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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IRS grants a non-filing estate 120 days to make a late portability election under Section 2010(c)(5)(A)
When one spouse dies, the estate can make a portability election under section 2010(c)(5)(A) that lets the surviving spouse use the deceased spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion (the DSUE amount). Her…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election for unused estate tax exclusion
An estate that was not otherwise required to file Form 706 missed the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate tax exclusion to the surviving spouse. The estate asked for discreti…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election for unused estate tax exclusion
An estate that was not otherwise required to file Form 706 missed the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate tax exclusion to the surviving spouse. The estate asked for discreti…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election for unused estate tax exclusion
An estate that was not otherwise required to file Form 706 missed the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate tax exclusion to the surviving spouse. The estate requested discreti…
Estate receives 120 days to make late QTIP elections for three marital trusts
A decedent's trust directed property into three marital trusts intended to qualify for the estate tax marital deduction. The executor hired an attorney to prepare Form 706, but the attorney omitted on…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election for unused estate tax exclusion
An estate that was not otherwise required to file Form 706 did not timely elect portability of the decedent's unused estate tax exclusion to the surviving spouse. The estate asked the IRS for discreti…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election for unused estate tax exclusion
An estate that was not otherwise required to file Form 706 failed to timely elect portability of the decedent's unused estate tax exclusion to the surviving spouse. The estate requested an extension u…
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…
Representatives receive 120 days to elect portability after the surviving spouse's death
A decedent died leaving a surviving spouse, but the decedent's estate did not file Form 706 or elect portability of the unused estate tax exclusion. The surviving spouse later died, and the spouse's c…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election for unused estate tax exclusion
An estate that was not otherwise required to file Form 706 missed the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate tax exclusion to the surviving spouse. It requested discretionary re…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late QTIP election for a marital trust
A joint living trust divided at the decedent's death into a survivor's trust, an exemption trust, and a marital trust. The marital trust required all net income to be paid to the surviving spouse and …
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election for unused estate tax exclusion
An estate that was not otherwise required to file Form 706 failed to timely elect portability of the decedent's unused estate tax exclusion to the surviving spouse. It requested an extension under Tre…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election for unused estate tax exclusion
An estate that was not otherwise required to file Form 706 missed the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate tax exclusion to the surviving spouse. It requested discretionary re…
Estate gets 120 days to make a late portability election
A decedent's estate was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return based on the represented gross estate and taxable gifts. The estate nevertheless needed a timely Form 706 to elect portabili…
Estate receives extension for portability election
An estate was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return but failed to timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The IRS fou…
Trustee receives extension to end QDOT tax treatment
A noncitizen surviving spouse received property through a qualified domestic trust and later became a United States citizen after continuously residing in the country. No distributions had been made f…
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…
IRS grants estate more time to elect portability
An estate represented that it was below the threshold requiring an estate tax return but had not timely filed Form 706 to transfer the decedent's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. After…
Estate receives more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
A decedent left a surviving spouse and an unused portion of the federal estate and gift tax exclusion. The estate represented that it was not otherwise required to file Form 706 because of the estate'…
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…
Estate gets 120 days to make omitted QTIP election
A decedent's revocable trust became a marital trust that paid all income to the surviving spouse for life. The spouse relied on tax professionals and was not initially advised to file an estate tax re…
Estate gets 120 days to elect portability
A decedent's estate was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return, but it needed one to transfer the decedent's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. After the estate missed the p…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return based on the represented gross estate and taxable gifts. It nevertheless needed a timely Form 706 to elect portability of the decedent…
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 estate extra time to elect portability
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return failed to timely elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount. The estate asked for regulatory relief so th…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate that was not otherwise required to file Form 706 failed to timely elect portability of the decedent's unused estate and gift tax exclusion to the surviving spouse. Because the filing deadlin…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return failed to timely file Form 706 and elect portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. Because t…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late QTIP election
A revocable trust became irrevocable at the decedent's death and divided property between a survivor's trust and a marital trust. The marital trust required all net income to be paid to the surviving …
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…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
A decedent's estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 because the represented gross estate and adjusted taxable gifts were below the filing threshold. The estate had unused exclusion availab…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
A decedent's estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 because the represented gross estate and adjusted taxable gifts were below the filing threshold. The estate had unused exclusion availab…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 because the decedent's gross estate and adjusted taxable gifts were below the filing threshold. The decedent left a surviving spouse and an unused…
Estate receives relief for late alternate valuation election
An estate's personal representative intended to elect the alternate valuation method under section 2032 after receiving advice about its potential benefits. The necessary alternate-date appraisals wer…
Estate received more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
A decedent's estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 because of the represented value of the gross estate and taxable gifts. The estate nevertheless needed a timely estate tax return to ele…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
An estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 because its gross estate and adjusted taxable gifts were below the section 6018(a) filing threshold. The decedent left a surviving spouse and an u…
Trust transfer remains an incomplete gift and committee powers avoid estate inclusion
A grantor created an irrevocable domestic trust for family members and retained several nonfiduciary powers over distributions, including a consent power, a support-related power, and a limited testam…
QTIP trust settlement received favorable transfer-tax rulings
A surviving spouse and bank trustee settled extensive litigation by terminating an irrevocable QTIP trust and two marital QTIP trusts. The spouse would receive a support distribution plus the actuaria…
QTIP trust termination settlement received favorable rulings
A surviving spouse and bank trustee proposed to end an irrevocable QTIP trust and two marital QTIP trusts under a court-approved settlement. The spouse would receive a support payment and cash equal t…
QTIP settlement termination received favorable tax treatment
A surviving spouse and trustee settled trust litigation by proposing to terminate an irrevocable QTIP trust and two marital QTIP trusts. The spouse would receive a support distribution and the actuari…
Court-approved QTIP trust settlement received favorable rulings
A surviving spouse and bank trustee sought rulings before completing a court-approved settlement that would terminate an irrevocable QTIP trust and two marital QTIP trusts. The spouse would receive a …
QTIP trust settlement approved for transfer-tax purposes
A surviving spouse and trustee proposed a court-approved settlement ending an irrevocable QTIP trust and two marital QTIP trusts. The spouse would receive a support distribution and the present value …
Estate gets 120 days to make portability election
An estate that represented it was not otherwise required to file Form 706 sought extra time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion. Although an estate-tax return had…
Incomplete-gift trust committee avoids ownership, gift, and general-power treatment
An irrevocable domestic trust used a power-of-appointment committee to direct distributions among the grantor and other beneficiaries. While the committee remains in existence, the IRS found no trust …
Incomplete-gift trust committee avoids ownership, gift, and general-power treatment
An irrevocable domestic trust used a power-of-appointment committee to direct distributions among the grantor and other beneficiaries. While the committee remains in existence, the IRS found no trust …
Incomplete-gift trust committee avoids ownership, gift, and general-power treatment
An irrevocable domestic trust used a power-of-appointment committee to direct distributions among the grantor and other beneficiaries. While the committee remains in existence, the IRS found no trust …
Incomplete-gift trust committee avoids ownership, gift, and general-power treatment
An irrevocable domestic trust used a power-of-appointment committee to direct distributions among the grantor and other beneficiaries. While the committee remains in existence, the IRS found no trust …
Incomplete-gift trust committee avoids ownership, gift, and general-power treatment
An irrevocable domestic trust used a power-of-appointment committee to direct distributions among the grantor and other beneficiaries. While the committee remains in existence, the IRS found no trust …
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…
IRS blesses an incomplete-gift non-grantor trust with a power of appointment committee
A married couple in a community property state set up an irrevocable trust funded with community property and controlled by a "power of appointment committee" made up of the spouses and several family…
Community property trust receives income, gift, estate, and basis rulings
A married couple transferred community property to an irrevocable trust that could benefit them, their descendants, and other named beneficiaries through powers shared with a power-of-appointment comm…
Community property trust receives income, gift, estate, and basis rulings
A married couple transferred community property to an irrevocable trust that could benefit them, their descendants, and other named beneficiaries through powers shared with a power-of-appointment comm…
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.