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 a different search term or clear the filters.
IRS applies utility normalization rules to surcharge rate base and NOL carryforwards
A regulated water and wastewater utility asked how federal tax normalization rules applied when an infrastructure surcharge rate case used accumulated deferred income tax (ADIT) to reduce rate base wh…
IRS grants S corporation relief for partnership terms and IRA ownership
A limited liability company intended to be taxed as an S corporation, but its operating agreement contained partnership-style allocation and liquidation provisions that created a second class of stock…
IRS approves entrepreneurial student fellowship procedures
A private foundation proposed a one-year fellowship for full-time undergraduate and graduate students pursuing independent entrepreneurial projects. Projects could involve nonprofit or for-profit work…
IRS approves renewable scholarships for low-income students
A private foundation proposed scholarships for low-income college students who lived in a specified local area. Awards could cover tuition, books, supplies, and room and board, and applicants had to m…
IRS approves set-aside for historic university building restoration
A private foundation proposed setting aside funds for the rehabilitation and repair of an uninhabitable historic building that a public university planned to use. The grant would cover about one-third…
IRS approves college scholarships for music-program students
A private foundation proposed college scholarships for high-need students who had participated for at least three years in nonprofit music education programs supported by the foundation. Students had …
Fundraising website denied charitable exemption for insufficient operational detail
An organization applied for section 501(c)(3) status to operate a no-fee website supporting community fundraising campaigns. It planned to absorb payment-processing costs, publicize campaigns through …
Exclusive-category networking group denied business-league exemption
A membership organization held weekly breakfast meetings where members discussed and promoted their businesses, along with outings and social events. Membership was generally limited to one representa…
IRS revokes mistaken charitable exemption for defective organizing documents
An organization had previously been treated as a section 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, but after that status was revoked, a secretary mistakenly filed Form 1023-EZ seeking section 501(c)(3) r…
Business referral chapter denied social-welfare exemption
A business networking chapter sought exemption as a section 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. Members met weekly to deliver short business presentations, learn referral techniques, and help one a…
Partnership basis and at-risk limits also restrict self-employment losses
Chief Counsel considered whether general partners could use partnership losses to reduce net earnings from self-employment when those losses were disallowed for income tax purposes. The memorandum con…
Two-year extension preserves bankruptcy liquidating-trust status
A trust created under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan held and pursued litigation claims for the benefit of creditors and distributed liquidation proceeds. Its original five-year term had already been ex…
Late ESBT election receives inadvertent S corporation termination relief
A trust owning stock in an S corporation ceased to be a grantor trust and qualified to become an electing small business trust, but its trustee did not timely file the ESBT election. That omission cau…
Nuclear decommissioning fund transfer keeps qualified status
A corporate owner proposed transferring a nuclear power plant, its assets, and its decommissioning liabilities to an affiliated corporation, including both qualified and nonqualified decommissioning f…
Plant transfer preserves qualified nuclear decommissioning fund
A corporate owner proposed transferring a nuclear power plant, related assets, and decommissioning obligations to an affiliated corporation. The transferred assets included a qualified nuclear decommi…
Transfer of two nuclear plants preserves qualified decommissioning funds
A corporate owner proposed transferring two nuclear power plants, including one that had permanently ceased operations, to an affiliated corporation. The transaction included each plant's qualified an…
Qualified funds survive affiliate transfer of two nuclear plants
A corporate owner proposed transferring two nuclear plants and their associated assets and liabilities to an affiliated corporation. One plant had permanently stopped operating, and each plant had bot…
Affiliate plant transfer retains qualified nuclear fund treatment
A corporation proposed transferring a nuclear power plant, related assets, and decommissioning obligations to an affiliated corporation. The transferred property included a qualified nuclear decommiss…
Nuclear plant and qualified fund transfer receives nonrecognition treatment
A corporation proposed transferring a nuclear power plant, its decommissioning funds, and related liabilities to an affiliated corporation. The IRS ruled that the qualified nuclear decommissioning fun…
New owner may restore S election before five-year waiting period ends
A corporation's sole shareholder had revoked its S election. A new shareholder later bought stock, and the corporation redeemed all of the former owner's remaining shares, leaving the buyer as sole ow…
Partnership basis step-up need not change utility deferred-tax balances
An acquirer purchased all partnership interests in an entity that indirectly owned regulated electric transmission and distribution assets. A section 754 election would create special section 743(b) b…
Late trader mark-to-market election denied because hindsight created an advantage
Married taxpayers asked for extra time to elect the section 475(f) mark-to-market method for the husband's securities trading activity. They filed the election months after its due date, after a partn…
Court reformation preserves QTIP, estate, and GST tax treatment
A married couple's community-property trust divided the first spouse's property between marital and family trusts, but later restatements contained several drafting errors. Those errors appeared to ap…
Four missed ESBT elections receive conditional S corporation relief
Four shareholders transferred S corporation stock to four trusts intended to be electing small business trusts, but the trustees did not timely file the ESBT elections. The missed elections caused the…
Foreign entity receives extra time for disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes, but Form 8832 was not timely filed. The IRS concluded that the entity acted reasonably and in g…
Late Form 8832 allowed for foreign disregarded entity
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect disregarded-entity status but did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS found that the requirements for discretionary filing relief were met and granted a 120-…
IRS grants late disregarded-entity classification election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as disregarded from its single owner, but it inadvertently missed the Form 8832 filing deadline. The IRS granted a 120-day extension to make the ele…
Foreign company may file late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be disregarded as separate from its owner but failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS determined that the entity qualified for discretionary election relief and…
Filing extension granted for foreign entity classification election
A foreign eligible entity wanted disregarded-entity treatment effective from a specified date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832. The IRS granted 120 days to submit the late election. The reli…
Filing extension granted for foreign entity classification election
A foreign eligible entity wanted disregarded-entity treatment effective from a specified date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832. The IRS granted 120 days to submit the late election. The reli…
Filing extension granted for foreign entity classification election
A foreign eligible entity wanted disregarded-entity treatment effective from a specified date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832. The IRS granted 120 days to submit the late election. The reli…
Inadvertent S corporation termination relief granted for late QSST elections
Five trusts held stock in an S corporation but their beneficiaries did not timely file qualified subchapter S trust elections when grantor-trust treatment ended. Those failures terminated, or would ha…
Pre-revenue development business qualifies for section 355 active-business test
A public company proposed separating an established research business from a development business through a contribution to a new controlled corporation followed by a pro rata stock distribution. The …
Inadvertent S corporation termination relief granted for eight late QSST elections
Eight trusts received stock in an S corporation, but their beneficiaries did not timely make qualified subchapter S trust elections. The resulting ineligible shareholders terminated the corporation's …
IRS denies exemption to a general business networking group
A membership organization of professionals from different trades and businesses applied for exemption as a business league under section 501(c)(6). Members met weekly to exchange referrals and grow th…
Inadvertent S corporation termination relief granted for late QSST and ESBT elections
Stock in an S corporation passed to a testamentary trust after a shareholder's death. The beneficiary did not timely elect qualified subchapter S trust treatment, and after that beneficiary died, the …
Construction contractors may use a hybrid accounting method
Chief Counsel considered how construction contractors should account for businesses that primarily provide services but also produce, purchase, or sell merchandise. The regulations require inventories…
Late accounting-period change application treated as timely
A corporation sought to change its tax year from June 30 to March 31 but filed Form 1128 after the short-period return deadline in Revenue Procedure 2006-45. It requested discretionary relief shortly …
Late private activity bond volume-cap carryforward election accepted
A public housing agency received a state allocation of private activity bond volume cap for tax-exempt financing of a residential rental project. Because this was its first bond issue requiring a carr…
Late accounting-period change application treated as timely
A corporation sought to change its tax year from December 31 to February 28 but filed Form 1128 after the short-period return deadline in Revenue Procedure 2006-45. It requested discretionary relief s…
Renewable energy partnership receives time to elect investment tax credits
A partnership with a tax equity investor intended to claim investment tax credits instead of production tax credits for renewable energy facilities. Its return preparer said it intended and believed i…
Corporate group receives time to elect consolidated return filing
A domestic parent corporation and its affiliated group failed to timely elect consolidated federal income tax return filing by submitting a valid consolidated return. The group requested relief before…
Inadvertent S corporation termination relief granted for two trusts' late elections
Stock in an S corporation passed to two testamentary trusts after a shareholder's death. The beneficiary did not timely elect qualified subchapter S trust treatment for either trust, and after that be…
Pension plan may use substitute mortality tables for five years
A defined benefit pension plan asked to use plan-specific substitute mortality tables when calculating minimum funding under section 430. The request covered male and female annuitants and nonannuitan…
IRS denies exemption to an exclusive business referral group
An exclusive-category networking group admitted one member from each type of business and operated weekly breakfast meetings and periodic mixers. Its members exchanged leads and referrals, presented t…
IRS approves scholarships for local high school seniors
A private foundation proposed scholarships for graduating seniors at two local high schools. Different awards would consider criteria such as a chosen field of study, participation in sports or clubs,…
IRS denies exemption because coffee shop operations serve a substantial commercial purpose
An organization planned to support Christian mission trips through grants to students and missionary organizations. It intended to fund those grants primarily by operating a public coffee shop and bak…
IRS revokes exemption after an organization mistakenly sought section 501(c)(3) status
An organization received section 501(c)(3) status through Form 1023-EZ after attesting that its governing documents contained the required purpose limitations and dissolution provisions. During examin…
Chief Counsel advises that only one FPAA generally issues per partnership year, with a tiered-partnership exception
This short Chief Counsel email answers whether the IRS can issue more than one Final Partnership Administrative Adjustment (FPAA) for the same partnership tax year under the old TEFRA partnership audi…
Chief Counsel corrects a training answer on when prepaid state income tax is deductible under the SALT cap
This is an internal Chief Counsel email answering whether a sample answer in IRS training materials about the state-and-local-tax (SALT) deduction was wrong. The 2017 tax law capped the SALT deduction…
Real estate professional gets late relief to treat all rental properties as one activity
A taxpayer in a real property business qualified to make the election under IRC § 469(c)(7)(A) that treats all of his rental real estate interests as a single activity, which can make it easier to mee…
Invalid S election ruled inadvertent after missed QSST elections and a bad consent
A company elected S corporation status, and its stock was held by two separate subtrusts that were intended to qualify as qualified subchapter S trusts (QSSTs) for two individual beneficiaries. Two pr…
Late relief to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation for 24 GRATs
Over eight years, a taxpayer funded 24 grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), three each year, with the remainders passing to three trusts for her three children and their descendants. When each GRA…
Late relief to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation for four GRATs
A married couple funded four grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) over several years, with the remainders passing to trusts for their two sons. When each GRAT's estate-tax inclusion period closed, …
Late relief to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation for four GRATs
A married couple funded four grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) over several years, with the remainders passing to trusts for their two sons. When each GRAT's estate-tax inclusion period closed, …
IRS blesses an incomplete-gift non-grantor trust with a power of appointment committee
A married couple in a community property state set up an irrevocable trust funded with community property and controlled by a "power of appointment committee" made up of the spouses and several family…
Corporation gets extra time to file the original Forms 3115 it forgot to attach
A domestic C corporation in a consolidated group made three automatic accounting-method changes for a tax year (covering prepaid liabilities, vacation pay, and marketing-allowance rebates) and filed t…
Foreign entity gets late relief to elect partnership treatment on Form 8832
A foreign business entity eligible to choose its U.S. federal tax classification wanted to be treated as a partnership but failed to file Form 8832 (the "check-the-box" election) on time. Without the …
Foreign entity gets late relief to elect partnership treatment on Form 8832
A foreign business entity eligible to choose its U.S. federal tax classification wanted to be treated as a partnership but failed to file Form 8832 (the "check-the-box" election) on time. Without the …
Foreign entity gets late relief to elect partnership treatment on Form 8832
A foreign business entity that was eligible to choose how it is classified for U.S. federal tax purposes wanted to be treated as a partnership, but failed to file Form 8832 (the "check-the-box" entity…
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.