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.
A foreign entity got 120 days to elect partnership classification
A foreign entity held by a fund was intended to be a partnership for federal tax purposes from its formation date. It failed to timely file the Form 8832 needed for that classification. The IRS decide…
A foreign entity held by multiple funds received late partnership election relief
Multiple funds held a foreign entity that they intended to be treated as a partnership from the date it was formed. The entity failed to file Form 8832 on time. Based solely on the submitted facts and…
A foreign entity received late filing relief for partnership classification
A fund intended its foreign entity to be treated as a partnership for federal tax purposes beginning on the formation date. The entity did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded from the submitt…
A foreign entity may make its partnership election within 120 days
A fund intended a foreign entity it held to have partnership classification from the day the entity was formed. The entity failed to submit Form 8832 by the required deadline. The IRS determined, base…
A homeowners' association was denied social club exemption
A homeowners' association applied for exemption as a social club under section 501(c)(7). Its main activity was maintaining residential property and setting aside funds for repairs and replacements, a…
A deathbed purchase of GRAT remainders did not supply adequate consideration
A donor purchased the remainder interests in two grantor retained annuity trusts using unsecured promissory notes and died the next day while the annuity terms were still running. The trust property w…
Late ESBT elections did not permanently terminate an S corporation election
Two shareholders transferred S corporation stock to three nongrantor trusts that qualified to elect treatment as electing small business trusts, or ESBTs. The trustees failed to file timely ESBT elect…
An S corporation received relief after three trusts missed ESBT elections
Shareholders transferred stock in an S corporation to three nongrantor trusts whose beneficiaries were U.S. citizens. Although each trust qualified to make an electing small business trust election, t…
Missed ESBT filings were treated as an inadvertent S election termination
Two individual shareholders transferred S corporation shares to three nongrantor trusts. The trusts qualified to elect as electing small business trusts, but their trustees failed to file the election…
Three late ESBT elections received inadvertent termination relief
Two shareholders placed S corporation stock in three nongrantor trusts, each of which qualified to elect as an ESBT. The trustees missed the election deadline, causing the corporation's S election to …
A taxpayer may revoke three elections treating capital gains as investment income
A taxpayer materially participated in a securities-trading partnership and received carried-interest income. The taxpayer's first accounting firm mistakenly reported partnership interest expense on Fo…
A foreign unlimited liability company received late corporate election relief
A foreign unlimited liability company was intended by its owner to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation from the date it was formed. The company failed to timely file Form 8832, al…
Converting an LLC partnership into a limited partnership was tax-free
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership planned to convert under state law into a limited partnership. New disregarded entities would become the general partners, but their regarded owners …
An oil and gas group received more time to amortize drilling costs
An affiliated oil and gas group intended to elect under section 59(e) to deduct intangible drilling and development costs ratably over 60 months. Its timely consolidated return did not include the sta…
An internal error qualified for late IC-DISC election relief
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC. Its accounting firm supplied Form 4876-A and filing instructions, but the corpo…
A utility's past deferred-tax methods did not violate normalization rules
A regulated electric utility used accumulated deferred federal income tax, or ADFIT, as zero-cost capital in setting base rates and rider charges. It had not applied the required proration methodology…
A foundation may indemnify trustees for accelerated trust distributions
A private foundation was the sole remaining beneficiary of an irrevocable trust and wanted the trustees to distribute trust assets before all potential liabilities were resolved. The foundation propos…
Pension plan benefit amendments received mixed funding rulings
A multiemployer defined benefit plan had a five-year extension to amortize unfunded liabilities and later proposed benefit changes under a funding improvement plan. The IRS rejected the plan's claim t…
A foundation's four scholarship programs received advance approval
A private foundation requested advance approval for procedures governing four scholarship programs designed to expand access to higher education. The programs used academic ability, financial need, ch…
A resident-owned mobile home park corporation was denied exemption
A member-owned corporation sought section 501(c)(3) status so it could buy the land under a mobile home park and keep lot rents stable for resident homeowners. The residents would continue to own thei…
A hospital owner lost exemption after ceding control to a for-profit operator
A nonprofit hospital owner had been exempt under section 501(c)(3) since 1989 but later leased its hospital land, property, and equipment to a for-profit operator. The for-profit collected hospital re…
State law determines who may bind an entity tax matters partner
Counsel addressed who may sign for an entity serving as a tax matters partner. The answer depends on who has authority to bind that entity under the governing state law and the entity's organizational…
Three foreign entities received late partnership election relief
Three foreign entities intended to be treated as partnerships for U.S. federal tax purposes but failed to file Forms 8832 on time. The IRS found that the entities met the standards for discretionary l…
An acquired group may switch from fair market value to tax book value
A domestic parent used tax book value to apportion interest expense for its consolidated group. It acquired another corporation that had previously used fair market value, a method that ordinarily mus…
A spun-off group may change from fair market value to tax book value
A domestic consolidated group had used fair market value to apportion interest expense. After spinning off a wholly owned subsidiary, the group disposed of most of its foreign operations and represent…
A newly private group may switch to tax book value
A domestic consolidated group had used fair market value to apportion interest expense while its parent was publicly traded. A foreign corporation acquired the parent, ending its publicly traded statu…
A missed ESBT election did not invalidate S corporation status permanently
A trust held stock when a corporation elected S status but did not timely elect treatment as an electing small business trust. Because the trust was then an ineligible shareholder, the corporation's S…
Disregarded entity relief preserved a subsidiary's S corporation status
An individual placed an interest in an S corporation into a wholly owned limited liability company. On an accountant's advice, that LLC then elected S corporation treatment, making it a corporation an…
A parent received more time to make a consolidated return election
A subsidiary acquired the parent of an existing consolidated group, but the resulting return incorrectly identified the subsidiary rather than its own parent as the new common parent. The subsidiary a…
An adviser miscommunication qualified for late IC-DISC election relief
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC. It relied on a law firm to complete the necessary elections, but the firm belie…
A foreign insurer received more time for domestic and small-company elections
A foreign property and casualty insurer intended to elect under section 953(d) to be treated as a domestic corporation and under section 831(b) to be taxed as a small insurance company. Its return inc…
A community property trust received favorable income, gift, estate, and basis rulings
A married couple transferred community property to an irrevocable domestic trust whose distribution decisions were controlled through a power-of-appointment committee and retained grantor powers. The …
Retained powers kept community property trust contributions incomplete for gift tax
Spouses placed community property in an irrevocable domestic trust that used a committee to direct distributions and gave the spouses retained distribution and testamentary powers. The IRS ruled that …
Affiliated group received more time to elect out of bonus depreciation
A corporate parent asked for extra time to elect out of additional first-year depreciation for three classes of qualified property placed in service by its affiliated group. The group had claimed bonu…
New U.S. resident could make retroactive QEF elections for foreign companies
An individual acquired shares in three foreign companies while treated as a nonresident alien, then moved to the United States and elected U.S. tax residency. The companies were passive foreign invest…
Partnership received 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A limited partnership failed to include a section 754 election with its return for the year in which a partner died. That election allows partnership property basis adjustments after certain property …
Dormant LLC's corporate election counted as its initial classification
A limited liability company was dormant after formation, with no assets, income, liabilities, or operations, until it received initial funding and began business. It filed an entity-classification ele…
Foreign entity received 120 days to elect partnership treatment
A foreign eligible entity with limited-liability members failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect partnership treatment from its organization date. It represented that the failure was reasonable and …
Military fishing tournament did not qualify for section 501(c)(3)
A nonprofit corporation organized an annual three-day event for military service members that included a dinner, a military-installation tour, and a fishing tournament. The IRS found that the organiza…
Pharmacy's commercial operations prevented section 501(c)(3) exemption
A nonprofit corporation planned to operate a pharmacy open to the general public. It would charge usual prices to insured and Medicare customers and pharmacy cost to poor, indigent, and underinsured c…
Bankruptcy distribution of controlled stock was not an earnings device
A company completed a bankruptcy reorganization that separated two businesses and distributed controlled-company stock solely to first-lien creditors. The value those creditors received was significan…
Corporation received relief for a late S corporation election
A corporation intended to be treated as an S corporation from a specified tax year and filed returns consistently with that treatment. Its Form 2553 election, however, was not filed on time. The IRS f…
Missed ESBT election caused an inadvertent S corporation termination
After an S corporation shareholder died, the shareholder's stock passed to a testamentary trust that could hold S corporation stock for two years. The trustee failed to elect electing small business t…
Worker could reelect the foreign earned income exclusion after moving countries
A U.S. taxpayer working abroad had used the foreign earned income exclusion for two years, then claimed foreign tax credits in the next year because an adviser said that approach would lower the taxpa…
Farm remainder sale to the seller's mother avoided special-use recapture tax
An estate elected special-use valuation for farm property that passed as a life estate to the decedent's daughter, with remainder interests for her two children. One grandchild proposed selling a half…
Five missed QSST elections caused an inadvertent S corporation termination
Five trusts acquired shares of an S corporation, and each trust was represented as eligible for qualified subchapter S trust treatment. The trusts' beneficiaries did not file the required QSST electio…
Waived pension overpayment was not additional taxable income
A retired employee received pension payments that were later found to include an overpayment caused by earlier calculation errors. The pension administrator reduced future payments but waived collecti…
State disability-support payments qualified for the general welfare exclusion
A state agency funded services and items that helped people with intellectual or developmental disabilities remain at home while waiting for Medicaid waiver support. Eligible recipients had to be on t…
Electric utility's deferred-tax rate methods avoided normalization sanctions
A regulated electric utility used accumulated deferred federal income tax from accelerated depreciation as zero-cost capital when setting base rates and cost-recovery riders. It discovered that it had…
Employer received 60 days to file a late QSLOB notice
A company and an acquired business maintained separate operations and separate 401(k) plans but failed to file Form 5310-A notifying the IRS that they would be treated as qualified separate lines of b…
Acquirer received 60 days to make a late success-fee safe-harbor election
A company paid a contingent transaction fee when it acquired another business. Its return treated 70 percent of the fee as nonfacilitative and capitalized the other 30 percent under the Revenue Proced…
Partnership's beneficial ownership caused an inadvertent S termination
An individual wanted to buy all of a departing owner's units in an S corporation but needed financing from three other people. Those three formed a partnership that lent funds and obtained long-term b…
Donor received more time to elect out of automatic GST exemption allocations
A married couple treated annual gifts to generation-skipping trusts as made one-half by each spouse and reported the transfers on timely gift tax returns. The taxpayer intended to elect out of the aut…
Trust creator received late relief to preserve GST exemption
A taxpayer made annual gifts to a generation-skipping trust and later to its successor trust, with the taxpayer and spouse electing to split each gift equally. Timely gift tax returns were filed, but …
Foreign entity received late partnership-classification relief
A foreign eligible entity with multiple limited-liability members intended to elect partnership treatment for U.S. federal tax purposes but did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the stand…
County deferred-compensation plan qualified under section 457(b)
A county adopted a nonqualified deferred-compensation plan and related trust for its employees. The plan included automatic enrollment with an opt-out period, annual and catch-up contribution limits, …
State-law formation error received late S corporation election relief
An owner attempted to form a corporation and filed Form 2553, but the entity had not been properly formed under state law, making the S election invalid. The corporation was later formed correctly, an…
Multiemployer plan received a five-year funding-amortization extension
A multiemployer pension plan requested an automatic extension for amortizing specified unfunded liabilities. Its actuary certified that, without relief, the plan would have an accumulated funding defi…
Pension plan received five extra years to amortize unfunded liabilities
A multiemployer pension plan applied for an automatic extension of the amortization periods for specified unfunded liabilities beginning with its 2016 plan year. The plan's actuary certified that a fu…
Divorce-related events qualified for a late IRA rollover waiver
During divorce proceedings, a taxpayer withdrew money from her IRA to buy a residence after her spouse said he would provide the needed funds and was subject to related legal obligations. The spouse d…
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.