaching program for young opera singers, providing housing, meals, and coaching from opera-house professionals as they transition from conservatory…
501(c)(3) exemption denied to a legal-profession networking group operated for substantial non-exempt purposes
An organization for members of the legal profession (its members include judges, professors, prosecutors, and private and in-house attorneys) applied for tax-exempt charity status under § 501(c)(3) us…
501(c)(3) exemption denied to an applicant that submitted implausible statements and apparently inauthentic documents
An organization that described itself as a trust engaged in religious and humanitarian activities applied for recognition as a tax-exempt charity under § 501(c)(3). The IRS denied the application. Dur…
A lower-tier partnership gets 120 extra days to make a late § 754 basis-adjustment election
This is a companion ruling to another § 754 relief request on the same facts. A partner in an upper-tier partnership died, and the interest passed to his estate. A § 754 election lets a partnership ad…
An LLC gets 120 extra days to make a late "check-the-box" election to be disregarded
A single-member limited liability company had filed a valid "check-the-box" election (Form 8832) to be taxed as a corporation, effective on its formation date. Its sole owner later decided the company…
A nuclear decommissioning fund transfers tax-free when a shut-down reactor is sold to a decommissioning specialist
An energy company owns a nuclear generating unit that has permanently shut down and is being decommissioned. It maintains a qualified nuclear decommissioning fund (a QDF) under § 468A, a tax-favored t…
A lower-tier partnership gets 120 extra days to make a late § 754 basis-adjustment election
This is a companion ruling to another § 754 relief request on the same facts. A partner in an upper-tier partnership died, and the interest passed to his estate. A § 754 election lets a partnership ad…
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.