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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Missed ESBT election receives inadvertent S corporation termination relief
A trust acquired stock in an S corporation and represented that it qualified as an electing small business trust (ESBT). The trustee failed to file the ESBT election, causing the corporation's S…
Mortgage investment fund interests may qualify as registered-form pooled-fund obligations
A limited partnership planned to pool investor capital to hold U.S. mortgage loans and interests in affiliated mortgage funds. Some investors might be foreign persons, making the registered-form…
LLC receives 120 days to file its late S corporation election
A state-law limited liability company had elected to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation. It also intended to elect S corporation status from a later date but failed to properly…
REIT and subsidiary receive 90 days to file a late taxable REIT subsidiary election
A real estate investment trust and an indirectly owned limited liability company intended to jointly elect taxable REIT subsidiary (TRS) treatment under IRC § 856(l). The subsidiary first needed…
REIT and two subsidiaries receive more time for taxable REIT subsidiary elections
A real estate investment trust and two indirectly owned limited liability companies intended to jointly elect taxable REIT subsidiary (TRS) treatment under IRC § 856(l). The companies also needed…
S corporation receives relief after a partnership temporarily held its shares
An S corporation sold some of its ownership units to a limited liability company taxed as a partnership. Because a partnership is not an eligible S corporation shareholder, the sale terminated the…
Company receives S corporation relief after fixing its liquidation provisions
A company intended to elect S corporation status, but its operating agreement required liquidating distributions according to positive capital-account balances rather than ownership percentages.…
Four missed ESBT elections receive inadvertent S corporation relief
Two shareholders transferred S corporation shares to four trusts whose trustees failed to make timely electing small business trust (ESBT) elections. The missed elections caused the corporation's S…
IRS approves a private foundation set-aside for a classical dance and arts facility
A private foundation asked to set aside funds to acquire and develop a building for classical dance and arts programs. The facility would contain studios and educational space, house administrative…
Student-loan lottery denied exemption because it primarily benefited private winners
An organization sought IRC § 501(c)(3) status for a student-loan lottery tied to prize-linked savings accounts. Participants would deposit money, winners would be selected randomly, and investment…
Family-run care organization denied exemption for organizational defects and private benefit
A family-run organization sought reinstatement of IRC § 501(c)(3) status after its prior exemption was automatically revoked for failing to file required returns. Its filed articles allowed any…
Supplemental ruling revises the facts of an earlier entity-classification ruling
This supplemental private letter ruling modifies the facts section of an earlier ruling and incorporates the rest of that ruling by reference. The revised facts describe a foreign corporation owned…
Annuity-risk retrocession contract qualifies as reinsurance for federal tax purposes
A reinsurance company had assumed mortality, longevity, lapse, credit, reinvestment, and related risks under modified coinsurance agreements covering annuity contracts. It entered into a contract…
Successor LLC receives more time to file a late section 336(e) election
A partnership-taxed purchaser acquired all the stock of an S corporation through a disregarded entity. The parties intended to elect under IRC § 336(e) to treat the qualified stock disposition as an…
Annuity-paid advisory fees are contract expenses rather than taxable owner distributions
A life insurer offered variable deferred annuity contracts designed for owners who receive ongoing advice about allocating contract value among investment options. Under a separate authorization,…
Direct payment of annuity advisory fees is not a taxable receipt by the owner
A life insurer offered variable deferred annuity contracts designed to work with ongoing investment advice about allocations among the available contract options. Owners could authorize the insurer…
Foreign retrocessionaire substitution does not itself create a BEAT base erosion payment
A domestic insurance company had retroceded a share of reinsured policy risks to one foreign affiliate, which then retroceded those risks to another foreign affiliate. The parties proposed…
IRS approves college and early-learning scholarship procedures
A private foundation sought advance approval for two scholarship programs under IRC § 4945(g). One program supported graduating high school students pursuing college or trade-school education, while…
Family-owned S corporation may complete two tax-free split-offs
Three family shareholder groups disagreed about management of an S corporation's business. The corporation proposed transferring portions of the business to two newly formed corporations, then…
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A limited partnership intended to elect under IRC § 754 to adjust partnership-property basis after distributions or transfers of partnership interests. It timely filed its partnership return but…
Missed QSST elections and a later partnership transfer receive S corporation relief
An S corporation shareholder transferred shares to two trusts that represented they qualified as qualified subchapter S trusts, but their beneficiaries did not timely file QSST elections. The trusts…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return based on the represented gross estate and taxable gifts. It nevertheless needed a timely Form 706 to elect portability of the…
Trust constructions preserve GST status and avoid income, gift, and estate tax consequences
A testamentary trust created before September 25, 1985 had undergone court proceedings concerning trustee succession and the meaning of trust earnings. After the primary beneficiary died, another…
Court-corrected trust division retains GST grandfathering without transfer-tax consequences
A testamentary trust created before September 25, 1985 had been the subject of court proceedings about trustee succession and whether earnings included capital gains. When its primary beneficiary…
Judicial trust corrections avoid gain, gifts, estate inclusion, and loss of GST status
A pre-September 25, 1985 testamentary trust had previously received judicial rulings about corporate trustee succession and the treatment of capital gains as earnings. Following the primary…
Grandfathered trust may be corrected and divided without federal tax recognition
A testamentary trust established before the effective date of the generation-skipping transfer tax rules had undergone judicial changes involving trustee succession and trust earnings. A later court…
Trust reformation and equal child-trust distributions receive favorable tax rulings
A grandfathered testamentary trust and the primary beneficiary's will contained provisions later addressed in several state-court proceedings. The final judgment corrected drafting errors, clarified…
Corrected exercise of a limited power preserves a trust's GST exemption
A testamentary trust created before September 25, 1985 was governed by a limited power of appointment and had already undergone judicial proceedings about trustee succession and trust earnings.…
IRS approves scholarship and individual educational grant procedures
A private foundation proposed scholarships under IRC § 4945(g)(1) and educational or talent-development grants under § 4945(g)(3). Its program would support higher education, youth, stronger…
Automobile club denied exemption because social activities predominated
An automobile membership club sought recognition as a charitable and educational organization under IRC § 501(c)(3). Its governing documents promoted ownership and enjoyment of a particular car, and…
IRS approves corporate reorganizations and related cost-sharing treatment
A publicly traded domestic parent completed a multi-step restructuring that moved intangible-property rights and reorganized domestic and foreign subsidiaries. The taxpayer asked whether two parts…
IRS grants extra time for a Section 336(e) election
A purchaser acquired all the stock of an S corporation from a seller, and the parties intended to elect under IRC § 336(e) to treat the qualified stock disposition as an asset disposition. The…
IRS approves tax-free spin-off and domestic treatment of foreign controlled company
A publicly traded domestic corporation proposed separating one business from another through a pro rata distribution of a newly formed company incorporated abroad. The transaction included…
IRS grants extra time for mixed straddle account election
A partnership engaged in securities trading intended to elect mixed straddle account treatment but missed the filing deadline. Its tax department was disrupted by the COVID-19 work-from-home…
IRS grants extra time for mixed straddle account election
A partnership engaged in securities trading intended to elect mixed straddle account treatment but missed the filing deadline. Its tax department was disrupted by the COVID-19 work-from-home…
IRS grants extra time for mixed straddle account election
A partnership engaged in securities trading intended to elect mixed straddle account treatment but missed the filing deadline. Its tax department was disrupted by the COVID-19 work-from-home…
IRS grants extra time for mixed straddle account election
A partnership engaged in securities trading intended to elect mixed straddle account treatment but missed the filing deadline. Its tax department was disrupted by the COVID-19 work-from-home…
IRS grants extra time for mixed straddle account election
A partnership engaged in securities trading intended to elect mixed straddle account treatment but missed the filing deadline. Its tax department was disrupted by the COVID-19 work-from-home…
IRS grants estate extra time to elect portability
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return failed to timely elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount. The estate asked for regulatory relief so…
IRS grants late election out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A taxpayer created a grantor retained annuity trust whose remaining property later passed to a family trust with generation-skipping transfer potential. The taxpayer's attorney failed to explain…
IRS grants late election out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A taxpayer created a grantor retained annuity trust whose remaining property later passed to a family trust with generation-skipping transfer potential. The taxpayer's attorney failed to explain…
IRS extends school construction bond expenditure period after pandemic delays
A public authority issued qualified school construction bonds and loaned the proceeds for renovation and construction of school facilities. Most proceeds funded a completed renovation, while the…
IRS grants extra time for a Section 336(e) election
Shareholders sold all their stock in an S corporation target to a purchaser, and the parties intended to elect under IRC § 336(e) to treat the qualified stock disposition as an asset disposition.…
IRS approves scholarship and enrichment grant procedures
A private foundation proposed a scholarship program for higher education and an enrichment grant program for scholars, faculty members, lecturers, and other distinguished scholars. Scholarship…
IRS approves employer-related scholarship procedures
A private foundation proposed scholarships for children and stepchildren of an employer's active full-time employees. An independent public charity would administer the program and select recipients…
IRS approves conference attendance grant procedures
A private foundation proposed educational grants enabling people in nonprofit, government, educational, and certain creative work to attend its sustainable-development conference. Applicants would…
IRS approves business scholarship procedures for a high school senior
A private foundation proposed an annual scholarship for a graduating high school senior who planned to attend a four-year college and pursue business or entrepreneurial business studies. Trustees…
Medical marijuana membership dispensary denied exemption
A membership organization sought exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3) for operating a medical marijuana dispensary and cultivating and distributing cannabis to members. The organization charged…
Student loan repayment lottery denied exemption
An organization sought exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3) for a program that collected donations and application fees and randomly selected participants to receive payments toward student loan debt.…
Adult softball team denied exemption
An adult women's softball team sought exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3). Its articles of incorporation stated neither an exempt purpose nor how assets would be distributed upon dissolution. The team's…
Business referral group denied social welfare exemption
A professional networking chapter sought exemption as a social welfare organization under IRC § 501(c)(4). Its members promoted one another through referrals, met weekly, and paid dues that funded…
Student loan authority may issue bonds on behalf of a city
A nonprofit student loan authority planned to broaden its educational lending activities and issue revenue bonds on behalf of its sole sponsoring city. The city appointed and could remove every…
IRS grants late taxable REIT subsidiary election
A real estate investment trust owned a hotel through disregarded entities and leased the hotel to a corporate tenant that was intended to be its taxable REIT subsidiary. The lease required the joint…
IRS grants relief for ineffective S election and inadvertent termination
A corporation's S election was ineffective because spouses with community-property interests did not consent and an ineligible trust owned stock on the election date. The corporation later issued…
IRS approves transfer of nuclear decommissioning fund assets
Three utility sellers planned to sell their interests in a nuclear power plant to a buyer's disregarded entity and transfer all assets from their qualified nuclear decommissioning funds to a new…
IRS approves transfer of nuclear decommissioning fund assets
Three utility sellers planned to sell their interests in a nuclear power plant to a buyer's disregarded entity and transfer all assets from their qualified nuclear decommissioning funds to a new…
IRS approves transfer of nuclear decommissioning fund assets
Three utility sellers planned to sell their interests in a nuclear power plant to a buyer's disregarded entity and transfer all assets from their qualified nuclear decommissioning funds to a new…
IRS approves transfer of nuclear decommissioning fund assets
Three utility sellers planned to sell their interests in a nuclear power plant to a buyer's disregarded entity and transfer all assets from their qualified nuclear decommissioning funds to a new…
IRS grants extra time for IC-DISC election
An operating S corporation formed a subsidiary to act as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation for its export business. The subsidiary entered a commission agreement, received…
IRS grants late taxable REIT subsidiary election
A real estate investment trust acquired an ownership interest in a subsidiary that leased facilities from the REIT, and both entities intended to elect taxable REIT subsidiary treatment. Their…
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.