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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Subsidiary stock distributed as reorganization boot triggers shareholder and corporate tax rules
A parent corporation proposed exchanging its stock in a partly owned subsidiary for new voting stock and then converting into a limited liability company that would not elect corporate status. Assumin…
Companion advice refers readers to related TAM for substantive analysis
This Chief Counsel Advice accompanied a separately identified Technical Advice Memorandum concerning a partner's distributive share. It directs readers to that memorandum for the facts, issues, law, a…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return missed the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate tax exclusion. The surviving spouse, acting as executor,…
Parties receive late section 336(e) election relief for S corporation stock sale
A partnership purchased a specified percentage of an S corporation's stock, and the parties intended to treat the qualified stock disposition as a deemed asset sale under IRC § 336(e). They did not ti…
Nuclear plant owner receives special-transfer deduction and revised funding schedules
A corporation with a direct interest in a closed nuclear power plant requested a deduction schedule for a special transfer to its qualified decommissioning fund and a mandatory revised schedule of ann…
Nuclear plant owner receives special-transfer deduction and revised funding schedules
A corporation with a direct interest in a closed nuclear power plant requested a deduction schedule for a special transfer to its qualified decommissioning fund and a mandatory revised schedule of ann…
Parent and subsidiaries receive coordinated late S corporation and QSub election relief
A multi-owner limited liability company acquired one S corporation and later received all shares of another, unintentionally terminating or preventing the subsidiaries' S treatment because the parent …
Cancellation payments for condensate facility are qualifying partnership income
A publicly traded partnership agreed to construct and operate a crude-oil-condensate splitter, storage capacity, and connecting pipelines for one customer. If the customer cancelled before the assets …
Spouse may renounce one divided QTIP trust without affecting the other
A marital trust for which a QTIP election had been made proposed dividing into two identical trusts, after which the surviving spouse would renounce all income and principal rights in one trust. The I…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return missed the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate tax exclusion. The decedent's son represented that the e…
Corporation preserves S status after trust beneficiaries miss QSST elections
A trust held all shares of a corporation from the date the corporation elected S status, but the trust's beneficiaries never filed qualified subchapter S trust elections. The trust had separate benefi…
Trust receives extra time to elect prior-year treatment for charitable payments
A trust made charitable contributions in one taxable year but intended to elect under IRC § 642(c) to treat them as paid in the preceding year. The trustee inadvertently failed to file the election by…
IRS addresses debt, liability, ownership, and timing issues in corporate spin-off and merger
A public corporate group proposed separating one worldwide business into a new publicly held controlled corporation, followed shortly by the controlled corporation's acquisition of an unrelated merger…
Surviving spouse's estate receives relief for decedent's late portability election
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return missed the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate tax exclusion. After the surviving spouse also died, the…
Fraternal society lost exemption after failing to provide records
A fraternal beneficiary society had long been recognized as exempt under section 501(c)(8). During an examination, the IRS repeatedly requested records about the society's receipts, expenditures, acti…
Fee-based software and support services prevented charitable exemption
An organization sought section 501(c)(3) status to support independent community journalism through education, mentoring, administrative help, and an open-source publishing platform. It planned to hel…
Mandatory contributions remain employer pickups when public employees change plans
A state asked how mandatory employee contributions would be treated when public employees transferred among several governmental retirement plans or made an initial irrevocable choice between plans. T…
Forestry carbon credits produce qualifying REIT income when accrued
A publicly traded timber REIT planned U.S. and foreign carbon-sequestration projects covering specifically identified forestlands. The projects imposed enforceable land-use and forest-management restr…
S corporation receives 120 days for four late QSub elections
An S corporation acquired all ownership interests in four subsidiaries and intended to elect QSub status for each from the acquisition date. It inadvertently missed the Forms 8869 deadline and later f…
Estate receives 120 days to supplement late Form 706 for portability
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return missed the portability-election deadline and later filed Form 706 after discovering the omission. The surviving spouse, acting as…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return missed the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate tax exclusion. The surviving spouse, acting as executor,…
Investment fund receives 90 days to file late constant-yield interest election
A regulated investment fund decided to elect the constant-yield method under Treas. Reg. § 1.1272-3 for all eligible debt instruments acquired during its first taxable year. Its financial statements a…
Estate receives extra time for two prior-year charitable deduction elections
An estate made charitable contributions in each of two years but failed to elect under IRC § 642(c)(1) to treat each payment as made in the preceding taxable year. The IRS concluded that the estate sa…
Foreign entities receive 120 days to elect disregarded status
Several foreign entities indirectly owned by the common parent of a U.S. consolidated group failed to file effective Forms 8832 on time. The parent and its predecessor had filed all U.S. tax and infor…
County land bank's income is excluded and public-purpose gifts are deductible
A county created an organization under state law to reclaim, demolish, rehabilitate, and return abandoned or foreclosed property to productive use. Public officials controlled its board, government so…
Amortization extension modified after pension plan condition failure
A multiemployer pension plan had received conditional approval to extend the period for amortizing unfunded liabilities under IRC § 412 and ERISA § 302. The IRS modified that ruling because the plan e…
Private foundation scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation sought advance approval for a scholarship program serving graduates of a public high school. An independent school committee would nominate students, the foundation's trustees wou…
Employer-related scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships for children of an employer's workers, participants in the foundation's vocational programs, and other qualifying applicants. An independent committee would …
OVDP overpayments require a timely refund claim before crediting
Chief Counsel considered whether an overpayment from one year in an Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program disclosure period could offset tax or the miscellaneous offshore penalty due for another year.…
Predictable wellness payments are taxable income and wages
Chief Counsel analyzed arrangements marketed as self-funded health plans that paid employees large fixed amounts for completing routine health-related activities after employees made much smaller afte…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate represented that the decedent's gross estate and taxable gifts wer…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate represented that the decedent's gross estate was below the basic e…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate represented that the decedent's gross estate was below the basic e…
Commodity-linked note ruling revoked prospectively
Two regulated investment company funds had obtained a 2006 ruling that income and gain from certain commodity-linked notes qualified under IRC § 851(b)(2). The IRS later concluded that issuing a priva…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
A surviving spouse serving as executor missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The executor represented that the decedent's gro…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate represented that the decedent's gross estate, including taxable gi…
Therapy-dog visits further charitable purposes
A section 501(c)(3) research institute proposed a free pet-therapy program for hospital patients, particularly children, and elderly nursing-home residents. Registered, health-certified therapy dogs w…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate represented that the decedent's gross estate, including taxable gi…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
A surviving spouse serving as executor missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The executor represented that the decedent's gro…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate represented that the decedent's gross estate, including taxable gi…
Estate receives relief for late alternate valuation election
An estate timely filed Form 706, but its attorney did not advise the co-personal representatives to elect alternate valuation under IRC § 2032. A later accounting firm identified the omission, and the…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate represented that the decedent's gross estate, including taxable gi…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
A surviving spouse serving as executor missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The executor represented that the decedent's gro…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
A surviving spouse serving as executor missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The executor represented that the decedent's gro…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The executor represented that the decedent's gross estate was below the basic…
Online platform is a third party settlement organization
An online platform contracted with more than 50 unrelated sellers, collected buyers' credit-card payments, deducted an administrative fee, and transferred consolidated payments to each seller. Assumin…
Court-approved trust termination preserves GST exemption
A trust created before September 25, 1985, provided lifetime income to a daughter and then benefits and principal to a granddaughter. The adult granddaughter had severe medical needs, so a state court…
Partnership receives 120 days to make section 754 election
A limited partnership failed to make a timely IRC § 754 election for the year in which one of its partners died. That election permits basis adjustments under sections 734(b) and 743(b) after partners…
Partnership receives conditional relief for late section 754 election
A limited liability company treated as a partnership failed to make a timely IRC § 754 election for the year in which an indirect owner died. The IRS found the regulatory relief standards satisfied an…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
Two children serving as co-personal representatives missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of their deceased parent's unused estate tax exclusion. They represented that the deceden…
Recycling grant qualifies, but free transfers cause self-dealing
A private foundation proposed an unrestricted grant to a public charity controlled by the foundation founder's granddaughter. The charity planned to buy recycling containers, collect waste, and transf…
Foreign subsidiary receives late disregarded-entity election relief
A domestic limited liability company formed a wholly owned foreign subsidiary and intended the subsidiary to be disregarded for federal tax purposes from its formation date. The subsidiary failed to t…
Foreign subsidiary receives late disregarded-entity election relief
A domestic limited liability company formed a wholly owned foreign subsidiary and intended the subsidiary to be disregarded for federal tax purposes from its formation date. The subsidiary failed to t…
Corporation receives late S election relief
A corporation intended to be an S corporation from its formation date but failed to timely file Form 2553. The corporation and its sole shareholder had consistently filed their federal tax returns as …
Scientific research grant procedures approved
A private foundation proposed grants for individuals studying or researching scientific fields important to its charitable purposes. Selection would consider academic or professional achievement, rese…
Broad student scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships for students completing high school, technical or community-college programs, undergraduate degrees, or advanced degrees. Applicants had to show academic abi…
Single-brand advertising group loses exemption
An organization of franchisees for one brand collected member fees and ran a common marketing and advertising program designed to increase awareness, customers, sales, and profits. The IRS concluded t…
School support association denied exemption
An association raised money to buy supplies and equipment for a for-profit S corporation school owned by the association's president. The school was the association's only intended recipient, several …
Recreational archery club denied section 501(c)(3) status
An archery club already exempt under section 501(c)(4) applied for section 501(c)(3) status. Its organizing document broadly authorized operating an archery club, and its dissolution clause did not pe…
Exemption revoked after audit noncooperation
The IRS audited a public charity and found that its articles lacked adequate exempt-purpose and dissolution clauses. The IRS repeatedly requested descriptions of the organization's activities, financi…
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.