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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Trust powers preserve incomplete gifts without giving committee members general powers
A married couple placed community property in an irrevocable trust and shared distribution powers with a power-of-appointment committee. The IRS concluded that the trust terms did not make either gran…
Trust powers preserve incomplete gifts without giving committee members general powers
A married couple placed community property in an irrevocable trust and shared distribution powers with a power-of-appointment committee. The IRS concluded that the trust terms did not make either gran…
Trust powers preserve incomplete gifts without giving committee members general powers
A married couple placed community property in an irrevocable trust and shared distribution powers with a power-of-appointment committee. The IRS concluded that the trust terms did not make either gran…
Modified trust cannot deduct payments to foundations
A court modified a trust to convert a beneficiary's testamentary appointment power into a lifetime power, allowing the trust to terminate and distribute its assets to two private foundations. Chief Co…
Incomplete-gift trust receives requested tax treatment
A grantor created an irrevocable trust with distribution powers held by the grantor and a distribution committee. While the committee remained in existence, the IRS found no stated circumstances that …
Divorcing spouses may divide charitable remainder unitrust
A married couple planning to divorce proposed dividing one charitable remainder unitrust into two pro rata trusts. Each former spouse would be the sole noncharitable beneficiary of one new trust and c…
Divorce-related charitable trust division approved
A married couple planning to divorce proposed dividing one charitable remainder unitrust into two pro rata trusts. Each former spouse would hold the unitrust interest in one new trust and control that…
Charitable remainder trust may be split after divorce
A couple in divorce proceedings planned to divide a charitable remainder unitrust into two trusts holding pro rata shares of every asset. Each spouse would receive payments only from that spouse's new…
Prior trust-owner ruling revoked because of the grantor's reversion
The IRS revoked the first conclusion of an earlier private letter ruling about who owned a trust for federal income tax purposes. The trust would terminate and return its property to the grantor if bo…
Endowment units do not create unrelated business income for charitable trust
A charitable remainder unitrust proposed exchanging assets for contractual units tied to its charitable remainder beneficiary's diversified endowment. The trust would have no ownership or control over…
Cost-only endowment services do not create unrelated business income
A public charity proposed allowing a charitable remainder unitrust to participate indirectly in the charity's diversified endowment through contractual units. The charity would issue units for trust a…
Trust powers produce mixed income, gift, and estate tax results
A grantor created an irrevocable trust whose distributions could be directed through several powers held by the grantor and a nonfiduciary power-of-appointment committee. While the committee remained …
Trust powers produce mixed income, gift, and estate tax results
A grantor created an irrevocable trust whose distributions could be directed through several powers held by the grantor and a nonfiduciary power-of-appointment committee. While the committee remained …
Trust powers produce mixed income, gift, and estate tax results
A grantor created an irrevocable trust whose distributions could be directed through several powers held by the grantor and a nonfiduciary power-of-appointment committee. While the committee remained …
Trust powers produce mixed income, gift, and estate tax results
A grantor created an irrevocable trust whose distributions could be directed through several powers held by the grantor and a nonfiduciary power-of-appointment committee. While the committee remained …
Trust powers produce mixed income, gift, and estate tax results
A grantor created an irrevocable trust whose distributions could be directed through several powers held by the grantor and a nonfiduciary power-of-appointment committee. While the committee remained …
Trust powers produce mixed income, gift, and estate tax results
A grantor created an irrevocable trust whose distributions could be directed through several powers held by the grantor and a nonfiduciary power-of-appointment committee. While the committee remained …
Trust with withdrawal power owns transferee trust income and gains
A trustee proposed transferring funds from one family trust to a second trust with the same beneficiaries and distribution rights. The second trust gave the first trust a power, exercisable only by th…
Retained trust powers keep transfers incomplete for gift tax
A grantor created an irrevocable family trust whose corporate trustee could make distributions under powers involving the grantor and a distribution committee. The IRS concluded that the grantor's ret…
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…
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…
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…
Trust may deduct IRA proceeds paid to a charity
A decedent named a trust as beneficiary of several individual retirement accounts, and the trust instrument directed those accounts to a charitable foundation. The trust proposed to receive each IRA b…
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.