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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Settling a grandfathered trust's ambiguous per-stirpes clause keeps its GST-exempt status and triggers no gift or income tax
A family trust created before September 25, 1985 is "grandfathered," meaning it is exempt from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax. The trust's will language directed that, when the last of cer…
Settling a grandfathered trust's ambiguous per-stirpes clause keeps its GST-exempt status and triggers no gift or income tax
A family trust created before September 25, 1985 is "grandfathered," meaning it is exempt from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax. The trust's will language directed that, when the last of cer…
Settling a grandfathered trust's ambiguous per-stirpes clause keeps its GST-exempt status and triggers no gift or income tax
A family trust created before September 25, 1985 is "grandfathered," meaning it is exempt from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax. The trust's will language directed that, when the last of cer…
Settling a grandfathered trust's ambiguous per-stirpes clause keeps its GST-exempt status and triggers no gift or income tax
A family trust created before September 25, 1985 is "grandfathered," meaning it is exempt from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax. The trust's will language directed that, when the last of cer…
Court-approved settlement of an ambiguous trust term triggers no GST, gift, or income tax
An old trust, created and made irrevocable before September 25, 1985 (so it is grandfathered as exempt from generation-skipping transfer, or GST, tax), had a will provision that was ambiguous about wh…
Court-approved settlement of an ambiguous trust term triggers no GST, gift, or income tax
An old trust, created and made irrevocable before September 25, 1985 (so it is grandfathered as exempt from generation-skipping transfer, or GST, tax), had a will provision that was ambiguous about wh…
Court-approved settlement of an ambiguous trust term triggers no GST, gift, or income tax
An old trust, created and made irrevocable before September 25, 1985 (so it is grandfathered as exempt from generation-skipping transfer, or GST, tax), had a will provision that was ambiguous about wh…
Donor received 120 days to elect GST trust treatment for prior transfers
A donor created a trust for descendants and transferred cash and securities to it over two years. The donor instructed an attorney to elect on Form 709 to treat the trust as a generation-skipping tran…
Donor receives 120 days to elect GST trust treatment for prior transfers
A donor created a trust for descendants and made several transfers of cash and securities to it over two years. The donor instructed an attorney to elect on Form 709 to treat the trust as a generation…
Trust settlement causes no GST, gift, gain, or excess-income tax consequences
A trust that became irrevocable before September 25, 1985 contained ambiguous instructions for dividing its remainder among descendants when it terminated. The potential beneficiaries negotiated a cou…
Estate receives 120 days to complete GST exemption allocation to trust
A decedent's will created separate residuary trusts for three children. The estate's attorney intended to allocate all available generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to one trust on Form 706, bu…
Couple gets 120 days to elect out of automatic GST exemption allocation for four stepchild trusts, after their accountant left the election off three years of gift tax returns
The generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax applies when wealth passes to grandchildren or other beneficiaries more than one generation down. Everyone has a GST exemption, and when someone funds certai…
Splitting a GST-grandfathered trust into five family trusts triggers no tax
A family asked the IRS how dividing one irrevocable trust into five separate trusts, one for each branch of the family, would be taxed. The original trust was created before the generation-skipping tr…
Splitting a GST-grandfathered trust into five family trusts triggers no tax
A family asked the IRS how dividing one irrevocable trust into five separate trusts, one for each branch of the family, would be taxed. The original trust was created before the generation-skipping tr…
Splitting a GST-grandfathered trust into five family trusts triggers no tax
A family asked the IRS how dividing one irrevocable trust into five separate trusts, one for each branch of the family, would be taxed. The original trust was created before the generation-skipping tr…
Pro rata division into five family trusts produced no income, estate, gift, or GST tax
A trust created before September 25, 1985, benefited one grandchild and that grandchild's descendants. Because the five children had different circumstances, the trustees obtained court approval to di…
Pro rata division into five family trusts produced no income, estate, gift, or GST tax
A trust created before September 25, 1985, benefited one grandchild and that grandchild's descendants. Because the five children had different circumstances, the trustees obtained court approval to di…
Pro rata division into five family trusts produced no income, estate, gift, or GST tax
A trust created before September 25, 1985, benefited one grandchild and that grandchild's descendants. Because the five children had different circumstances, the trustees obtained court approval to di…
Pro rata division into five family trusts produced no income, estate, gift, or GST tax
A trust created before September 25, 1985, benefited one grandchild and that grandchild's descendants. Because the five children had different circumstances, the trustees obtained court approval to di…
Decanting a grandfathered trust preserved its GST exemption
A grantor created an irrevocable descendants' trust before September 25, 1985, and no later additions were made, so it was exempt from generation-skipping transfer tax. The trustee proposed moving all…
Spouse received 120 days to allocate GST exemption to an irrevocable trust
A married couple created separate irrevocable trusts and transferred assets to them, but their attorney did not adequately advise them to file gift tax returns or allocate generation-skipping transfer…
GRAT donor received 120 days to opt out of automatic GST allocation
A taxpayer transferred a company interest to a grantor retained annuity trust whose remainder would pass to a family trust after the retained annuity period ended. The taxpayer intended to preserve ge…
Estate receives more time to allocate GST exemption to a trust
A decedent and spouse created separate irrevocable trusts and made gifts to them in the same year. Their attorney drafted the trusts but did not adequately advise them to file gift and generation-skip…
Estate receives more time for QTIP and reverse QTIP elections
A decedent’s revocable trust divided at death into a bypass trust and a marital trust for the surviving spouse. The marital trust was to be divided into generation-skipping transfer tax exempt and non…
The automatic GST-exemption allocation rules applied to a decedent's trust even though the estate never made the allocation on Schedule R
The generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax applies when wealth passes to grandchildren or later generations, but each person has a GST exemption (here $1,000,000 under the law in effect at the deceden…
Estate gets extra time to make QTIP and "reverse" QTIP elections its attorney botched on the estate tax return
When a married person dies, an estate can defer estate tax on assets left in trust for the surviving spouse by making a "QTIP" election (qualified terminable interest property) under section 2056(b)(7…
Modifying a pre-1985 grandfathered trust for a disabled beneficiary keeps its GST-tax exemption
Trusts that became irrevocable before September 25, 1985 are "grandfathered" and generally exempt from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax, a tax on transfers that skip a generation. This grand…
Modifying a pre-1985 grandfathered trust for a disabled beneficiary keeps its GST-tax exemption
Trusts that became irrevocable before September 25, 1985 are "grandfathered" and generally exempt from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax, a tax on transfers that skip a generation. This grand…
Estate gets more time to steer its GST tax exemption to the grandchild's charitable trust
When a donor died, the residue of her revocable trust was split equally among three charitable remainder annuity trusts (CRATs), one each connected to her son, daughter, and grandson. All three trusts…
9100 relief for an estate to make late QTIP and reverse-QTIP elections its accountant omitted
After a person died, their revocable trust split into a family trust and two marital trusts (an exempt and a non-exempt marital trust) for the surviving spouse. To defer estate tax on the marital trus…
120-day extension to make a late QTIP election after the accountant omitted it from the estate tax return
A married couple's trust split into a Marital Trust and a non-marital (Exempt) Trust when the first spouse died, and the estate planning intended the Marital Trust to qualify as qualified terminable i…
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Pre-1942 trust keeps its GST-exempt status through a court construction and modification, and beneficiary disclaimers stay tax-free
An old family trust, created before October 21, 1942 and still irrevocable long before the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax took effect, asked the IRS to bless a set of proposed changes without …
Judicial modification of a pre-1985 grandfathered trust does not cost it GST-tax-exempt status
A trust created before September 25, 1985 is "grandfathered" from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax, but that protection can be lost if the trust is changed in the wrong way. Here the settlor…
Estate granted extra time to elect out of automatic GST-exemption allocation for 2010 gifts to grandchildren's trusts
When someone makes a "direct skip" gift (for example, to a grandchild or a trust for grandchildren), the tax law automatically uses up part of the giver's generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exempt…
A granddaughter's testamentary power of appointment is limited, not general, so the grandfathered trust stays GST-exempt and out of her estate
A family trust traces back to a settlor who died before September 25, 1985, which makes the trust "grandfathered" and generally exempt from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax. Over two generat…
Court-ordered reformation of six GST-exempt trusts to fix scrivener's errors triggers no income, gift, estate, or GST tax
A grantor set up an irrevocable trust for his six children and later, through the trustee, split it into six near-identical child-specific trusts. Because the grantor and his spouse had allocated thei…
Court-ordered reformation of six GST-exempt trusts to fix scrivener's errors triggers no income, gift, estate, or GST tax
A grantor set up an irrevocable trust for his six children and later, through the trustee, split it into six near-identical child-specific trusts. Because the grantor and his spouse had allocated thei…
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.