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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IRS denies a six-year-late election to exclude discharged real-property business debt as based on hindsight
Section 108(c)(3)(C) lets a non-corporate taxpayer elect to exclude from income the cancellation of "qualified real property business indebtedness," in exchange for reducing the basis of depreciable…
Late relief for a fund to self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund on Form 8996
A Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) is an investment vehicle that lets investors defer and reduce tax on capital gains reinvested in designated low-income "opportunity zones" under § 1400Z-2. To…
Late relief for a fund to self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund on Form 8996
A Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) is an investment vehicle that lets investors defer and reduce tax on capital gains reinvested in designated low-income "opportunity zones" under § 1400Z-2. To…
Late relief to elect out of the automatic allocation of GST exemption to a trust transfer
The generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax comes with a lifetime exemption, and to keep taxpayers from accidentally wasting it, the law automatically allocates GST exemption to certain "indirect…
Inadvertent invalid S corporation election fixed where the wrong spouse signed the consent
To be an S corporation, a company must file Form 2553 and every shareholder must consent to the election. Here, the company was wholly owned by one spouse (Spouse A), but on the Form 2553 the other…
Ground improvements financed with tax-increment bonds do not create private business use
Interest on state and local bonds is generally tax-exempt, but not if the bonds are "private activity bonds," which happens when more than 10% of the proceeds are used in a private trade or business…
Ground improvements financed with tax-increment bonds do not create private business use
Interest on state and local bonds is generally tax-exempt, but not if the bonds are "private activity bonds," which happens when more than 10% of the proceeds are used in a private trade or business…
IRS lets a trust revoke its election to treat dividends and capital gain as investment income
A trust files Form 1041 and, on the advice of its tax preparer, elected under section 163(d)(4)(B) to treat qualified dividend income and net capital gain as "investment income." That election…
S corporation status restored after trusts missed their ESBT elections
A small business corporation elected S corporation status. Later, two shareholders transferred their shares into two trusts. Those trusts could have qualified to hold S corporation stock as Electing…
Extra time granted to elect taxable-REIT-subsidiary status after a missing signature
A real estate investment trust (REIT) and one of its corporate subsidiaries wanted to jointly elect, on Form 8875, to treat the subsidiary as a taxable REIT subsidiary (TRS). A TRS election lets a…
Extra time granted to elect taxable-REIT-subsidiary status after a missing signature
A real estate investment trust (REIT) and one of its corporate subsidiaries wanted to jointly elect, on Form 8875, to treat the subsidiary as a taxable REIT subsidiary (TRS). A TRS election lets a…
Extra time granted to elect taxable-REIT-subsidiary status after a missing signature
A real estate investment trust (REIT) and one of its corporate subsidiaries wanted to jointly elect, on Form 8875, to treat the subsidiary as a taxable REIT subsidiary (TRS). A TRS election lets a…
Extra time granted to elect taxable-REIT-subsidiary status after a missing signature
A real estate investment trust (REIT) and one of its corporate subsidiaries wanted to jointly elect, on Form 8875, to treat the subsidiary as a taxable REIT subsidiary (TRS). A TRS election lets a…
Extra time granted to elect taxable-REIT-subsidiary status after a missing signature
A real estate investment trust (REIT) and one of its corporate subsidiaries wanted to jointly elect, on Form 8875, to treat the subsidiary as a taxable REIT subsidiary (TRS). A TRS election lets a…
Extra time granted to elect taxable-REIT-subsidiary status after a missing signature
A real estate investment trust (REIT) and one of its corporate subsidiaries wanted to jointly elect, on Form 8875, to treat the subsidiary as a taxable REIT subsidiary (TRS). A TRS election lets a…
Extra time granted to elect taxable-REIT-subsidiary status after a missing signature
A real estate investment trust (REIT) and one of its corporate subsidiaries wanted to jointly elect, on Form 8875, to treat the subsidiary as a taxable REIT subsidiary (TRS). A TRS election lets a…
Extra time granted to elect taxable-REIT-subsidiary status after a missing signature
A real estate investment trust (REIT) and one of its corporate subsidiaries wanted to jointly elect, on Form 8875, to treat the subsidiary as a taxable REIT subsidiary (TRS). A TRS election lets a…
Extra time granted to elect taxable-REIT-subsidiary status for two subsidiaries after a missing signature
A real estate investment trust (REIT) wanted to jointly elect, on Form 8875, to treat two of its corporate subsidiaries as taxable REIT subsidiaries (TRSs). A TRS election lets a REIT run activities…
Extra time granted to elect taxable-REIT-subsidiary status for two subsidiaries after a missing signature
A real estate investment trust (REIT) wanted to jointly elect, on Form 8875, to treat two of its corporate subsidiaries as taxable REIT subsidiaries (TRSs). A TRS election lets a REIT run activities…
Extra time granted to elect taxable-REIT-subsidiary status for two subsidiaries after a missing signature
A real estate investment trust (REIT) wanted to jointly elect, on Form 8875, to treat two of its corporate subsidiaries as taxable REIT subsidiaries (TRSs). A TRS election lets a REIT run activities…
A utility's market-rate solar project is not "public utility property," so normalization rules do not apply
A regulated electric utility planned to develop a solar facility and hold it through a partnership with an unrelated investor. The partnership would sell the solar power into the wholesale market at…
IRS partially revokes an old REIT-rent ruling, but only going forward
A REIT collects rent under a master lease and other leases whose annual rent increases (called Escalation and Other Adjustments) are capped by a formula tied to the tenant's "Adjusted Revenue," a…
Scholarship program procedures approved
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, how it will award scholarships under its program. The program provides financial help to underserved young adults in a particular area who…
No lien release for a shelter promoter because the section 6707 penalties were validly approved
A promoter of a "Son-of-BOSS" tax shelter had been hit with penalties under section 6707 for failing to disclose the shelter, and federal tax liens secured those penalties. The promoter asked the…
A property-leasing matchmaker website performs "brokerage services," so its stock is not QSBS
An investor sold stock in a company that runs a website matching people who want to lease facilities with owners who list them. The owners pay the company a recurring listing fee plus a commission…
Extra time granted to elect foreign-partnership treatment for a joint-venture subsidiary
A U.S. partnership formed a foreign limited liability company as a joint venture with another party. Because every member of that foreign company had limited liability, the "check-the-box" default…
Estate gets more time to make a portability election for the surviving spouse
When one spouse dies without using all of their federal estate-and-gift tax exemption, the estate can make a "portability" election that lets the surviving spouse use the leftover amount, called the…
Estate gets more time to make a portability election for the surviving spouse
When one spouse dies without using all of their federal estate-and-gift tax exemption, the estate can make a "portability" election that lets the surviving spouse use the leftover amount, called the…
A donated art collection and donor name recognition are not self-dealing, and the art is exempt from the foundation payout base
A private foundation is set to receive a valuable art collection from a trust created by one of its directors, along with cash to pay for curation and gallery space. That director, his son (also a…
Extra time granted to self-certify as a qualified opportunity fund after a missed Form 8996
A limited partnership was set up to invest in a qualified opportunity zone and bought real estate there. To get the tax benefits of a qualified opportunity fund (QOF), it had to self-certify by…
A botched QSub election is treated as inadvertent, so subsidiary status is preserved
An S corporation's sole owner reorganized the business by contributing that company (Sub) to a new holding corporation (X) in a tax-free "F reorganization," so X became the successor S corporation…
Section 956 anti-abuse rule reaches cash repatriated through a chain of intercompany deposits, loans, and note repayments
A U.S. parent company wanted to bring offshore cash held by two lower-taxed foreign subsidiaries (CFC5 and CFC7) back to the United States. Lending that cash straight to the U.S. parent would have…
Late portability (DSUE) election allowed under 9100 relief
When one spouse dies without using all of their federal estate-tax exclusion, the surviving spouse can inherit the leftover amount (the "deceased spousal unused exclusion," or DSUE) only if the…
Late portability (DSUE) election allowed under 9100 relief
When one spouse dies without using all of their federal estate-tax exclusion, the surviving spouse can inherit the leftover amount (the "deceased spousal unused exclusion," or DSUE) only if the…
Late section 362(e)(2)(C) basis-election statement allowed under 9100 relief
When property is transferred to a corporation in a tax-free § 351 exchange and the property's tax basis is higher than its value, § 362(e)(2) normally forces the receiving corporation to reduce its…
Bankruptcy claims trusts are qualified settlement funds; operating subsidiary deducts settlement funding and recognizes no gain on transferring parent stock
A regulated operating company and its holding-company parent went through Chapter 11 bankruptcy because of massive damage claims tied to their failure to maintain their property. Under the confirmed…
Late portability (DSUE) election allowed under 9100 relief
When one spouse dies without using all of their federal estate-tax exclusion, the surviving spouse can inherit the leftover amount (the "deceased spousal unused exclusion," or DSUE) only if the…
Late qualified-opportunity-fund self-certification (Form 8996) allowed under 9100 relief
An LLC taxed as a partnership was set up to be a qualified opportunity fund (QOF), a vehicle that lets investors defer and reduce tax on capital gains they reinvest in economically distressed…
Late section 853 foreign-tax pass-through election by a liquidated fund allowed under 9100 relief
A mutual fund (a regulated investment company, or RIC) that holds mostly foreign stocks can elect under § 853 to pass the foreign taxes it pays through to its shareholders, who then claim the…
Engineered low-salinity waterflood is a qualified tertiary recovery method for the enhanced oil recovery credit; pre-injection costs allowed on amended returns
Section 43 gives oil producers a credit for costs of a "qualified enhanced oil recovery project," but only if the project uses a "qualified tertiary recovery method." Ordinary waterflooding…
Inadvertent S-corporation termination from partnership-style operating agreements excused under 1362(f)
An S corporation is allowed only one class of stock, meaning all shares must confer identical rights to distributions and liquidation proceeds. Here an LLC that had elected to be taxed as an S…
Late portability (DSUE) election allowed under 9100 relief
When one spouse dies without using all of their federal estate-tax exclusion, the surviving spouse can inherit the leftover amount (the "deceased spousal unused exclusion," or DSUE) only if the…
Pre-IPO restructuring qualifies on key D-reorganization issues, including a check-the-box deemed liquidation as the required distribution
A family-owned foreign holding company held most of the stock of an operating company that was preparing for an initial public offering. To set an appropriate share value for the IPO and satisfy…
Consent granted to make retroactive QEF elections for foreign investments the taxpayers' accountants never flagged as PFICs
U.S. investors in a passive foreign investment company (PFIC) face a punitive tax regime unless they elect to treat it as a "qualified electing fund" (QEF) and pay tax on their share of its income…
Final adverse determination denying 501(c)(3) exemption to an off-highway-vehicle recreation club
An off-highway-vehicle (OHV) club applied for recognition as a tax-exempt charity under § 501(c)(3), using the streamlined Form 1023-EZ. The IRS denied it. To qualify, an organization must pass both…
Advance approval of a private foundation's creator-grant program under 4945(g)(3)
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the procedures for a grant program that funds individual creators (podcasters, filmmakers, writers, musicians, artists, journalists, and…
Late check-the-box election to be a disregarded entity allowed under 9100 relief
A foreign business entity with a single owner can choose, using a "check-the-box" election on Form 8832, to be treated as a disregarded entity (ignored for U.S. tax, so its income flows straight to…
How long the IRS has to assess tax after the section 7507 insolvent-bank bar lifts
Section 7507(a) can bar the IRS from assessing tax against a bank while the bank is insolvent. This Chief Counsel Advice answers how much time the IRS has to assess once that bar lifts. The answer…
Follow-up confirming a standard Form 872-H and Form 56 suffice for a sub-trust, with no special-trustee signature
This short Chief Counsel email follows up on advice about extending the assessment limitations period for a retirement trust that has a sub-trust. It clarifies that the Form 872-H (consent to extend…
Use a standard Form 872-H and Form 56 signed by the Form 5500 signatories to extend a trust's limitations period
This short Chief Counsel email advises how to extend the assessment limitations period for retirement trusts (including sub-trusts). The recommended approach is to use the standard Form 872-H…
A delinquent estate-tax return likely does not start the assessment clock until the correct service center receives it
This Chief Counsel email addresses when the three-year assessment clock starts for a late-filed estate tax return (Form 706) that an estate mailed to the wrong IRS location instead of the designated…
Employer cannot get a later-year refund of over-withheld income tax it paid on a tax-equalized foreign-assignment employee's behalf
Companies that send U.S. employees abroad often use "tax equalization," reducing the employee's salary by a hypothetical U.S. tax and then paying all the employee's actual taxes for them, so the…
Late qualified-opportunity-fund self-certification (Form 8996) allowed under 9100 relief
An LLC taxed as a partnership was set up to be a qualified opportunity fund (QOF), a vehicle that lets investors defer and reduce tax on capital gains they reinvest in economically distressed…
Late portability (DSUE) election allowed under 9100 relief
When one spouse dies without using all of their federal estate-tax exclusion, the surviving spouse can inherit the leftover amount (the "deceased spousal unused exclusion," or DSUE) only if the…
Late reverse-QTIP election allowed so the deceased's GST exemption can shelter the marital trust
When a marital trust qualifies for the estate-tax marital deduction under the QTIP rules, the surviving spouse (not the deceased) would normally be treated as the "transferor" for…
Late QDOT citizenship notice (Form 706-QDT) allowed so the trust escapes the section 2056A estate tax
When a U.S. decedent's surviving spouse is not a U.S. citizen, property qualifies for the estate-tax marital deduction only if it passes to a qualified domestic trust (QDOT), and distributions of…
Late portability (DSUE) election allowed under 9100 relief
When one spouse dies without using all of their federal estate-tax exclusion, the surviving spouse can inherit the leftover amount (the "deceased spousal unused exclusion," or DSUE) only if the…
Late RIC (section 851(b)) and foreign-tax pass-through (section 853) elections allowed under 9100 relief
A new fund intended to elect to be taxed as a regulated investment company (RIC) under § 851(b) for its first year, and also to elect under § 853 to pass the foreign taxes it paid through to its…
Late portability (DSUE) election allowed under 9100 relief
When one spouse dies without using all of their federal estate-tax exclusion, the surviving spouse can inherit the leftover amount (the "deceased spousal unused exclusion," or DSUE) only if the…
Late section 42(f)(1) election to defer the low-income-housing credit period allowed under 9100 relief
The low-income housing credit under § 42 is claimed over a 10-year "credit period" that starts the year a building is placed in service, unless the owner makes an irrevocable § 42(f)(1) election to…
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.