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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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…
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…
IRS rules a merger of three GST-exempt trusts keeps them exempt from generation-skipping tax
A married couple set up three irrevocable trusts for their descendants and allocated enough generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption to each so that all three are fully GST-exempt (an inclusio…
Estate gets more time to allocate the decedent's generation-skipping tax exemption after the executor missed it on Form 706
When someone dies leaving property to trusts that may benefit grandchildren or later generations, the executor can allocate the decedent's generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption to those tru…
A misreported gift still triggered automatic allocation of the donor's generation-skipping tax exemption
The generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax applies when wealth passes to grandchildren or later generations, and each person has a GST exemption that can shelter such transfers. For gifts to certain l…
Extra time to allocate a grantor's GST exemption to a trust after the attorney never filed the gift tax return
A grantor set up an irrevocable trust for a son and his descendants and intended the trust to be fully exempt from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax, meaning an inclusion ratio of zero. To lo…
Court-approved trust modification keeps grandfathered GST-exempt status; only appointed property enters the child's estate
A trust created under a will became irrevocable when the grantor died before September 25, 1985, so it is "grandfathered" and exempt from the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax as long as it is no…
Late relief to elect out of the automatic allocation of GST exemption to a trust transfer
The generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax comes with a lifetime exemption, and to keep taxpayers from accidentally wasting it, the law automatically allocates GST exemption to certain "indirect skip"…
Late reverse-QTIP election allowed so the deceased's GST exemption can shelter the marital trust
When a marital trust qualifies for the estate-tax marital deduction under the QTIP rules, the surviving spouse (not the deceased) would normally be treated as the "transferor" for generation-skipping …
Retroactive scrivener's-error trust fix does not create a spousal general power of appointment, and the reverse QTIP election stays valid
When the grantor of a revocable trust died, the trust split into a family fund and a marital trust for his surviving spouse. An earlier draft of the trust required that any successor trustee be indepe…
IRS gives a GRAT settlor extra time to opt out of automatic GST-exemption allocation after the attorney never advised it
A person (the settlor) set up a grantor retained annuity trust (GRAT) and transferred property into it, reporting the gift on a timely Form 709. When the settlor's retained annuity interest ended and …
IRS gives a GRAT settlor extra time to opt out of automatic GST-exemption allocation after the attorney never advised it
A person (the settlor) set up a grantor retained annuity trust (GRAT) and transferred property into it, reporting the gift on a timely Form 709. When the settlor's retained annuity interest ended and …
A grantor whose accountant forgot to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation gets 120 days to fix it
A person set up four grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) funded with company stock. When those trusts ended, the remainder passed to trusts for the grantor's two children and their descendants. Tr…
Taxpayer receives 120 days to elect out of automatic GST exemption allocations for three years
A taxpayer made transfers over three years to an irrevocable trust primarily benefiting the taxpayer's spouse. The taxpayer's longtime return preparer incorrectly advised that no gift tax returns were…
Spouses receive 120 days to elect out of automatic GST allocations for four GRAT transfers
A husband created and funded four grantor retained annuity trusts whose remainder interests passed to continuing trusts with generation-skipping transfer tax potential. The couple's accountant and tru…
Donor's estate and spouse receive 120 days to allocate GST exemption to a charitable remainder trust
A donor created a charitable remainder unitrust that paid a lifetime unitrust amount to a grandchild and then passed the remainder to charity. The donor and spouse elected to split the gift, but their…
Division of grandfathered trust preserves GST exemption and avoids transfer-tax and income-tax consequences
A trust created under a settlor's will before September 25, 1985 proposed dividing one child's share into two equal trusts, one associated with each of that child's children. The new trusts would have…
Pro-rata division into separate family trusts preserves income-tax attributes and GST exemption
Two grantors created a trust for their children and allocated enough generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to give it an inclusion ratio of zero. As the family grew and beneficiaries' financial n…
Grantor receives 120 days to elect out of automatic GST allocations to a GRAT
A grantor created and funded a grantor retained annuity trust for the grantor's spouse and two children. The trust had generation-skipping transfer tax potential, and its estate tax inclusion period l…
Spouses receive 120 days to elect out of automatic GST allocations for four GRAT transfers
A husband created four grantor retained annuity trusts whose remainder interests passed to continuing trusts with generation-skipping transfer tax potential. The couple's accountant and trusts-and-est…
Donor's estate and spouse receive 120 days to allocate GST exemption to a charitable remainder trust
A donor created a charitable remainder unitrust that paid a lifetime unitrust amount to a grandchild and then passed the remainder to charity. The donor and spouse elected to split the gift, but their…
Early pro-rata trust division preserves income-tax attributes and GST exemption
Two grantors created a trust for their descendants and allocated enough generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to give it an inclusion ratio of zero. After one grantor died and family members deve…
Trust appointment avoids estate inclusion and GST tax
An irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985 gave the grantor's son a testamentary power to appoint its property, but not to himself, his estate, or their creditors. The son proposed to appo…
Estate receives time to allocate GST exemption to family trust
A revocable trust divided at the first spouse's death, with part of the deceased spouse's property passing to a family trust that could later produce generation-skipping transfers. The executor hired …
Taxpayer may elect out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A taxpayer made transfers to trusts for two children and to three grantor retained annuity trusts whose remaining property later passed to those children's trusts. The taxpayer's attorney and accounta…
Taxpayer may elect out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A taxpayer made transfers to trusts for two children and to three grantor retained annuity trusts whose remaining property later passed to those children's trusts. The taxpayer's attorney and accounta…
Estate receives more time to allocate GST exemption
A decedent's revocable trust divided at death into a family trust and two marital trusts, all with generation-skipping transfer tax potential. The executor intended to allocate the decedent's availabl…
Estate receives more time to allocate GST exemption to child trusts
A married couple's trust divided after the husband's death into survivor, credit-shelter, and marital trusts. The husband's estate made a QTIP election for the marital trust but did not make a reverse…
Court correction of trust errors has no transfer-tax or income-tax effect
A trust created before the generation-skipping transfer tax effective date contained scrivener's errors that made its multigenerational distribution provisions ambiguous. A state court conditionally a…
Court correction of trust errors has no transfer-tax or income-tax effect
A trust created before the generation-skipping transfer tax effective date contained scrivener's errors that made its multigenerational distribution provisions ambiguous. A state court conditionally a…
Court correction of trust errors has no transfer-tax or income-tax effect
A trust created before the generation-skipping transfer tax effective date contained scrivener's errors that made its multigenerational distribution provisions ambiguous. A state court conditionally a…
Trust constructions preserve GST status and avoid income, gift, and estate tax consequences
A testamentary trust created before September 25, 1985 had undergone court proceedings concerning trustee succession and the meaning of trust earnings. After the primary beneficiary died, another cour…
Court-corrected trust division retains GST grandfathering without transfer-tax consequences
A testamentary trust created before September 25, 1985 had been the subject of court proceedings about trustee succession and whether earnings included capital gains. When its primary beneficiary died…
Judicial trust corrections avoid gain, gifts, estate inclusion, and loss of GST status
A pre-September 25, 1985 testamentary trust had previously received judicial rulings about corporate trustee succession and the treatment of capital gains as earnings. Following the primary beneficiar…
Grandfathered trust may be corrected and divided without federal tax recognition
A testamentary trust established before the effective date of the generation-skipping transfer tax rules had undergone judicial changes involving trustee succession and trust earnings. A later court j…
Trust reformation and equal child-trust distributions receive favorable tax rulings
A grandfathered testamentary trust and the primary beneficiary's will contained provisions later addressed in several state-court proceedings. The final judgment corrected drafting errors, clarified t…
Corrected exercise of a limited power preserves a trust's GST exemption
A testamentary trust created before September 25, 1985 was governed by a limited power of appointment and had already undergone judicial proceedings about trustee succession and trust earnings. After …
IRS grants late election out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A taxpayer created a grantor retained annuity trust whose remaining property later passed to a family trust with generation-skipping transfer potential. The taxpayer's attorney failed to explain that …
IRS grants late election out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A taxpayer created a grantor retained annuity trust whose remaining property later passed to a family trust with generation-skipping transfer potential. The taxpayer's attorney failed to explain that …
State-law limits avoid power-of-appointment transfer taxes for old trusts
A decedent was the trustee and lifetime income beneficiary of two family trusts created before September 25, 1985. State law later limited a trustee-beneficiary's power to distribute trust property to…
State-law limits avoid power-of-appointment transfer taxes for old trusts
A decedent was the trustee and lifetime income beneficiary of two family trusts created before September 25, 1985. State law later limited a trustee-beneficiary's power to distribute trust property to…
State-law limits avoid power-of-appointment transfer taxes for old trusts
A decedent was the trustee and lifetime income beneficiary of two family trusts created before September 25, 1985. State law later limited a trustee-beneficiary's power to distribute trust property to…
Taxpayer may elect out of automatic GST allocation for two GRATs
A taxpayer created two grantor retained annuity trusts, transferred company stock to them, and intended to elect out of automatic generation-skipping transfer exemption allocation. The taxpayer's atto…
Family company buy-sell agreement keeps its section 2703 grandfathering
A family-owned company had a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement created before section 2703 became effective. Family stock had later passed among estates, descendants, descendant trusts, and gene…
Family company buy-sell agreement keeps its section 2703 grandfathering
A family-owned company had a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement created before section 2703 became effective. Family stock had later passed among estates, descendants, descendant trusts, and gene…
Family company buy-sell agreement keeps its section 2703 grandfathering
A family-owned company had a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement created before section 2703 became effective. Family stock had later passed among estates, descendants, descendant trusts, and gene…
Family company buy-sell agreement keeps its section 2703 grandfathering
A family-owned company had a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement created before section 2703 became effective. Family stock had later passed among estates, descendants, descendant trusts, and gene…
Spouses receive 120 days to opt out of automatic GST allocations
A married couple made split gifts over several years to five irrevocable trusts with generation-skipping potential. Their attorney prepared the gift tax returns but did not advise them about the autom…
Spouses receive 120 days to opt out of automatic GST allocations
A married couple made split gifts over several years to five irrevocable trusts with generation-skipping potential. Their attorney prepared the gift tax returns but did not advise them about the autom…
Family company buy-sell agreement keeps its section 2703 grandfathering
A family-owned company had a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement created before section 2703 became effective. Family stock had later passed among estates, descendants, descendant trusts, and gene…
Family company buy-sell agreement keeps its section 2703 grandfathering
A family-owned company had a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement created before section 2703 became effective. Family stock had later passed among estates, descendants, descendant trusts, and gene…
Family company buy-sell agreement keeps its section 2703 grandfathering
A family-owned company had a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement created before section 2703 became effective. Family stock had later passed among estates, descendants, descendant trusts, and gene…
Family company buy-sell agreement keeps its section 2703 grandfathering
A family-owned company had a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement created before section 2703 became effective. Family stock had later passed among estates, descendants, descendant trusts, and gene…
Family company buy-sell agreement keeps its section 2703 grandfathering
A family-owned company had a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement created before section 2703 became effective. Family stock had later passed among estates, descendants, descendant trusts, and gene…
Family company buy-sell agreement keeps its section 2703 grandfathering
A family-owned company had a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement created before section 2703 became effective. Family stock had later passed among estates, descendants, descendant trusts, and gene…
Family company agreement keeps section 2703 grandfather status
A family-owned company was governed by a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement adopted before October 8, 1990. The company and its shareholders asked whether later family transfers, administrative c…
Family company restrictions remain grandfathered under section 2703
A family-owned company was governed by a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement adopted before October 8, 1990. The company and its shareholders asked whether later family transfers, administrative c…
Pre-1990 family stock agreement remains grandfathered
A family-owned company was governed by a stock redemption and buy-sell agreement adopted before October 8, 1990. The company and its shareholders asked whether later family transfers, administrative c…
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.