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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Business district group denied § 501(c)(6) exemption for providing member website services
A business district organization sought exemption as a business league or similar organization under § 501(c)(6). It promoted district events, ran sidewalk sales, and maintained a website where member…
Member-owned water company denied § 501(c)(3) exemption for serving private interests
A mutual benefit corporation sought § 501(c)(3) status for supplying and testing water from a shared well. It delivered water only to member-owned parcels, collected monthly member payments for usage …
IRS denies veterans organization exemption because too few members are war veterans
An organization supporting veterans, active-duty service members, and their families applied for exemption under IRC Section 501(c)(19). Its membership included current or former members of the Armed …
IRS denies 501(c)(3) exemption to a class reunion and scholarship group
An organization open only to graduates of one high school class applied for recognition as a charity under IRC Section 501(c)(3). It arranged reunions and other events for class members and raised mon…
Chief Counsel advises issuing an FPA despite a missed NAP mailing
Chief Counsel advised the IRS to proceed with issuing an FPA even though the NAP had not been mailed to the LKA. The advice gave two reasons. First, the writer concluded that the BBA does not provide …
Partnership gets 60 more days to self-certify as a qualified opportunity fund
A partnership formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property intended to elect qualified opportunity fund status. Its accountant knew of that intent but failed to advise the partnership to fi…
Foreign entity gets 120 days to file a late check-the-box election
A foreign entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its single owner for U.S. federal tax purposes but did not timely file Form 8832. It asked the IRS for an extension under Treasury Regulatio…
Estate gets 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return but needed Form 706 to transfer the decedent's unused estate and gift tax exclusion to the surviving spouse. The estate did not timely…
Foreign entity gets 120 days to make a late disregarded-entity election
A foreign entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its owner for U.S. federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to timely file Form 8832. It requested an extension under Treasury Regulati…
IRS grants more time to elect treaty sourcing for gain on foreign stock
A U.S. consolidated group sold stock in a foreign corporation and paid tax to the foreign country on the gain. The group reported the gain as U.S.-source income after its original return preparer did …
IRS grants an LLC more time to elect corporate tax classification
An LLC intended to be taxed as a corporation from the date it was formed but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The entity asked for relief under Treasury Regulation Section 301.9100-3, w…
IRS approves a downstream merger as a Type A reorganization
An S corporation proposed to merge downstream into a corporation whose stock was its primary asset, leaving the lower-tier corporation as the survivor. The S corporation's shareholders would receive n…
IRS grants a late safe-harbor election for acquisition success fees
An S corporation incurred a success-based advisory fee through disregarded subsidiaries in a taxable business acquisition. Its original return preparer did not advise it to make the safe-harbor electi…
IRS approves a pension plan's use of plan-specific substitute mortality tables for three plan years under § 430(h)(3)(C)
A company that sponsors a single-employer defined benefit pension plan asked the IRS for permission to use its own plan-specific mortality tables, instead of the standard tables in the regulations, wh…
IRS gives advance approval of a private foundation's high-school scholarship procedures under § 4945(g)(1)
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the way it selects and awards scholarships to graduating high school students of a particular school. Private foundations owe an excise tax o…
IRS denies § 501(c)(3) exemption to a winter-sports social club that fails the organizational and operational tests
A newly formed ski and winter-sports club applied for recognition as a tax-exempt charity under Code section 501(c)(3), using the short Form 1023-EZ. The IRS denied the application and, after the club…
IRS denies § 501(c)(6) business-league exemption to a single-brand franchisee association
A group of franchisees who all own outlets of one particular brand formed an association and applied for tax exemption as a "business league" under Code section 501(c)(6). The IRS denied the applicati…
IRS denies § 501(c)(6) exemption to a commercial condominium owners' association
An owners' association for a commercial (business) condominium applied for tax exemption as a "business league" under Code section 501(c)(6). The association manages the building's common areas, handl…
IRS denies § 501(c)(3) exemption to a homeowners' association serving private member interests
A homeowners' association, organized as a mutual benefit common-interest development corporation, applied for charitable tax exemption under Code section 501(c)(3) using Form 1023-EZ. Its activities a…
IRS grants a foreign entity extra time to make a late check-the-box election to be a disregarded entity
A foreign business entity wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" for U.S. federal tax purposes, meaning it is ignored as separate from its single owner (its income flows directly to that owner…
IRS grants a partnership extra time to make a late § 754 basis-adjustment election
A limited partnership wanted to make a section 754 election, which lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its property when a partner transfers an interest or receives a distribution. That adjustm…
IRS rules on nuclear decommissioning trust transfers in a partial sale of a nuclear power plant
Two owners of a nuclear power plant restructured their stakes. A private seller (a disregarded subsidiary of a taxable parent) is selling part of its undivided ownership interest in the plant to a buy…
IRS grants a corporate parent extra time to make a late election to file a consolidated return
The parent company of an affiliated group of corporations wanted the group to file a single consolidated federal income tax return, with the parent as the common parent, for a particular tax year. Tha…
IRS grants a new corporate parent extra time to make a late consolidated-return election after an acquisition
A holding company (an LLC that elected to be taxed as a corporation), formed by private equity funds to buy a target corporation, acquired that target through its subsidiary. The target had been the c…
IRS grants an estate extra time to make a late portability election under § 2010(c)(5)(A)
When someone dies, any unused portion of their federal estate-and-gift tax exclusion can be passed to their surviving spouse through a "portability" election. This is valuable because it lets the surv…
IRS grants a foreign insurer extra time to make a late § 953(d) election to be treated as a domestic corporation
A foreign regulated insurance company was bought by a U.S. corporate group. Under section 953(d), certain foreign insurance companies can elect to be treated as domestic (U.S.) corporations for tax pu…
Late § 754 election allowed for a partnership after two partners died
A partnership missed the deadline to make a § 754 election and asked the IRS for more time. A § 754 election lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its assets when a partner's interest changes han…
Late § 754 election allowed for an LLC taxed as a partnership
An LLC taxed as a partnership meant to make a § 754 election but did not file it on time with its return. A § 754 election lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its assets when interests change h…
Late estate-tax portability election allowed for a surviving spouse
When a married person dies without using all of their federal estate-tax exemption, the leftover amount (the deceased spousal unused exclusion, or DSUE) can be passed to the surviving spouse, but only…
Late estate-tax portability election allowed for a surviving spouse
A married person died leaving part of their federal estate-tax exemption unused. That leftover amount (the deceased spousal unused exclusion, or DSUE) can be transferred to the surviving spouse, but o…
Late § 336(e) election allowed to treat an S-corp stock sale as an asset sale
When someone buys all the stock of an S corporation, the parties can elect under § 336(e) to treat the deal as if the company sold all its assets and liquidated, which usually gives the buyer a steppe…
Late election allowed to treat a trust as a GST trust and allocate exemption
The generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax is a separate transfer tax that applies when wealth skips a generation, but each person has a GST exemption they can allocate to shelter gifts from it. A gra…
State Medicaid in-home care payments are excludable difficulty-of-care payments
A state Medicaid agency runs an in-home supportive care program that pays individual caregivers to look after disabled or chronically ill people who would otherwise need a nursing home or other instit…
Tax-free split-off letting one family branch take its own corporation
A publicly traded corporation, owned mostly by three related families plus other shareholders, wants to divide up its main business. It will form a new subsidiary, drop part of the business into it, a…
Inadvertent S-corp terminations excused after trusts missed QSST and ESBT elections
An S corporation can only have certain kinds of shareholders. When a shareholder dies and stock passes to a trust, the trust can hold it for a two-year grace period, but to keep it longer the trust (o…
Late set-aside election allowed on an amended Form 8609 for the low-income housing credit
The low-income housing credit under § 42 rewards owners who rent a share of their units to lower-income tenants. To qualify, an owner must pick a "minimum set-aside" test on Form 8609, and once made t…
Late check-the-box election allowed for a foreign entity to be disregarded
Under the "check-the-box" rules, an eligible business entity can choose how it is taxed by filing Form 8832. A single-owner foreign entity can elect to be "disregarded," meaning it is ignored as a sep…
Late election allowed to apportion a consolidated § 382 limitation to departing members
When companies that had losses leave a consolidated group, the group's parent can elect under Treas. Reg. § 1.1502-95(c) to hand off part of the group's § 382 limitation (the annual cap on using pre-o…
Late check-the-box election allowed for a foreign entity to be disregarded
Under the "check-the-box" rules, an eligible business entity can pick how it is taxed by filing Form 8832. A single-owner foreign entity can elect to be "disregarded," meaning it is ignored as a separ…
Late Form 8996 accepted, allowing an LLC to self-certify as a qualified opportunity fund
A qualified opportunity fund (QOF) is an investment vehicle under § 1400Z-2 that lets investors defer capital gains by putting them into designated low-income "opportunity zones." To be a QOF, an enti…
Late Form 8996 accepted, allowing an LLC to self-certify as a qualified opportunity fund
A qualified opportunity fund (QOF) is an investment vehicle under § 1400Z-2 that lets investors defer capital gains by reinvesting them in designated low-income "opportunity zones." An entity self-cer…
Late check-the-box election allowed for a domestic LLC to be taxed as a corporation
Under the "check-the-box" rules, an eligible business entity can choose how it is taxed by filing Form 8832. By default a domestic LLC with two or more members is a partnership (or, with a single owne…
Late § 108(b)(5) election allowed to reduce depreciable-property basis first for cancelled debt
When a company's debt is forgiven, it normally has taxable cancellation-of-debt income, but an insolvent company can exclude that income under § 108 in exchange for cutting its tax attributes (things …
Late check-the-box election allowed for a foreign entity to be disregarded
Under the "check-the-box" rules, an eligible business entity can pick how it is taxed by filing Form 8832. A single-owner foreign entity can elect to be "disregarded," so it is ignored as a separate t…
Late estate-tax portability election allowed for a surviving spouse
A married person died leaving part of their federal estate-tax exemption unused. That leftover amount (the deceased spousal unused exclusion, or DSUE) can pass to the surviving spouse, but only if the…
Late Form 8996 accepted, allowing an LLC to self-certify as a qualified opportunity fund
A qualified opportunity fund (QOF) is an investment vehicle under § 1400Z-2 that lets investors defer capital gains by reinvesting them in designated low-income "opportunity zones." An entity self-cer…
Late Form 8996 accepted, allowing an LLC to self-certify as a qualified opportunity fund
A qualified opportunity fund (QOF) is an investment vehicle under § 1400Z-2 that lets investors defer capital gains by reinvesting them in designated low-income "opportunity zones." An entity self-cer…
Late check-the-box election allowed for two LLCs to be taxed as corporations
Under the "check-the-box" rules, an eligible business entity can choose how it is taxed by filing Form 8832. By default a domestic LLC with two or more members is a partnership (or, with one owner, is…
Inadvertent S-corp termination excused after a trust missed its ESBT election
An S corporation can only have certain kinds of shareholders. A trust can qualify if it makes an electing small business trust (ESBT) election, filed by the trustee. Here all the shares of an S corpor…
Late estate-tax portability election allowed for a surviving spouse
A married person died leaving part of their federal estate-tax exemption unused. That leftover amount (the deceased spousal unused exclusion, or DSUE) can pass to the surviving spouse, but only if the…
IRS pre-approves a foundation's scholarship-award procedures under § 4945(g)(1)
A private foundation asked the IRS to approve, in advance, the procedures for a scholarship program before it made any awards. Under IRC § 4945, scholarship grants a private foundation pays to individ…
IRS denies § 501(c)(3) exemption to an open-source software organization
An organization that develops and distributes open-source software (tools and patches for mobile apps) applied for recognition as a tax-exempt charity under IRC § 501(c)(3), using the short Form 1023-…
IRS revokes a private foundation's exemption for self-dealing loans to a founder's LLCs
The IRS revoked the tax-exempt status of a private foundation because it stopped operating for charitable purposes. On audit, the agency found the foundation's main activity was making loans to LLCs w…
120-day extension for an LLC to file a late check-the-box election to be taxed as a corporation
A limited liability company wanted to be taxed as a corporation rather than under the default rules that treat an LLC as a partnership or a disregarded entity. To do that, it had to file Form 8832 (th…
120-day extension for a partnership to make a late § 754 basis-adjustment election
An LLC taxed as a partnership wanted to make a § 754 election, which lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its assets when a partner's interest changes hands or property is distributed, so the ne…
120-day extension for a partnership to make a late § 754 basis-adjustment election
An LLC taxed as a partnership wanted to make a § 754 election, which lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its assets when a partner's interest changes hands, so a buying partner's inside basis m…
60-day extension to file a missing § 174 R&E method-change statement with an amended return
A corporate group that files a consolidated return had to change its accounting method to comply with § 174 as amended by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which requires research or experimental (SRE) …
Late S-corp election relief plus 9100 extension for a PLLC's corporate-classification election
A professional LLC intended to be taxed as an S corporation from the day it was formed. To get there, an LLC normally must both elect to be classified as a corporation (via Form 8832) and elect S-corp…
120-day extension for a foreign entity to file a late check-the-box election to be disregarded
A foreign business entity wanted to be treated as a disregarded entity for U.S. tax purposes, meaning it is ignored as separate from its single owner (so the owner reports the entity's income directly…
120-day extension for a foreign entity to file a late check-the-box election to be disregarded
A foreign business entity wanted to be treated as a disregarded entity for U.S. tax purposes, meaning it is ignored as separate from its single owner (so the owner reports the entity's income directly…
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.