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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Pension plan receives conditional minimum funding waiver for 2016
A privately owned manufacturer sought relief from its pension plan's unpaid minimum required contribution for the 2016 plan year. The company attributed its hardship to difficulty qualifying new produ…
IRA rollover deadline waived after adviser gave six-month deadline
An IRA owner withdrew money after a financial adviser led him to believe he had six months to complete a rollover. He placed the amount first in a checking account and then in a savings account while …
IRS revokes plan's five-year funding amortization extension
A pension plan's representatives asked the IRS to revoke a 2009 ruling that had granted a five-year automatic extension for amortizing unfunded liabilities as of July 1, 2008. The IRS found that mista…
Mandatory contributions remain employer pickups when public employees change plans
A state asked how mandatory employee contributions would be treated when public employees transferred among several governmental retirement plans or made an initial irrevocable choice between plans. T…
Amortization extension modified after pension plan condition failure
A multiemployer pension plan had received conditional approval to extend the period for amortizing unfunded liabilities under IRC § 412 and ERISA § 302. The IRS modified that ruling because the plan e…
Pension plan receives conditional approval to change actuarial assumptions
A single-employer defined benefit pension plan requested approval to change actuarial assumptions beyond the limits that could be changed without IRS consent. The proposed changes covered retirement r…
Controlled-group owner must combine additions to two retirement plans
A doctor was the sole owner and employee of two entities that formed a brother-sister controlled group. One entity maintained a retirement plan for the doctor, while the other participated in a second…
Pension plan's revised actuarial assumptions are approved
A pension plan requested approval to revise its retirement, withdrawal, and disability assumptions for minimum-funding purposes. The taxpayer represented that the plan had not conducted lump-sum windo…
Multiemployer plan receives an amortization extension for unfunded liabilities
A multiemployer pension plan requested more time to amortize eligible unfunded liabilities established for the plan year beginning April 1, 2015. The IRS approved an extension equal to the lesser of f…
Pension plan may change its actuarial assumptions
A pension plan asked the IRS to approve changes to actuarial assumptions used for minimum funding calculations. The requested changes covered retirement, termination, and transfer rates, along with co…
Cognitive impairment supports a 60-day IRA rollover waiver
An IRA owner withdrew funds and deposited the net proceeds into a non-IRA account without completing a rollover within 60 days. During that period, the taxpayer was experiencing worsening confusion, m…
Multiemployer plan receives a five-year funding extension
A multiemployer pension plan requested more time to amortize certain unfunded liabilities. Its actuary certified that the plan would otherwise have a funding deficiency, the sponsor had adopted a fund…
Multiemployer plan receives a five-year funding extension
A multiemployer pension plan requested more time to amortize certain unfunded liabilities. Its actuary certified that the plan would otherwise have a funding deficiency, the sponsor had adopted a fund…
Multiemployer plan receives a five-year funding extension
A multiemployer pension plan requested more time to amortize certain unfunded liabilities. Its actuary certified that the plan would otherwise have a funding deficiency, the sponsor had adopted a fund…
Surviving spouse may roll over trust-owned IRAs but may not treat the original accounts as her own
A decedent named a joint revocable trust or its marital subtrust as beneficiary of seven Roth IRAs and one traditional IRA. After a court retroactively reformed some beneficiary designations, the surv…
Surviving spouse may roll over inherited IRA funds after court changes beneficiary
A decedent's IRA named an inter vivos trust as beneficiary, but neither the custodian nor the surviving spouse could find evidence that the trust had ever been created. The surviving spouse planned to…
IRA owner receives waiver after being told rollover period was 90 days
An IRA owner withdrew funds from a maturing certificate of deposit after a financial-institution representative led her to believe that she had 90 days to complete a rollover. She kept the money in a …
Multiemployer plan receives five-year funding amortization extension
A multiemployer pension plan requested an automatic five-year extension for amortizing specified unfunded liabilities. Its actuary certified that without relief the plan would have an accumulated fund…
Temporary business hardship supports conditional pension funding waiver
A privately owned circuit-board-products manufacturer requested a waiver of its remaining 2015 minimum required pension contribution. It reported a sharp revenue decline, increased operating expenses,…
Multiemployer plan receives five-year funding amortization extension
A multiemployer pension plan requested an automatic five-year extension for amortizing specified unfunded liabilities. Its actuary certified that without relief the plan would have an accumulated fund…
Multiemployer plan receives five-year funding amortization extension
A multiemployer pension plan requested an automatic five-year extension for amortizing specified unfunded liabilities. Its actuary certified that without relief the plan would have an accumulated fund…
Taxpayer receives waiver for a late IRA rollover
A taxpayer withdrew funds from an IRA after her husband's death and deposited them within 60 days into two non-IRA accounts at new financial institutions. She believed she had merely changed custodian…
Multiemployer plan receives five-year funding amortization extension
A multiemployer pension plan requested an automatic five-year extension for amortizing specified unfunded liabilities. Its actuary certified that without relief the plan would have an accumulated fund…
Pension plan receives approval for new retirement-rate assumptions
A single-employer defined benefit pension plan requested approval to change its retirement-rate assumptions for the plan year beginning January 1, 2015. The IRS approved separate age-based assumptions…
Two taxpayers receive IRA rollover waivers
Two taxpayers took distributions from separate IRAs and mistakenly believed they had 90 days to complete their rollovers. Within 60 days they deposited the amounts into a non-IRA bank account, where t…
Group trust participants counted separately for REIT test
A tax-exempt group trust pooled assets for qualified plans, IRAs, governmental plans, and other retirement arrangements and invested in real estate investment trusts. It asked whether all REIT stock h…
Group trust participants counted separately for REIT test
A tax-exempt group trust pooled assets for qualified plans, IRAs, governmental plans, and other retirement arrangements and invested in real estate investment trusts. It asked whether all REIT stock h…
Missed retirement distribution receives rollover waiver
A taxpayer was entitled to a former spouse's retirement-plan distribution under a court order after their divorce. Because she had moved, the plan's letter and first check went to her former address, …
IRA rollover waiver granted for one of two distributions
An IRA owner withdrew two amounts and deposited them into non-IRA accounts instead of completing rollovers within 60 days. The owner submitted medical documentation showing cognitive impairment, memor…
Financial institution error excuses late spousal rollover
A surviving spouse received her deceased spouse's retirement plan account, including a partnership interest that she intended to roll directly into her own IRA. The paperwork identified an IRA custodi…
Hospitalization and death excuse late IRA rollover
A taxpayer received a distribution when her IRA certificate of deposit matured and intended to roll the money into another IRA. She relied on her husband for financial decisions, and he was repeatedly…
Estate gets late rollover waiver after decedent's hospitalization
An IRA certificate of deposit matured and the owner received the proceeds into a joint checking account, intending to complete a rollover. His wife went to the bank within the 60-day period, but the b…
Impaired financial judgment excuses late IRA rollover
An IRA owner withdrew funds to buy collectible gold pieces advertised on television and did not complete a rollover within 60 days. His daughter, who held power of attorney for his financial affairs, …
Adviser error excuses rollover completed two days late
A taxpayer preparing for retirement followed a financial institution vice president's advice to withdraw assets from an IRA and use the 60-day rollover period. Mistakes by the adviser prevented the ta…
Direct rollover misposted to taxable account gets waiver
A taxpayer requested a direct rollover from an employer plan to an eligible retirement account at a financial institution. The plan issued a check to the institution for the taxpayer's benefit, but an…
25 percent match created a substantial risk of forfeiture under § 409A
An employee elected to defer salary, and the employer added matching contributions equal to 25 percent of each salary reduction. Payment of both amounts depended on the employee continuing to provide …
Financial institution error justified a late retirement-plan rollover
After losing his job, an individual instructed a financial institution to roll his qualified-plan balance directly into an IRA. The institution instead deposited the distribution into his checking acc…
Mistaken deposit into non-IRA account qualified for rollover waiver
An individual asked that balances from two § 403(b) plans be rolled directly into an IRA. After only part of the requested rollover reached the IRA, she requested another direct rollover, but the rema…
Documented mental impairment justified a late IRA rollover
An individual received an IRA certificate-of-deposit distribution after the account matured. She was disabled, had limited English comprehension, had relied on her late husband to handle financial mat…
Surviving spouse received a waiver for an inherited IRA rollover
After a spouse died, an inherited IRA was distributed through a revocable trust into a non-IRA account. The surviving spouse missed the 60-day rollover deadline after receiving bad advice from the fin…
Medical emergencies supported a one-day IRA rollover waiver
A taxpayer withdrew funds from an individual retirement annuity and intended to return them within 60 days. During that period, the taxpayer suffered a heart attack, underwent surgery, and experienced…
Ambiguous statements and adviser error supported IRA rollover waiver
A taxpayer surrendered an individual retirement annuity and deposited the proceeds into a non-IRA account. The taxpayer and financial planner did not initially recognize the payment as an IRA distribu…
Pension fund could convert direct rollovers into annuities
Two related multiemployer funds asked whether a defined benefit pension fund could accept direct rollovers from a defined contribution annuity fund and convert them into immediate annuities. The propo…
Governmental excess benefit arrangements qualified under section 415(m)
A city employer asked whether excess benefit plans for its governmental retirement systems qualified under section 415(m). The plans would pay only the retirement benefits that could not be paid from …
Medical condition justified a late IRA rollover
An IRA owner requested a waiver after missing the 60-day deadline to roll a distribution back into an IRA. The taxpayer had been hospitalized, was undergoing extensive therapy, and had medical conditi…
Financial adviser error justified a late IRA rollover
An IRA owner requested a waiver after a financial adviser failed to complete a rollover within 60 days. Acting on the adviser's instructions, the taxpayer surrendered an individual retirement annuity …
IRS waives the 60-day IRA rollover deadline
A taxpayer liquidated an IRA certificate of deposit and deposited the cashier's check into a regular checking account because he did not realize the certificate was held in an IRA. A miscommunication …
Disability and caregiving support late IRA rollover waiver
A taxpayer withdrew money from an IRA to buy a home where she could care for her mother, who had dementia and needed a stable environment. She intended to replace the money after receiving her share o…
IRS approves substitute mortality tables for a pension plan
A defined benefit pension plan asked to use plan-specific substitute mortality tables when calculating minimum funding requirements. The IRS approved male and female rates for up to ten years beginnin…
Trauma supports waiver of IRA rollover deadline
An IRA owner withdrew funds from a maturing certificate of deposit to seek a higher return and deposited the money in a non-IRA account. She did not complete a rollover within 60 days because she was …
Financial institution error supports IRA rollover waiver
An IRA owner tried to consolidate retirement accounts by sending a distribution check to a new financial institution for deposit into a new IRA. The institution mistakenly placed the money in a non-IR…
Death during rollover period supports IRA deadline waiver
An IRA owner withdrew funds intending to move them to another IRA and temporarily placed the distribution in a non-IRA account. Twelve days later he suffered a massive stroke, and he died before the 6…
Illness and death support retirement-plan rollover waiver
A retirement plan distributed funds to a participant who had suffered a stroke and who tried to establish a rollover IRA. He suffered another stroke and died within the 60-day rollover period, while a…
Stroke and bad advice support IRA rollover waiver
An IRA owner who had suffered a stroke relied on his spouse to manage their financial affairs. Acting on an accounting firm's advice, she withdrew both the IRA and qualified-plan required minimum dist…
Pension contribution may revert without harming plan qualification
A defined benefit pension plan requested disallowance of an employer-contribution deduction so the contribution could revert to the employer under Revenue Procedure 90-49. The IRS determined that the …
Retiree medical premium reimbursements qualify for tax exclusions
A company proposed using excess assets in a qualified pension plan's separate IRC § 401(h) account to reimburse eligible retirees and their families for health-plan premiums through an unfunded retire…
Adviser error qualifies for IRA rollover deadline waiver
A retiring taxpayer intended to move retirement assets through an IRA into an investment fund held by a new IRA custodian. Her financial advisers failed to establish the new IRA, so the investment was…
Custodian error qualifies for rollover deadline waiver
A taxpayer directed that a distribution from her employer's 401(k) plan be deposited into an IRA. Although the check was payable for her benefit as an IRA rollover, the receiving company deposited it …
Prior IRA rollover prevents waiver for later distributions
A taxpayer moved money from one IRA into another account that she believed permitted self-directed real-estate investments. The new custodian did not offer self-directed IRAs and instead recorded chec…
Mental impairment supports an IRA rollover waiver
A taxpayer requested a full distribution when a long-term IRA certificate of deposit matured, then left the check in a savings account after depositing it outside the 60-day rollover period. He later …
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.