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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Title 18 plea restitution was not a Westbrooks case
The defendant pleaded guilty to two Title 18 counts, and the plea agreement authorized restitution in the exact amount the court ordered. The IRS advised that the restitution therefore did not fall un…
Restitution matched the plea agreement
A plea agreement authorized restitution, and the court ordered the same amount stated in that agreement. The IRS advised that the case therefore did not fall under the Westbrooks rule for restitution …
Trial-based Title 26 restitution was a Westbrooks case
The defendant was convicted only of Title 26 offenses after a trial and had no plea agreement authorizing restitution. The IRS advised that the matter was therefore a Westbrooks case, meaning the rest…
Section 6700 reaches false micro-captive claims, ongoing fees, and individual promoters
A promoter marketed a turnkey micro-captive insurance program as eligible for insurance deductions and the Section 831(b) income exclusion. The IRS advised that Section 6700 covers both direct claims …
Section 6700 penalty base includes post-formation promoter fees
A promoter organized micro-captive insurance companies and then received continuing maintenance and management fees. It argued that Section 6700 penalties could be calculated only on income earned fro…
IRS denies reversal of inherited IRA distribution
A trust inherited an IRA after the account owner died. Acting on the custodian's advice, the trustees moved substantially all of the IRA assets into a non-IRA account so they could trade stocks. The t…
FCC C-band payments qualify for involuntary conversion relief
Two satellite communications taxpayers had to clear part of the C-band spectrum under an FCC order and relocate their services to the remaining band. The FCC arrangement provided reimbursement for rel…
Partnership receives more time for real property business election
A foreign limited liability company treated as a partnership wanted to elect out of the Section 163(j) business interest limitation for its qualifying real property trades or businesses. Its tax advis…
Medical product manufacturer is a qualified trade or business
A domestic C corporation manufactured custom products prescribed by independent health care providers. Its employees evaluated and fitted individuals for the products, but the corporation earned its r…
Partnership receives more time for success-based fee election
A partnership paid a fee contingent on completing a merger transaction. Its accounting firm prepared the return using the Revenue Procedure 2011-29 safe harbor, deducting 70 percent of the fee and cap…
VEBA student loan service is nonqualifying but de minimis
A voluntary employees' beneficiary association proposed offering members an online service that helps with student loan repayment and forgiveness programs. The trust asked the IRS to treat the service…
Circular note transfers are treated as direct asset contributions
A publicly traded parent planned a large internal restructuring to move assets and liabilities from foreign branches and disregarded entities to foreign corporate subsidiaries. The steps used asset sa…
IRS approves a metropolitan-area scholarship program
A private foundation requested advance approval for a scholarship program serving full-time undergraduate students from a specified metropolitan area. Applicants would be evaluated on academic results…
IRS approves international entrepreneur and artist grant programs
A private foundation requested advance approval for two educational grant programs serving individuals from a foreign country. One program would support entrepreneurs, including women in STEM, who pro…
IRS approves community service educational grants
A private foundation proposed educational grants for faculty, staff, and undergraduate students who showed exemplary character and commitment to community service. Grants could fund educational confer…
Class reunion fund denied Section 501(c)(3) exemption
An unincorporated association applied for Section 501(c)(3) exemption using Form 1023-EZ. Its only activity was holding money contributed by classmates who wanted to attend future class reunions. The …
Member funeral benefit organization denied exemption
A membership organization applied for Section 501(c)(3) exemption and private foundation status. It collected registration fees and monthly dues, then used its funds primarily to pay funeral and body-…
Private road association denied social club exemption
A mutual benefit corporation for neighborhood residents applied for social club exemption under Section 501(c)(7). Membership was mandatory for residents, and annual assessments paid for a private pav…
Small homeowners association denied social welfare exemption
A homeowners association for a small subdivision applied for social welfare exemption under Section 501(c)(4). It collected only HOA fees and maintained roads, a dry hydrant, entry features, signs, la…
Dog training club denied Section 501(c)(3) exemption
A dog club applied for Section 501(c)(3) exemption. Its articles promoted purebred dogs, dog training, obedience trials, and sanctioned matches. The club offered training classes to members and the pu…
Bitcoin, Ether, and Litecoin exchanges were not like kind
Chief Counsel considered whether exchanges among Bitcoin, Ether, and Litecoin completed before 2018 qualified for nonrecognition under the former personal-property version of Section 1031. It conclude…
Fund receives relief for two elections on a late-filed return
A regulated investment company prepared a return containing two elections: one to treat certain later distributions as paid during the prior tax year, and another to accrue market discount using a con…
Fund receives relief for three elections on a late-filed return
A fund prepared its first regulated investment company return with three elections: to be treated as a RIC, to treat certain later distributions as paid during the prior tax year, and to accrue market…
Acquirer receives more time for success-based fee election
A corporation paid a fee contingent on completing an acquisition treated as a statutory merger. Its advisers prepared the Revenue Procedure 2011-29 safe harbor statement, and the filed return used the…
Missing ESBT elections caused an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation transferred shares to four trusts that qualified to be electing small business trusts, but their trustees did not file the required ESBT elections. The trusts therefore became ineligi…
Cost-of-removal tax shortfall is not normalization-protected
A regulated electric and gas utility collected estimated asset-removal costs from customers through book depreciation before those costs could be deducted for tax purposes. The federal corporate rate …
Partnership-style agreement caused inadvertent S termination
A limited liability company elected S corporation status but later adopted an operating agreement containing extensive partnership-style provisions. The agreement created capital and profits-interest …
Partnership shareholder made S election inadvertently ineffective
A corporation intended to elect S status while a limited liability company taxed as a partnership owned some of its stock. Because a partnership cannot be an S corporation shareholder, the election wa…
IRS approves career-development grants for professional artists
A private foundation proposed taking over part of a regional arts program and making one- or two-year grants to professional artists with a significant body of original work. Applicants would submit a…
IRS approves last-dollar grants for alternative high school graduates
A private foundation proposed a grant program for graduates of a public alternative high school serving an underprivileged student population. Staff-referred students on track to graduate would be eva…
IRS approves medical education grants tied to regional service
A private foundation proposed paying the reasonable professional-school costs of physicians and, in later stages, other healthcare professionals to address a severe regional shortage of medical person…
IRS approves in-kind steer training grants for local youth
A private foundation proposed an educational grant program that would give local youth hands-on experience nurturing and showing steers. Each in-kind grant would cover a steer, feed and medicine, care…
IRS revokes a shooting club's exemption for public use and excess nonmember income
A Section 501(c)(7) social club operated indoor and outdoor shooting ranges and allowed the general public to use the outdoor range. A roadside sign and the club's website advertised that range as ope…
Restitution imposed only during supervised release is a Westbrooks case
Chief Counsel advised that a criminal restitution order was subject to the Westbrooks limitation because the judgment imposed payment to the United States only as a condition of supervised release und…
Depreciation method-change adjustments enter the Section 163(j) ATI addback
A taxpayer changed the recovery period for depreciable property from seven years to five years, producing a net negative Section 481(a) adjustment of $100x in 2020. Chief Counsel advised that the adju…
Brief retention of de minimis formation shares does not disturb spin-off rulings
A corporate parent requested a supplemental ruling concerning a previously approved series of transactions under Sections 355 and 368. After distributing the stock of an external controlled corporatio…
IRS excuses a late Qualified Opportunity Fund self-certification
A limited liability company was formed to operate as a Qualified Opportunity Fund and invested in a business expected to qualify as a qualified opportunity zone business. Its manager hired accountants…
Below-market arts loan is a program-related investment and qualifying distribution
A private foundation proposed an unsecured, below-market line of credit to a foreign alternative investment fund. The fund would use the money for below-market loans to museums, galleries, and other a…
Nuclear decommissioning funds retain qualified status in plant transfer
A utility planned to transfer two nuclear plants, their nuclear decommissioning trusts and qualified funds, and their decommissioning liabilities to a formerly disregarded subsidiary that would elect …
IRS allows correction of a taxable REIT subsidiary election date
A real estate investment trust acquired an indirect interest in a corporation and intended that corporation to become its taxable REIT subsidiary on the acquisition date. The law firm filing their joi…
IRS denies a late election that would reverse a recent entity classification change
A foreign eligible entity was originally classified as a corporation by default. After a domestic partnership acquired an interest, the entity elected partnership status and later sought permission to…
IRS approves scholarships for graduates of five participating high schools
A private foundation proposed scholarships for graduates of five participating high schools who need financial help for full-time post-secondary education. Applicants would submit academic records, re…
IRS approves grants for biomedical research and surgical training models
A private foundation proposed educational grants for biomedical research and the development and validation of surgical training and testing models. Qualified applicants worldwide could seek funding f…
IRS approves multi-year research grants for chemistry and physics faculty
A private foundation proposed fellowship and research grants for mid-career tenured chemistry and physics faculty. University nominees would need relevant expertise, a strong record of achievement, cu…
IRS approves substitute mortality tables for a defined benefit pension plan
A taxpayer asked to use plan-specific substitute mortality tables when calculating minimum funding requirements for a defined benefit pension plan. The request covered male and female participants, bo…
IRS denies Section 501(c)(3) status to an adjunct faculty mutual benefit group
An organization formed as a mutual benefit corporation applied for recognition as a Section 501(c)(3) charity. It promoted the professional treatment, economic welfare, and rights of adjunct faculty t…
IRS denies Section 501(c)(3) status to a member golf course
An organization operating a golf course and clubhouse for members applied for recognition as a Section 501(c)(3) charity. Members and their families could use the course and reserve the clubhouse, whi…
IRS grants 90 days to file a late IC-DISC election
A newly formed corporation intended to elect interest charge domestic international sales corporation status and receive export commissions from related operating entities. Its owners and advisers dis…
IRS grants 90 days to make a late consolidated-return election
A domestic parent corporation and its affiliated group intended to elect to file a consolidated federal income tax return but did not file a valid consolidated return by the deadline. The parent sough…
Foreign entity gets 120 days to file a late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its owner for U.S. federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 with the intended effective date. The IRS conclu…
Property owner gets 120 days to make a late rehabilitation-credit election
A property owner rehabilitated a building and leased it to a tenant under a structure intended to pass the rehabilitation credit to the tenant. The owner agreed to elect under Section 50(d)(5) and Tre…
Nuclear decommissioning funds keep qualified status through plant transfer
A utility planned to transfer two nuclear plants, their decommissioning trusts and qualified funds, and their decommissioning liabilities to a subsidiary that would elect corporate status and sell int…
Nuclear decommissioning funds keep qualified status through plant transfer
A utility planned to transfer two nuclear plants, their decommissioning trusts and qualified funds, and their decommissioning liabilities to a subsidiary that would elect corporate status and sell int…
Nuclear decommissioning funds keep qualified status through plant transfer
A utility planned to transfer two nuclear plants, their decommissioning trusts and qualified funds, and their decommissioning liabilities to a subsidiary that would elect corporate status and sell int…
Oil and gas group gets 120 days to elect five-year IDC amortization
An affiliated oil and gas group incurred substantial intangible drilling and development costs and intended to elect to deduct a specified portion ratably over 60 months under Section 59(e). Its conso…
S corporation status restored after six trusts missed ESBT elections
An S corporation had a shareholder trust that was later administered as six separate trusts, each with its own tax identification number and fiduciary return. The corporation represented that all six …
Taxpayer may reelect the foreign earned income exclusion within five years
A U.S. citizen working abroad had claimed the foreign earned income exclusion for earlier years but later chose a foreign tax credit when returning to the United States. That choice effectively revoke…
Tax matters partner authority does not extend to a Section 6707A penalty
An IRS email addressed who may sign a limitations extension involving a Section 6707A penalty. The response stated that a tax matters partner signs only TEFRA statute extensions. A Section 6707A penal…
Distributor incentive liability arises when qualifying sales occur
An accrual-method manufacturer promised independent distributors a guaranteed minimum of sales incentives for products sold during a qualifying period in the following year. The taxpayer reduced its Y…
Finance company must capitalize retailer payments tied to acquired contracts
A manufacturer's captive finance subsidiary bought retail financing contracts from independent brand retailers. In addition to each contract's principal amount, it paid three program payments that wer…
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.