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 waives the 60-day rollover deadline after a bank deposited a Roth payout into a traditional IRA
A taxpayer left his job and elected a direct rollover of his designated Roth account from his employer's 401(k) plan to a Roth IRA. The financial institution mistakenly deposited the money into his…
To represent an estate in a gift tax exam, get a personal representative appointed by the state court
This is a short piece of Chief Counsel email advice arising from a gift tax examination involving a deceased donor's estate. The question was how someone can properly act for the estate before the…
A change-of-accounting-method file may be disclosed under the 6103 transaction test, but only the parts tied to the issue
This is Chief Counsel email advice about when one taxpayer's return information can be disclosed in another taxpayer's proceeding. An IRS employee asked whether a change of accounting method (CAM)…
A partner's tax-exempt status is irrelevant to BBA election-out; only its entity type matters
This is brief Chief Counsel email advice about the centralized partnership audit rules enacted by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (the BBA). A partnership can elect out of the BBA regime only if…
A supervised-release condition to "pay taxes" with no fixed sum is not an assessable restitution order
This is Chief Counsel email advice on when the IRS can assess criminal restitution as if it were a tax. Section 6201(a)(4) lets the IRS assess and collect restitution that a criminal court orders a…
IRS grants 75 more days to file a late Section 336(e) election statement after a tax pro missed the deadline
A partnership bought all the stock of an S corporation in a deal the parties treated as a qualified stock disposition. They intended to make a section 336(e) election, which lets a qualifying stock…
S corporation keeps its status after a trust missed its ESBT election, ruled an inadvertent termination
A company taxed as an S corporation had its shares transferred to two trusts. One trust timely elected to be treated as an Electing Small Business Trust (ESBT), which is a permitted S corporation…
LLC gets 120 days to file a late election to be taxed as a corporation
A limited liability company intended to be classified as a corporation for federal tax purposes as of a chosen effective date, but it never filed the required Form 8832 (Entity Classification…
Partnership gets 120 days to make a late Section 754 basis-adjustment election after a partner's death
A limited partnership wanted to make a section 754 election, which lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its assets when a partnership interest is transferred (here, after a partner died) or…
Consolidated group gets 75 days to make a late election waiving carryback of an acquired subsidiary's losses
A consolidated group acquired a target company and its subsidiaries that had previously been part of another consolidated group. To keep the acquired members' consolidated net operating losses from…
Company gets 60 days to refile accounting-method-change forms filed one hour late
A company decided to make three automatic accounting method changes for a tax year, which requires attaching an original Form 3115 for each change to a timely filed return (and filing a copy…
S corporation status restored after three trusts flunked the QSST rules, ruled an inadvertent termination
An S corporation had its shares transferred to three trusts, and each trust's beneficiary elected to treat the trust as a qualified subchapter S trust (QSST), a permitted S corporation shareholder.…
S corporation gets 120 days to make a late QSub election for its subsidiary
An S corporation wholly owns a subsidiary and intended to treat it as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub), which makes the subsidiary disregarded so its income and assets are treated as the…
S corporation's election, ended when an interest was sold to a partnership, is restored as an inadvertent termination
An LLC that had elected to be taxed as an S corporation had one of its members sell part of its interest to another LLC that is treated as a partnership. A partnership is not an eligible S…
S corporation gets 120 days to make late QSub elections for four subsidiaries
An S corporation wholly owns four subsidiaries and intended to treat each as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub), which makes the subsidiary disregarded so its income and assets are treated…
Married couple gets 60 days to undo Roth IRA contributions their bank made by mistake instead of backdoor conversions
A married couple earned too much to contribute directly to Roth IRAs, so they arranged with their financial institution to make nondeductible contributions to traditional IRAs and immediately…
IRS extends the deadline to fund a QDOT and set up its security so a noncitizen spouse's marital deduction survives
A U.S. citizen died and left his estate to his surviving spouse, who is a citizen and resident of a foreign country. When a surviving spouse is not a U.S. citizen, the estate tax marital deduction…
IRS modifies an earlier ruling to give an LLC 120 days to elect corporate treatment from the intended date
This letter modifies and supersedes an earlier private letter ruling. An LLC had intended to elect to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation effective on a chosen date, but it failed…
Cash payout of a sold business's proceeds is a partial liquidation, giving shareholders exchange (capital-gain) treatment
A publicly traded corporation sold off one of its three businesses and planned to distribute the net cash proceeds pro rata to its shareholders under a formal plan of partial liquidation, while…
Estate gets 120 extra days to make a late portability election passing a spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion
When one spouse dies, the estate can make a portability election under section 2010(c)(5)(A) that lets the surviving spouse use the deceased spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion (the DSUE amount).…
Foreign-heavy mutual fund gets 90 days to make a late election passing foreign tax credits to shareholders
A regulated investment company (a mutual fund) that invests heavily in foreign securities intended to make the annual election under section 853(a). That election lets a qualifying fund pass the…
Loss company may use shareholder questionnaires to measure overlapping public ownership after a merger under Section 382
A publicly traded corporation with large net operating loss (NOL) carryforwards acquired another public company in a tax-free stock-for-stock reorganization. Section 382 limits how much of its NOLs…
Estate gets 120 extra days to make a late portability election passing a spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion
When one spouse dies, the estate can make a portability election under section 2010(c)(5)(A) that lets the surviving spouse use the deceased spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion (the DSUE amount).…
Splitting a QTIP marital trust in two, then disclaiming one, is a gift but not a taxable sale and keeps QTIP status
After a decedent's death, the marital share of his revocable trust was treated as qualified terminable interest property (QTIP), giving his surviving spouse a lifetime income interest. The spouse,…
IRS approves a private foundation's individual educational grant procedures under Section 4945(g)
A private foundation asked the IRS to pre-approve how it awards educational grants to individuals before it starts making them. Private foundations normally owe an excise tax on grants to…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) exemption to an amateur-radio expedition group that serves its participants' hobby interests
An organization that runs amateur-radio expeditions (traveling to remote locations to set up radio stations and make as many contacts as possible with operators worldwide) applied for recognition as…
IRS denies 501(c)(4) exemption to a commercial-development management association that benefits only its member owners
A management association for a commercial real estate development applied to be recognized as a tax-exempt social welfare organization under section 501(c)(4). The association is a mutual benefit…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) to a group that funnels fee-paying members into its president's for-profit crypto-mining business
An organization applied for recognition as a 501(c)(3) charity, describing itself as a community-outreach and learning project whose mission was to provide homes for the less fortunate and eradicate…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) to a dental-therapist professional association that serves its members' industry interests
A professional association for dental therapists applied for recognition as a 501(c)(3) charity. It was the successor to a 501(c)(6) business-league organization whose exemption had been…
IRS blesses a multi-step Section 355 spin-off, including an internal restructuring and a leveraged external spin-off with cash distribution
A publicly traded parent company that runs two lines of business asked the IRS to confirm the tax treatment of a series of transactions that separate one business (Business A) from the rest of the…
IRS approves a court reformation of a defective charitable remainder unitrust as a qualified reformation under Section 2055(e)(3)
A married couple created an irrevocable lifetime trust that they intended to be a charitable remainder unitrust, paying them (and the survivor) a percentage of the trust's value each year with the…
IRS rules a deferred intercompany gain is excluded and a downstream merger meets continuity of business enterprise despite deconsolidation
A corporate group that files a consolidated tax return planned a multi-step restructuring: a chain of subsidiary liquidations, an "F" reorganization of the parent holding company, and a downstream…
IRS grants a non-filing estate 120 days to make a late portability election under Section 2010(c)(5)(A)
When one spouse dies, the estate can make a portability election under section 2010(c)(5)(A) that lets the surviving spouse use the deceased spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion (the DSUE amount).…
IRS grants a tax-exempt controlled entity 45 days to make a late Section 168(h)(6)(F)(ii) election out of tax-exempt entity status
A limited liability company that elected to be taxed as a corporation, and that is wholly owned by a 501(c)(3) charity, counts as a "tax-exempt controlled entity" under section 168(h). That status…
IRS grants a tax-exempt controlled entity 60 days to make a late Section 168(h)(6)(F)(ii) election to protect a rehabilitation credit
Two limited liability companies that each elected to be taxed as a corporation, and that are each wholly owned by a 501(c)(3) charity, are "tax-exempt controlled entities" under section 168(h).…
IRS grants a tax-exempt controlled entity 60 days to make a late Section 168(h)(6)(F)(ii) election to protect a rehabilitation credit
Two limited liability companies that each elected to be taxed as a corporation, and that are each wholly owned by a 501(c)(3) charity, are "tax-exempt controlled entities" under section 168(h).…
How to count overlapping shareholders and stock buybacks in a spin-off followed by a merger, so the spin-off stays tax-free under section 355(e)
A publicly traded parent company plans to split off one of its businesses into a new corporation (the Spin-off), then immediately merge that new corporation into a subsidiary of a second public…
A late section 336(e) election on the sale of an S corporation's stock gets extra time under the 9100 relief rules
A buyer purchased all of the stock of an S corporation from its shareholder. When a buyer acquires stock like this, a section 336(e) election lets the parties treat the stock sale as if it were a…
A company that forgot to file its S corporation election on time gets 120 days to fix it
A newly formed corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation starting on a specific date, but it never filed Form 2553, the form that makes the S election. Without a timely election, the…
A company that forgot to file its S corporation election on time gets 120 days to fix it
A newly formed corporation intended to be taxed as an S corporation starting on a specific date, but it never filed Form 2553, the form that makes the S election. Without a timely election, the…
An LLC that missed both the forms to be taxed as an S corporation gets 120 days to file each one
A limited liability company wanted to be taxed as an S corporation. To get there an LLC normally needs two elections: Form 8832 to be classified as a corporation (an "association taxable as a…
A day-trader who waited too long is refused permission to make a late mark-to-market election
A married couple asked the IRS for extra time to make a "mark-to-market" election under section 475(f), which lets a securities trader treat trading gains and losses as ordinary (rather than…
A grantor whose accountant forgot to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation gets 120 days to fix it
A person set up four grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) funded with company stock. When those trusts ended, the remainder passed to trusts for the grantor's two children and their descendants.…
An LLC that missed the deadline to be taxed as a corporation gets 120 days to file a late Form 8832
A limited liability company wanted to be taxed as a corporation (an "association taxable as a corporation") instead of getting the default treatment for an LLC, which is a partnership or a…
A foreign entity that missed the deadline to be disregarded gets 120 days to file a late Form 8832
A single-owner business entity formed under the laws of a foreign country wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" for U.S. tax purposes, meaning it is ignored as separate from its owner and…
A foreign entity that missed the deadline to be disregarded gets 120 days to file a late Form 8832
A single-owner business entity formed under the laws of a foreign country wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" for U.S. tax purposes, meaning it is ignored as separate from its owner and…
A foreign entity that missed the deadline to be disregarded gets 120 days to file a late Form 8832
A single-owner business entity formed under the laws of a foreign country wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" for U.S. tax purposes, meaning it is ignored as separate from its owner and…
A foreign entity that missed the deadline to be disregarded gets 120 days to file a late Form 8832
A single-owner business entity formed under the laws of a foreign country wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" for U.S. tax purposes, meaning it is ignored as separate from its owner and…
A foreign entity that missed the deadline to be disregarded gets 120 days to file a late Form 8832
A single-owner business entity formed under the laws of a foreign country wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" for U.S. tax purposes, meaning it is ignored as separate from its owner and…
A foreign entity that missed the deadline to be disregarded gets 120 days to file a late Form 8832
A single-owner business entity formed under the laws of a foreign country wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" for U.S. tax purposes, meaning it is ignored as separate from its owner and…
A foreign entity that missed the deadline to be disregarded gets 120 days to file a late Form 8832
A single-owner business entity formed under the laws of a foreign country wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" for U.S. tax purposes, meaning it is ignored as separate from its owner and…
A foreign entity that missed the deadline to be disregarded gets 120 days to file a late Form 8832
A single-owner business entity formed under the laws of a foreign country wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" for U.S. tax purposes, meaning it is ignored as separate from its owner and…
A foreign entity that missed the deadline to be disregarded gets 120 days to file a late Form 8832
A single-owner business entity formed under the laws of a foreign country wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" for U.S. tax purposes, meaning it is ignored as separate from its owner and…
A foreign entity that missed the deadline to be disregarded gets 120 days to file a late Form 8832
A single-owner business entity formed under the laws of a foreign country wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" for U.S. tax purposes, meaning it is ignored as separate from its owner and…
A foreign entity that missed the deadline to be disregarded gets 120 days to file a late Form 8832
A single-owner business entity formed under the laws of a foreign country wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" for U.S. tax purposes, meaning it is ignored as separate from its owner and…
A foreign entity that missed the deadline to be taxed as a partnership gets 120 days to file a late Form 8832
A business entity formed under the laws of a foreign country wanted to be treated as a partnership for U.S. tax purposes. By default, a foreign entity whose members all have limited liability is…
A private foundation gets advance approval to run an employer-related scholarship program without triggering excise tax
A private foundation runs a scholarship program for the children of a particular employer's workers and asked the IRS to pre-approve its award procedures. This approval matters because a private…
A private foundation gets advance approval for its scholarship procedures, so grants to students won't be taxable expenditures
A private foundation runs a scholarship program that pays tuition and a living stipend for under-resourced students in one city, and it asked the IRS to pre-approve how it picks recipients. This…
A large one-time grant counts as an "unusual grant," so it won't cost a public charity its publicly-supported status
A public charity that is classified as a section 509(a)(2) organization was offered a cash grant far larger than the donations it normally receives, in an amount that dwarfed its annual budget. That…
A private foundation gets advance approval for changes to both its regular and employer-related scholarship programs
A private foundation had already gotten IRS approval for two scholarship programs and wanted to make material changes to both, so it asked the IRS to re-approve its award procedures under section…
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.