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 termination avoided transfer taxes but triggered capital gain
The beneficiaries of a trust created before September 25, 1985 agreed to terminate it and divide its assets according to the actuarial value of their interests. A court approved the agreement because …
Trust termination avoided transfer taxes but triggered capital gain
The beneficiaries of a trust created before September 25, 1985 agreed to terminate it and divide its assets according to the actuarial value of their interests. A court approved the agreement because …
Trust termination avoided transfer taxes but triggered capital gain
The beneficiaries of a trust created before September 25, 1985 agreed to terminate it and divide its assets according to the actuarial value of their interests. A court approved the agreement because …
Pro rata division of grandfathered trust was tax neutral
An irrevocable pre-September 25, 1985 trust for a son and his issue proposed dividing pro rata into five equal subtrusts, one for each child and that child's issue, because the children had different …
Terminally ill donor's disclaimed life estates valued with special factor
An income beneficiary disclaimed life estates in three trusts while in hospice care with a medical prognosis of at least a 50-percent probability of death within one year. She died five days later, an…
Trust funding stayed incomplete while committee powers avoided transfer tax
A grantor created an irrevocable domestic trust for the grantor and family members, retaining consent, support-limited, and testamentary appointment powers while a family committee held joint distribu…
Retained trust powers kept the transfer incomplete
A grantor created an irrevocable domestic trust for the grantor and family members, retaining consent, support-limited, and testamentary appointment powers while a family committee held joint distribu…
Joint trust powers avoided committee transfer tax
A grantor created an irrevocable domestic trust for the grantor and family members, retaining consent, support-limited, and testamentary appointment powers while a family committee held joint distribu…
Family committee powers did not create taxable gifts
A grantor created an irrevocable domestic trust for the grantor and family members, retaining consent, support-limited, and testamentary appointment powers while a family committee held joint distribu…
Retained appointment powers prevented a completed gift
A grantor created an irrevocable domestic trust for the grantor and family members, retaining consent, support-limited, and testamentary appointment powers while a family committee held joint distribu…
Trust committee distributions avoided member gift tax
A grantor created an irrevocable domestic trust for the grantor and family members, retaining consent, support-limited, and testamentary appointment powers while a family committee held joint distribu…
GST exemption automatically applied to direct-skip trusts
A husband created separate trusts for grandchildren and transferred partnership interests to them, with the spouses electing to split the gifts. Their gift tax returns incorrectly described the transf…
Husband’s GST exemption automatically applied to direct-skip trusts
A husband created separate trusts for grandchildren and transferred partnership interests to them, with the spouses electing to split the gifts. Their gift tax returns incorrectly described the transf…
Court reformation preserved limited powers and GST allocation
A grantor created three irrevocable trusts for grandchildren, but drafting errors gave beneficiaries powers broad enough to risk estate inclusion and gift tax on lapsing withdrawal rights. A state cou…
Court reformation preserved limited powers and GST allocation
A grantor created three irrevocable trusts for grandchildren, but drafting errors gave beneficiaries powers broad enough to risk estate inclusion and gift tax on lapsing withdrawal rights. A state cou…
Court reformation preserved limited powers and GST allocation
A grantor created three irrevocable trusts for grandchildren, but drafting errors gave beneficiaries powers broad enough to risk estate inclusion and gift tax on lapsing withdrawal rights. A state cou…
Charitable trust contributions remained incomplete gifts and avoided split-interest trust rules
A settlor created an irrevocable trust for individuals and a foundation while retaining consent and limited appointment powers. The IRS ruled that the initial contribution was an incomplete gift and t…
Trust transfer remained an incomplete gift and committee powers caused no estate inclusion
A grantor created an irrevocable domestic trust for the grantor and other lifetime beneficiaries. The grantor retained powers to direct distributions, while a committee could act with the grantor's co…
Trust transfer remained an incomplete gift and committee powers caused no estate inclusion
A grantor created an irrevocable domestic trust for the grantor and other lifetime beneficiaries. The grantor retained powers to direct distributions, while a committee could act with the grantor's co…
Trust transfer remained an incomplete gift and committee powers caused no estate inclusion
A grantor created an irrevocable domestic trust for the grantor and other lifetime beneficiaries. The grantor retained powers to direct distributions, while a committee could act with the grantor's co…
Trust transfer remained an incomplete gift and committee powers caused no estate inclusion
A grantor created an irrevocable domestic trust for the grantor and other lifetime beneficiaries. The grantor retained powers to direct distributions, while a committee could act with the grantor's co…
Trust transfer remained an incomplete gift and committee powers caused no estate inclusion
A grantor created an irrevocable domestic trust for the grantor and other lifetime beneficiaries. The grantor retained powers to direct distributions, while a committee could act with the grantor's co…
Former spouses' delayed property buyout is incident to divorce and not a taxable gift
Two former spouses kept equal interests in real property under a court order entered less than seven months after their divorce. More than six years later, a fire caused major damage, one spouse paid …
Married couple's community-property trust is a non-grantor trust and their contributions are incomplete gifts
A married couple in a community property state set up an irrevocable trust for themselves, their children, two other individuals, and charities. Distributions are controlled by a "Power of Appointment…
Married couple's community-property trust is a non-grantor trust and their contributions are incomplete gifts
A married couple in a community property state set up an irrevocable trust for themselves, their children, two other individuals, and charities. Distributions are controlled by a "Power of Appointment…
Community-property trust gets incomplete-gift, power, and basis rulings with an income-tax caveat
A married couple in a community-property state created an irrevocable trust for themselves, family members, and friends, with distributions controlled through retained powers and a nonfiduciary power-…
Community-property trust gets incomplete-gift, power, and basis rulings with an income-tax caveat
A married couple in a community-property state created an irrevocable trust for themselves, family members, and friends, with distributions controlled through retained powers and a nonfiduciary power-…
Community-property trust gets incomplete-gift, power, and basis rulings with an income-tax caveat
A married couple in a community-property state created an irrevocable trust for themselves, family members, and friends, with distributions controlled through retained powers and a nonfiduciary power-…
Community-property trust gets incomplete-gift, power, and basis rulings with an income-tax caveat
A married couple in a community-property state created an irrevocable trust for themselves, family members, and friends, with distributions controlled through retained powers and a nonfiduciary power-…
Community-property trust gets incomplete-gift, power, and basis rulings with an income-tax caveat
A married couple in a community-property state created an irrevocable trust for themselves, family members, and friends, with distributions controlled through retained powers and a nonfiduciary power-…
Community-property trust gets incomplete-gift, power, and basis rulings with an income-tax caveat
A married couple in a community-property state created an irrevocable trust for themselves, family members, and friends, with distributions controlled through retained powers and a nonfiduciary power-…
Incomplete non-grantor trust succeeds, contributions and committee distributions are not completed gifts
A person set up a trust for themselves and their four children, with distributions steered by a "Distribution Committee" made up of the grantor and two children. This is the increasingly common "incom…
Incomplete non-grantor trust succeeds, contributions and committee distributions are not completed gifts
A person set up a trust for themselves and their four children, with distributions steered by a "Distribution Committee" made up of the grantor and two children. This is the increasingly common "incom…
IRS blesses a court reformation fixing a trust's Crummey-power drafting error, finding no gift or estate tax fallout
A grandfather set up an irrevocable trust for his grandchildren, using the common "Crummey" technique of giving each grandchild a short-lived right to withdraw new contributions so the gifts qualify f…
Two charitable remainder unitrusts with a flexible charity-designation power qualify under § 664
An individual planned to create two charitable remainder unitrusts (CRUTs), a type of trust that pays a fixed percentage to the donor (and here, in one trust, a surviving spouse) each year and leaves …
Adding a way to appoint an independent trustee will not trigger gift, estate, or GST tax
An old irrevocable family trust gave certain sensitive powers (including the power to narrow or cancel a beneficiary's future control over where trust assets go) only to a trustee who was not also a b…
Disclaiming a contingent share of two old family trusts is not a taxable gift
When you give up a right to receive property, tax law sometimes treats that "disclaimer" as if you had made a gift to whoever gets the property instead, which could trigger gift tax. Special rules let…
Reformation of a trust's Crummey withdrawal error avoids general powers of appointment; 120-day extension to allocate GST exemption
A settlor set up an irrevocable trust for his descendants, wanting the trust assets to stay out of his children's estates and to use up his and his spouse's generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exem…
Reformation of a trust's Crummey withdrawal error avoids general powers of appointment; 120-day extension to allocate GST exemption
A settlor set up an irrevocable trust for his descendants, wanting the trust assets to stay out of his children's estates and to use up his and his spouse's generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exem…
Reformation of a trust's Crummey withdrawal error avoids general powers of appointment; 120-day extension to allocate GST exemption
A settlor set up an irrevocable trust for his descendants, wanting the trust assets to stay out of his children's estates and to use up his and his spouse's generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exem…
Reformation of a trust's Crummey withdrawal error avoids general powers of appointment; 120-day extension to allocate GST exemption
A settlor set up an irrevocable trust for his descendants, wanting the trust assets to stay out of his children's estates and to use up his and his spouse's generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exem…
Community-property incomplete-gift non-grantor trust gets six favorable rulings
A married couple in a community-property state set up an "incomplete-gift non-grantor" trust (often called an ING or, in community-property form, a CING) funded with their community property. The trus…
Community-property incomplete-gift non-grantor trust gets six favorable rulings
A married couple in a community-property state set up an "incomplete-gift non-grantor" trust (often called an ING or, in community-property form, a CING) funded with their community property. The trus…
Community-property incomplete-gift non-grantor trust gets six favorable rulings
A married couple in a community-property state set up an "incomplete-gift non-grantor" trust (often called an ING or, in community-property form, a CING) funded with their community property. The trus…
Community-property incomplete-gift non-grantor trust gets six favorable rulings
A married couple in a community-property state set up an "incomplete-gift non-grantor" trust (often called an ING or, in community-property form, a CING) funded with their community property. The trus…
Community-property incomplete-gift non-grantor trust gets six favorable rulings
A married couple in a community-property state set up an "incomplete-gift non-grantor" trust (often called an ING or, in community-property form, a CING) funded with their community property. The trus…
Community-property incomplete-gift non-grantor trust gets six favorable rulings
A married couple in a community-property state set up an "incomplete-gift non-grantor" trust (often called an ING or, in community-property form, a CING) funded with their community property. The trus…
Court fix of a botched Crummey clause carries no estate, gift, or GST tax
A grandfather set up an irrevocable trust split into three shares, one for each grandchild, meant to keep the trust assets out of the grandchildren's taxable estates and to use up his and his wife's g…
Court fix of a botched Crummey clause carries no estate, gift, or GST tax
A grandfather set up an irrevocable trust split into three shares, one for each grandchild, meant to keep the trust assets out of the grandchildren's taxable estates and to use up his and his wife's g…
Court fix of a botched Crummey clause carries no estate, gift, or GST tax
A grandfather set up an irrevocable trust split into three shares, one for each grandchild, meant to keep the trust assets out of the grandchildren's taxable estates and to use up his and his wife's g…
Court fix of a botched Crummey clause carries no estate, gift, or GST tax
A grandfather set up an irrevocable trust split into three shares, one for each grandchild, meant to keep the trust assets out of the grandchildren's taxable estates and to use up his and his wife's g…
Court fix of a botched Crummey clause carries no estate, gift, or GST tax
A grandfather set up an irrevocable trust split into three shares, one for each grandchild, meant to keep the trust assets out of the grandchildren's taxable estates and to use up his and his wife's g…
Incomplete-gift non-grantor trust: contributions are incomplete gifts, and distribution-committee members hold no general power of appointment
A person (the Grantor) set up an irrevocable trust for a family class (parents, siblings, a niece and nephew, future issue, and another trust), with a "Distribution Committee" of relatives that decide…
Approves QTIP trust division and charitable renunciation
A surviving spouse proposed dividing a qualified terminable interest property trust into two separate trusts with identical terms, then renouncing all interests in one trust so its assets would pass t…
Approves partition of grandfathered trust into family-line trusts
An irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985, benefited a granddaughter and her descendants. A court ordered that, at the granddaughter's death, the trust be divided pro rata into separate t…
Defines income, gift, and estate tax treatment of family trust powers
A grantor created an irrevocable domestic trust for himself, his spouse, descendants, parents, and another individual. A committee that included the grantor and other beneficiaries or their representa…
Defines income, gift, and estate tax treatment of family trust powers
A grantor created an irrevocable domestic trust for himself, his spouse, descendants, parents, and another individual. A committee that included the grantor and other beneficiaries or their representa…
Defines income, gift, and estate tax treatment of family trust powers
A grantor created an irrevocable domestic trust for himself, his spouse, descendants, parents, and another individual. A committee that included the grantor and other beneficiaries or their representa…
Defines income, gift, and estate tax treatment of family trust powers
A grantor created an irrevocable domestic trust for himself, his spouse, descendants, parents, and another individual. A committee that included the grantor and other beneficiaries or their representa…
Defines income, gift, and estate tax treatment of family trust powers
A grantor created an irrevocable domestic trust for himself, his spouse, descendants, parents, and another individual. A committee that included the grantor and other beneficiaries or their representa…
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.