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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Examination form preserved a taxpayer’s unresolved refund claim
A field examination produced a signed Form 4549 showing that taxpayers were due a refund after a loss reduced their taxable income. The Taxpayer Advocate Service later submitted Form 982 on a differen…
Bank account was not exempt from levy
In a brief email responding to an informal section 6334 question, Chief Counsel confirmed that the bank account at issue was not exempt from levy. The public release contains only that conclusion and …
Tax matters partner designation applied year by year
Chief Counsel advised that the person designated as tax matters partner for 2015 should sign the requested extension even though that person was no longer a partner, because TMP status is determined s…
DIF examination score could be withheld under section 6103
Chief Counsel advised that the IRS did not need to invoke a common-law privilege to withhold information protected by federal statute. Section 6103(b)(2)(A) expressly provides that no law requires dis…
A service company that finances its own customers need not file 1099-C cancellation-of-debt forms
A company whose main business is providing (non-financial) services also lets its customers finance the cost of those services. It asked the IRS whether it has to send Forms 1099-C, the "cancellation …
Where to look in the IRM before filing a lien on an additional assessment
This is a one-paragraph internal email from the Office of Chief Counsel answering a colleague's question about filing Notices of Federal Tax Lien (NFTLs) when the government makes an additional assess…
Whether a taxpayer can designate how payments are applied when seeking a certificate of discharge
This Chief Counsel email discusses whether a taxpayer can control (designate) how payments are applied when the taxpayer is seeking a certificate of discharge of a federal tax lien under section 6325.…
One-line approval that a proposed disclosure is permissible under § 6103(h)(1)
This is an extremely brief Chief Counsel email. In a single sentence, the author approves a proposed course of action as permissible under section 6103(h)(1), the provision that allows returns and ret…
Disclosures involving the Taxpayer Advocate should be coordinated by counsel under § 6103(h)(2)
In this brief Chief Counsel email, the author sees no disclosure problem with a proposed arrangement involving the Taxpayer Advocate. The reasoning is that the Taxpayer Advocate office (TAO) is part o…
When the statute of limitations runs on the § 6707A reportable-transaction penalty
This Chief Counsel email explains when the IRS must assess the section 6707A penalty for failing to disclose a reportable transaction. The general rule: when disclosure is required with a return (beca…
How CPEOs must report payments to self-employed individuals, including partners
This Chief Counsel Advice clarifies, in response to practitioner questions about the preamble to the proposed Certified Professional Employer Organization (CPEO) regulations, how a CPEO must treat and…
Information gathered from a foreign financial institution can be a taxpayer's return information
This short Chief Counsel email answers whether information the IRS obtained from a foreign financial institution (FFI) is protected as a taxpayer's "return information" under section 6103. The advice …
Brief email confirming a Tax Court signature-block point
This is a brief, informal Chief Counsel email that is part of an exchange about recent amendments to the United States Tax Court's Rules of Practice and Procedure. In a one-line reply, the author conf…
Effective dates of the Tax Court's passport-case rules and amended signature-block rule
This very short Chief Counsel Advice is an email answering a question about two recent changes to the United States Tax Court's Rules of Practice and Procedure. First, it notes that the new Title XXXI…
Wagering excise tax should be assessed against the operator's own EIN, not an unrelated LLC's
This is informal Chief Counsel advice, written as an email, about how to fix a botched wagering-tax assessment. A taxpayer was convicted of running an illegal gambling operation, and the IRS prepared …
How IRS records self-authenticate as evidence under FRE 902 and the § 7514 seal
This Chief Counsel Advice is an internal legal analysis of how IRS documents can be admitted into evidence without live testimony from a witness to authenticate them. Under Federal Rule of Evidence 90…
Payment processor qualified as a third party settlement organization
A software and payment-processing provider asked whether it was a third party settlement organization for payments settled through two platforms. The IRS found that both platforms established third pa…
Computer records may prove a lost collection waiver
Chief Counsel was asked whether account entries could show that a Form 900 collection waiver had been processed and accepted when the physical form was missing. The advice explained that loss of the o…
Partnership AAR period may close before assessment period
Chief Counsel explained that the section 6229 period can close while a partner's section 6501 assessment period remains open. Section 6229 supplies a minimum assessment period for partners, not a maxi…
Protective refund claims are available for gift tax
Chief Counsel considered whether a taxpayer may file a protective refund claim for gift tax. Examination had denied such a claim solely because it related to gift tax. The advice concluded that protec…
Advisor below fee threshold had no section 6112 duty
Chief Counsel corrected an earlier email about a section 6112 list request. Based on the information supplied, the advisor did not meet the section 6111 fee threshold for material-advisor status. Beca…
Appeals may decline cases raising only constitutional and non-tax issues
Chief Counsel advised that the IRS Independent Office of Appeals may interpret its procedures to decline cases presenting only constitutional and non-tax issues. Publication 5 states that Appeals cann…
Chief Counsel does not object to a lien-release sentence in a draft quitclaim deed
This is a short, informal Chief Counsel Advice sent as an email about the wording of a draft quitclaim deed. The recipient had proposed adding a sentence to the draft deed, apparently to make clear th…
IRC 6103(h)(1) authorizes disclosing return information to agency employees
This is a brief, informal Chief Counsel Advice sent as an email answering a "need to know" disclosure question. Federal law generally keeps tax returns and return information confidential under Code S…
Chief Counsel warns of legal hazards in assessing the preparer due-diligence penalty directly on an S-corp co-owner's SSN
An IRS field office asked Chief Counsel whether it could assess the tax return preparer due-diligence penalty under Code Section 6695(g), the penalty for sloppy handling of credits like the earned inc…
Chief Counsel confirms a state agency may receive return information under § 6103(l)(7) via a computer matching agreement
This is a short Chief Counsel email about sharing federal tax return information with a government agency during a security and compliance transition. Section 6103 generally keeps return information c…
Equitable reformation and estoppel preserve two Forms 872
Chief Counsel considered whether two Forms 872 validly extended the assessment period. Both forms used an incorrect caption, but the advice concluded that a court could reform the captions to reflect …
An auction platform for partnership interests is a "qualified matching service," so trading on it does not make the partnerships publicly traded
Under § 7704, a partnership whose interests are "publicly traded" gets taxed as a corporation, which partnerships generally want to avoid. But the regulations create a safe harbor: transfers through a…
County hospital trust's income is tax-exempt as an essential government function
A county hospital authority, a political subdivision of its state, planned to sell hospital assets to a for-profit operator. State law required it to park the net sale proceeds in an irrevocable trust…
Online services platform is a third-party settlement organization; each service is one transaction for §6050W reporting
A company runs a mobile app and website that connects service providers with customers, collects the customers' payments, and guarantees to pay the providers, keeping a service fee. It asked the IRS t…
Treats bulk nitrogen fertilizer income as qualifying partnership income
A corporation planned to form a limited partnership that would produce and market ammonia, urea, and urea ammonium nitrate in bulk. The partnership's interests could be publicly traded, making the sec…
Jeopardy levy may precede normal collection notices
Chief Counsel advised that the IRS can make a jeopardy levy even when it has not made a jeopardy or termination assessment. The levy may occur at several points before the usual notice-and-waiting per…
Foundation loses exemption for private use of charitable assets
A foundation had been created to promote scientific research in physics and cosmology. After its founder died, his wife became president, and the IRS found no ongoing charitable activity, unexplained …
Judicial approval protects specified principal residences from levy
Chief Counsel advised that judicial approval is required before the IRS levies property owned by a taxpayer and used as the principal residence of the taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse, former spouse, o…
Tax Court can consider innocent-spouse underpayment relief in a deficiency case
Chief Counsel advised that the Tax Court can consider innocent-spouse relief for an underpayment when the case is already before it through a petition challenging a statutory notice of deficiency. Sec…
Use a closing agreement to resolve combat-zone interest in a Tax Court settlement
Chief Counsel advised Appeals to use a closing agreement to resolve an interest issue involving Section 7508 combat-zone relief. The Tax Court normally lacks jurisdiction over deficiency interest, eve…
Withholding overpayment was available for offset on the original return due date
Chief Counsel considered whether an individual was entitled to a refund when the IRS had applied two payments in date order. The individual's overpayment came from withholding, which Section 6513(b) t…
Taxpayer seizure required following Sections 6335 and 6337
Chief Counsel addressed a redacted question involving property seized from a taxpayer. The advice stated that the IRS should follow Sections 6335 and 6337 because the seizure was from the taxpayer. Th…
Perfected security interest had priority over an FPLP levy without a filed tax lien notice
A federal contractor owed taxes, and the IRS used the Federal Payment Levy Program to levy a contract payment due from the Department of Defense. A third party held a perfected UCC-1 security interest…
S corporation co-owner penalty could pose a legal hazard without a preparer role
Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS should assess the willful or reckless return-preparer penalty under Section 6694(b) against an individual who co-owned an S corporation. An individual is subje…
Informal refund claim may matter for identity-theft levy repayment
Chief Counsel advised on repaying levy proceeds to an identity-theft victim when the normal refund claim deadline might be a problem. The applicable Internal Revenue Manual provision says repayment fa…
Employment tax adjustment may be filed after year-end if same-year conditions are met
Chief Counsel clarified when an employer may correct overwithheld income tax and Additional Medicare Tax. A refund claim generally is unavailable for tax actually withheld, except to correct an admini…
Identity-theft refund claim is limited to two years from payment
Taxpayers affected by identity theft sought a refund after the IRS offset one refund against a balance connected to a return filed by the thief. Because the taxpayers had no filing requirement, Chief …
Transition-tax income will not end partnership treatment if it alone causes failure
A publicly traded partnership indirectly controlled several foreign corporations. The one-time Section 965 inclusion enacted in 2017 could cause the partnership to miss Section 7704's requirement that…
Public retiree-benefit trust income is excluded and no return is required
A political subdivision created and funded a trust to pay post-employment life and health benefits for retired employees and their eligible dependents and beneficiaries. The employer controlled withdr…
Public retiree-benefit trust income is excluded and no return is required
A political subdivision created and funded a trust to pay post-employment life and health benefits for retired employees and their eligible dependents and beneficiaries. The employer controlled withdr…
Public retiree-benefit trust income is excluded and no return is required
A political subdivision created and funded a trust to pay post-employment life and health benefits for retired employees and their eligible dependents and beneficiaries. The employer controlled withdr…
IRS may sell seized spectrometers after cleaning marijuana residue
Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS could seize and sell laboratory spectrometers used by marijuana-industry taxpayers under Sections 6331 and 6335. The equipment could retain trace marijuana res…
Transition-tax income did not end partnership treatment
A publicly traded partnership owned controlled foreign corporations that provided natural gas compression services. The one-time Section 965 transition-tax inclusion could cause the partnership to fal…
Third-party victims had priority over IRS restitution collection
Chief Counsel considered two criminal cases with separate docket numbers but linked judgment and restitution orders. After consulting with the Tax Division, Counsel recommended treating them as one co…
Internet domain names are intangible personal property
Chief Counsel confirmed how an internet domain name is classified for federal tax levy purposes. It advised that a domain name is intangible personal property under the provisions governing property e…
Exam teams may share information needed for tax administration
Chief Counsel addressed whether IRS examination teams could share information and documents with one another. It advised that Section 6103(h)(1) permits internal disclosure when the receiving examinat…
Appraisal disclosure may satisfy the Section 6103 item test
An IRS employee asked whether an appraisal could be disclosed in a tax proceeding. Chief Counsel treated the appraisal as a third party's return information because the IRS had received it in connecti…
One-time foreign income inclusion would not end partnership treatment
A publicly traded partnership indirectly owned a substantial noncontrolling interest in a foreign partnership whose group included foreign corporations. The partnership expected the newly amended Sect…
Tip-box cash required FICA notice and demand procedures
A taxpayer treated service providers as volunteers even though customers left cash for them in tip boxes. After determining that the workers were employees, the IRS considered how to assess the employ…
Home hazard-mitigation grants required information reporting
A state entity offered grants to selected homeowners for structural work intended to help their homes withstand a future hazard. Eligibility depended on the home's location, age, physical characterist…
Home hazard-mitigation grants required information reporting
A state-created entity provided grants to qualified homeowners for structural work intended to help their homes withstand a future hazard. Eligibility depended on the home's location, age, and physica…
Section 6901 generally does not reach employment taxes or trust fund recovery penalties
Chief Counsel advised that section 6901(a)(1) and (2) generally does not provide a collection route for employment taxes or the trust fund recovery penalty. Employment taxes arise under subtitle C, wh…
Section 6503(a) rarely adds to the collection-statute suspension for a pending installment agreement
Chief Counsel considered when the collection statute expiration date could be suspended simultaneously under sections 6503(a) and 6331(k). Section 6503(a) concerns deficiencies and deficiency litigati…
Replacement-property payments need no Forms 1099 when taxable income cannot be determined
A company's subsidiaries were required by state law to provide nearby property owners with a permanent replacement service or system because of concerns about the subsidiaries' facilities. Property-da…
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.