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 grants extra time for Section 338(g) election
A domestic parent intended to make a § 338(g) election for a controlled foreign corporation's acquisition of a target's stock but failed to file a valid election on time. The parent represented that…
IRS grants extra time for Section 338(g) election
A domestic parent intended to make a § 338(g) election for a controlled foreign corporation's acquisition of a target's stock but failed to file a valid election on time. The parent represented that…
IRS approves revised nuclear decommissioning ruling amounts
An electric utility requested elective review of the ruling amounts for contributions to its nuclear decommissioning fund after a public utility commission revised the decommissioning costs included…
IRS approves revised nuclear decommissioning ruling amounts
An electric utility requested elective review of the ruling amounts for contributions to its nuclear decommissioning fund after a public utility commission revised the decommissioning costs included…
IRS approves revised nuclear decommissioning ruling amounts
An electric utility requested an elective revised schedule of ruling amounts for contributions to its nuclear decommissioning fund. The proposed schedule relied on an independent decommissioning…
IRS grants extra time for a taxable REIT subsidiary election
A company intending to qualify as a real estate investment trust acquired an indirect interest in a subsidiary and planned to elect taxable REIT subsidiary status for that entity. The election was…
Annuity-paid advisory fees are not distributions to contract owners
A life insurer planned to offer variable, fixed-indexed, and hybrid nonqualified deferred annuity contracts designed for owners who receive ongoing advice about allocating contract value among…
IRS approves set-asides for two scholarly symposia
A private foundation planned two multi-year symposia that would bring promising young scholars together to discuss work in two redacted academic disciplines. It proposed annual set-asides to…
IRS approves a private foundation's scholarship and educational loan procedures
A private foundation asked for advance approval of procedures for scholarships and possible future long-term, low-interest educational loans. Its program would primarily help financially needy…
IRS approves an employer-related scholarship program
A private foundation proposed scholarships for children, dependents, and grandchildren of employees of a company and its subsidiaries. An independent committee would select recipients using academic…
IRS denies exemption to a social and recreational hobby group
An unincorporated association of friends sought tax-exempt status for activities involving education, making, and tasting in redacted subject areas. Its meetings included guest speakers and…
IRS denies exemption to a fund benefiting preidentified employees
An organization used profits from sales in a workplace lunchroom to make fixed payments to employees who belonged to a particular union and experienced a redacted event. The IRS found that its…
IRS denies business-league status to a cooperative retail gallery
A member organization operated a seasonal retail gallery that sold members' handcrafted goods, retained part of the proceeds, and paid the remainder to each seller. It also provided bookkeeping,…
IRS denies business-league status to a football-official placement service
A membership organization recruited, trained, evaluated, and assigned football officials to games for local school districts. It collected the districts' payments and distributed compensation to the…
IRS denies charitable status to a recreational community festival
An organization conducted an annual community festival featuring a beauty pageant, parade, tournaments, a run, a car show, fireworks, games, vendors, children's activities, and music. Its articles…
Opportunity fund gets 45 days to make a late self-certification election
A partnership formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property intended to certify itself as a qualified opportunity fund for its first tax year. Its tax adviser knew Form 8996 was required…
Corporation gets 90 days to make a late IC-DISC election
A corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC, for an affiliated equipment exporter. Its owners and tax advisers intended to make the…
IRS permits late identification of an integrated debt and hedge transaction
A corporation issued convertible notes and bought capped call options in the same transaction, intending to treat them as an integrated debt and hedge transaction under Treasury Regulation §…
IRS grants relief for an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation made annual nonresident state income tax payments for certain shareholders in amounts that were disproportionate to their ownership interests. The corporation represented that those…
IRS validates an S election made with an ineligible shareholder
A corporation elected S status while one shareholder was an entity that could not hold S corporation stock, making the election ineffective. The corporation and its shareholders did not know of the…
Company in liquidation gets 120 days to file a corporate classification election
A state court placed a limited liability company into liquidation and appointed a receiver whose deputy took control of the company's assets and operations. The deputy relied on a tax professional…
IRS grants relief for an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation had a shareholder that was a limited liability company owned through trusts created by a married couple in a community-property state. After interests in the LLC were sold to…
IRS grants relief for an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation had a shareholder that was a limited liability company owned through trusts created by a married couple in a community-property state. After interests in the LLC were sold to…
IRS grants relief for an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation had a shareholder that was a limited liability company owned through trusts created by a married couple in a community-property state. After interests in the LLC were sold to…
IRS grants relief for an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation had a shareholder that was a limited liability company owned through trusts created by a married couple in a community-property state. After interests in the LLC were sold to…
IRS grants relief for an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation had a shareholder that was a limited liability company owned through trusts created by a married couple in a community-property state. After interests in the LLC were sold to…
IRS grants relief for an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation had a shareholder that was a limited liability company owned through trusts created by a married couple in a community-property state. After interests in the LLC were sold to…
IRS grants relief for an inadvertent S corporation termination
An S corporation had a shareholder that was a limited liability company owned through trusts created by a married couple in a community-property state. After interests in the LLC were sold to…
IRS grants a 60-month extension for a museum relocation set-aside
A private foundation had previously received approval to set aside funds to relocate a museum between two foreign cities. An unexpected donation doubled the museum's collection and increased its…
IRS denies charitable status to a recreational vehicle club
A nonprofit vehicle club sought exemption for promoting recreation and preserving or restoring older vehicles. Its main activities were an annual vehicle show, another annual vehicle gathering, and…
IRS denies charitable status to an industry member association
An industry association sought charitable and educational exemption while serving owner-operators and related businesses through paid memberships. Its objectives included promoting professionalism…
IRS denies charitable status to an adult recreational soccer league
A nonprofit corporation operated an adult soccer league funded entirely by participant registration fees. Its articles described its purpose as providing physical recreation and fun, while also…
IRS denies charitable status to a homeowners association
A mutual-benefit homeowners association maintained subdivision common areas, enforced protective covenants, collected annual dues, and held neighborhood meetings. Its facilities and common property…
IRS denies charitable status to a family genealogy association
A family association gathered annually so descendants of a common ancestor could socialize, celebrate their heritage, and learn about family history. It also selected a charitable service project…
Late-filing relief to elect U.S. tax treatment and small-insurer status
A small foreign insurance company, owned equally by two individuals, writes extended-warranty coverage tied to a related recreational-vehicle business. It hired a tax professional who was supposed…
LLC stays disregarded and special shareholder rights do not block an F reorganization
A publicly traded parent company reorganized to separate its core business from old legacy liabilities. It formed a new holding corporation, which formed a wholly owned LLC, then merged the old…
Late-election relief to file a consolidated return
A parent corporation heading an affiliated group of companies missed the deadline to elect to file a consolidated federal income tax return for one tax year. The election under Treas. Reg. §…
Late relief to elect corporate tax classification for a single-member LLC
A single-member LLC wanted to be taxed as a corporation from the day it was formed, but it never filed the required Form 8832 entity classification election on time. By default a single-owner LLC is…
A state medical school's faculty-practice entities are state instrumentalities for FICA and FUTA
A state university's medical school ran its clinical operations through two nonprofit entities: one that supports the medical school and its own wholly owned LLC that acts as the faculty practice…
A governmental self-insurance pool's income is excluded under § 115
An unincorporated association of local governments runs a group self-insurance pool that provides workers' compensation and liability coverage to its member governments and their employees. Only…
A REIT's share of self-charged management fees is left out of the gross-income tests
A real estate investment trust (REIT) plans to restructure so that it indirectly owns a slice of the outside manager that runs its real estate portfolio. Because the REIT would then be a partner in…
Late relief for a foreign entity to elect disregarded status
A foreign company wholly owned by a single owner wanted to be treated as a disregarded entity (ignored as separate from its owner) for U.S. federal tax purposes, effective from a specific date. By…
IRS approves a regional scholarship program
A private foundation proposed renewable scholarships for high school and college students pursuing their first bachelor's degree in a specified region. Applicants had to demonstrate academic…
IRS approves multiple scholarship programs
A private foundation proposed several classes of one-time scholarships for graduating high school seniors and one university student. The programs used varied criteria, including academic standing,…
Advance approval of an employer-related scholarship program
A private foundation runs a scholarship program for the children and grandchildren of a company's current, retired, or deceased employees, paying grants directly to students pursuing an…
IRS denies charitable status to a hockey officials association
A membership association scheduled independent-contractor ice hockey officials for leagues, retained an administrative fee, and paid the remaining league receipts to the officials. It also trained…
IRS denies exemption for a medication-development trust
A trust and its wholly owned disregarded entity planned to develop, manufacture, import, distribute, and sell medication for medical aid in dying. The trust expected loans from its trustee at first…
IRS denies exemption to a fundraiser for one individual
A nonprofit corporation was formed to raise money for a named individual's medical, personal, and living expenses during treatment and recovery. Its website described that person's diagnosis,…
IRS denies title-holding exemption to a sports officials association
An unincorporated association trained sports officials, conducted rules seminars and workshops, supplied rule books, and provided officials for high school games. It applied for exemption as a…
Parties receive extra time for a Section 336(e) election
A partnership purchaser acquired all the stock of an S corporation from its shareholders in a transaction represented to be a qualified stock disposition. The parties intended to make an IRC §…
Affiliated group gets 90 days to elect consolidated filing
A domestic parent corporation and its affiliated group failed to make a valid election to file a consolidated federal income tax return by the filing deadline. The relevant assessment periods…
Nonvoting LLC interests avoid self-dealing and excess-holdings taxes
A private foundation expected to receive nonvoting interests in an LLC from its donors or their estate. The LLC would hold a promissory note issued by an irrevocable trust connected to the donors,…
IRS grants inadvertent S corporation termination relief
An S corporation owned two qualified subchapter S subsidiaries, and its shares were held by a grantor trust. When one deemed owner died, part of the trust remained an eligible shareholder for two…
IRS denies exemption to a religious film production organization
A nonprofit corporation planned to create and commercially distribute films with religious messages using scripts written by its founder and president. Churches would finance production, film…
IRS denies exemption to a controlled-substance sacrament organization
A nationwide membership organization offered courses, ceremonies, retreats, counseling, and plant and fungi products that it treated as religious sacraments. It accepted members with varied…
IRS approves a multistate essay scholarship program
A private foundation proposed nonrenewable scholarships for graduating high school seniors in four states who planned to attend accredited four-year colleges or universities. Home-schooled…
IRS approves a COVID-delayed construction set-aside
A private foundation requested to set aside funds for construction and repair projects at two educational properties. COVID-19 shutdowns disrupted active projects and made completion schedules…
IRS approves weekly community solution grants
A private foundation proposed weekly grants to individuals or teams for research and solutions benefiting residents of three cities. It would publicly announce each application cycle, require a…
COVID postponement preserves a late-return refund claim
A taxpayer's 2016 wage withholding was deemed paid on April 15, 2017, and the taxpayer filed a delinquent 2016 return in June 2020 claiming a refund. Ordinarily, the refund claim needed to be filed…
Seafood trade-relief payments can qualify for the tribal fishing-income exclusion
Members of a federally recognized Indian tribe received payments under the Department of Agriculture's Seafood Trade Relief Program after foreign retaliatory tariffs reduced seafood exports. IRC §…
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.