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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Foreign entity gets 120 days to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity's indirect owner intended the entity to be treated as a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes from the date it was formed. The entity did not timely file Form 8832, but represen…
Mortgage settlement payments preserve REMIC status and interests
A trustee for multiple residential mortgage-backed securitization trusts requested rulings about a bank settlement over alleged breaches of mortgage representations and warranties. Each trust's share …
Foreign retirement fund is a nonexempt employees' trust
A retirement fund organized as a trust under foreign law held separate accounts funded by employers, employees, and investment income. Contributions were irrevocable, assets could not revert to an emp…
Missed QSST election does not terminate S corporation status
An S corporation shareholder died, and shares passed from the estate to a trust intended to qualify as a qualified subchapter S trust. The trustee failed to make the required QSST election, which caus…
RMBS settlement shares preserve REMIC tax treatment
A trustee for multiple residential mortgage-backed securitization trusts requested rulings about a bank settlement over alleged breaches of mortgage representations and warranties. Each settling trust…
Taxpayers get more time to complete section 336(e) election
A corporate group intended to make a section 336(e) election for a disposition of all the target company's stock. The seller and target did not timely enter the written binding agreement required for …
Estate gets 120 days to make 2010 carryover-basis election
A nonresident noncitizen died in 2010, and the decedent's U.S.-situs property passed to the surviving spouse. The spouse did not file Form 8939 by the January 17, 2012 deadline, so the estate did not …
New subsidiary-share basis can reduce excess loss account
A public company owned all of a subsidiary's high-vote stock and some of its publicly traded low-vote stock. The subsidiary's employee compensation awards could be settled with parent-company shares, …
Ownership change permits early entity-classification election
A foreign eligible entity had elected to be treated as a disregarded entity and later wanted to become an association taxable as a corporation. Ordinarily, an entity cannot make another classification…
Plan receives five-year extension to amortize unfunded liabilities
A multiemployer plan requested an automatic extension for amortizing specified unfunded liabilities arising from plan amendments, actuarial losses, and changes in assumptions. The IRS approved a five-…
Seminary scholarship procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation proposed scholarships for students pursuing Christian seminary studies and future missionary or ministry work. Applicants had to show academic ability, character, motivation, fina…
Exemption revoked because funeral payments served members
A membership organization for older adults paid funeral and burial expenses when a member or a member's spouse or child died. Eligibility depended only on membership and a death, with no financial-har…
Exemption denied for substantial member-only benefit funds
An organization proposed public healthcare, rural development, cultural education, family assistance, farmer cooperatives, business training, advocacy, and other programs in the United States and anot…
Combat-zone disregarded days use the taxpayer's entry date
Chief Counsel advised how to compute the section 7508 period that is disregarded for tax deadlines when a taxpayer serves in a combat zone. The relevant date for measuring the filing-season days remai…
Securities-law disgorgement is not deductible after Kokesh
Chief Counsel reconsidered the deductibility of disgorgement paid for violating federal securities law after the Supreme Court's decision in Kokesh v. SEC. Section 162(f) disallows business deductions…
Public-shareholder repurchases receive pro rata treatment under section 355(e)
A public corporation had completed two distributions intended to qualify under section 355 and planned to repurchase shares through open-market purchases, accelerated share-repurchase programs, or ten…
REIT receives extensions to make two taxable-subsidiary elections
A real estate investment trust and two indirectly owned corporations intended to elect taxable REIT subsidiary status, but their advisers and internal personnel failed to file the required Forms 8875 …
Corporation receives another extension to elect IC-DISC status
A domestic corporation formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation failed to make its initial election on time. The IRS had already granted a 60-day extension, but…
S corporation termination was inadvertent after stock reached an ineligible shareholder
An S corporation issued stock under an option agreement to a nonresident alien, who was not an eligible S corporation shareholder. The corporation discovered the problem later and promptly repurchased…
Missed ESBT election caused an inadvertent S corporation termination
After a shareholder died, the shareholder's estate transferred S corporation stock to a trust intended to qualify as an electing small business trust. The trustee failed to make the required ESBT elec…
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A limited partnership failed to make a section 754 election after a partner in its general partner died because its tax advisers neither explained the election nor filed it. The partnership represente…
Partnership receives late section 754 election relief after a partner's death
A limited partnership failed to make a section 754 election after one of its limited partners died because its tax advisers neither explained the available election nor filed it. The partnership repre…
Private foundation's energy-industry scholarship procedures are approved
A private foundation sought advance approval for a scholarship program serving high school graduates in areas where an affiliated energy company operates. Applicants would pursue specified science, ma…
Private foundation's need-based scholarship procedures are approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships for students attending schools in specified regions or otherwise demonstrating financial need. A selection committee would consider academic performance, rec…
Internship-completion educational grants receive advance approval
A private foundation proposed grants to encourage high school seniors to complete a citywide career-training and internship program. Participants would receive three equal installments as they complet…
Farmers' market denied section 501(c)(3) status for serving vendors' private interests
An organization sought reinstatement of section 501(c)(3) status after its earlier exemption was automatically revoked for failing to file Form 990 for three consecutive years. Its main activity was o…
Exemption denied because applicant supplied no organizing document
An applicant for section 501(c)(3) status stated that it was not a corporation, limited liability company, unincorporated association, or trust. It did not submit an organizing document, bylaws, or pr…
S corporation ESOPs may use ordered allocation methods to prevent nonallocation years
Chief Counsel considered several plan provisions intended to prevent an S corporation ESOP from entering a section 409(p) nonallocation year. Stock previously transferred out of an ESOP under the regu…
Moline Properties separate-entity doctrine applies to S corporations
Chief Counsel considered whether wholly owned or majority-owned S corporations could be combined with their shareholders and related entities as a unified business enterprise when determining deductio…
Post-creation trust modification does not support charitable-distribution deductions
A trust sought refunds based on charitable distributions made after a state court modified the trust to give a beneficiary a lifetime power of appointment in favor of two foundations. The original tru…
Missed ESBT election caused an inadvertent S corporation termination
Two shareholders transferred S corporation stock to a trust intended to qualify as an electing small business trust. The trustee did not make the required ESBT election, leaving the trust ineligible t…
Taxpayers receive 60 days to elect partial disposition of a replaced roof
Owners of rental property replaced the roof of a commercial building and capitalized the new roof, but failed to file their income tax return on time. They had calculated timely estimated payments on …
Estate receives 120 days to allocate GST exemption to family trust
A decedent's will created a family trust with generation-skipping transfer tax potential. The estate's accounting firm timely filed Form 706 but allocated GST exemption to a different trust and failed…
Nuclear decommissioning funds may convert pooled investments to partnership treatment
Six qualified nuclear decommissioning funds pooled their assets for investment and had elected to exclude the pooling arrangement from subchapter K partnership rules. They sought to revoke that electi…
Plan receives five-year extension for unfunded-liability amortization
A multiemployer plan requested an automatic extension for amortizing several unfunded-liability bases arising from combined charges, experience losses, a benefit change, and an assumption change. The …
Creative-residency fellowship procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation proposed nonrenewable fellowships supporting accomplished members of a global cultural and religious community during creative residencies in a city. An advisory committee would i…
Single-brand franchisee association denied business-league exemption
An association of current and former franchise owners sought exemption as a business league under section 501(c)(6). It conducted meetings, required-certification workshops, member updates, and trade …
For-profit egg-grader business denied agricultural-organization exemption
A for-profit corporation repaired commercial egg graders and sold refurbished graders and parts to egg producers. Its two directors were a married couple who also owned the stock, received monthly pro…
Exemption denied because incomplete application did not establish exempt operations
A nonprofit corporation applied for section 501(c)(3) status with broad community-assistance purposes and an unfiled set of articles referring to a church. Its application omitted a narrative of activ…
IRS contract interpreters should not sign taxpayer nondisclosure agreements
Chief Counsel considered whether a sign-language interpreter working under an IRS contract should sign a nondisclosure agreement supplied by a taxpayer. The interpreter's contract already subjected th…
The IRS can partially release a levy that includes an excessive assessment
The IRS had abated part of a deficiency assessment as excessive, but later issued a levy that still reflected the excessive amount. Counsel considered whether the levy remained effective up to the cor…
A Section 3504 agent may appoint a subagent through an approved Form 2678
Counsel distinguished a Section 3504 agent from a payroll service provider. A payroll service provider files separate employment tax returns under each employer's EIN, while a Section 3504 agent files…
An insurer's cross-border restructuring received favorable reorganization and insurance tax rulings
A domestic insurance group proposed moving its U.S. business to a new domestic subsidiary and its foreign branch business to a new foreign insurer. The foreign insurer would elect under section 953(d)…
A corporation received more time to file its IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC. Its law firm completed the formation filings but failed to file Form 4876-A, an…
An S corporation received more time to elect the success-based fee safe harbor
An S corporation paid a success-based fee in connection with an acquisition and reported the fee using the safe harbor in Revenue Procedure 2011-29. It deducted 70 percent and capitalized 30 percent, …
Mineral royalty owners may aggregate qualifying interests by property
Two related corporations owned royalty interests in several U.S. mining and oil and gas properties and sought to aggregate the interests at each property for depletion purposes. They represented that …
A corporation received more time to file its IC-DISC election after an adviser mix-up
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC. Its accounting firm believed the law firm had filed Form 4876-A, while the law …
A foreign entity received more time to elect disregarded status
A fund held a foreign entity that was intended to be treated as disregarded from the date it was formed. The entity did not timely file Form 8832 to make that classification election. Based on the sub…
A foreign entity received 120 days to make a late disregarded entity election
A fund intended a foreign entity it held to be classified as disregarded for federal tax purposes from the entity's formation date. The entity failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded, from…
A foreign entity may file a late Form 8832 for disregarded status
A foreign entity held by a fund was meant to be classified as disregarded for federal tax purposes beginning on its formation date. It failed to file the required Form 8832 by the deadline. The IRS de…
A foreign entity obtained late relief for a disregarded entity election
A fund intended one of its foreign entities to be disregarded for federal tax purposes effective on the date the entity was formed. The entity did not timely submit Form 8832. Based only on the submit…
A foreign entity received late relief to elect partnership status
A fund intended a foreign entity it held to be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes from the entity's formation date. The entity did not file Form 8832 on time. Based on the facts and …
A foreign entity may make a late partnership classification election
A fund held a foreign entity that it intended to treat as a partnership beginning on the entity's formation date. The entity failed to timely file Form 8832 for that classification. The IRS found that…
A missed Form 8832 deadline did not prevent late partnership election relief
A foreign entity owned through a fund was intended to be treated as a partnership from the day it was formed. Form 8832 was not filed by the normal deadline. The IRS concluded that the entity had met …
A foreign entity received a 120-day extension for its partnership election
A fund intended a foreign entity to have partnership status for federal tax purposes as of the entity's formation. The entity missed the deadline for filing Form 8832. After reviewing the supplied fac…
A foreign entity may elect partnership treatment after the filing deadline
A fund wanted a foreign entity it held to be classified as a partnership effective on its formation date. The entity did not timely file the necessary Form 8832. Based on the representations and facts…
A foreign entity obtained an extension to elect partnership status
A fund held a foreign entity that was intended to have partnership classification from its formation date. The entity failed to make a timely election on Form 8832. The IRS determined from the submitt…
Late Form 8832 relief allowed partnership treatment from formation
A foreign entity owned through a fund was intended to be classified as a partnership from its formation date. It did not file Form 8832 within the normal election period. The IRS concluded that the en…
A foreign entity received extra time for a partnership classification election
A fund intended a foreign entity it held to be treated as a partnership for federal tax purposes from the date of formation. Form 8832 was not filed on time. The IRS concluded, based on the facts and …
A foreign entity may file its partnership classification election late
A fund held a foreign entity that was supposed to be treated as a partnership beginning when it was formed. The entity missed the deadline to file Form 8832. The IRS found that the entity met the regu…
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.