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.
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
A decedent's daughter, serving as personal representative, missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the decedent's unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. S…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the decedent's unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the decedent's gross e…
Nonprofit business separation clears three section 355 issues
A tax-exempt parent planned to separate one business from a non-stock subsidiary by contributing its assets and remaining employees to a new controlled corporation, distributing that corporation to th…
Consolidated group receives 60 days for late section 382 election
A consolidated group experienced an ownership change that limited its use of pre-change losses and credits. The group failed to make the regulatory election to close its books on the change date and a…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the decedent's unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the decedent's gross e…
Investment funds receive 90 days for late foreign-tax elections
Several regulated investment companies in a fund-of-funds structure intended to elect under section 853 so their shareholders could claim proportionate shares of foreign taxes. Their return preparer c…
Unexpected scholarship gift qualifies as an unusual grant
A publicly supported charity that provided professional scholarships expected to receive a cash gift far larger than its annual budget and normal grants. The donor had not created or controlled the ch…
Youth leadership and community-project grants approved
A private foundation proposed a leadership program for selected public high school juniors, their educators, and a smaller group of students and an educator from an overseas partner. The program would…
Private-road homeowners association denied exemption
A homeowners association with four member properties applied for section 501(c)(3) status. One related business owned two of the four homes, and related individuals controlled the association's board.…
Referral networking group denied business-league exemption
A business networking group allowed only one representative from each industry or professional classification. Its weekly meetings included member sales pitches, referrals, testimonials, and introduct…
Innovation consulting organization denied exemption
An organization proposed to help commercialize life-science and emerging-technology innovations through innovation hubs, research evaluation, healthcare-access models, and industry-academic data conso…
Failed-bank assets should not retain carryover basis
A taxpayer acquired assets from a failed bank in a now-closed tax year and later sought to correct errors in applying section 597. The unresolved items included the assets' acquisition basis, post-acq…
Small partnerships still must file Form 1065
Chief Counsel advised that Revenue Procedure 84-35 does not automatically exempt small partnerships from filing Form 1065. Sections 6031 and 6698 contain no exception to the filing requirement, althou…
Permanent annuity guarantees keep reserves in total reserves
Chief Counsel considered reserves for investment contracts that let retirement-plan participants elect life annuities at guaranteed purchase rates. The contracts made a legally enforceable promise tha…
Late elections to amortize drilling costs were allowed
An affiliated group intended to elect under section 59(e) to deduct its intangible drilling and development costs ratably over 60 months for five tax years, but it did not timely file the required ele…
Estate received more time to elect portability
A decedent's estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The surviving spouse represented …
Estate received 120 days to elect portability
A decedent's estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the d…
Late portability election was permitted
A decedent's estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the decedent's…
Tax-exempt controlled corporation received late-election relief
A taxable corporation wholly owned by a section 501(c)(3) organization was a tax-exempt controlled entity for depreciation purposes. It intended to elect under section 168(h)(6)(F)(ii) not to be treat…
Estate obtained late portability relief
A decedent's estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the d…
Missed portability election received relief
A decedent's estate failed to file Form 706 by the deadline for electing portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. The estate represented that the gross estate, includ…
Limited interim CFO service did not disqualify outside director
A public company's director temporarily served as interim chief financial officer after an unexpected resignation. The appointment had a fixed expiration, paid no base salary, focused primarily on com…
Late section 336(e) asset-sale election was allowed
A purchaser acquired all the stock of an S corporation, and the parties intended to elect under section 336(e) to treat the stock sale as a deemed asset sale. They did not timely execute the required …
Dormant entity's corporate election was an initial classification
A foreign eligible entity filed Form 8832 to be classified as a corporation before it received any assets or began operations. Until its sole owner made the first capital contribution, the entity had …
Missed QSST election did not end S corporation status
An S corporation shareholder transferred stock to a grantor trust and later died. The trust remained an eligible shareholder for two years after the deemed owner's death, but it kept the stock beyond …
Multiemployer plan received a five-year funding extension
A multiemployer pension plan requested a five-year extension for amortizing specified unfunded liabilities. The plan's actuary certified that without the extension the plan would have an accumulated f…
Private foundation scholarship procedures were approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships for high school seniors attending four-year colleges or community colleges, initially within a specified geographic area. Recipients would be selected based …
Public trap-shooting events defeated social-club exemption
An unincorporated trap-shooting club sought exemption as a social club under section 501(c)(7). Most of its events were open to anyone who paid the fee and followed the rules, and nonmember receipts e…
Charity lost exemption after failing to provide audit records
The IRS repeatedly asked a section 501(c)(3) organization for records needed to examine its receipts, expenditures, activities, and Form 990. Although the organization's president spoke with the exami…
Charity lost exemption after ignoring audit requests
A section 501(c)(3) organization did not provide the financial and activity information requested during an examination of its Form 990-N. The IRS mailed several requests and made repeated telephone c…
Foreign stock purchases and private benefits caused revocation
A section 501(c)(3) organization sent substantial charitable funds to accounts abroad for the purchase of shares in a publicly traded company. The examination report states that the treasurer knew the…
Artists' sales show primarily benefited members
An organization served as an umbrella for local artists and promoted one annual open-studio sales show. It had obtained exemption partly in hopes of securing grants, but no grant opportunity was pursu…
Restaurant business overwhelmed claimed exempt activities
A section 501(c)(3) organization described youth mentoring, workshops, school-supply distributions, and restaurant-based workforce training as its exempt programs. It did not provide evidence that tho…
Correcting trust drafting error preserved transfer-tax treatment
A trust created before the generation-skipping transfer tax effective date directed that, after a son's death, shares be created for his “surviving” children. Other trust language showed that a deceas…
Late success-fee safe-harbor election was allowed
A corporation incurred success-based advisory fees in a stock-sale transaction. Its return preparer incorrectly advised that all the fees were nondeductible facilitative costs, so the corporation did …
Estate received 120 days to elect portability
A decedent's estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. The executor represented that the gross estate, including …
Omitted success-fee election statement received relief
A corporation paid success-based fees in an acquisition and reported them using the Revenue Procedure 2011-29 safe harbor, deducting 70 percent and capitalizing 30 percent. Its return preparer failed …
Corporate group received more time for consolidated return election
A merger ended one consolidated group and placed the surviving corporation under a new parent. The new parent group intended to elect to file a consolidated federal income tax return, but no valid ele…
Acquisition-fee safe-harbor statement could be filed late
A corporate group paid success-based advisory fees in a business combination that ended the group's consolidated-return existence. Its tax adviser applied the Revenue Procedure 2011-29 safe harbor on …
Estate obtained late portability relief
A decedent's estate did not file Form 706 by the deadline for electing portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. The executor represented that the estate was below the…
Surviving spouse received late portability relief
A decedent's estate missed the Form 706 deadline for electing portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. The surviving spouse, acting as executor, represented that the …
Vehicle service contracts qualified as insurance
A vehicle manufacturer group's subsidiaries planned to issue optional contracts covering repair costs from mechanical breakdowns, towing, trip disruption, and rental vehicles. The obligors would not p…
Six missed QSST elections did not end S status
Four testamentary trusts became ineligible S corporation shareholders when their two-year eligibility period expired, and two additional trusts later received S corporation stock. All six trusts other…
Estate could make late portability election
A decedent's estate missed the deadline to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. The surviving spouse represented that the estate was below the filing thresh…
Missed portability election received relief
A decedent's estate failed to file Form 706 by the deadline for electing portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. The estate represented that the gross estate, includ…
Estate received more time to elect portability
A decedent's estate missed the Form 706 deadline for electing portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. The estate represented that the gross estate, including taxable…
Estate received late portability relief
A decedent's estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. The estate represented that the gross estate, including ta…
LLC received late corporate and S elections
A single-member limited liability company intended to be classified as a corporation and taxed as an S corporation from the same effective date. It inadvertently failed to file both Form 8832 and Form…
Late portability election was permitted
A decedent's estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. The surviving spouse represented that the estate was below the fili…
Adviser error justified a late success-fee election
A corporation paid a success-based fee to a financial adviser in connection with a merger. Its outside CPA concluded that the safe harbor in Revenue Procedure 2011-29 did not apply because the fee was…
Construction-account interest qualified for the REIT income test
A real estate investment trust was developing an affordable residential rental building with bond financing from a state agency. Some bond proceeds had to remain in a trustee-held account until needed…
Omitted Form 3115 received a filing extension
A corporation engaged a tax firm to prepare automatic accounting method changes and the related Form 3115. The firm timely sent a copy of the form to the IRS service center, but inadvertently failed t…
Estate received more time to elect portability
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. The estate represented that the decedent's gross estate plus adjuste…
Reliance on a tax professional supported late portability relief
An estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. The estate represented that the decedent's gross estate, including taxable gi…
Estate obtained 120 days to elect portability
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. It represented that the decedent's gross estate, including taxable g…
Estate's unawareness supported late portability relief
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. It represented that the decedent's gross estate, including taxable g…
Oilfield water services produced qualifying partnership income
A limited partnership planned to provide oil and gas producers with services for collecting, treating, recycling, disposing of, transporting, and storing water used or produced in drilling and hydraul…
Tax-professional reliance supported a late portability election
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. It represented that the decedent's gross estate plus adjusted taxabl…
Estate received an extension for a portability election
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. It represented that the decedent's gross estate plus adjusted taxabl…
Professional reliance justified a late portability election
An estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. It represented that the decedent's gross estate, including taxable gifts, was…
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.