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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Estate receives late portability relief after overlooking the election
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and preserve the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. It represented that the estate, including taxable gifts, was below t…
Late QSST election does not end the corporation's S status
After an S corporation shareholder died, the shareholder's stock passed under a will to a trust intended to qualify as a qualified Subchapter S trust. The trust beneficiary did not timely file the QSS…
LLC receives 120 days for a late corporate classification election
A two-member entity converted into a limited liability company and intended to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation from the conversion date. It inadvertently failed to timely file Fo…
Circular note transfers in a planned spin-off are disregarded
A public company planned to separate two businesses through a series of domestic and foreign restructuring steps followed by a distribution of a controlled corporation. One subsidiary would sell stock…
Spouses receive 120 days to elect out of automatic GST allocations
A husband and wife made transfers to several irrevocable trusts with generation-skipping transfer tax potential and elected gift splitting on their annual gift tax returns. Their tax professionals fai…
Estate receives 120 days to document a decedent's mental incompetency
A decedent created a revocable trust before October 22, 1986, that later continued for descendants across multiple generations. The estate timely filed Form 706 but did not attach a physician's certif…
Foreign entity receives 120 days for a late change to corporate status
A foreign eligible entity had previously made an entity-classification election and later intended to change its classification to an association taxable as a corporation from a specified date. It did…
Foreign entity receives 120 days to elect corporate classification
A foreign eligible entity owned within a consolidated group did not make an entity-classification election when it was formed. It later sought to be classified as an association taxable as a corporati…
Foreign entity receives 120 days for a late disregarded-entity election
A foreign entity became wholly owned through an individual who became a U.S. tax resident on a specified date. The entity was eligible and intended to be treated as disregarded from that date but fail…
Foreign company receives late disregarded-entity election relief
A foreign entity was wholly owned by an individual who became a U.S. tax resident on a specified date. The entity intended to be disregarded for federal tax purposes from that date but inadvertently f…
Taxpayer receives relief for late debt-and-hedge identification
A corporate group issued convertible notes and bought call options intended to hedge the notes' conversion feature. The taxpayer believed integrated tax treatment was automatic and did not timely crea…
REIT portfolio exchanges and captive-REIT distributions receive favorable safe-harbor treatment
A REIT planned to realign its real-estate portfolio through like-kind exchanges, sales by captive REITs, and possible captive-REIT liquidations. The IRS ruled that a qualifying section 1031 exchange i…
Retained trust powers leave the transfer incomplete without taxing committee members
A grantor created an irrevocable trust for the grantor and other beneficiaries, with distributions controlled through retained powers and a beneficiary distribution committee. The IRS concluded that t…
Retained trust powers keep the transfer incomplete without taxing committee members
A grantor created an irrevocable trust for the grantor and other beneficiaries, with distributions controlled through retained powers and a beneficiary distribution committee. The IRS concluded that t…
Retained trust powers keep the transfer incomplete without taxing committee members
A grantor created an irrevocable trust for the grantor and other beneficiaries, with distributions controlled through retained powers and a beneficiary distribution committee. The IRS concluded that t…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
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 personal representative stated that the estate…
Pipeline, water-service, and interest-rate hedge income qualifies
A publicly traded partnership provided crude-oil and natural-gas gathering, transportation, storage, and interconnection services. It also transported produced water, planned integrated fresh-water an…
Trust qualifies as a qualified Subchapter S trust
A trust held stock in an S corporation and sought confirmation that it could be a qualified Subchapter S trust. The trust required all income to be paid at least quarterly to one United States citizen…
Trust qualifies as a qualified Subchapter S trust
A trust held stock in an S corporation and sought confirmation that it could be a qualified Subchapter S trust. The trust required all income to be paid at least quarterly to one United States citizen…
Partnership contributions are not a purchase under section 355(d)
A public parent corporation planned to separate two businesses after subsidiaries had contributed assets, mostly stock in foreign entities, to a partnership in section 721 transactions. The planned st…
Scholarship and educational grant procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation proposed scholarships for students attending qualifying educational programs and grants for young people developing career-related skills or talents. Applicants would be evaluated…
Captive insurer denied section 501(c)(15) exemption
A foreign captive insurance company claimed exemption under section 501(c)(15) for three tax years. It issued property and casualty contracts covering affiliated businesses and also participated in qu…
Endowment units do not create unrelated business taxable income
A charitable remainder unitrust proposed exchanging its assets for contractual units tied to a college's endowment after the college became sole trustee. The trust would have no ownership or control o…
College's endowment services do not create unrelated business income
A tax-exempt college proposed serving as trustee for charitable remainder unitrusts and issuing contractual units tied to its endowment. The trusts would receive payments based on the college's spendi…
Consolidated group receives more time to elect extended loss carryback
A parent corporation failed to timely elect an extended carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss. The failure occurred after the parent reasonably relied on a qualified tax professional …
Qualified zone academy bonds receive two more years to spend proceeds
A state authority issued qualified zone academy bonds and loaned the proceeds to a tax-exempt school operator for rehabilitating and equipping school facilities. The original project stalled when nego…
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 for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the decedent's gross est…
Estate receives portability election relief
An estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the gross estate and taxable gifts were …
Taxpayer receives more time to allocate GST exemption
A married couple made several pre-2001 cash transfers to an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer potential and elected gift splitting on their Forms 709. Their accountant failed to allo…
Debt purchase does not prevent tax-free securities exchange
A public company planned to separate business assets into a newly formed controlled corporation and distribute that corporation's stock to shareholders. As part of the transaction, a bank would first …
Trust transfers remain incomplete gifts and committee powers avoid estate inclusion
A grantor created an irrevocable trust with distribution powers shared among the grantor, a beneficiary committee, and a corporate trustee. The IRS concluded that the grantor's retained consent, nonfi…
Estate receives more time to elect portability
A decedent's estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. The co-trustees represented that the gross estate, inclu…
Extended bankruptcy trust remains a liquidating trust
A trust created under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan was established to liquidate and distribute a debtor's remaining assets. Developments largely beyond the trustee's control required more time to reco…
Late trust election does not end S corporation status
An S corporation shareholder was a grantor trust until the grantor died. The trust remained an eligible S corporation shareholder for two years after the death, but its trustee did not timely elect el…
Disallowed partnership loss offsets later allocated gain
A partnership sold interests in two investment partnerships to three related grantor trusts and reported a capital loss. Part of that loss was disallowed under section 707(b)(1), while the purchasing …
Disallowed partnership loss offsets later allocated gain
A partnership sold interests in two investment partnerships to three related grantor trusts and reported a capital loss. Part of that loss was disallowed under section 707(b)(1), while the purchasing …
Disallowed partnership loss offsets later allocated gain
A partnership sold interests in two investment partnerships to three related grantor trusts and reported a capital loss. Part of that loss was disallowed under section 707(b)(1), while the purchasing …
Spouses receive different IRA rollover waiver results
A married couple withdrew funds from separate SEP-IRAs and deposited them into ordinary bank accounts while believing the new accounts were tax deferred. One spouse used part of the funds for living e…
Health issues justify late IRA rollover
A taxpayer withdrew funds from an IRA intending to roll them into another IRA. During a demanding period after a divorce and business purchase, she experienced sleep difficulty, anxiety, exhaustion, a…
Art travel grant procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation proposed grants covering travel costs for international art professionals to visit a country, meet contemporary artists and other art professionals, and visit artistic and cultura…
Social club exemption revoked for recurring public income
A tax-exempt social club regularly opened some shooting facilities to the public and also sold calendars to nonmembers. The IRS examination found that the club repeatedly received more than 15 percent…
Annual nuclear storage payments arise only when the plant operates
A nuclear power operator sought to treat deductions for several state-law storage payment obligations as specified liability losses eligible for extended net operating loss carrybacks. The IRS advised…
Complex business separation receives discrete spin-off rulings
A publicly traded corporate group planned to separate one business through many domestic and foreign restructurings, contributions, distributions, debt exchanges, and later dispositions of retained st…
S corporation receives more time to elect QSub status
An S corporation acquired all the stock of another corporation and intended to treat the subsidiary as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from the acquisition date. It failed to file Form 8869 becaus…
Estate receives more time to elect portability
A decedent's estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that its gross value, including t…
Estate receives more time to elect portability
A decedent's estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that its gross value, including t…
Estate receives more time to elect portability
A surviving spouse serving as executor did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount. The spouse represented that the estate was below the section 6018 fi…
Foreign insurer receives more time for domestic corporation election
A regulated foreign insurance company timely filed a section 953(d) election statement with its return, then mailed additional information requested by the IRS. The IRS later reported that it had not …
Deferred intercompany gains are excluded after subsidiary mergers
A consolidated group was carrying two deferred intercompany gains from earlier distributions of member stock under section 311(b). The group proposed a downstream merger followed by an upstream merger…
Late estate tax return is treated as timely for portability
A decedent's estate relied on a law firm that filed Form 706 after the deadline for electing portability of the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount. The estate represented that its gross value, i…
Estate receives more time to elect portability
A decedent's estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that its gross value was below th…
Nuclear fuel storage costs qualify as abandonment and decommissioning costs
A regulated utility incurred costs to construct and later decommission an on-site facility for dry storage of spent nuclear fuel after its nuclear plant stopped operating. The IRS concluded that the f…
Ineligible shareholders and preferred stock do not end S status
An S corporation transferred stock to a corporate creditor, later created preferred stock with different dividend and liquidation rights, and issued preferred shares to two partnerships. The corporati…
Sole heir spouse may roll estate-held IRAs into her own accounts
A decedent's IRA and Roth IRA became payable to his estate because the named beneficiary had already died. His surviving spouse was both the estate's sole heir and its administrator, with unrestricted…
Pension plan receives approval for substitute mortality tables
A defined benefit pension plan requested permission to use substitute mortality tables for its healthy and disabled male and female populations. The IRS concluded that the submitted rates sufficiently…
Medical condition supports late IRA rollover waiver
A taxpayer surrendered an IRA annuity, and its value was mistakenly deposited into her ordinary checking account. A serious medical condition impaired her ability to manage her finances, and an adviso…
Unknown IRA escheat supports rollover waiver
A bank transferred an inactive IRA to a state's unclaimed-property program without the taxpayer's knowledge and sent part of the amount to the IRS as withholding. The taxpayer discovered the transfer …
Unauthorized in-kind IRA distribution receives rollover waiver
An IRA held a promissory note and a small cash account used to pay administrative fees. After the cash was exhausted, the sponsor made an unexpected and unauthorized in-kind distribution of the note w…
Brokerage withdrawal error receives IRA rollover waiver
A taxpayer requested a distribution from his ordinary brokerage account, but the financial institution mistakenly distributed the same amount from his IRA. The institution acknowledged its mistake and…
Medical impairment supports late IRA rollover waiver
A taxpayer withdrew the full balance of her IRA after a serious medical event left her physically and mentally impaired. She deposited the net distribution in a non-IRA bank account but did not comple…
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.