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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Revolving educational loan procedures approved
A private foundation proposed a revolving educational loan program for needy and deserving students under age 23 who lived in a specified area. Loans could support study at U.S. trade, technical,…
Condominium association denied social-welfare exemption
A condominium owners association applied for exemption as a social-welfare organization under section 501(c)(4). It collected homeowners association and management fees and used them for building…
Breeding and showing association denied charitable exemption
An association already exempt under section 501(c)(5) asked to change its status to a charitable and educational organization under section 501(c)(3). Its articles authorized activities promoting…
Homeowners association denied charitable exemption
A homeowners association applied for recognition as a charitable organization under section 501(c)(3). Every lot owner in the subdivision was a member, and annual dues funded services such as snow…
Internet exchange point denied business-league exemption
A nonprofit internet exchange point sought exemption as a business league under section 501(c)(6). It connected members to shared switching infrastructure for internet traffic exchange and route…
Member death-benefit association denied social-welfare exemption
An association collected registration fees, annual dues, and per-member assessments to pay death benefits to the designated beneficiaries of deceased members. It also offered members free seminars…
For-profit hunting club denied social-club exemption
A for-profit corporation owned land where its shareholders could hunt, camp, ride off-road vehicles, snowmobile, and engage in conservation activities. It received no member income; all revenue came…
Food-truck scheduling association denied business-league exemption
A food-truck association sought exemption as a business league under section 501(c)(6). It lobbied governments, promoted vending locations, worked with event planners and suppliers, and offered…
Nonprofit grocery store denied 501(c)(3) exemption
A nonprofit planned to operate a grocery store in a blighted, low-income census tract that it described as a food desert. It intended to sell affordable nutritious food, accept donated groceries,…
Business referral group denied business-league exemption
An unincorporated association of professionals sought exemption as a business league under section 501(c)(6). Its members met weekly to learn about one another's businesses, exchange referrals, and…
Breed association denied 501(c)(3) exemption
An unincorporated breed association sought exemption under section 501(c)(3). Its activities included an annual show, other public events, a festival presentation, membership meetings, awards, and…
Death-benefit group denied social-club exemption
A group of close friends sought exemption as a social club under section 501(c)(7). Members paid monthly fees into a fund that made a fixed payment after a qualifying death involving a member,…
Business corridor group denied 501(c)(3) reclassification
A business corridor organization already exempt under section 501(c)(6) asked to qualify under section 501(c)(3). It held an annual anti-violence festival, organized business mixers, distributed…
Housing project gets 120 days to make 40-60 set-aside election
The owner of a multiple-building low-income housing project intended to elect the 40-60 minimum set-aside under section 42(g)(1)(B). It inadvertently omitted the election from the Form 8609…
Late REIT election treated as timely
A single-member limited liability company intended to elect real estate investment trust status for its first taxable year as a corporation. Its tax firm mistakenly omitted the company's Form 7004…
Partnership gets 120 days to make late section 754 election
A limited partnership intended to make a section 754 election after a partner died and partnership interests passed through a trust. The partnership instructed its tax advisors to make the election,…
Family company agreement keeps section 2703 grandfather status
A family-owned company was governed by a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement adopted before October 8, 1990. The company and its shareholders asked whether later family transfers, administrative…
Family company restrictions remain grandfathered under section 2703
A family-owned company was governed by a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement adopted before October 8, 1990. The company and its shareholders asked whether later family transfers, administrative…
Pre-1990 family stock agreement remains grandfathered
A family-owned company was governed by a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement adopted before October 8, 1990. The company and its shareholders asked whether later family transfers, administrative…
Family stock restrictions retain section 2703 grandfather protection
A family-owned company was governed by a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement adopted before October 8, 1990. The company and its shareholders asked whether later family transfers, administrative…
Buy-sell agreement remains protected from section 2703
A family-owned company was governed by a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement adopted before October 8, 1990. The company and its shareholders asked whether later family transfers, administrative…
Family share agreement remains grandfathered after planned changes
A family-owned company was governed by a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement adopted before October 8, 1990. The company and its shareholders asked whether later family transfers, administrative…
Family company changes do not trigger section 2703
A family-owned company was governed by a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement adopted before October 8, 1990. The company and its shareholders asked whether later family transfers, administrative…
Planned stock changes preserve section 2703 grandfathering
A family-owned company was governed by a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement adopted before October 8, 1990. The company and its shareholders asked whether later family transfers, administrative…
Family company recapitalization does not end grandfathering
A family-owned company was governed by a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement adopted before October 8, 1990. The company and its shareholders asked whether later family transfers, administrative…
Later family transfers do not alter grandfathered stock agreement
A family-owned company was governed by a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement adopted before October 8, 1990. The company and its shareholders asked whether later family transfers, administrative…
Ineffective QSub election receives inadvertent relief
An S corporation acquired all the stock of another S corporation as part of a purported reorganization, after which the subsidiary converted to a limited liability company. The parent intended to…
Estate gets 120 days to make portability election
An estate that represented it was not otherwise required to file Form 706 sought extra time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion. Although an estate-tax return…
LLC gets 120 days to elect partnership classification
A multi-member limited liability company had initially elected corporate classification for federal tax purposes. It later intended to be treated as a partnership from a specified effective date but…
Truck and tractor pull group denied 501(c)(3) reinstatement
An organization whose exemption had been automatically revoked sought reinstatement under section 501(c)(3). Its articles stated that it was formed for social and civic purposes and to host an…
IRS approves county-based scholarship procedures
A private foundation requested advance approval for a scholarship program serving high school seniors and community college transferees who lived in a specified county and participated in an…
Private foundation scholarship program receives advance approval
A private foundation requested advance approval for a scholarship program serving high school seniors and community college transferees who lived in a specified county and participated in an…
Medical marijuana dispensary denied 501(c)(3) reinstatement
An organization whose exemption had been automatically revoked sought retroactive reinstatement under section 501(c)(3). Its articles and bylaws stated that it would dispense medical cannabis to…
Homeowners association denied social-welfare exemption
A homeowners association sought exemption as a social-welfare organization under section 501(c)(4). Membership was compulsory for homeowners inside a fenced area, and dues maintained streets,…
Commercial hog farm denied 501(c)(3) exemption
An organization proposed a self-sustaining hog farm that would use donated surplus or waste inputs, sell part of its output, and donate the balance to related charities. It expected its product to…
Fundraiser for one person's medical and burial expenses denied exemption
An unincorporated association applied for section 501(c)(3) status to raise funds for the medical costs and burial of one named person. The IRS concluded that paying a preselected individual's…
Legal-defense trust for one person denied exemption
A trust applied for section 501(c)(3) status to raise money for one named person's legal defense and possible bail or bond. The fund would remain active until that person was exonerated or exhausted…
IRS grants extra time for subsidiaries to file LIFO elections
After acquiring a corporate group, a taxpayer discovered that the former parent’s tax adviser had failed to advise that LIFO computations must be performed entity by entity and that each…
IRS approves revised nuclear decommissioning fund schedule
The owner of a permanently closed nuclear power plant requested a revised schedule of ruling amounts for deductible contributions to its qualified nuclear decommissioning fund. Based on the…
IRS grants late success-based-fee safe-harbor election
A corporation incurred success-based fees in an acquisition and reported them using Revenue Procedure 2011-29’s 70-percent deduction and 30-percent capitalization safe harbor. Its accounting firm…
Cooperative asset-sale gain qualifies for patronage dividend deduction
A cooperative sold substantially all of its operating assets and planned to liquidate. It proposed allocating a member portion of the gain using the average patronage-to-nonpatronage business ratio…
Family-company agreement remains grandfathered after transfers and recapitalization
A family-owned company’s stock redemption and buy-sell agreement predated October 8, 1990, and therefore remained outside section 2703 unless substantially modified. The IRS ruled that later…
Family-company agreement remains grandfathered after transfers and recapitalization
A family-owned company’s stock redemption and buy-sell agreement predated October 8, 1990, and therefore remained outside section 2703 unless substantially modified. The IRS ruled that later…
Family-company agreement remains grandfathered after transfers and recapitalization
A family-owned company’s stock redemption and buy-sell agreement predated October 8, 1990, and therefore remained outside section 2703 unless substantially modified. The IRS ruled that later…
Family-company agreement remains grandfathered after transfers and recapitalization
A family-owned company’s stock redemption and buy-sell agreement predated October 8, 1990, and therefore remained outside section 2703 unless substantially modified. The IRS ruled that later…
Family-company agreement remains grandfathered after transfers and recapitalization
A family-owned company’s stock redemption and buy-sell agreement predated October 8, 1990, and therefore remained outside section 2703 unless substantially modified. The IRS ruled that later…
Incomplete-gift trust committee avoids ownership, gift, and general-power treatment
An irrevocable domestic trust used a power-of-appointment committee to direct distributions among the grantor and other beneficiaries. While the committee remains in existence, the IRS found no…
Incomplete-gift trust committee avoids ownership, gift, and general-power treatment
An irrevocable domestic trust used a power-of-appointment committee to direct distributions among the grantor and other beneficiaries. While the committee remains in existence, the IRS found no…
Incomplete-gift trust committee avoids ownership, gift, and general-power treatment
An irrevocable domestic trust used a power-of-appointment committee to direct distributions among the grantor and other beneficiaries. While the committee remains in existence, the IRS found no…
Incomplete-gift trust committee avoids ownership, gift, and general-power treatment
An irrevocable domestic trust used a power-of-appointment committee to direct distributions among the grantor and other beneficiaries. While the committee remains in existence, the IRS found no…
Incomplete-gift trust committee avoids ownership, gift, and general-power treatment
An irrevocable domestic trust used a power-of-appointment committee to direct distributions among the grantor and other beneficiaries. While the committee remains in existence, the IRS found no…
Single-software user group denied business-league exemption
A membership organization held meetings and training for employees of businesses using one manufacturer’s software and shared user feedback with that manufacturer. The IRS concluded that its…
IRS contacts with DOJ generally are not third-party contacts
IRS Chief Counsel advised that requests to the Department of Justice for documents or verbal information about a non-tax settlement generally are government contacts excluded from section 7602(c)’s…
IRS grants late Form 5471 accounting-period election
A taxpayer missed the deadline to file Form 5471 electing under section 898(c)(2) a controlled foreign corporation tax year beginning one month before the majority U.S. shareholder year. The…
IRS grants late Form 5471 accounting-period election
A taxpayer missed the deadline to file Form 5471 electing under section 898(c)(2) a controlled foreign corporation tax year beginning one month before the majority U.S. shareholder year. The…
IRS grants late Form 5471 accounting-period election
A taxpayer missed the deadline to file Form 5471 electing under section 898(c)(2) a controlled foreign corporation tax year beginning one month before the majority U.S. shareholder year. The…
IRS grants late Form 5471 accounting-period election
A taxpayer missed the deadline to file Form 5471 electing under section 898(c)(2) a controlled foreign corporation tax year beginning one month before the majority U.S. shareholder year. The…
IRS grants late Form 5471 accounting-period election
A taxpayer missed the deadline to file Form 5471 electing under section 898(c)(2) a controlled foreign corporation tax year beginning one month before the majority U.S. shareholder year. The…
IRS grants late disregarded-entity election for foreign entity
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as disregarded from its formation date, but Form 8832 was not timely filed because of inadvertence. The IRS found the section 301.9100…
IRS grants late consolidated-return election
A parent corporation failed to make a valid consolidated-return election by the return deadline after reasonably relying on a qualified tax professional. The IRS found that the parent acted…
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.