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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Donor receives more time to allocate GST exemption to a trust
A donor transferred property to an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer potential before December 31, 2000. Her accountant timely filed the gift tax return but reported the gift and GST…
Donor receives more time to allocate GST exemption to a trust
A donor transferred property to an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer potential before December 31, 2000. Her accountant timely filed the gift tax return but reported the gift and GST…
Donor receives more time to allocate GST exemption to a trust
A donor transferred property to an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer potential before December 31, 2000. Her accountant timely filed the gift tax return but reported the gift incorre…
Donor receives more time to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A donor made a cash gift to a trust with generation-skipping transfer potential and hired a tax professional to prepare the gift tax return. Both the original return and a later amended return omitted…
Donor receives more time to allocate GST exemption to a trust gift
A donor created a trust primarily for grandchildren and transferred an asset to it before January 1, 2001. A law firm prepared the donor's gift tax return, but its paralegal omitted the generation-ski…
Closed gift-tax year fixes gift splitting and triggers automatic GST allocations
A wife transferred property to a trust benefiting her husband and their descendants, and both spouses elected to split all gifts made during the year. The husband's discretionary trust interest could …
Retroactive trust reformation preserves completed gifts and estate exclusion
A grantor created an irrevocable life-insurance trust intending completed gifts and exclusion of the trust property from her gross estate, but a drafting error tied the division of trust assets to her…
Retroactive trust reformation preserves completed gifts and estate exclusion
A grantor created an irrevocable life-insurance trust intending completed gifts and exclusion of the trust property from her gross estate, but a drafting error tied the division of trust assets to her…
Court-approved trust termination preserves GST exemption
A trust created before September 25, 1985, provided lifetime income to a daughter and then benefits and principal to a granddaughter. The adult granddaughter had severe medical needs, so a state court…
Spouses receive 120 days to allocate GST exemption to a trust
Spouses made a split-gift transfer of real estate to an irrevocable trust during the transition period before the generation-skipping transfer tax took effect. Their attorney timely filed gift tax ret…
Spouses receive 120 days to allocate GST exemption to a trust
Spouses made a split-gift transfer of real estate to an irrevocable trust during the transition period before the generation-skipping transfer tax took effect. Their attorney timely filed gift tax ret…
Trust transfer and administrative changes preserve GST exemption
An irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985 planned to transfer its assets to a successor trust with the same beneficiaries and dispositive terms. The successor trust would also revise trus…
Estate receives 120 days for QTIP and reverse QTIP elections
A decedent's will created a marital trust funded by the estate's available generation-skipping transfer tax exemption. The accountant preparing Form 706 mistakenly omitted the trust from Schedule M, s…
Gift to family trust receives automatic GST exemption allocation
A donor created a trust for a brother, the brother's spouse, and the brother's descendants, then made a cash contribution. The brother held limited appointment powers and a withdrawal right capped by …
Court reformation does not end a grandfathered trust's GST exemption
A trust created before September 25, 1985 contained drafting omissions about what would happen if a primary beneficiary died without descendants and how certain descendant shares would be administered…
Court reformation does not end a grandfathered trust's GST exemption
A trust created before September 25, 1985 contained drafting omissions about what would happen if a primary beneficiary died without descendants and how certain descendant shares would be administered…
Court reformation does not end a grandfathered trust's GST exemption
A trust created before September 25, 1985 contained drafting omissions about what would happen if a primary beneficiary died without descendants and how certain descendant shares would be administered…
Six trust mergers preserve grandfathered GST tax exemptions
Six trusts derived from two trusts that became irrevocable before September 25, 1985 proposed merging into six newly created trusts. The successor trusts retained the existing income and principal dis…
Estate and spouse receive 120 days to allocate GST exemption
A decedent transferred property to an irrevocable trust for children and their families and elected with the decedent's spouse to treat the gift as made one-half by each spouse. Their accountant timel…
Divorce settlement trust avoids gain, gift, and most estate inclusion
A divorcing husband proposed transferring half of his company shares to an irrevocable trust for his wife in exchange for her marital rights and property claims. The wife would receive all trust incom…
Divorce settlement trust avoids gain and gift, but remains in husband's estate
A divorcing husband proposed transferring half of his company shares to an irrevocable trust for his wife in exchange for her marital rights and property claims. The wife would receive all trust incom…
Trust construction preserves grandfathering, but disclaimer creates a GST transfer
A pre-1942 irrevocable trust was divided under a court-approved family settlement, and a later declaratory judgment was proposed to resolve ambiguities about beneficiaries, income distributions, succe…
Trust construction preserves grandfathering, but disclaimer creates a GST transfer
A pre-1942 irrevocable trust was divided under a court-approved family settlement, and a later declaratory judgment was proposed to resolve ambiguities about beneficiaries, income distributions, succe…
Trust construction preserves grandfathering, but disclaimer creates a GST transfer
A pre-1942 irrevocable trust was divided under a court-approved family settlement, and a later declaratory judgment was proposed to resolve ambiguities about beneficiaries, income distributions, succe…
Dividing grandfathered trust into three family trusts preserves GST exemption
A settlor created an irrevocable family trust before September 25, 1985, and no later additions were made to it. The trustees proposed dividing it into three equal trusts, one for each of the settlor'…
Estate receives extra time to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocations
A taxpayer created twelve grantor retained annuity trusts whose remaining assets passed to a family trust after the retained annuity terms ended. The taxpayer intended not to allocate generation-skipp…
Estate receives reverse QTIP relief and approval for related trust divisions
A revocable trust directed a marital bequest to be split between a GST-exempt marital trust and a nonexempt marital trust based on the decedent's available GST exemption. The estate's attorney did not…
Independent-trustee changes preserve transfer-tax treatment
A trust created and made irrevocable before September 25, 1985 needed new trustee provisions after the law firm designated to supply successor trustees dissolved. A proposed settlement would require a…
Successor-trustee revisions preserve GST exemption
A separate trust created under a pre-1985 irrevocable trust instrument needed revised successor-trustee rules after the designated law firm dissolved. The settlement would require an independent trust…
Administrative trustee revisions keep GST grandfathering
One of three separate trusts under a pre-1985 irrevocable instrument needed updated trustee provisions because the law firm named to provide successors had dissolved. The proposed settlement required …
Pro rata trust divisions preserve existing tax treatment
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985 proposed dividing into separate, pro rata subtrusts for each of three children and their descendants. The IRS ruled that the divisions would pr…
Pro rata trust divisions preserve existing tax treatment
Two irrevocable trusts created before September 25, 1985 proposed dividing into separate, pro rata subtrusts for each of three children and their descendants. The IRS ruled that the divisions would pr…
Donor receives more time to opt out of automatic GST allocations
A donor made transfers to one trust with generation-skipping potential and two trusts for grandchildren. The accounting firm preparing Form 709 incorrectly reported the first transfer as a direct skip…
Donor gets 120 days to allocate GST exemption
A donor transferred interests in real property to an irrevocable trust for a child, the child's spouse, and their descendants. The donor's enrolled agent timely filed Form 709 but reported the transfe…
Administrative trust changes avoid estate, gift, GST, and income tax consequences
Two grantors sought to modify an irrevocable grantor trust after paying its income taxes became unduly burdensome. A state court approved changes to trustee succession, administrative powers, a substi…
Spouse received more time to opt out of automatic GST allocations
A married couple made cash gifts to three family trusts and elected to treat certain gifts as made one-half by each spouse. Their accountant failed to timely prepare several gift tax returns, so the w…
Donor received more time to opt out of automatic GST allocations
A husband made annual cash gifts to two family trusts, and the spouses elected to treat certain gifts as made one-half by each spouse. Their accountant failed to timely prepare several gift tax return…
Court-approved trust division preserved tax treatment and beneficial interests
Beneficiaries and trustees settled litigation by dividing a pre-1985 irrevocable trust into a successor trust with a corporate trustee and a second trust holding concentrated business interests. The t…
Court-approved trust division preserved tax treatment and beneficial interests
Beneficiaries and trustees settled litigation by dividing a pre-1985 irrevocable trust into a successor trust with a corporate trustee and a second trust holding concentrated business interests. The t…
Court-approved trust division preserved tax treatment and beneficial interests
Beneficiaries and trustees settled litigation by dividing a pre-1985 irrevocable trust into a successor trust with a corporate trustee and a second trust holding concentrated business interests. The t…
Trustee replacement preserved GST status and avoided a general power
A beneficiary and individual trustees settled litigation over the administration of a pre-1985 irrevocable trust by appointing a bank as sole trustee and revising trustee succession procedures. Adult …
Trust received more time to divide a reverse QTIP election
An estate had made a reverse QTIP election for a marital trust and allocated the decedent's remaining generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to that trust. A later transitional regulation allowed …
Gift-tax return errors do not defeat GST exemption elections
A husband and wife transferred property to trusts for grandchildren and more remote descendants and intended to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to two direct skips. Their accountin…
Taxpayer receives more time to allocate GST exemption to trust
A taxpayer made a gift to an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer tax potential. Although she hired tax professionals to prepare the gift tax return, they inadvertently failed to alloca…
Taxpayer receives more time to allocate GST exemption to trust
A taxpayer made a gift to an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer tax potential. Although he hired tax professionals to prepare the gift tax return, they inadvertently failed to allocat…
Estate receives more time to elect out of automatic GST allocation
A taxpayer funded a trust for his children and reported the transfer on a timely Form 709. The return did not include the written election needed to prevent automatic allocation of generation-skipping…
Donor receives more time to allocate GST exemption to trust
A donor transferred an asset to a trust for his daughter and her descendants before 2001. His accountant mistakenly reported the transfer as an outright gift to the daughter and failed to allocate gen…
Estate receives reverse QTIP and GST allocation relief
A decedent's estate made a QTIP election for marital-trust property but failed to show the trust's intended division, make a reverse QTIP election, or allocate the decedent's generation-skipping trans…
Donor and spouse may elect out of automatic GST allocation
A donor transferred cash and marketable securities to an irrevocable trust for descendants and intended to split the gift with his spouse without allocating generation-skipping transfer tax exemption.…
Taxpayer gets extra time to elect out of automatic GST allocation
A taxpayer made two transfers to an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer tax potential. Her tax professional had elected out of automatic GST-exemption allocation for an earlier transfe…
Trust modifications preserve GST exemption without creating a general power
A beneficiary and trustee obtained court approval to modify an irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985. The changes expanded trustee succession and removal procedures and allowed a benefic…
Trust modifications preserve GST exemption without creating a general power
A beneficiary serving as co-trustee obtained court approval to modify an irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985. The changes expanded trustee succession and removal procedures and allowed…
Trust modification preserves generation-skipping tax exemption
An irrevocable trust created before September 25, 1985, held shares for a beneficiary who lacked capacity to exercise withdrawal and appointment rights. A state court conditionally approved changes th…
Lifetime trust modification retains GST-tax exemption
A great-grandmother created an irrevocable trust before September 25, 1985, for later-generation family members. One beneficiary lacked capacity to exercise the trust's withdrawal and appointment righ…
Estate may elect out of automatic GST exemption allocations late
A married couple split gifts to two grantor retained annuity trusts and did not want generation-skipping transfer tax exemption allocated to those transfers. Their accounting firm failed to advise the…
Spouse's estate may make late GST allocation opt-out
A married couple elected gift splitting when one spouse transferred stock to a grantor retained annuity trust with generation-skipping transfer tax potential. Neither spouse wanted GST exemption alloc…
Donor receives more time to opt out of automatic GST allocation
A donor made a cash gift to a trust with generation-skipping transfer tax potential and hired tax professionals to prepare the gift tax return. The professionals failed to elect out of the deemed allo…
Couple substantially complied with GST allocation elections
A married couple created trusts for their children and descendants, dividing each child's trust into an exempt and a non-exempt subtrust. They split gifts between themselves and intended to opt out of…
Trust reallocation avoids GST, gift, and income tax
A trust created before the generation-skipping transfer tax effective date had been divided into successor trusts under a court-approved settlement. When a beneficiary died without descendants, the ag…
GST exemption allocated automatically despite reporting errors
A settlor transferred partnership interests, corporate stock, and promissory notes to two trusts for children and later descendants. The settlor and spouse split the first-year gifts but their tax pro…
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.