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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IRS information may be disclosed electronically to state agencies
Chief Counsel confirmed that IRS information may be disclosed to state agencies electronically under the applicable guidance and memorandum of understanding. The relevant statute, regulations, and Int…
Taxpayer response can trigger supervisory penalty approval
Chief Counsel advised that supervisory approval is required when a taxpayer challenges the amount of tax underlying a proposed penalty. Automated Underreporter case notes should record the substance o…
Penalty dispute requires supervisory approval
Chief Counsel advised that supervisory approval is required when a taxpayer responds by disputing either a penalty or the underlying adjustments that affect it. Other taxpayer contacts require a case-…
Timing of managerial penalty approval varies by circuit
Chief Counsel advised that a proposed regulation on managerial penalty approval was not yet controlling and, as drafted, would not apply retroactively. Current timing standards differ by appellate cir…
Partner-level adjustment allowed only for non-chapter 1 tax
Chief Counsel advised that Treasury Regulation section 301.6241-6 permits the IRS to adjust an item treated as a PRI at the partner level solely to determine a tax outside chapter 1. The item remains …
Partner tax generally not collected after partnership pays imputed underpayment
Chief Counsel reviewed a BBA examination case study in which a partnership paid the imputed underpayment and the example also appeared to assess tax against partners. The advice identified that treatm…
Retirement plan compliance letter is not an examination
Chief Counsel concluded that Letter 6519 does not begin an examination under section 7605. The letter tells a taxpayer that the IRS may examine a retirement plan later, asks the taxpayer to review the…
Aviation fuel credit payments generally do not earn interest
Chief Counsel advised that sustainable aviation fuel credit payments are generally excluded from interest under the provisions cited in the email. An exception applies when a claim covers a period of …
Tax liability, assessment, and delinquency occur at different times
Chief Counsel distinguished the creation of a tax liability from its later assessment and payment deadline. For a calendar-year individual, income tax liability exists when the tax year closes, even t…
IRS may extend Form 1099-R filing time but not change deadline
Chief Counsel advised that the IRS may grant extensions for filing Form 1099-R but cannot change the filing deadline itself under the current rules. A filer may obtain an initial 30-day extension with…
Form 1099-R electronic filing deadline cannot be moved earlier
Chief Counsel advised that section 6071(b) sets March 31 as the electronic filing deadline for the information return discussed in the email. Section 6047 does not supply a different filing date, and …
Appeals should route TAM requests through field counsel
Chief Counsel explained how Appeals should request a Technical Advice Memorandum. Appeals should begin with the local field counsel office rather than contact the National Office directly. The procedu…
Early BBA election is optional for pre-2018 partnership years
Chief Counsel advised that a partnership is not required to elect into the BBA audit regime for a tax year beginning after November 2, 2015, and before January 1, 2018. A partnership may elect in if i…
Fuel card issuer could not claim refunds for a blood collector's fuel
A registered fuel credit card issuer asked to claim refunds or payments for federal fuel tax included in gasoline and diesel sold to a qualified blood collector organization. The issuer proposed billi…
An online bulletin board for trading limited partnership interests is a qualified matching service, so partnerships that use it are not publicly traded
A "publicly traded partnership" is generally taxed as a corporation under section 7704, which is a bad outcome for a partnership and its investors. A partnership is publicly traded if its interests tr…
An employee who missed the deadline to sign the split-dollar-loan written representation gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit healthcare organization took part in a split-dollar life insurance plan his employer set up on the advice of an outside consulting firm. Under the plan, the emplo…
An employee who missed the deadline to sign the split-dollar-loan written representation gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit healthcare organization took part in a split-dollar life insurance plan his employer set up on the advice of an outside consulting firm. Under the plan, the emplo…
An employee who missed the deadline to sign the split-dollar-loan written representation gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit healthcare organization took part in a split-dollar life insurance plan his employer set up on the advice of an outside consulting firm. Under the plan, the emplo…
An employee who missed the deadline to sign the split-dollar-loan written representation gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit healthcare organization took part in a split-dollar life insurance plan his employer set up on the advice of an outside consulting firm. Under the plan, the emplo…
An employee who missed the deadline to sign the split-dollar-loan written representation gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit healthcare organization took part in a split-dollar life insurance plan his employer set up on the advice of an outside consulting firm. Under the plan, the emplo…
An employee who missed the deadline to sign the split-dollar-loan written representation gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit healthcare organization took part in a split-dollar life insurance plan his employer set up on the advice of an outside consulting firm. Under the plan, the emplo…
An employee who missed the deadline to sign the split-dollar-loan written representation gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit healthcare organization took part in a split-dollar life insurance plan his employer set up on the advice of an outside consulting firm. Under the plan, the emplo…
A fourth employee who missed the split-dollar-loan written-representation deadline gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit hospital participated in a split-dollar life insurance plan the employer set up with an outside consulting firm. The employer made nonrecourse premium loans to th…
A third employee who missed the split-dollar-loan written-representation deadline gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit hospital took part in a split-dollar life insurance plan his employer set up with an outside consulting firm. The employer made nonrecourse premium loans to the e…
A second employee who missed the split-dollar-loan written-representation deadline gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit hospital participated in a split-dollar life insurance plan his employer set up with an outside consulting firm. Under the plan, the employer made nonrecourse pre…
An employee who missed the deadline to sign the split-dollar-loan written representation gets 9100 relief, so his loan payments stay "noncontingent"
An employee of a tax-exempt nonprofit hospital took part in a split-dollar life insurance plan his employer set up on the advice of an outside consulting firm. Under the plan, the employer made premiu…
IRS lets a nonprofit hospital cure a missed split-dollar-loan written representation under the § 7872 regulations
A tax-exempt § 501(c)(3) nonprofit healthcare corporation set up a split-dollar life insurance plan to reward and retain key employees, using nonrecourse loans to the employees secured by their life i…
Private foundation could transfer all assets to a commonly controlled foundation
Two private foundations controlled by the same trustees planned to consolidate by having one foundation transfer all of its assets to the other without consideration. The IRS ruled that the transfer q…
Foundation could transfer all assets and terminate without excise tax
A private foundation planned to consolidate with another foundation controlled by the same trustees by transferring all of its assets without receiving consideration. The IRS ruled that the transfer w…
Government retiree health trust receives four favorable rulings
An association of state boards of education created a trust to fund medical, dental, and vision benefits for its retired employees. The IRS had previously ruled that the association performed essentia…
Employer needs employee repayment or consent for tax-equalization FICA refund
A multinational employer used a tax-equalization agreement that reduced an employee's stated salary and required the employer to pay the employee's United States and foreign taxes. The employer later …
IRS may offset COVID-19 employment tax credits against a PEO's own tax debts, even for credits tied to client wages
This Chief Counsel Advice, issued as an internal email, addresses whether the IRS can apply (offset) refundable COVID-19 employment tax credits, such as the employee retention credit (ERC) and the cre…
Credit union must file Forms 1099-C for debt written off in a class-action settlement (an "identifiable event")
A credit union asked the IRS to rule that it did not have to file Forms 1099-C (the information return for cancelled debt) when it wrote off deficiency balances as part of a class-action settlement. T…
IRS revokes, going forward only, part of an earlier ruling on a taxpayer's 6041 reporting duty
The IRS had earlier issued a private letter ruling (PLR 202016001) to this taxpayer that, in part, addressed whether the taxpayer had to file information returns under Code § 6041 for payments it make…
Partnership cannot elect out of BBA on a late return
IRS Chief Counsel was asked whether a delinquent partnership return could make an election out of the centralized partnership audit regime commonly called BBA. The response was no. An election out is …
A Form 4868 extension listing an overpayment was not a valid "informal claim" for refund because it never stated the basis for the refund
To get a tax refund you generally have to file a claim within a deadline. Courts sometimes accept an "informal claim" that is imperfect, as long as it put the IRS on notice that a refund is sought and…
A stamped-as-received Form 1120 was a valid return, so the assessment statute of limitations had already expired
This is a short internal email from an IRS Chief Counsel attorney answering a field inquiry about whether the IRS could still assess tax against a corporation for a particular year. The question turne…
The IRS rules a web platform for trading limited partnership interests is a "qualified matching service," so partnerships using it are not publicly traded
A company built a web-based platform where holders of limited partnership interests can list them for sale and prospective buyers can express interest. This matters because of section 7704: a partners…
Non-filer portal simplified return starts the assessment limitations period
Chief Counsel advised that a one-dollar simplified return filed through the Economic Impact Payment non-filer portal is a federal income tax return, including for the assessment limitations period in …
A TEFRA tax matters partner is the person designated on the partnership return, not in the operating agreement
This is informal Chief Counsel advice, sent as an email, answering a question about the old TEFRA partnership audit rules: who is a partnership's tax matters partner (TMP)? The advice explains that th…
Training slides built from real exam files are "return information," but IRC 6103(h)(1) lets the IRS show them to employees who need them
A Chief Counsel attorney reviewed a set of internal IRS training slides and advised that the deck still contained "return information" even after some taxpayer data had been stripped out, because the …
A complete Form 8886 can satisfy the disclosure needed to avoid the 40% economic-substance penalty, even without a separate Form 8275
When the IRS disallows a tax benefit because a transaction lacked "economic substance" (it had no real business purpose beyond tax savings), it can add a 20 percent penalty. That penalty doubles to 40…
How the section 6700 penalty for promoting abusive tax shelters applies to false statements and gross valuation overstatements
This is internal Chief Counsel advice, written as an email answering a question about case guidance. It explains how the penalty in section 6700 works. That penalty applies to a person who organizes, …
The surviving company in a merger is the default agent that must sign consents extending the time to assess tax for a terminated consolidated group
When a group of related corporations files a single consolidated tax return, one entity, the "agent for the group," handles all dealings with the IRS for that year, including signing Form 872, the con…
Each third-party contact notice must list the tax period, or a summons for that period may not be enforceable
This is an email of Chief Counsel Advice answering a revenue agent's question about third-party contact notices and summons enforcement. Before the IRS contacts someone other than the taxpayer (a bank…
A federal tax lien attaches to alimony payments a taxpayer routed through a business-sale contract
This Chief Counsel Advice answers whether a federal tax lien reaches money that a delinquent taxpayer has arranged to be paid to his ex-wife. As part of his divorce (ordered before the tax lien arose)…
Notices of deficiency can be sent to a Form 8821 designee, and a firm (not just a named individual) can be the designee
Form 8821 (Tax Information Authorization) lets a taxpayer authorize a third party to inspect and receive their confidential tax information. This Chief Counsel advice, written as an email answering tw…
For an interest-abatement overpayment with no refund claim filed, the 2-year look-back runs from the date the IRS allows the refund, not from how long processing took
This internal Chief Counsel email addresses how the refund "look-back" limitation works in an interest-abatement case, and whether the time the IRS takes to decide the abatement affects how much can b…
The Section 6511(c)(2) refund look-back reaches back to the first assessment-extension agreement, not just the most recent one
This is an internal Chief Counsel email answering a procedural question about refund claims. When a taxpayer and the IRS agree to extend the time to assess tax (a Section 6501(c)(4) agreement), Sectio…
In a restitution-assessment case, section 6511 does not govern payments the Service parked in excess collections for the same tax year
This is informal Chief Counsel advice, sent by email, about a Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) case involving a criminal restitution-based assessment, the interest on it, and how the refund-claim deadl…
Adding the title "Member" next to a signature on Form 8979 does not invalidate a Partnership Representative appointment
Under the centralized partnership audit rules (the BBA regime), a partnership designates a Partnership Representative (PR) to act for it before the IRS, using Form 8979. Someone asked Chief Counsel wh…
An IRS appraiser's proposed disclosures to complete a property investigation are permissible investigative disclosures under section 6103(k)(6)
Section 6103 makes tax return information confidential, but it has exceptions. Chief Counsel was asked whether an IRS appraiser could share certain information with outside parties while investigating…
IRS may share an employee's background-check results with a state, but not any return information without consent
This is informal Chief Counsel advice, delivered by email, about whether the IRS may hand a state (Wisconsin) background-check information on an IRS employee so the employee can get access to a state …
No lien release for a shelter promoter because the section 6707 penalties were validly approved
A promoter of a "Son-of-BOSS" tax shelter had been hit with penalties under section 6707 for failing to disclose the shelter, and federal tax liens secured those penalties. The promoter asked the IRS …
How long the IRS has to assess tax after the section 7507 insolvent-bank bar lifts
Section 7507(a) can bar the IRS from assessing tax against a bank while the bank is insolvent. This Chief Counsel Advice answers how much time the IRS has to assess once that bar lifts. The answer app…
A delinquent estate-tax return likely does not start the assessment clock until the correct service center receives it
This Chief Counsel email addresses when the three-year assessment clock starts for a late-filed estate tax return (Form 706) that an estate mailed to the wrong IRS location instead of the designated K…
Employer cannot get a later-year refund of over-withheld income tax it paid on a tax-equalized foreign-assignment employee's behalf
Companies that send U.S. employees abroad often use "tax equalization," reducing the employee's salary by a hypothetical U.S. tax and then paying all the employee's actual taxes for them, so the forei…
Chief Counsel advises that a state-court receiver's fee is not a reasonable expense payable ahead of federal tax liens
This is informal Chief Counsel advice, sent by email, about a property sale in a state-court receivership where the IRS held federal tax liens. The receiver proposed to take a fee out of the sale proc…
Chief Counsel advises that a Chapter 7 trustee may receive a debtor's returns on written request, and return information without one
This is informal Chief Counsel advice, sent by email, about what tax information the IRS may hand over to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee in a "no-asset" case. Tax returns and return information are co…
Chief Counsel advises that section 6103 does not bar disclosure of information a person learned only after leaving employment
This is informal Chief Counsel advice, sent by email, about the confidentiality rules for tax return information under Internal Revenue Code § 6103. Section 6103(a) bars former employees from disclosi…
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.