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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Late qualified opportunity fund certification accepted
A partnership intended to self-certify as a qualified opportunity fund beginning in a particular month. Its original accountant incorrectly concluded that no federal return was required and did not kn…
Late GST exemption allocation approved
A married couple created three trusts for their sons and descendants and made gift-splitting elections for contributions made before 2001. Their accounting firm prepared timely gift tax returns but di…
Late GST exemption allocation approved
A married couple created three trusts for their sons and descendants and made gift-splitting elections for contributions made before 2001. Their accounting firm prepared timely gift tax returns but di…
Inadvertent S corporation termination relief granted
A corporation's S election terminated when two trusts became shareholders without timely electing to be electing small business trusts. Two other trusts later ceased to be grantor trusts and did not t…
Stapled preferred and common shares treated as new common stock
A privately held corporation proposed distributing a new class of preferred stock to its existing common shareholders. Each new preferred share would be permanently stapled to its corresponding common…
Government health system captive insurer's income excluded
A state health system formed a nonprofit captive insurer to provide insurance and risk-mitigation services solely to the system and entities it controls. The insurer's income comes from member premium…
Late QTIP and reverse QTIP elections approved
A decedent's trust created a separate trust that paid all net income to the surviving spouse at least annually and permitted principal distributions for the spouse's health, support, and maintenance. …
Late safe harbor elections approved for acquisition fees
A domestic limited partnership paid success-based fees for five taxable asset acquisitions spanning two tax years. Its returns generally deducted 70 percent and capitalized 30 percent of four fees but…
Late REIT election treated as timely
A real estate investment firm intended a newly formed limited liability company to elect real estate investment trust status for its first tax year. Its accounting firm mistakenly filed the extension …
Foundation's grants for writers receive advance approval
A private foundation requested advance approval under IRC § 4945(g)(3) for grants that would help resident writers improve their skills, finish a major project, or attend a workshop. The awards would …
STEM scholarship procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation requested advance approval under IRC § 4945(g)(1) for need-based scholarships to state residents studying science, technology, engineering, or mathematics as undergraduates. Appli…
National security research grant procedures approved
A private foundation requested advance approval under IRC § 4945(g)(3) for grants supporting research on a country's long-term national security. Recipients would conduct research, build analytical sk…
Local student scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation requested advance approval under IRC § 4945(g)(1) for scholarships to local students attending an accredited community college, university, or trade school. Eligible applicants wo…
College and vocational grant procedures approved
A private foundation requested advance approval for two local grant programs. One program would fund degree study at qualifying post-secondary institutions under IRC § 4945(g)(1), while the other woul…
Primate conservation research grants approved
A private foundation requested advance approval under IRC § 4945(g)(3) for annual grants supporting nonhuman primate research and community-based conservation. Applicants would submit detailed proposa…
Church auxiliary excused from filing Form 990
A tax-exempt organization asked to be excused from filing annual Form 990 returns. The IRS determined from the submitted information that the organization qualified as an integrated auxiliary of a chu…
Renewable energy and waste organization denied exemption
An organization sought recognition as a tax-exempt charity for activities centered on constructing and operating a facility that would convert solid waste into energy and marketable by-products. Durin…
Shareholder water company denied charitable exemption
A nonprofit water distribution company sought recognition as a charity under IRC § 501(c)(3). Property owners in its service area contributed water rights, received proportional shares, and paid charg…
Late estate tax portability election approved
An estate that represented it was not otherwise required to file Form 706 missed the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. The election would allow the …
Late section 336(e) election statement approved
An individual purchased at least 80 percent of an S corporation's stock, and the parties intended to treat the stock sale as an asset sale under IRC § 336(e). They did not timely attach the required e…
Late elections out of automatic GST allocation approved
A taxpayer made transfers in two years to five irrevocable trusts for a sibling, nephew, and nieces and did not intend to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to those trusts. The accou…
Foreign charitable grants receive favorable excise tax rulings
A private foundation proposed grants to two foreign charitable organizations that would independently select secondary grantees for projects serving disadvantaged elderly people, children, teenagers, …
Late partnership section 754 election approved
A limited liability company treated as a partnership failed to timely elect under IRC § 754 after a buyer purchased partnership interests in a transaction the company treated as a disguised sale. The …
Late qualified opportunity fund certification treated as timely
A partnership was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund, but its manager and tax advisers did not timely file an extension or partnership return because of a miscommunication. The advisers…
Late corporate classification election approved
A state corporation with an S election converted to a limited liability company and intended to remain classified as a corporation for federal tax purposes. It did not timely file Form 8832 to elect a…
Late GST exemption allocation approved
A donor and spouse funded an irrevocable trust intended to benefit children, grandchildren, and more remote descendants. The donor relied on an accounting firm for a gift tax return, but the firm did …
Late GST exemption allocation approved
A donor and spouse funded an irrevocable trust intended to benefit the donor's children, grandchildren, and more remote descendants. The donor relied on an accounting firm for a gift tax return, but t…
Pension medical account may cover in-service retirees
An employer proposed amending its pension plan so its IRC § 401(h) retiree medical account could pay medical, dental, and vision benefits for employees still working after reaching age 59½. The pensio…
Public-company stock merger qualifies as Type B reorganization
A public acquiring company proposed using a merger subsidiary to acquire all stock of another public company in exchange for the acquirer's common stock. The target would survive the merger, and cash …
Public-company stock merger qualifies as Type B reorganization
A public acquiring company proposed using a merger subsidiary to acquire all stock of another public company in exchange for the acquirer's common stock. The target would survive the merger, and cash …
Member and dependent scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation requested advance approval under IRC § 4945(g)(1) for five scholarships to members of an organization or their legal dependents who were graduating high school and entering higher…
Sculpture and writing grant procedures approved
A private foundation requested advance approval under IRC § 4945(g)(3) for two alternating grant programs. In odd years it would fund an artist creating a sculpture, and in even years it would fund a …
Early-career science fellowship and travel grants approved
A private foundation requested advance approval under IRC § 4945(g)(3) for research fellowships and travel grants benefiting early-career scientists. Fellowship grants would be paid to tax-exempt educ…
Vocational and trade school scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation requested advance approval under IRC § 4945(g)(1) for a scholarship program serving qualifying vocational and trade school students. Applicants must have graduated from public hig…
Need-based college scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation requested advance approval under IRC § 4945(g)(1) for scholarships helping financially needy students pursue higher education and career goals. Applicants must attend a community …
Five-year set-aside for an endowed professorship approved
A private foundation requested approval under IRC § 4942(g)(2) to accumulate funds over five years for an endowed distinguished chair at a university. The chair would specialize in two redacted fields…
Regional high school senior scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation requested advance approval under IRC § 4945(g)(1) for nonrenewable scholarships serving high school seniors in specified counties of two states. Applicants must pursue an accredit…
Beef-breed association denied charitable tax exemption
An international association of national beef-breed organizations applied for recognition under IRC § 501(c)(3). Its stated purposes included promoting the breed and its products, exchanging technical…
Single-company financial sales group denied business league exemption
An association whose members all sold financial products for one for-profit company applied for exemption as a business league under IRC § 501(c)(6). The group trained and developed the company's sale…
Commercial condominium association denied social welfare exemption
A mutual benefit corporation for a single commercial condominium building applied for exemption under IRC § 501(c)(4). Its members, mostly for-profit businesses, paid dues and assessments for the land…
Private road maintenance association denied charitable exemption
A membership association that maintained private gravel roads in a residential development applied for exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3), describing its work as testing for public safety. Lot owners pai…
Youth travel baseball team denied social club exemption
A nonprofit operating a travel baseball team for players age 12 or younger applied for social club exemption under IRC § 501(c)(7). The team practiced at a donated school field and used its funds for …
Open source software organization denied charitable exemption
An organization promoting open source collaboration, standards, software, certifications, and public digital infrastructure applied for exemption under IRC § 501(c)(3). It planned to make software fre…
Family-only scholarship organization denied tax-exempt status
An organization applied for recognition as a tax-exempt charity under IRC § 501(c)(3). It planned to preserve one family's legacy by awarding scholarships only to descendants of that family, and famil…
Fraternal lodge lost exemption because it lacked a member-benefit program and conducted substantial public business
A subordinate fraternal lodge operated a club with gaming, food, beverage, fee, and other revenue. The lodge told the IRS that it did not provide life, sick, accident, or similar benefits to members, …
Charity faced revocation after failing to substantiate its exempt operations
The IRS proposed to revoke an organization's recognition under IRC § 501(c)(3) after an examination of its Form 990-EZ. The organization provided some records and received several extensions, but the …
Condominium association denied social welfare exemption
A condominium homeowners association applied for exemption as a social welfare organization under IRC § 501(c)(4). It collected assessments to maintain the condominium building and restricted its faci…
Estate received more time to elect portability of unused estate tax exclusion
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return missed the deadline to elect portability for the decedent's unused exclusion amount. The estate asked for relief under Treas. Reg…
Fund received more time to self-certify as a qualified opportunity fund
A partnership formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund missed the deadline to file Form 8996 with its partnership return. Its accounting firm had advised it about the required filings but fai…
Grantor received more time to elect GST trust treatment
A grantor transferred cash to two trusts created primarily for the grantor's children and their descendants. The grantor intended the transfers to be exempt from generation-skipping transfer tax, but …
Solar facility owner received more time for leased-property credit election
A partnership owned a solar energy facility and leased it to another entity, intending to pass the facility's energy credit to the lessee. The parties' timely returns reflected that intended treatment…
Outdoor storage rents and customary services qualified as REIT income
A company planning to elect real estate investment trust status owned outdoor industrial storage properties and leased storage space to unrelated tenants. The storage fees covered space plus services …
Multistep business separations qualified as tax-free corporate reorganizations
A privately held corporate group proposed an internal separation followed by three distributions designed to place four businesses in separately operated companies owned by the existing shareholders. …
Nonprofit insurer holding-company reorganization and spin-offs received favorable rulings
A nonprofit insurer subject to IRC §§ 501(m) and 833 reorganized under a new nonprofit holding company and separated regulated and nonregulated businesses. The IRS treated the insurer's admission of t…
Mineral royalty interests could be aggregated for depletion calculations
A partnership held royalty interests under two mineral leases and did not bear exploration, development, or production costs. It asked to aggregate the separate interests as one property when computin…
Controlled entities received more time for tax-exempt-use property elections
Two companies wholly owned by a tax-exempt entity served as general partners in partnerships that placed projects in service. Their partnership agreements stated that the companies would elect under I…
BEAT services exception does not require using the transfer-pricing cost method
Chief Counsel considered whether a taxpayer must use the services cost method for transfer pricing to claim the services cost method exception from base erosion payments under IRC § 59A(d)(5). The mem…
Fund received more time for built-in-loss property basis election
An investment fund transferred business assets with aggregate tax basis above fair market value to an affiliated corporation in a transaction represented to qualify under IRC § 351. The fund and corpo…
Fund received more time for built-in-loss property basis election
An investment fund and affiliated funds transferred business assets with aggregate tax basis above fair market value to an affiliated corporation in transactions represented to qualify under IRC § 351…
Affiliated fund received more time for built-in-loss basis election
An investment fund transferred business assets with aggregate tax basis above fair market value to an affiliated corporation in a transaction represented to qualify under IRC § 351. The fund and corpo…
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.