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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9100 extension for four foreign entities to make late check-the-box elections to be disregarded (301.7701-3)
Four related foreign entities meant to be treated as "disregarded entities" for US tax purposes, meaning the IRS looks through them to their single owner instead of taxing them separately. To get…
9100 extension to make a late QSub election for a subsidiary (1361(b)(3))
An S corporation (X) owns 100 percent of another corporation (Sub) and wanted to treat Sub as a "qualified subchapter S subsidiary," or QSub. A QSub is ignored as a separate corporation, so its…
9100 extension for a former REIT subsidiary to make a late disregarded-entity election (301.7701-3)
A limited liability company (X) started life as a disregarded entity, then filed Form 8832 to be taxed as a corporation, which made it a Qualified REIT Subsidiary (QRS) of a real estate investment…
Extension under 2642(g) to elect out of automatic GST exemption allocation for annuity-trust transfers
Over five years, a taxpayer set up a series of short-term annuity trusts (trusts that pay the grantor an annuity and then pass any leftover assets on). When each annuity trust ended, its remaining…
Modifying a pre-1985 grandfathered trust without losing GST exemption or triggering gift, estate, or income tax
A family trust was created under the will of someone who died before September 25, 1985. That timing makes the trust "grandfathered" and exempt from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax, so…
Tax-free contribution of already-diversified securities portfolios to an investment-company partnership under 721
When someone contributes property to a partnership in exchange for a partnership interest, section 721 usually lets them do it without paying tax on any built-in gain. There is an exception in…
Advance approval of a foundation's scholarship procedures under § 4945(g)(1)
A private foundation asked the IRS to pre-approve how it will pick students for scholarships. Private foundations normally owe an excise tax when they give grants to individuals for study, unless…
Church integrated auxiliary is not required to file Form 990
Most tax-exempt organizations must file an annual Form 990 information return, but there are exceptions. One exception covers an "integrated auxiliary of a church," a church-affiliated organization…
Advance approval of a memorial scholarship's procedures under § 4945(g)(1)
A private foundation set up a memorial scholarship honoring a specific person and asked the IRS to approve in advance how it will pick recipients. Private foundations owe an excise tax on grants to…
Church integrated auxiliary is not required to file Form 990
Most tax-exempt organizations must file an annual Form 990 information return, but there are exceptions. One exception covers an "integrated auxiliary of a church," a church-affiliated organization…
Advance approval of need-based supplemental educational grant procedures under § 4945(g)(3)
A private foundation that already runs a tuition scholarship program asked the IRS to pre-approve a new grant program that gives its scholarship recipients supplemental, need-based help so they can…
Church integrated auxiliary is not required to file Form 990
Most tax-exempt organizations must file an annual Form 990 information return, but there are exceptions. One exception covers an "integrated auxiliary of a church," a church-affiliated organization…
Hunting retriever dog club denied 501(c)(3) exemption as a recreational group
A hunting retriever dog club applied for 501(c)(3) charity status using the short Form 1023-EZ, and the IRS turned it down. The club holds training days a few times a year and one or two hunting…
Nonprofit record label denied 501(c)(3) exemption for commercial, private-benefit operations
A nonprofit that operates like a record label applied for 501(c)(3) charity status on Form 1023, saying its mission is to support musicians with fair, transparent recording contracts and to give the…
9100 relief to make a late check-the-box election to be taxed as a corporation
An entity meant to be taxed as a corporation, but it missed the deadline to file the paperwork. The entity started as a corporation under state law, later converted to an LLC, and intended to keep…
Late S-corporation election and late QSub election relief
An LLC wanted to be taxed as an S corporation, and it wanted a subsidiary LLC treated as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary (a "QSub," a wholly-owned corporation folded into the parent's tax…
Tax-free split-off of a new controlled corporation under 355 and 368(a)(1)(D)
A closely held S corporation owned by related family members wants to divide its business between two owners. It will drop part of its assets into a newly formed subsidiary ("Controlled"), then hand…
9100 relief for a late self-certification as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
A fund was set up to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), the kind of vehicle that lets investors defer capital-gains tax by investing in low-income "opportunity zones." To become a QOF, the…
9100 relief for a late section 754 partnership basis-adjustment election
A partnership (an LLC taxed as a partnership) forgot to make a Section 754 election. That election lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its assets when a partner's interest changes hands or…
Surviving spouse may roll over an IRA that passed through the estate and trust into her own IRA
When someone dies with a traditional IRA, a surviving spouse can usually take the money and roll it into their own IRA, keeping it tax-deferred. That is easy when the spouse is the named…
Indexed structured-settlement annuity payments are fixed and determinable, so the annuity is a qualified funding asset under 130
When someone is injured and settles a personal-injury claim, the defendant can hand off its obligation to make future payments to an assignment company, which funds those payments by buying an…
Indexed structured-settlement annuity payments are fixed and determinable, so the annuity is a qualified funding asset under 130
This is a companion ruling to a nearly identical letter issued to the same insurance group, covering a proposed indexed structured-settlement annuity. When a personal-injury claim is settled with…
Advance approval of a foundation's educational grant (student-debt) procedures under 4945(g)(3)
A private foundation runs a program that pays down the student-loan debt of optometrists who work in underserved areas, provide free care, and treat many Medicaid patients. Private foundations…
Advance approval of a foundation's paid engineering-internship grant procedures under 4945(g)(3)
A private foundation runs a paid summer internship program for engineering students, placing them with small construction and engineering firms for on-the- job training. Because private foundations…
Advance approval of an employer-related scholarship program under 4945(g)(1)
A private foundation runs a scholarship program for the employees of a related company and their dependents, and it asked the IRS to bless its selection procedures in advance. The IRS approved them.…
Governmental affiliate excused from filing Form 990
A tax-exempt organization asked the IRS to be excused from filing Form 990, the annual information return. The IRS agreed. Under IRC § 6033(a)(3)(B), the IRS has discretion to relieve certain exempt…
501(c)(3) exemption denied to a member bereavement-aid group
A membership group applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt charity under IRC § 501(c)(3), and the IRS said no. The group collects donations and membership fees, then pays that money out to its own…
501(c)(3) exemption denied to a low-income residential-solar operator
An organization installs, owns, and operates rooftop solar systems on the homes of low-income households, then charges those households for the electricity (through power-purchase agreements or…
9100 extension to make a late estate-tax portability election under 2010(c)(5)(A)
When one spouse dies, the survivor can inherit any unused portion of the deceased spouse's estate-tax exemption, the "deceased spousal unused exclusion" (DSUE). But that only happens if the deceased…
9100 extension to make a late election to file a consolidated return (1.1502-75)
A corporate parent and its affiliated group of subsidiaries were eligible to file one combined ("consolidated") federal income tax return for a given year, but they missed the deadline to make that…
9100 extension to file a late section 336(e) election on an S-corp stock sale
Buyers acquired more than 80% of the stock of an S corporation from its shareholders. The parties wanted the deal treated for tax purposes as a sale of the company's assets rather than its stock,…
Indexed structured-settlement annuity is fixed and determinable and a qualified funding asset (130)
When someone settles a personal-injury claim for a stream of future payments (a "structured settlement"), the defendant usually hands off its payment obligation to an assignment company, which funds…
Advance approval of a foundation's scholarship (4945(g)(1)) and educational-grant (4945(g)(3)) procedures
A private foundation runs two award programs and asked the IRS to approve both in advance. The first is a scholarship program for students at accredited colleges and universities, approved under IRC…
Advance approval of a foundation's undergraduate scholarship procedures under 4945(g)(1)
A private foundation runs a named scholarship program for undergraduates pursuing a degree in a particular field of study, and it asked the IRS to approve its award procedures in advance. The IRS…
Advance approval of a foundation's scholarship procedures for graduates of a specific school (4945(g)(1))
A private foundation runs a scholarship program for high school students and graduates of a particular school within a specific school district, to help them pursue post-secondary education. It…
Advance approval of grant procedures funding teachers' advanced degrees (4945(g)(1) and (g)(3))
A private foundation runs a grant program that helps teachers at religious day schools in a particular region pursue advanced degrees and certificates. It asked the IRS to approve its award…
Assisted-living nursing professional association denied 501(c)(3) status for serving members' private interests
A membership organization for nurses who work in assisted living applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt charity under IRC § 501(c)(3). It was already exempt as a business league under § 501(c)(6).…
120-day extension to make a late check-the-box election for a foreign entity to be disregarded
A foreign business entity wanted to be treated for US tax purposes as "disregarded," meaning its single owner reports its income directly instead of the entity being taxed as a separate corporation.…
Late S corporation election allowed for reasonable cause under 1362(b)(5)
A corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation (where profits and losses pass through to the shareholders instead of being taxed at the corporate level) starting from a specific date. To…
IRS revokes a 2019 investment-tax-credit ruling, but only going forward
In 2019 the IRS issued a private letter ruling (PLR 201949002) to a taxpayer about getting additional § 48 investment tax credits from a change in accounting method. In this new letter the IRS…
Inadvertent S corporation termination excused after a trust missed its ESBT election
An S corporation's stock was transferred from one trust to a second trust. To stay an eligible S corporation shareholder, the second trust had to file an "electing small business trust" (ESBT)…
Extension granted to make a late section 336(e) election on an S corporation stock sale
An individual bought all the stock of an S corporation from its shareholder. The buyer and seller wanted to treat that stock sale as if the company had sold its assets, using a section 336(e)…
120-day extension to make a late section 754 election after a partner died
A limited partnership had a partner die. When a partnership interest transfers (including at death), a section 754 election lets the partnership adjust the tax basis of its property so the new…
45-day extension to file the original Form 3115 for a 263A accounting method change
A partnership hired a CPA to change how it capitalizes costs on self-constructed assets under IRC § 263A, using the IRS automatic-consent process for accounting method changes. That process requires…
IRS consents to an early re-election of S corporation status after a change of ownership
A corporation had been an S corporation, but its S election terminated. Normally, once an S election ends, the company cannot elect S status again for five years unless the IRS consents. After the…
120-day extension to make a late check-the-box election to be taxed as a corporation
A domestic limited liability company wanted to be taxed as a corporation for federal tax purposes. To do that, it had to file Form 8832 (the check-the-box election), but it never filed it. Without…
120-day extension to make QTIP and reverse-QTIP elections after an accountant's Schedule M error
When a spouse dies leaving property in a marital trust, the estate can elect "qualified terminable interest property" (QTIP) treatment under § 2056(b)(7) so the property qualifies for the estate-tax…
Modifying a grandfathered 1985 trust into lifetime issue trusts keeps GST-exempt status with no estate or gift tax
An irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985 is "grandfathered" from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax, a valuable status that careless changes can destroy. Here the grantor, the…
Companion ruling: modifying a grandfathered 1985 trust into lifetime issue trusts keeps GST-exempt status with no estate or gift tax
This is a companion ruling to a sibling trust in the same family (the facts and analysis mirror the related ruling, with a different IRS control number). An irrevocable trust created before…
Modifying a grandfathered pre-1985 trust into lifetime issue trusts keeps GST-exempt status, with no estate or gift tax
An irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985 is "grandfathered" from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax, a valuable status that poorly designed changes can destroy. Here the…
Modifying a grandfathered pre-1985 trust into lifetime issue trusts keeps GST-exempt status, with no estate or gift tax
An irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985 is "grandfathered" from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax, a valuable status that poorly designed changes can destroy. Here the…
Modifying a grandfathered pre-1985 trust into lifetime issue trusts keeps GST-exempt status, with no estate or gift tax
An irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985 is "grandfathered" from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax, a valuable status that poorly designed changes can destroy. Here the…
Modifying a grandfathered pre-1985 trust into lifetime issue trusts keeps GST-exempt status, with no estate or gift tax
An irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985 is "grandfathered" from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax, a valuable status that poorly designed changes can destroy. Here the…
Inadvertent S-corp termination relief for a missed QSST election and two missed ESBT elections
An S corporation can only have certain kinds of shareholders. If ineligible shares end up in a trust that has not made the right election, the company's S election silently terminates, which can be…
Inadvertent S-corp termination relief for a trust that missed its ESBT election after receiving shares
An S corporation loses its special tax status the moment an ineligible shareholder holds its stock. Here the company's stock moved from one trust ("Trust 1"), which was a valid electing small…
Advance approval of a private foundation's two county scholarship programs under 4945(g)(1)
A private foundation asked the IRS to pre-approve the way it picks scholarship winners. Foundations need this sign-off because IRC § 4945 taxes "taxable expenditures," and a grant to an individual…
Advance approval of an employer-related scholarship program under 4945(g)(1) using the facts-and-circumstances test
A private foundation asked the IRS to pre-approve a scholarship program for the children of a particular company's employees. These "employer-related" scholarships get extra scrutiny because they…
Advance approval of a private foundation's scholarship program for young women under 4945(g)(1)
A private foundation asked the IRS to pre-approve how it selects scholarship winners. Foundations need this approval because IRC § 4945 taxes "taxable expenditures," and a grant to an individual for…
Advance approval of a private foundation's scholarship program for members of an affiliated entity under 4945(g)(1)
A private foundation asked the IRS to pre-approve how it selects scholarship winners. Foundations need this approval because IRC § 4945 taxes "taxable expenditures," and a grant to an individual for…
Home-heating-fuel buying group denied 501(c)(4) status for serving fee-paying members over the community
A nonprofit formed to negotiate lower home-heating-fuel prices (oil, kerosene, propane) for residents of certain counties applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt social welfare organization under…
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.