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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Family stock restrictions retain section 2703 grandfather protection
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…
Buy-sell agreement remains protected from 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…
Family share agreement remains grandfathered after planned changes
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 changes do not trigger 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…
Planned stock changes preserve section 2703 grandfathering
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 recapitalization does not end grandfathering
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…
Later family transfers do not alter grandfathered stock agreement
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 agreement remains grandfathered after transfers and recapitalization
A family-owned company’s stock redemption and buy-sell agreement predated October 8, 1990, and therefore remained outside section 2703 unless substantially modified. The IRS ruled that later transfers…
Family-company agreement remains grandfathered after transfers and recapitalization
A family-owned company’s stock redemption and buy-sell agreement predated October 8, 1990, and therefore remained outside section 2703 unless substantially modified. The IRS ruled that later transfers…
Family-company agreement remains grandfathered after transfers and recapitalization
A family-owned company’s stock redemption and buy-sell agreement predated October 8, 1990, and therefore remained outside section 2703 unless substantially modified. The IRS ruled that later transfers…
Family-company agreement remains grandfathered after transfers and recapitalization
A family-owned company’s stock redemption and buy-sell agreement predated October 8, 1990, and therefore remained outside section 2703 unless substantially modified. The IRS ruled that later transfers…
Family-company agreement remains grandfathered after transfers and recapitalization
A family-owned company’s stock redemption and buy-sell agreement predated October 8, 1990, and therefore remained outside section 2703 unless substantially modified. The IRS ruled that later transfers…
Continuing-trust modification preserves GST grandfathering
A trust irrevocable before September 25, 1985, and its successor trusts otherwise required outright distributions 21 years after a beneficiary’s death. A court-approved modification would instead hold…
Continuing-trust modification preserves GST grandfathering
A trust irrevocable before September 25, 1985, and its successor trusts otherwise required outright distributions 21 years after a beneficiary’s death. A court-approved modification would instead hold…
Continuing-trust modification preserves GST grandfathering
A trust irrevocable before September 25, 1985, and its successor trusts otherwise required outright distributions 21 years after a beneficiary’s death. A court-approved modification would instead hold…
Continuing-trust modification preserves GST grandfathering
A trust irrevocable before September 25, 1985, and its successor trusts otherwise required outright distributions 21 years after a beneficiary’s death. A court-approved modification would instead hold…
Continuing-trust modification preserves GST grandfathering
A trust irrevocable before September 25, 1985, and its successor trusts otherwise required outright distributions 21 years after a beneficiary’s death. A court-approved modification would instead hold…
Trust modifications preserve grandfathered GST tax exemption
An irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985, had been divided into a trust and several successor trusts. The trustees obtained court approval to modify the trusts so that property otherwise…
Continuing-trust provisions preserve GST tax exemption
An irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985, had been divided into a trust and several successor trusts. The trustees obtained court approval to modify the trusts so that property otherwise…
Continuing trusts retain grandfathered GST tax treatment
An irrevocable trust established before September 25, 1985, had been partitioned and later divided into separate successor trusts. A court approved provisions that would hold termination distributions…
Trust modification does not disturb GST tax exemption
An irrevocable trust established before September 25, 1985, had been partitioned and later divided into separate successor trusts. A court approved a modification under which distributions for benefic…
Continuing-trust modification preserves GST exemption
An irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985, was partitioned and later divided into separate successor trusts. The trustees obtained court approval to hold termination distributions for you…
Court reformation preserves QTIP, estate, and GST tax treatment
A married couple's community-property trust divided the first spouse's property between marital and family trusts, but later restatements contained several drafting errors. Those errors appeared to ap…
Late relief to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation for 24 GRATs
Over eight years, a taxpayer funded 24 grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), three each year, with the remainders passing to three trusts for her three children and their descendants. When each GRA…
Late relief to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation for four GRATs
A married couple funded four grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) over several years, with the remainders passing to trusts for their two sons. When each GRAT's estate-tax inclusion period closed, …
Late relief to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation for four GRATs
A married couple funded four grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) over several years, with the remainders passing to trusts for their two sons. When each GRAT's estate-tax inclusion period closed, …
Estate receives 120 days to allocate unused GST exemption
A married couple created a revocable trust that later divided into separate trusts, and the trust became irrevocable at the surviving spouse's death. The estate timely filed Form 706 but failed to all…
Donor receives 120-day extension to elect out of automatic GST allocation
A donor and spouse created four irrevocable trusts primarily for their grandchildren, and the donor later transferred the same redacted amount to each trust. The donor did not intend to allocate gener…
Donor receives 120-day extension to elect out of automatic GST allocation
A donor and spouse created four irrevocable trusts primarily for their grandchildren, and the donor later transferred the same redacted amount to each trust. The donor did not intend to allocate gener…
Trust modification preserves GST exemption without estate or gift tax
A trust created before September 25, 1985 proposed changing how assets would be held for the grantor's descendants after the primary beneficiary's death. Instead of distributing shares outright at age…
Descendant trust changes retain GST-exempt status
A grandfathered trust proposed replacing age-21 outright distributions to descendants with lifetime separate trusts for each beneficiary. The new terms would permit discretionary support distributions…
Lifetime descendant trusts preserve tax treatment
A pre-1985 irrevocable trust proposed modifying descendant shares that otherwise would have been distributed outright at age 21. The new provisions would keep each share in a lifetime discretionary tr…
Grandfathered trust may create lifetime beneficiary shares
A trust irrevocable before September 25, 1985 proposed converting descendant shares from age-21 outright distributions into lifetime separate trusts. Each trust could make discretionary support distri…
Modified descendant trusts keep GST grandfathering
A grandfathered irrevocable trust proposed holding descendant shares in separate lifetime trusts rather than distributing them outright when beneficiaries reached age 21. The modified terms would auth…
Descendant share modification avoids transfer taxes
A pre-1985 trust proposed changing descendant shares from mandatory income and outright age-21 distributions to separate lifetime discretionary trusts. Beneficiaries would receive testamentary general…
Taxpayer received extra time to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocations
A taxpayer made gifts over several years to three irrevocable trusts with generation-skipping transfer potential. He did not intend to allocate GST exemption to those gifts, but his accountant failed …
Erroneous QTIP election voided and late reverse QTIP relief granted
A decedent's trust divided into Trust A and Trust B, both of which provided income and possible principal for the surviving spouse. Trust B also required recurring payments from corpus to the decedent…
Estate received late QTIP and reverse QTIP election relief
A decedent's revocable trust divided the marital share into generation-skipping transfer tax exempt and nonexempt trusts for the surviving spouse. The spouse was entitled to all income and could recei…
Estate received 120 days for late GST exemption allocations to three trusts
A decedent created an irrevocable trust that immediately divided into three equal trusts for the decedent's children, with the instrument stating that each trust was intended to be exempt from generat…
Trust reformation respected for power-of-appointment and GST tax purposes
An irrevocable trust for six children and their descendants contained a drafting error that allowed annual withdrawal rights to lapse beyond the greater of $5,000 or five percent of trust assets. A st…
Trust reformation respected for power-of-appointment and GST tax purposes
An irrevocable trust for six children and their descendants contained a drafting error that allowed annual withdrawal rights to lapse beyond the greater of $5,000 or five percent of trust assets. A st…
Trust reformation respected for power-of-appointment and GST tax purposes
An irrevocable trust for six children and their descendants contained a drafting error that allowed annual withdrawal rights to lapse beyond the greater of $5,000 or five percent of trust assets. A st…
Trust reformation respected for power-of-appointment and GST tax purposes
An irrevocable trust for six children and their descendants contained a drafting error that allowed annual withdrawal rights to lapse beyond the greater of $5,000 or five percent of trust assets. A st…
Trust reformation respected for power-of-appointment and GST tax purposes
An irrevocable trust for six children and their descendants contained a drafting error that allowed annual withdrawal rights to lapse beyond the greater of $5,000 or five percent of trust assets. A st…
Trust reformation respected for power-of-appointment and GST tax purposes
An irrevocable trust for six children and their descendants contained a drafting error that allowed annual withdrawal rights to lapse beyond the greater of $5,000 or five percent of trust assets. A st…
Trust reformation respected for power-of-appointment and GST tax purposes
An irrevocable trust for six children and their descendants contained a drafting error that allowed annual withdrawal rights to lapse beyond the greater of $5,000 or five percent of trust assets. A st…
Trust reformation respected for power-of-appointment and GST tax purposes
An irrevocable trust for six children and their descendants contained a drafting error that allowed annual withdrawal rights to lapse beyond the greater of $5,000 or five percent of trust assets. A st…
Trust reformation respected for power-of-appointment and GST tax purposes
An irrevocable trust for six children and their descendants contained a drafting error that allowed annual withdrawal rights to lapse beyond the greater of $5,000 or five percent of trust assets. A st…
Trust reformation respected for power-of-appointment and GST tax purposes
An irrevocable trust for six children and their descendants contained a drafting error that allowed annual withdrawal rights to lapse beyond the greater of $5,000 or five percent of trust assets. A st…
Trust reformation respected for power-of-appointment and GST tax purposes
An irrevocable trust for six children and their descendants contained a drafting error that allowed annual withdrawal rights to lapse beyond the greater of $5,000 or five percent of trust assets. A st…
Trust reformation respected for power-of-appointment and GST tax purposes
An irrevocable trust for six children and their descendants contained a drafting error that allowed annual withdrawal rights to lapse beyond the greater of $5,000 or five percent of trust assets. A st…
Trust reformation respected for power-of-appointment and GST tax purposes
An irrevocable trust for six children and their descendants contained a drafting error that allowed annual withdrawal rights to lapse beyond the greater of $5,000 or five percent of trust assets. A st…
Trust reformation respected for power-of-appointment and GST tax purposes
An irrevocable trust for six children and their descendants contained a drafting error that allowed annual withdrawal rights to lapse beyond the greater of $5,000 or five percent of trust assets. A st…
Trust reformation respected for power-of-appointment and GST tax purposes
An irrevocable trust for six children and their descendants contained a drafting error that allowed annual withdrawal rights to lapse beyond the greater of $5,000 or five percent of trust assets. A st…
Trust reformation respected for power-of-appointment and GST tax purposes
An irrevocable trust for six children and their descendants contained a drafting error that allowed annual withdrawal rights to lapse beyond the greater of $5,000 or five percent of trust assets. A st…
Court-modified grandfathered trust remained exempt from GST tax
A trust created by a decedent who died before September 25, 1985 originally provided income to a beneficiary for life and then distributed to that beneficiary’s descendants. A court modification inste…
Court-modified great-nephew trust retained GST-tax exemption
A pre-September 25, 1985 trust paid income to the decedent’s great-nephew for life and originally would have distributed outright to his son. A court modification continued the assets in trust for the…
Court-modified grandson trust retained GST-tax exemption
A pre-September 25, 1985 trust paid income to the decedent’s grandson for life and originally would have distributed outright to his son. A court modification continued the assets in trust for the son…
Estate received 120 days for a reverse QTIP election and trust severance
An estate made a QTIP election for a marital trust, but its accountant failed to attach Schedule R, advise the executor to divide the trust into GST-exempt and nonexempt shares, or make a reverse QTIP…
Taxpayer received 120 days to opt out of automatic GST allocations
A taxpayer created two irrevocable annuity trusts before the automatic generation-skipping transfer tax allocation rules were enacted. The trusts' estate tax inclusion periods ended after those rules …
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.