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.
No determinations match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Commodity-linked-note ruling was revoked prospectively
Four funds had received a 2006 private letter ruling that income and gain from certain commodity-linked notes counted as qualifying income under section 851(b)(2). The IRS later concluded that issuing…
Commodity-linked-note ruling is revoked prospectively
A prior multi-filer ruling had told 96 funds that income and gain from certain commodity-linked notes counted as qualifying income under section 851(b)(2). It also ruled that specified subpart F incom…
Commodity-linked-note ruling was revoked prospectively
Two funds had received a private letter ruling that income and gain from certain commodity-linked notes counted as qualifying income under section 851(b)(2). The IRS later concluded that issuing a pri…
Commodity-linked-note ruling was revoked prospectively
Eighteen funds had received a private letter ruling that income and gain from certain commodity-linked notes counted as qualifying income under section 851(b)(2). The IRS later concluded that issuing …
Commodity-linked-note ruling was prospectively revoked while Subpart F ruling remained effective
Six funds had received rulings that income from certain commodity-linked notes and certain Subpart F income counted as qualifying income under section 851(b)(2). The IRS later concluded that issuing a…
Commodity-linked-note ruling was revoked prospectively
A fund had received a private letter ruling that income and gain from certain commodity-linked notes counted as qualifying income under section 851(b)(2). The IRS later concluded that issuing a privat…
Commodity-linked-note ruling was prospectively revoked while subsidiary ruling remained effective
Two funds had received rulings that income from certain commodity-linked notes and income from investments in subsidiaries counted as qualifying income under section 851(b)(2). The IRS later concluded…
Commodity-linked-note ruling was prospectively revoked while Subpart F ruling remained effective
A fund had received rulings that income from certain commodity-linked notes and certain Subpart F income counted as qualifying income under section 851(b)(2). The IRS later concluded that issuing a pr…
Commodity-linked-note ruling was prospectively revoked while subsidiary ruling remained effective
A fund had received rulings that income from certain commodity-linked notes and income from an investment in a subsidiary counted as qualifying income under section 851(b)(2). The IRS later concluded …
Commodity-linked-note ruling was revoked retroactively
Six funds had received a private letter ruling that income and gain from certain commodity-linked notes counted as qualifying income under section 851(b)(2). The IRS later concluded that issuing a pri…
Commodity-linked-note ruling was revoked retroactively
Six funds had received a private letter ruling that income and gain from certain commodity-linked notes counted as qualifying income under section 851(b)(2). The IRS later concluded that issuing a pri…
Commodity-note ruling was revoked with prospective-only effect
A fund had received a ruling that income and gain from certain commodity-linked notes counted as qualifying income under section 851(b)(2). The IRS later concluded that issuing a private ruling on tha…
Commodity-note ruling was prospectively revoked while Subpart F ruling remained
A fund had received an earlier ruling with separate conclusions for commodity-linked-note income and specified Subpart F income under section 851(b)(2). The IRS revoked only the commodity-linked-note …
Commodity-note ruling was revoked with prospective-only effect
A fund and a portfolio had received a ruling that income and gain from certain commodity-linked notes counted as qualifying income under section 851(b)(2). The IRS later concluded that issuing a priva…
Commodity-note ruling was prospectively revoked while Subpart F ruling remained
A fund had received an earlier ruling with separate conclusions for commodity-linked-note income and specified Subpart F income under section 851(b)(2). The IRS revoked only the commodity-linked-note …
Commodity-note ruling was prospectively revoked while Subpart F ruling remained
A fund had received an earlier ruling with separate conclusions for commodity-linked-note income and specified Subpart F income under section 851(b)(2). The IRS revoked only the commodity-linked-note …
Commodity-note ruling was revoked with prospective-only effect
A fund had received a ruling that income and gain from certain commodity-linked notes counted as qualifying income under section 851(b)(2). The IRS later concluded that issuing a private ruling on tha…
Commodity-note ruling was revoked with prospective-only effect
A fund had received a ruling that income and gain from certain commodity-linked notes counted as qualifying income under section 851(b)(2). The IRS later concluded that issuing a private ruling on tha…
Commodity-note ruling was revoked with prospective-only effect
A fund and one of its portfolios had received an earlier ruling that income and gain from certain commodity-linked notes counted as qualifying income under section 851(b)(2). The IRS later concluded t…
Failure-to-pay additions could be reassessed within the original collection period
The IRS mistakenly granted a taxpayer first-time abatement of additions to tax for failing to pay the amount shown on a return. Chief Counsel advised that the IRC § 6651(a)(2) addition is not governed…
Section 6222 inconsistent-treatment assessment is an administrative proceeding
Chief Counsel considered whether an assessment based on a partner's inconsistent treatment under section 6222 is an administrative proceeding for the disclosure rule in section 6103(h)(4). The advice …
Valuation-misstatement penalties require property-by-property analysis
An S corporation claimed charitable deductions for many donated items using appraisals that valued each item and then totaled the values. The IRS concluded that the appraiser was not qualified and use…
State-law authority controls who signs for an entity TMP
Chief Counsel confirmed who may sign documents when a TEFRA partnership's tax matters partner is itself an entity. The person authorized under state law to act for that entity may sign an agreement ex…
Banks must consent before receiving levies by eFax
Chief Counsel addressed notices of levy sent to banks through eFax. A bank's listing in a general IRS levy-source database, even with a fax number, did not establish consent to eFax service. Because t…
Hardship was not relevant to a lien discharge request
Chief Counsel followed up on a certificate of discharge request concerning a buyer's status as a purchaser. It agreed with the recipient's stated position regarding both an income tax assessment and a…
Private partnership matching platform avoids public trading status
A broker-dealer proposed two private services for matching buyers and sellers of nonpublic limited partnership interests. One service was designed to satisfy the qualified matching service safe harbor…
Limitations extension applies only to husband who signed it
Chief Counsel advised that a case should not be conceded merely because Form 872-H was used instead of Form 872. Only the husband extended the assessment period. The extension therefore was valid agai…
Basis overstatement counts as omission from gross income
Chief Counsel explained that Congress amended section 6501(e)(1) in 2015 to address overstated basis. An understatement of gross income caused by overstating unrecovered cost or other basis is treated…
Tax matters partner must sign earlier-year extensions
Chief Counsel addressed who may sign Form 921-P for earlier partnership tax years. If the named person is the tax matters partner for those years, she may sign. Otherwise, the earlier years' tax matte…
Partnership auction platform qualifies as matching service
A company proposed a restricted electronic auction platform for infrequent purchases and sales of third-party partnership interests. The platform would use nonfirm orders, minimum waiting periods befo…
IRS may restrict employer identification number issuance
Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS could deny an employer identification number when the responsible party lacked a Social Security number or individual taxpayer identification number, or had no…
Electronic signatures on Form 2678 need authorization
Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS should accept Form 2678 with a signature drawn electronically by mouse or stylus. It advised against acceptance until published guidance or the Internal Revenu…
Examination may let assessment period expire
Chief Counsel advised that Examination may use reasonable discretion to let the assessment period expire for a Form 720 excise tax. The decision could conserve resources when the return was unlikely t…
Information sent to IRS raises no disclosure issue
The underlying question and factual context are redacted from this brief Chief Counsel email. The advice states that a disclosure made to the IRS does not create a disclosure issue on that basis. It e…
Accuracy penalty belongs in computational adjustment notice
Chief Counsel addressed where an accuracy-related penalty should appear when coordinating affected-item and deficiency procedures. It advised that the penalty should not be included in the statutory n…
Routine return surveys did not count as repetitive examinations
IRS Counsel considered whether the number of times certain taxpayers' returns had been reviewed over the years violated the law governing repetitive examinations. Counsel concluded that there was no v…
Tax Court docket suspended limitations period without deficiency notice
IRS Counsel considered whether § 6503(a) suspends the assessment limitations period when a deficiency proceeding is placed on the Tax Court's docket even though the IRS never issued a statutory notice…
Inauguration Day extended federal tax deadlines
Chief Counsel confirmed that Inauguration Day is a legal holiday in the District of Columbia for purposes of section 7503. When a Code deadline fell on Friday, January 20, 2017, performance on the nex…
Reported gift did not receive an unlimited assessment period
A taxpayer reported a current-year taxable gift but omitted prior taxable gifts that were needed to calculate the correct rate. The omission caused the reported gift's tax to be understated. Chief Cou…
Court-ordered loan write-offs did not require Forms 1099-C
A financial institution was ordered by a court to stop collecting consumer loan deficiency balances because its notices did not comply with state law. A later class settlement required the institution…
Closed refund years do not prevent open-year insurance adjustments
A property and casualty insurer used section 847 deductions, special loss discount accounts, and matching special estimated tax payments. After a net operating loss carryback generated a refund, the i…
False withholding claims support different penalties based on refund payment
Taxpayers filed original and amended returns claiming false original-issue-discount income and matching withholding credits. Chief Counsel advised that the original returns would likely qualify as val…
Entity-return disclosure to individual bankruptcy trustee must be denied
Chief Counsel addressed whether an individual bankruptcy trustee could receive return information for a related entity. The trustee for the individual was not also the trustee for the entity. Counsel …
Dementia may support reasonable cause for late filing and payment
A taxpayer sought abatement of late-filing and late-payment additions to tax, claiming that dementia prevented her from managing her financial affairs. Chief Counsel advised the IRS to consider first-…
Oilfield fluid and waste services produce qualifying partnership income
A publicly traded partnership provided water and chemical fluids for drilling and hydraulic fracturing, transported fluids between well sites, and treated or disposed of drilling and production waste.…
Restitution assessment is valid, but added late-payment penalties are not
A taxpayer argued that assessing court-ordered tax restitution under IRC § 6201(a)(4) violated the Constitution's Ex Post Facto Clause because the underlying tax offenses predated the statute. Chief C…
Tribal refund waiver reaches both filing and look-back limits
Chief Counsel reconsidered earlier advice about refund claims under the Tribal General Welfare Exclusion Act of 2014. The Act created a one-year waiver for claims attributable to the new exclusion whe…
Interest-rate hedging produces qualifying partnership income
A publicly traded partnership used interest-rate swaps, caps, forward locks, and Treasury locks to manage borrowing costs for its pipeline, transportation, marketing, and terminal operations. Ordinary…
LNG regasification fees are qualifying partnership income
A publicly traded partnership indirectly owned a liquefied natural gas receiving and regasification terminal through a disregarded entity. Suppliers retained title to the natural gas but transferred p…
Pawn-contract option fee is not a retail sale by the pawnbroker
Chief Counsel reconsidered whether a customer's option fee under a pawn-like contract for purchase was payment for a retail sale by the pawnbroker. Under the applicable contract definition, the custom…
Oilfield fluid services generate qualifying partnership income
A planned publicly traded partnership would manage and dispose of fluids and waste for oil and gas producers. The IRS ruled that income from those specialized services qualified under IRC § 7704(d)(1)…
Tribal casino offices do not house gaming
A tribal political subdivision planned to issue tribal economic development bonds to finance an office and conference facility. Casino executives would work there and oversee casino operations, but no…
Form W-2c penalties apply only after the filing and furnishing deadlines
An IRS employee asked whether penalties under IRC §§ 6721 and 6722 could be imposed when an employer did not file corrected wage statements at the end of an audit. Chief Counsel advised that the emplo…
Form 872 should name the successor taxpayer being assessed
An examination team asked which entity should execute Form 872 to extend the assessment period after a tax liability passed through successor entities. Chief Counsel agreed that the form should be exe…
A withholding agent's own-funds refund uses the 45-day interest rule
Chief Counsel considered which interest-free period applies when a withholding agent seeks a Form 1042 refund for tax it paid from its own funds. Section 6611(e)(4) allows 180 days for refunds arising…
A modified Form 8027 jurat retained the required meaning
Chief Counsel considered whether a taxpayer's modified jurat on Form 8027 was acceptable. The taxpayer's language still stated that the submission was made under penalties of perjury and was true, cor…
FATCA compliance certifications may be required electronically
Chief Counsel considered whether the IRS could require participating and registered deemed-compliant foreign financial institutions to submit FATCA compliance certifications electronically without off…
An offset against the taxpayer's valid refund was timely
Chief Counsel considered the timing of IRS offsets involving an erroneous refund and an identity theft return. The IRS first offset a refund claimed on the identity theft return, then reversed that of…
Two Medicaid programs qualified for difficulty-of-care treatment
A state agency administered two Medicaid-funded programs that paid individual providers to care for aged, blind, or disabled recipients in the providers' homes. Although the programs operated under So…
Mental incompetency did not authorize penalty abatement
A taxpayer sought abatement of a $5,000 section 6702 penalty imposed after he submitted a Form 843 asserting frivolous positions. A federal district court later found him incompetent to stand trial, a…
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.