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 a different search term or clear the filters.
IRS grants a partnership 120 days to make a late § 754 election tied to an intended transfer
An LLC taxed as a partnership meant to make a Section 754 election when two members transferred part of their interests in a multi-step deal, and the deal documents said the parties intended that elec…
IRS grants late relief for a de minimis safe harbor election after a missed COVID-era extension
A corporate parent that files a consolidated return wanted to make the de minimis safe harbor election under Treas. Reg. Section 1.263(a)-1(f), which lets a business deduct rather than capitalize smal…
IRS grants a consolidated group late relief to file a Form 3115 after a missed COVID-era extension
A corporate parent that files a consolidated return wanted to change its accounting method under Section 451(b) by attaching Form 3115 to a timely filed return under the automatic-change procedures of…
IRS grants 60 more days to file a late Form 3115 for a foreign subsidiary's accounting-method change
A consolidated group's parent wanted to change the functional currency of a controlled foreign corporation's foreign business unit, an accounting-method change made by attaching Form 3115 to a timely …
IRS treats an ineffective QSub election as inadvertent and validates it
An S corporation tried to treat a subsidiary as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary (a QSub, which is ignored as a separate corporation for tax purposes), but the election was ineffective because the …
IRS treats an LLC's back-to-back second-class-of-stock terminations as inadvertent
An LLC that had elected to be taxed as an S corporation lost its S status because a series of operating agreements gave its members different rights to distributions and liquidation proceeds, which co…
IRS treats an S corporation's second-class-of-stock termination as inadvertent
An S corporation accidentally blew its S election by creating a second class of stock, then asked the IRS to forgive the slip. To keep S status, a corporation may have only one class of stock, meaning…
IRS grants a partnership 120 days to make a late § 754 basis-adjustment election
A partnership missed a Section 754 election and asked the IRS for permission to make it late. A Section 754 election lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its property when a partner dies or a pa…
IRS approves a foundation's post-doctoral fellowship grant procedures under § 4945(g)(3)
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the procedures for a post-doctoral research fellowship program it will run. Private foundations normally owe an excise tax on grants to indiv…
IRS approves a foundation's educational grant procedures under § 4945(g)(3)
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the procedures for an educational grant program it will run. Private foundations normally owe an excise tax on grants to individuals for stud…
IRS approves a foundation's merit-based scholarship procedures under § 4945(g)(1)
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the procedures it will use to award scholarships. Private foundations normally owe an excise tax on grants to individuals for study, but Sect…
IRS approves a foundation's employer-related scholarship procedures
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the procedures for an employer-related scholarship program it will run. Private foundations normally owe an excise tax on grants to individua…
IRS approves a foundation's procedures for sabbatical and summer research grants to scholars
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, how it will award research grants to individuals. Private foundations normally owe an excise tax on grants to individuals for study or simila…
IRS denies § 501(c)(6) business-league status to an angel-investor network
An invitation-only angel-investor network applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt business league under Section 501(c)(6), and the IRS said no. The group recruits accredited investors as members, scr…
IRS denies § 501(c)(3) status to a commercial design business
A one-person organization applied for recognition as a charity under Section 501(c)(3), and the IRS said no. Its main activity was creating designs for clients' homes for a per-client fee (based on th…
IRS denies § 501(c)(4) status to a group running an IRC 105-plan loan and "Social Security solvency" scheme
An organization applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt social welfare organization under Section 501(c)(4), and the IRS said no. The group had a two-part plan. First, it would lend money to employee…
120-day extension for a partnership to make a late § 754 basis-adjustment election
A limited partnership wanted to make a § 754 election, which lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its property when a partnership interest changes hands (here, when the sole beneficiary of a gra…
120-day extension to make a late estate-tax portability election
An estate wanted to transfer a deceased spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion (the DSUE amount) to the surviving spouse through a "portability" election, which is made on a timely filed estate tax retu…
120-day extension to make a late estate-tax portability election
An estate wanted to transfer a deceased spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion (the DSUE amount) to the surviving spouse through a "portability" election, which is made on a timely filed estate tax retu…
120-day extension for an LLC to file a late Form 8832 electing corporate (association) status
A single-member limited liability company wanted to be taxed as an association (that is, a corporation) for federal tax purposes as of a chosen effective date. Under the "check-the-box" rules, it make…
Surviving spouse may roll a deceased spouse's estate-payable IRA into her own IRA
A person died owning a traditional IRA that named no living beneficiary, so the custodian treated the decedent's estate as the beneficiary and moved the money into a beneficiary IRA in the estate's na…
Consent to revoke a captive insurer's § 831(b) small-company election
A small captive insurance company (a foreign captive that had elected to be treated as a U.S. company under § 953(d)) had elected under § 831(b) to be taxed only on its investment income rather than o…
120-day extension to make a late estate-tax portability election
An estate wanted to transfer a deceased spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion (the DSUE amount) to the surviving spouse through a "portability" election. That election is made on a timely filed estate …
Extension to file the original Form 3115 for an accounting-method change treated as timely
A corporate parent filing a consolidated return wanted to change how its group depreciates certain qualified improvement property under § 168, an automatic accounting-method change. Under the automati…
Rural telephone cooperative's gain on sale of a broadband partnership is patronage-sourced income
A rural telephone cooperative (now taxable, because it no longer meets the 85% member-income test for exemption under § 501(c)(12)) had invested through a subsidiary in a partnership that built and ra…
120-day extension for a foreign entity to file a late Form 8832 electing partnership status
A foreign business entity wanted to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal tax purposes. Under the "check-the-box" rules, an eligible entity makes that choice by filing Form 8832, but this entit…
120-day extension to make a late estate-tax portability election
When someone dies, their estate can "port" (transfer) the deceased spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion to the surviving spouse, but only by filing a timely estate tax return (Form 706) that makes the…
Late self-certification as a Qualified Opportunity Fund is treated as timely
A limited liability company (taxed as a partnership) was set up to invest in a qualified opportunity zone. To get the tax benefits, it had to "self-certify" as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) by fi…
IRS approves a private foundation's contingent set-aside for grant funds frozen by a court order
A private foundation must pay out a minimum amount each year for charitable purposes or face an excise tax on its undistributed income under Section 4942. Here a court order arising from litigation di…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a soccer team's independent supporters' club
A membership group applied for tax-exempt charity status under 501(c)(3), describing itself as an independent supporters' group for a soccer team (referred to as C). Its activities center on the team:…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status because the applicant never documented what it actually does
An organization applied for tax-exempt charity status under 501(c)(3) using the short Form 1023-EZ, describing its mission as serving "religious and funeral purposes." The Form 1023-EZ is mostly a set…
IRS denies 501(c)(7) social-club status to a corporation running a seasonal trailer park
A corporation applied for tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(7) social club. It owns and operates a seasonal trailer park in which each mobile-home site corresponds to a share of the company's stock, so on…
IRS denies 501(c)(6) business-league status to a single-vendor customer user group
An organization applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt "business league" under 501(c)(6). It operates as the customer and user community for the products of one for-profit technology company (referr…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a health care sharing ministry that operates like a commercial insurance business
A startup applied for recognition as a tax-exempt charity under 501(c)(3) so it could run a "health care sharing ministry," a program where members pay a monthly "share" into a common resource that he…
9100-3 extension to make a late portability (DSUE) election for a small estate
A surviving spouse can inherit a late spouse's unused federal estate-tax exclusion (the "DSUE" amount), but only if the deceased spouse's estate makes a "portability" election on a timely filed estate…
9100-3 extension to self-certify a late qualified opportunity fund (Form 8996) election
A newly formed LLC taxed as a partnership was set up to be a qualified opportunity fund (QOF), which requires self-certifying each year by filing Form 8996 with a timely partnership return. The taxpay…
9100-3 extension to make a late portability (DSUE) election for a small estate
A surviving spouse can inherit a late spouse's unused federal estate-tax exclusion (the "DSUE" amount), but only if the deceased spouse's estate makes a "portability" election on a timely filed estate…
9100-3 extension to make a late portability (DSUE) election for a small estate
A surviving spouse can inherit a late spouse's unused federal estate-tax exclusion (the "DSUE" amount), but only if the deceased spouse's estate makes a "portability" election on a timely filed estate…
9100-3 extension to make a late portability (DSUE) election for a small estate
A surviving spouse can inherit a late spouse's unused federal estate-tax exclusion (the "DSUE" amount), but only if the deceased spouse's estate makes a "portability" election on a timely filed estate…
A REIT's section 481(a) accounting-method-change adjustment is excluded from the REIT gross-income tests
A company that plans to elect to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT) changed one of its accounting methods, capitalizing certain administrative and service costs tied to its properties i…
9100-3 extension to make a late portability (DSUE) election for a small estate
A surviving spouse can inherit a late spouse's unused federal estate-tax exclusion (the "DSUE" amount), but only if the deceased spouse's estate makes a "portability" election on a timely filed estate…
How the depreciation normalization proration formula applies to a utility's two-part projected transmission rate base
A regulated electric utility sets its wholesale transmission rates using a formula that projects a yearly revenue requirement and then trues it up to actual results in the next cycle. The projected re…
9100-3 extension to make a late portability (DSUE) election for a small estate
A surviving spouse can inherit a late spouse's unused federal estate-tax exclusion (the "DSUE" amount), but only if the deceased spouse's estate makes a "portability" election on a timely filed estate…
IRS approves a private foundation's contingent set-aside for funds a court order barred it from distributing
A private foundation must pay out a minimum amount each year or face an excise tax on the money it holds back (Section 4942). Here the foundation could not make some of its required distributions beca…
IRS rules a family-owned company's split-off to one of its three owner families is a tax-free D reorganization
A company owned equally by three families wants to separate part of its business and give it to one of those families, letting that family exit as owners of the parent. The company will form a new sub…
IRS rules non-voting preferred stock in a buyout vehicle is "plain vanilla" preferred that does not break affiliation under Section 1504(a)(4)
A corporate parent that files a consolidated tax return set up a new subsidiary to buy a public company in an all-cash merger. To fund the deal, the subsidiary took on debt and also raised equity from…
IRS grants a REIT 90 days to make a late taxable-REIT-subsidiary election after a mix-up over who would file Form 8875
A real estate investment trust (REIT) and its wholly owned subsidiary asked the IRS for extra time to jointly elect, under Section 856(l), to treat the subsidiary as a "taxable REIT subsidiary" (TRS).…
IRS grants an S corporation 120 days to make a late QSub election for its wholly owned subsidiary
An S corporation asked the IRS for extra time to elect to treat its wholly owned subsidiary as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub). A QSub election lets the parent treat the subsidiary as part …
IRS grants a partnership 45 days to make a late Opportunity Zone gain-deferral election after its CPA missed the investor filing
A real estate investment LLC (taxed as a partnership) asked the IRS for extra time to make an Opportunity Zone election. Section 1400Z-2 lets a taxpayer defer capital gain by reinvesting it in a quali…
IRS rules a utility may not fold cost-of-removal into the formula that returns excess deferred taxes to ratepayers after the TCJA rate cut
A regulated electric and gas utility asked the IRS a normalization question created by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. When the corporate tax rate dropped from 35% to 21%, utilities ended up holding "…
IRS grants a partnership 120 days to make a late Section 754 basis-adjustment election after a partner's death
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership asked the IRS for extra time to make a Section 754 election. That election lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its property when a partner's i…
IRS rules a REIT's "coverage product" fee (a limited waiver of the landlord's liability shield) is rents from real property
A company that plans to elect real estate investment trust (REIT) status asked the IRS whether a particular monthly fee it collects from tenants counts as "rents from real property." REITs must earn m…
IRS waives a pension plan's minimum funding requirement for one year on COVID-19 hardship, with PBGC collateral and contribution conditions
An employer that sponsors a defined-benefit pension plan asked the IRS to waive the plan's minimum funding requirement for one plan year. Tax law lets the IRS grant this waiver when the employer faces…
IRS approves a foundation's grant procedures for funding tenured professors' interdisciplinary research
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the way it plans to award grants to individuals. Private foundations normally owe an excise tax on grants to individuals for study or similar…
IRS approves a foundation's grant procedures for a game-design stipend program
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the way it plans to award grants to individuals. Private foundations normally owe an excise tax on grants to individuals for study or similar…
IRS approves a foundation's scholarship procedures for students at historically black colleges
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the way it plans to award scholarships. Private foundations normally owe an excise tax on grants to individuals for study, but Section 4945(g…
Accountable care organization denied Section 501(c)(4) status
An accountable care organization owned by a Section 501(c)(3) health system asked to be recognized as a Section 501(c)(4) social-welfare organization. It coordinated patient care under the federal Med…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a cannabis-sacrament church because its worship uses a federally illegal drug
A group applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt church under 501(c)(3). Its stated purpose is to advance a religion whose worship treats consecrated cannabis as a sacrament, comparable to how the Rom…
IRS consents to a captive insurer revoking its small-insurance-company (Section 831(b)) election
A small property-and-casualty ("non-life") insurance company can elect under Section 831(b) to be taxed only on its investment income rather than on its underwriting income. Once made, that election c…
Interests in a mortgage-backed investment fund count as obligations "in registered form"
Under Section 163(f), interest on certain debt obligations is only deductible if the obligation is "in registered form," meaning ownership is tracked through the issuer or a book-entry system rather t…
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.