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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Rollover deadline waived after required notice was omitted
A former employee received a retirement plan distribution after terminating employment and missed the 60-day rollover deadline. The plan's financial institution said it had mailed an instruction lette…
Three scholarship programs receive advance approval
A private foundation requested advance approval for the procedures used by three scholarship programs. The programs generally support qualifying students, many of whom are pursuing teaching degrees, a…
Employee-child scholarship procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation requested advance approval for scholarships benefiting dependent children of a company's full-time employees. An independent nonprofit selection committee would evaluate eligible …
Environmental research grant procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation requested advance approval for grants supporting research into sustainable and environmentally friendly ranching, forestry, and farming practices. Staff would identify qualified r…
Employee scholarship procedures receive advance approval
A private foundation proposed scholarships for store-level employees of a related organization who were pursuing college degrees. Eligible employees needed at least one year of service, specified week…
Large youth-program grant qualifies as an unusual grant
A public charity expected a large grant from an independent private trust to build a youth science, technology, and health center and support related operations. The charity had an active history of s…
IRS may work with an LLC's authorized representatives on a plan matter
Chief Counsel advised that the IRS should continue dealing with an LLC in its role as a plan sponsor. The agency could communicate with anyone authorized under state law to act for or bind the LLC. TE…
FPAA may address partnership-item basis in the sale year
Chief Counsel advised that the IRS could issue a final partnership administrative adjustment for the year in which an item was sold. The item's basis was a partnership item, and the transaction being …
Aggregated return data must adequately mask taxpayer identities
Chief Counsel described the IRS's general rule that grouped return information should include at least three taxpayers before it is treated as statistical. Three taxpayers may still be insufficient wh…
Coin donations over $5,000 generally require a qualified appraisal
Chief Counsel advised that a taxpayer generally needs a qualified appraisal when donating a coin or coin collection claimed to be worth more than $5,000. The cash exception for readily valued property…
Oilfield fluid management and disposal produce qualifying income
A limited liability company planned to take a subsidiary public as a publicly traded partnership providing fluid management and disposal services to oil and gas producers. The services included freshw…
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 its gross value, includi…
Estate receives 120 days to allocate GST exemption
A decedent transferred stock to an irrevocable trust but failed to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to the transfer. The decedent believed accountants would prepare the gift-tax ret…
Estate receives 120 days to make portability election
An estate failed to file a timely Form 706 electing portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion. The surviving spouse, acting as executor, represented that the estate's value and …
Corrected disproportionate distributions do not terminate S election
An S corporation paid state composite and withholding taxes for certain nonresident shareholders but mistakenly reduced all shareholders' cash tax distributions ratably. That error produced disproport…
Repaid disproportionate distributions do not terminate S election
An S corporation made disproportionate distributions to certain shareholders to cover their anticipated taxes on pass-through income. Its governing documents and state law provided identical distribut…
Advance construction payments create partnership liabilities
A partnership entered long-term contracts to design and build industrial facilities and received certain payments before performing the related work or reporting the income. The partnership secured it…
LLC receives 120 days to file entity-classification election
A single-member LLC intended to be treated as a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes but did not timely file the entity-classification election. It represented that it acted reasonably and in g…
Late disregarded-entity election receives 120-day extension
A single-member LLC intended to be treated as a disregarded entity but did not timely file Form 8832. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and that granting relief would not preju…
Parent receives 120 days to make late QSub election
An S corporation owned all of a subsidiary and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary status for it, but failed to timely file Form 8869. The IRS concluded that the requirements for regul…
Estate receives 120 days for QTIP and GST elections
A decedent's will divided the residuary estate between GST-exempt and GST-nonexempt marital trusts for the surviving spouse. The return preparer mistakenly reported the combined value as passing outri…
Multiemployer plan receives a five-year funding extension
A multiemployer plan requested more time to amortize specified unfunded liabilities. The IRS approved a five-year automatic extension under section 431(d)(1). The plan's actuary certified that the pla…
Plan may use substitute male mortality tables
A single-employer defined benefit plan asked to use substitute mortality tables for its male population when making computations under section 430. The IRS approved the request for up to ten years beg…
PATH Act makes section 6676 deficiency question moot
Chief Counsel considered which form should extend the assessment period for a section 6676 penalty when the penalty was subject to deficiency procedures. The advice explains that the Tax Court's Rand …
Medicare shared savings accrue when CMS gives notice, not at performance year-end
A healthcare business participated through accountable care organizations in the Medicare Shared Savings Program. Chief Counsel concluded that the taxpayer’s right to shared-savings income was not fix…
Public-employer benefit trust receives income exclusion
A multiple-employer trust lets public agencies set aside funds for retiree health and welfare benefits, pension obligations, or both. Each employer has a separate account, employees cannot contribute,…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
A surviving spouse relied on a qualified tax professional to file the estate tax return needed to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount, but the return was not filed on ti…
GST allocations receive relief and automatic treatment
A taxpayer and spouse made gifts to three irrevocable trusts for their children over several years, but their accountant did not file gift tax returns or allocate the taxpayer's generation-skipping tr…
GST allocations receive relief and automatic treatment
A taxpayer and spouse made gifts to three irrevocable trusts for their children over several years, but their accountant did not file gift tax returns or allocate the taxpayer's generation-skipping tr…
Foreign entity receives 120 days for disregarded status election
A foreign entity wholly owned by a foreign trust intended to be treated as disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes, but it did not timely file Form 8832. The entity requested relief under …
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect disregarded-entity treatment from its formation date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. Its ownership changed among related foreign entitie…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
An estate did not file Form 706 by the deadline and later discovered that it had missed the election allowing the surviving spouse to use the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount. The executor re…
Entity receives late association election
A domestic eligible entity intended to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation from its formation date but failed to file Form 8832 on time. Its owner consistently treated the entity as …
S corporation survives redemption-price defect
An S corporation issued nonvoting shares under agreements that allowed it to redeem those shares above their current fair market value. Because voting and nonvoting shares may differ only in voting ri…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Taxpayers receive late election to capitalize property taxes
A married couple held two parcels of unimproved, unproductive real estate for investment and deducted the property taxes instead of electing under section 266 to add them to the properties' tax basis.…
Residential solar subsidies are excluded from income
A state-created clean energy organization used funds collected through utility bill surcharges to pay contractors that reduced homeowners' cost of installing residential solar systems. The IRS conclud…
Corporate separation receives five specified tax rulings
A public company proposed separating two businesses into a controlled corporation that would later elect REIT status. The IRS ruled that specified asset contributions would not prevent an internal sub…
Foreign entity receives late partnership election relief
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as a partnership beginning when U.S. persons became its direct and indirect owners, but it did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the en…
Excessive compensation does not create second stock class
An S corporation may have paid excessive compensation to a shareholder who worked as an at-will employee without a written compensation agreement. The corporation's governing documents gave every outs…
Foundation's campus construction set-aside is approved
A private foundation requested approval to set aside funds toward construction of a campus for a tax-exempt college and the surrounding community in an economically depressed area. The multiyear proje…
Surviving spouse receives waiver for late IRA rollover
A surviving spouse's late husband's IRA named his estate as beneficiary, and the estate passed to a trust for which she was sole trustee and beneficiary. She had authority to distribute the IRA assets…
Humanities fellowship grant procedures are approved
A private foundation proposed a fellowship program supporting humanities scholars who create public-facing projects such as books, documentaries, curricula, and educational websites. Participating col…
Private foundation split receives favorable tax rulings
A private foundation whose directors disagreed about how to carry out its mission proposed transferring half of its cash and publicly traded securities to a second private foundation. The IRS ruled th…
Municipal pension contributions receive pick-up treatment
A municipal employer required active participants to contribute a fixed percentage of compensation to its governmental retirement plan. An ordinance adopted before the relevant pay period stated that …
Frequent flyer mile price may exclude marketing portion
An airline sold frequent flyer miles to a credit card bank under a co-brand agreement that also provided marketing services, intellectual property rights, data, and administrative support. The agreeme…
Partner guarantee shifts basis and at-risk treatment
An LLC taxed as a partnership acquired, renovated, and held hotel properties, while a separate manager handled daily hotel operations. One member personally guaranteed partnership notes, and another m…
Housing project receives late section 42 election relief
A taxpayer inadvertently failed to make its intended section 42(i)(2)(B) election for every building in a low-income housing project for which the state agency issued Forms 8609. The election concerne…
Consolidated group receives late stock loss election relief
A corporation in a consolidated group merged into its parent when its liabilities exceeded the value of its assets, causing the parent to recognize a loss on the subsidiary's stock. The group did not …
Late Form 1128 is treated as timely filed
A corporation sought to change from a calendar tax year to a March 31 year-end under the automatic procedures in Revenue Procedure 2006-45. It did not file Form 1128 by the deadline for the short-peri…
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.