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 group could correct an improper consolidated return
A newly formed parent acquired a corporation that already headed an affiliated group and then filed one consolidated return including the parent and that existing group. The parties had believed the a…
Special-contract solar projects were not public utility property
A regulated electric utility proposed two renewable energy projects for a manufacturer, one grid-scale project under a virtual power purchase agreement and one rooftop system. The utility would own an…
Revised nuclear decommissioning fund contribution schedule approved
A regulated utility requested approval of a revised schedule of deductible contributions to its nuclear decommissioning reserve fund. The schedule used the utility's ownership share, a decommissioning…
STEM scholarship procedures received advance approval
A private foundation proposed annual scholarships for college-bound public, private, and home-school students in a specified county who would attend a four-year college or trade school. Its board woul…
Revised scholarship and study-travel grant procedures approved
A private foundation revised an existing program that awards scholarships and study-travel grants to high-achieving residents of a specified state who attend designated universities. Scholarship merit…
IVF expenses deductible, gestational surrogacy expenses denied
A married couple used their own eggs and sperm for in vitro fertilization and engaged a gestational carrier because carrying a pregnancy posed a high health risk to one spouse. The IRS allowed deducti…
Substitute mortality tables approved for two pension plans
A plan sponsor requested new substitute mortality tables after a group annuity purchase caused its previously approved tables to no longer predict future mortality accurately. The new tables used expe…
Substitute mortality tables approved for two pension plans
A plan sponsor requested new substitute mortality tables after a group annuity purchase caused its previously approved tables to no longer predict future mortality accurately. The new tables used expe…
Educational facility renovation set-aside approved
A private foundation requested a set-aside to renovate a facility used for science, agriculture, arts, and music education for children and adults. The work included heating, ventilation, air conditio…
Employer-related scholarship procedures received advance approval
A private foundation proposed one-time scholarships for eligible dependents of employees of a company. An outside administrator would manage applications, due diligence, selection, payments to schools…
Scholarship procedures for underrepresented students approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships for historically underrepresented students in a metropolitan area who demonstrate academic excellence, community commitment, and plans to pursue four-year un…
Organization lost exemption for serving founder's private interests
An organization had once operated as a church but reported little or no activity after those operations ceased. Its representatives told the IRS that the organization's bank account had been used as a…
Estate received extra time to elect portability
A decedent's estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 but needed a timely estate tax return to transfer the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The estate did n…
Consolidated group received extra time for closing-of-the-books election
A consolidated group experienced an ownership change that limited the use of its pre-change losses under IRC § 382. It did not timely elect to close its books on the change date when allocating income…
Nonstock insurance-company acquisitions qualified for section 338 election
A taxable mutual insurance company purchased the sole memberships of two taxable, nonstock nonprofit insurance companies from another nonprofit holding company. Although the targets could not issue st…
Foreign entity received extra time to elect partnership status
A foreign entity intended to be classified as a partnership for U.S. federal tax purposes from its formation date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the entity met …
Estate received extra time to elect portability
A decedent's estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 but needed a timely estate tax return to transfer the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The estate did n…
IRS grants 120 days to make a late partnership basis election
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership missed the deadline to elect under IRC § 754 after a 50 percent general partner died. That election allows the partnership to adjust the basis of its…
LLC receives 120 days to file a late disregarded-entity election
A limited liability company intended to elect disregarded-entity status for federal tax purposes but did not timely file Form 8832. The company and its owner had filed tax returns consistent with that…
Trust modification preserves generation-skipping transfer tax exemption
An irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985, sought to modify how property would pass to descendants after the settlors' daughter died. Instead of distributing certain shares outright, the …
Descendant trusts preserve a trust's GST tax exemption
A trust established under a pre-October 22, 1986 revocable trust sought to change how shares for more remote descendants would be held. Property that otherwise could pass outright would instead remain…
IRS replaces the legend in an earlier S corporation ruling
The IRS issued this letter to modify an earlier private letter ruling dated September 26, 2022. The new letter replaces the earlier ruling's legend, which defines the redacted placeholders for the com…
Corporation receives extra time for a foreign tax redetermination election
A domestic corporation had five foreign tax redeterminations involving two wholly owned foreign subsidiaries. It chose an election under Treas. Reg. § 1.905-5(e)(1) that would account for those change…
Late-filed return is treated as a timely REIT election
A limited liability company taxed as a corporation intended to elect real estate investment trust status by filing Form 1120-REIT for its first REIT year. Its accounting firm electronically filed an e…
IRS treats a late first-year REIT return as a timely election
A limited liability company taxed as a corporation planned to elect real estate investment trust status by filing Form 1120-REIT for its first REIT year. Its accounting firm timely transmitted Form 70…
Trust receives relief for a late first-year REIT election
A trust formed to invest in real estate intended to elect real estate investment trust status from its formation date. Its accounting firm electronically filed an extension for the first Form 1120-REI…
LLC receives relief for a late first-year REIT election
A limited liability company formed to invest in real estate intended to elect real estate investment trust status from its formation date. Its accounting firm electronically filed an extension for the…
IRS grants late S corporation and QSub elections
A limited liability company intended to be taxed as an S corporation but inadvertently failed to file Form 2553 on time. Through a reorganization, it also became the sole owner of another limited liab…
IRS approves three need-based scholarship programs
A private foundation proposed three need-based scholarships. One would support a graduating scholar-athlete who planned to join a college athletic team, another would support a graduating student plan…
Archaeological-site construction set-aside approved
A private operating foundation asked to set aside funds for two buildings at an ancient archaeological site. One building would serve as a scientific laboratory, artifact-storage facility, and conserv…
Local merit-and-need scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed renewable scholarships for graduating seniors from specified local high schools. Awards would be based primarily on academic performance and financial need, with recommen…
Three educational travel-grant programs receive advance approval
A private foundation requested advance approval for three programs that would pay or reimburse individuals' travel, lodging, meals, and related costs for educational events. The first program would br…
Degree and trade-school scholarship procedures approved
A private foundation proposed scholarships, apprenticeships, and fellowships for people pursuing degrees, certifications, or similar credentials at accredited colleges, universities, and trade schools…
Charity loses exemption for unproven activities, poor records, and private benefit concerns
The IRS revoked a charity's § 501(c)(3) status after it failed to substantiate that its activities primarily served exempt purposes. The organization had one officer and director, provided only vague …
Property-owners association denied charity status
A membership organization of property owners applied for recognition under § 501(c)(3). Its stated purposes included furthering owners' interests, enforcing property restrictions, managing common area…
Dog club denied social-club exemption because most income came from nonmembers
A licensed dog club applied for exemption as a social and recreational club under § 501(c)(7). It held dog shows, raffles, member meetings, public education programs, and occasional charitable activit…
Automobile club denied charity status because recreation was a substantial purpose
An automobile owners' and enthusiasts' club applied for exemption under § 501(c)(3). It held car and motorcycle shows, picnics, parade and rodeo appearances, and other events for members and the publi…
Corporation receives 90 days to file a missing IC-DISC election
A corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC, for exports of machine components made by its parent. Its accounting firm prepared Form …
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late § 754 election
A partnership missed the deadline to make a § 754 election for the year a partner died because its tax advisers did not adequately advise it about the election. The partnership represented that it act…
Corporation receives 45 days to file a late tax-year change request
A domestic accrual-method corporation sought to change its annual accounting period by filing Form 1128. An administrative error caused it to miss the form's deadline, but the corporation mailed the f…
Loss corporation receives 75 days for a late closing-of-the-books election
A loss corporation underwent a § 382 ownership change, which limited its use of pre-change losses against later income. It missed the deadline to elect the closing-of-the-books method for dividing inc…
REIT and hotel operator receive 90 days for a late TRS election
A real estate investment trust indirectly owned a company that leased a hotel from another REIT subsidiary and hired an independent contractor to operate it. The REIT and company intended to elect tax…
S corporation may revoke an unintended installment-sale opt-out
Four shareholders sold all the stock of an S corporation, and the buyer later requested a § 338(h)(10) election that treated the deal as an asset sale for tax purposes. The taxpayer told its accountin…
Estate receives 120 days to correct a missed QTIP election
A decedent's revocable trust became irrevocable at death and directed part of the remaining assets to a marital trust for the surviving spouse. The spouse was entitled to all trust income at least qua…
Bankruptcy liquidating trust keeps its tax classification after another extension
A liquidating trust was created under a Chapter 11 plan to turn assets into cash and distribute the proceeds to beneficiaries. Unresolved litigation had already required several court-approved extensi…
Estate receives 120 days to give notice of a partial QTIP trust division
A revocable trust divided at the first spouse's death into a survivor's trust and a marital trust for the surviving spouse. The estate timely elected QTIP treatment for part of the marital trust but l…
Nine foreign entities receive 120 days for late disregarded-entity elections
Nine foreign eligible entities intended to be treated as disregarded entities for federal tax purposes from their respective formation or requested effective dates. Each failed to timely file Form 883…
Twenty-three foreign entities receive late disregarded-entity elections
Twenty-three foreign eligible entities were classified by default as associations taxable as corporations. Each intended to change to disregarded-entity status on the same effective date but failed to…
Opportunity fund receives 60 days for late self-certification
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and invest in opportunity-zone property. It had no income or expenses in its first year and did…
Partnership receives 120 days for a late § 754 election after an interest sale
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership engaged in a transaction that it represented was a sale of partnership interests for federal tax purposes. It inadvertently failed to make a § 754 el…
S corporation receives relief for a trust's missing ESBT election
A trust owned shares of two S corporations but its trustee failed to make an electing small business trust election when required. Because the trust was therefore an ineligible shareholder, the taxpay…
Missing ESBT election does not defeat intended S corporation status
A trust owned shares of a corporation from the date the corporation intended its S election to begin, but the trustee failed to timely elect electing small business trust status. The omission made the…
LLC receives relief for a late first-year REIT election
A limited liability company formed to invest in real estate intended to elect real estate investment trust status from its formation date. Its accounting firm timely transmitted Form 7004 electronical…
Child-recovery charity lost exemption after substantial insider transfers and personal spending
A charity used volunteers to help locate and recover missing or exploited children, including work under a contract with a rehabilitation center. After that contract ended, the organization’s reported…
Student-athlete NIL collective denied charity status for private benefit
A nonprofit proposed to raise funds and pay selected high-profile student-athletes at one school for name, image, and likeness services benefiting local and regional charities. The athletes would perf…
Lake property owners' litigation group denied charity status
An association of lake-area property owners sought § 501(c)(3) status while raising money to fund a lawsuit against nearby campground operations. The suit sought to stop alleged permit violations and …
Partnership receives limited time to make a late § 754 election
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership intended to make a § 754 election but inadvertently failed to file a valid election with its partnership return. The IRS concluded that the partnersh…
Consolidated group may exclude deferred intercompany gain after subsidiary conversion
A member of a consolidated corporate group sold interests in a foreign subsidiary to another group member, creating deferred intercompany gain under the consolidated-return rules. Later reorganization…
Parties receive more time to file a section 336(e) election statement
A partnership-taxed purchaser acquired all the stock of an S corporation through a disregarded entity. The parties intended to elect under section 336(e) to treat the qualified stock disposition as an…
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A partnership failed to file a section 754 election for the tax year in which one of its partners died. That election allows partnership property basis adjustments following certain distributions or t…
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.