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.
No determinations match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
COVID filing postponement did not extend the refund lookback period
Notice 2020-23 postponed the deadline for filing a 2019 federal income tax return until July 15, 2020. It did not change the rule that 2019 withholding and estimated taxes were deemed paid on April…
The IRS should not sign another form after providing the required deed
Counsel addressed a request involving a sales disclosure form after the IRS provided a deed. The short email states that the Service satisfied the statutory requirements when it provided the deed.…
Qualifying solar equipment has a five-year recovery period for the bonus-depreciation test
Counsel considered the recovery period for a solar energy system when applying the bonus-depreciation rules in IRC § 168(k). Property described in § 48(a)(3)(A), including certain solar-energy…
Premium for conservation-easement tax-loss coverage was not deductible
A partnership donated a conservation easement and bought a policy that could pay amounts calculated by reference to a later disallowance of the charitable deduction. The policy covered the…
S corporation received extra time to file a Section 336(e) election
The owners intended a sale of all the stock of an S corporation to be treated as an asset sale under IRC § 336(e), but the required election statement was not filed on time. The parties requested…
REIT received 90 days to make late taxable-subsidiary elections
A company intending to qualify as a real estate investment trust acquired a predecessor's properties and subsidiaries in a transaction represented to be an F reorganization. Its former law firm…
Related-party exchange chain did not prevent Section 1031 deferral
A corporation sold real property through a qualified intermediary and acquired replacement properties that had been owned by two related companies. Those companies and two additional related…
Consolidated group received extra time to waive an NOL carryback
A consolidated group intended to waive the entire carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss and reported the loss consistently with that choice, but it failed to attach a valid election…
IRS grants relief for an ineffective S corporation election caused by operating agreement provisions
A limited liability company elected S corporation status, but provisions in its operating agreement caused it to be treated as having more than one class of stock. That meant the company did not…
IRS preserves S corporation status after trusts made invalid QSST elections
A company elected S corporation status while two shareholder trusts attempted to elect qualified subchapter S trust status. The trusts were not eligible to be QSSTs, which made the company's S…
IRS grants a foreign entity more time to elect corporate classification
A foreign eligible entity intended to change from partnership classification to an association taxable as a corporation, but it did not file Form 8832 on time because of inadvertence. The entity…
IRS approves a conditional minimum funding waiver for a pension plan
An employer asked the IRS to waive the remaining minimum required contribution to its pension plan for a redacted plan year. The employer attributed its temporary substantial business hardship to…
IRS permits a foreign entity to change to disregarded status within 60 months
A foreign eligible entity had elected to be taxed as a corporation and later wanted to change its classification to a disregarded entity. Normally, an entity cannot make another classification…
IRS approves a private foundation's scholarship and individual grant procedures
A private foundation requested advance approval for two programs that make grants to individuals. One program provides scholarships and fellowships for undergraduate or graduate study, while the…
IRS revokes a charity that failed the organizational and operational tests
The IRS revoked an organization's IRC § 501(c)(3) status after concluding that it failed both the organizational and operational tests. The organization promoted teddy bear artists through an annual…
IRS revokes a field hockey charity for member-account fundraising
The IRS revoked the tax exemption of an organization formed to teach field hockey to high-school-aged girls and help players pursue collegiate opportunities. The organization assigned fundraising…
IRS revokes a social club's tax exemption for excess non-member and investment income
This is a final IRS determination revoking an organization's tax-exempt status as a social club under Section 501(c)(7). Section 501(c)(7) exempts clubs organized for pleasure and recreation that…
IRS revokes a social club's exemption after recurring non-member rental income
The IRS revoked an organization's tax-exempt status as a social club under Section 501(c)(7). The organization rented its hall and an apartment to the public, and its non-member income exceeded the…
IRS revokes a social club's exemption because recurring public rentals dominated its income
The IRS concluded that an organization no longer qualified as a tax-exempt social club under Section 501(c)(7). The organization combined a member society with historical education, scholarships,…
IRS revokes a social club whose income came entirely from rentals and investments
The IRS revoked an organization's tax-exempt status as a social club under Section 501(c)(7). The organization held an annual alumni reunion and several meetings, but it owned a lodge and parking…
IRS revokes a charity that failed to file its return or provide examination records
The IRS revoked an organization's tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3). The organization did not file its required annual Form 990 for the year under examination and did not provide the…
IRS retroactively revokes a charity whose articles failed the organizational test
The IRS revoked an organization's Section 501(c)(3) status back to its original exemption date. On Form 1023-EZ, the organization had attested that its organizing document limited its purposes to…
IRS revokes a charity that did not provide complete audit records
The IRS revoked an organization's Section 501(c)(3) status because it could not verify the organization's documents, activities, or operations. The organization had obtained exemption through Form…
IRS revokes a youth hockey charity dominated by social and recreational events
The IRS revoked the Section 501(c)(3) status of an organization formed to provide hockey equipment, education, and scholarships to young athletes. During the year examined, the organization…
IRS denies business-league status to a plaza owners association
The IRS denied Section 501(c)(6) exemption to an association of property owners in a commercial plaza. Membership arose automatically from owning a parcel, without regard to the owner's particular…
IRS revokes a charity after repeated promises to provide records went unfulfilled
The IRS revoked an organization's Section 501(c)(3) status because it did not provide records needed to examine its activities, receipts, and expenditures. The organization had obtained exemption…
IRS revokes a suspended charity that did not respond to its audit
The IRS revoked an organization's Section 501(c)(3) status after it failed to respond to an examination. The organization had obtained exemption through Form 1023-EZ, had not filed a Form 990-series…
IRS revokes a purported museum that primarily sold products and benefited its founder
The IRS revoked the Section 501(c)(3) status of an organization that said it operated a museum. During a site visit, the IRS found no visible museum, public display, accessible entrance, or other…
IRS revokes a foster-child charity for personal spending and inadequate records
The IRS revoked the Section 501(c)(3) status of an organization formed to sponsor fitness opportunities for foster children. Bank records obtained by summons showed payments for clothing, groceries,…
IRS disqualifies a social club whose oil-and-gas royalties dominated its income
The IRS disqualified a self-declared social club from exemption under Section 501(c)(7). The club provided recreation and firearms education to hunters and marksmen, but its primary income came from…
IRS denies exemption to an association maintaining a road for its members
The IRS denied Section 501(c)(3) status to an association whose activity was maintaining a road used by its member property owners. The owners either performed the work or hired a contractor, and…
IRS revokes a religious school after missing records and alleged embezzlement
The IRS revoked the Section 501(c)(3) status of a religious elementary school that did not respond to seven information-document requests or substantiate its activities and expenditures. The report…
IRS revokes a charity that ignored its audit and produced no records
The IRS revoked an organization's Section 501(c)(3) status after it failed to respond to an audit or produce records supporting its exempt activities. The organization had received exemption through…
IRS revokes an inactive animal shelter after eviction and state cancellation
The IRS revoked the Section 501(c)(3) status of an animal-rescue organization that had stopped operating. The organization’s president said the shelter had been evicted, its animals and most assets…
IRS revokes an inactive supporting organization that never received funding
The IRS revoked the Section 501(c)(3) status of a Type I supporting organization that had never become operational. The organization was formed to make charitable distributions and grants to a…
IRS revokes a military-member association for private benefit and defective documents
The IRS revoked the Section 501(c)(3) status of an unincorporated association formed to promote camaraderie among assigned military personnel. Member dues paid for plaques and other departure gifts,…
IRS revokes an inactive supporting organization after its supported organization entered bankruptcy
The IRS revoked the Section 501(c)(3) status of an organization formed to raise funds for and support a hospital or related public facilities. Its supported organization entered bankruptcy, and the…
IRS revokes a dormant fraternity’s social-club exemption because all receipts were investment income
The IRS revoked the Section 501(c)(7) exemption of a fraternity that had stopped conducting social activities after selling its house. During the two examined tax years, all of the organization’s…
IRS revokes a private foundation whose funds inured to its sole trustee
The IRS revoked the Section 501(c)(3) status of a private non-operating foundation created to support the arts and provide scholarships to musicians, composers, and lyricists. The foundation…
IRS revokes a business league's exemption for promoting two product brands rather than a whole line of business
The IRS revoked an organization's IRC § 501(c)(6) exemption as a business league. The group was an association of independent distributors ("marketers") who were all affiliated by contract with a…
IRS disqualifies a self-declared social club whose income came almost entirely from nonmembers
This letter is a final determination that a self-declared social club does not qualify for tax exemption under IRC § 501(c)(7). The club owned its building, operated bars and rented its halls to the…
IRS revokes a charity's exemption after it ignored records requests during an audit
The IRS issued a final determination revoking an organization's IRC § 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status after the organization repeatedly failed to respond to the examiner's requests for financial and…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a group that gave airline tickets to fee-paying veterans
The IRS issued a final adverse determination denying tax-exempt status under IRC § 501(c)(3) to an applicant that planned to provide airline tickets to veterans and service members who paid an…
IRS revokes a social club's exemption for excess investment income from nonmember sources
The IRS revoked a social club's IRC § 501(c)(7) exemption after finding that substantially all of its income came from investments, a nonmember source, well over the 35% of gross receipts that…
IRS determines a dormant fraternal cemetery-plot organization does not qualify for exemption
The released package for this organization mixes two sections of the Code, and the text below is reproduced as the IRS released it. The front final determination letter states that the organization…
IRS revokes a 501(c)(3)'s exemption after the group could not be reached during an audit
The IRS revoked an organization's IRC § 501(c)(3) exemption after it failed to respond to repeated audit requests for information about its finances and activities. The group had obtained exemption…
IRS revokes a social club's exemption for investment income over the 35% nonmember limit
The IRS revoked the IRC § 501(c)(7) exemption of a members' club after finding that its investment income (a nonmember source) exceeded, on a continuing basis, the 35% of gross receipts that social…
IRS revokes an inactive charity's exemption for failing the operational test
The IRS revoked an organization's IRC § 501(c)(3) exemption after finding it had not consistently operated and had shown no concrete plans or reasonable steps to begin operating, so it failed the…
IRS revokes a veterans-group auxiliary's exemption because its youth baseball players do not meet the membership rules
The IRS revoked the § 501(c)(19) exemption of an auxiliary unit included in a veterans organization's group ruling. The auxiliary's main activity was operating a community youth baseball team, and…
IRS revokes a recycling charity's exemption after its activities shifted to managing and selling a landfill
The IRS revoked the § 501(c)(3) exemption of an organization originally formed to promote recycling and create employment for people with disabilities. The organization later acquired a closed…
IRS approves a small-benefit cash-out amendment without disturbing a multiemployer plan's funding extension
A multiemployer defined-benefit plan already had an IRS-approved extension for amortizing certain unfunded accrued liabilities. It proposed a mandatory cash-out window for terminated participants…
IRS revokes a dormant fraternity social club that had no members and lived on investment income
A local college fraternity chapter had been recognized as a tax-exempt social club under § 501(c)(7). The chapter folded, sold its fraternity house, and since then existed mainly to hold the…
IRS revokes a 501(c)(4) civic league that went inactive and stopped filing
A social-welfare organization recognized as exempt under § 501(c)(4) stopped operating and had not filed a Form 990 for multiple years. Its last return reported zero income, zero expenses, zero…
Late-election relief for a fund to defer a post-October capital loss under § 852(b)(8)
A regulated investment company (a business development company taxed as a RIC) intended to elect under § 852(b)(8)(A) to defer a "post-October capital loss," treating it as arising on the first day…
Late-filing relief to attach four accounting-method-change forms to a corporate return
A corporation with two lines of business (manufacturing and distribution) made four accounting-method changes for a tax year using the IRS automatic-change procedures, covering depreciation, the…
IRS lets an oil-and-gas owner combine four net-profits royalty interests into one property
A calendar-year taxpayer held many mineral, royalty, overriding royalty, and net-profits interests across counties and parishes in several states. Four of its net-profits overriding royalty…
Late-election relief for a foreign entity to switch from corporation to disregarded status
A single-owner foreign entity whose members all had limited liability defaulted to being treated as an association taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes. The owner intended for it…
Late-election relief for a foreign entity to be a disregarded entity
A foreign entity with a single owner was eligible to elect to be disregarded (ignored as separate from its owner) for U.S. federal tax purposes, but it missed the deadline to file Form 8832 making…
Advisory fees paid from an annuity's cash value are not a taxable distribution to the owner
A life insurance company planned to offer non-qualified deferred annuity contracts (variable, fixed-indexed, and hybrid) designed to be managed with the help of a paid investment adviser. The owner…
Advisory fees paid from an annuity's cash value are not a taxable distribution to the owner
A life insurance company planned to offer non-qualified deferred annuity contracts (variable, fixed-indexed, and hybrid) designed to be managed with the help of a paid investment adviser. The owner…
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.