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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Late corporate classification and S corporation elections allowed
A limited liability company intended from a specified date to be classified as a corporation and taxed as an S corporation. It failed to file either Form 2553, which could have supplied a deemed corpo…
Late opportunity fund self-certification election allowed
A partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and serve as a qualified opportunity fund. Its accounting firm timely filed Form 1065 but omitted Form 8996 because the firm d…
QOF election relief granted after engagement-letter omission
A partnership was created to operate as a qualified opportunity fund, and its members discussed opportunity zone gain deferrals with their long-time accounting firm. A miscommunication caused the new …
Affiliated group received late consolidated return election relief
A domestic parent and its subsidiary intended to elect for their affiliated group to file a consolidated federal income tax return, but they did not timely file a valid consolidated return. The parent…
Late QSub elections allowed for three subsidiaries
An S corporation owned all the stock of three subsidiaries and intended to treat each as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from the same effective date as its S election. Through inadvertence, it di…
Late section 754 election allowed after partnership interest sales
Interests in a partnership were sold, and the partnership intended to elect under section 754 to adjust the basis of partnership property for that tax year. It inadvertently omitted the election. The …
Partnership received late section 754 election relief after interest purchase
A buyer purchased a partnership interest from existing partners, and the partnership intended to elect under section 754 to adjust the basis of partnership property. It inadvertently failed to file th…
Foreign entity received late corporate classification election relief
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect corporate classification for U.S. federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The entity represented that it acted reasonably a…
Late S corporation and section 336(e) elections allowed
Multiple purchasers acquired all the stock of a target, and the parties intended to treat the stock sale as an asset sale under section 336(e). They also intended for the target to have S corporation …
Late IC-DISC election allowed after law firm oversight
A domestic corporation was formed to serve as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation for its owner. Its chief financial officer signed Form 4876-A and sent it to the law firm hand…
Late entity classification and S corporation elections allowed
A limited liability company intended from its formation date to be classified as a corporation and taxed as an S corporation. It inadvertently failed to properly and timely file Form 2553. The IRS fou…
Filed Form 8996 treated as timely for first QOF year
A six-member partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property. Its tax group incorrectly concluded that no first-year Form 1065 was required and did not know that the partnershi…
Late estate tax portability election allowed
A decedent left a surviving spouse and an unused exclusion amount, but the estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability. Based on the represented estate value and taxable gifts, the estate…
Late corporate classification and S elections allowed
A limited liability company intended to be classified as a corporation and treated as an S corporation from a specified date. It failed to file Form 2553, which could have supplied a deemed corporate …
Late GST exemption allocations allowed for two trusts
Before 2001, a grantor transferred corporate stock to two trusts for the grantor's children, with descendants receiving the property after each child's death unless a limited appointment was exercised…
Late GST exemption allocations approved for child trusts
Before 2001, a grantor transferred corporate stock to two trusts for the grantor's children. The trustee could support the child and the grantor's spouse, and after the grantor and spouse died, each c…
Estate received 120 days to elect portability
A decedent's estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 based on the represented gross estate, adjusted taxable gifts, and filing threshold. The estate had not timely filed the return needed t…
Late success-based fee election allowed
A corporate group deducted 70 percent and capitalized 30 percent of represented success-based acquisition fees, consistent with the safe harbor in Revenue Procedure 2011-29. Its timely return omitted …
Late duplicate Form 3115 filing allowed
A partnership timely filed its federal return with an original Form 3115 requesting an automatic accounting-method change for depreciation. It reflected the change and the related section 481(a) adjus…
Late opportunity fund certification allowed
A partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and operate as a qualified opportunity fund. Its accounting firm timely filed the first partnership return but omitted Form 89…
Late opportunity fund certification allowed
A partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and operate as a qualified opportunity fund. Its accounting firm timely filed the first partnership return without Form 8996, …
Late section 382 apportionment election allowed
Subsidiaries left a consolidated group when the group had a consolidated section 382 limitation. The former parent and subsidiaries missed the deadline to elect under Treasury Regulation section 1.150…
Late GST exemption allocation allowed
A married couple created trusts with generation-skipping transfer tax potential before 2001. Their accountant failed to prepare the required gift tax returns for either spouse, so the wife's GST exemp…
Late GST exemption allocations allowed
A married couple created several trusts with generation-skipping transfer tax potential before 2001. Their accountant failed to prepare the required gift tax returns for either spouse, so the husband'…
Late tax-exempt controlled entity election allowed
A nonprofit wholly owned a limited liability company that elected corporate tax status and indirectly invested in a partnership operating low-income housing. The company intended to elect under sectio…
Foreign entity allowed late partnership election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect partnership status for federal tax purposes but did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS found that the requirements for discretionary filing relief were sati…
Foreign entity granted late partnership election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect partnership status for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the entity met the standards for discreti…
Late branch profits tax election allowed
A foreign corporation reported that an increase in its U.S. net equity fully offset effectively connected earnings and profits for branch profits tax purposes. It later determined that the reported ne…
Late opportunity fund self-certification allowed
A partnership was formed to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund, but its tax adviser mistakenly filed the partnership return without Form 8996. The adviser discovered the omission while preparing …
Late opportunity fund self-certification allowed
A partnership was formed to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund, but its tax adviser mistakenly filed the partnership return without Form 8996. The adviser discovered the omission while preparing …
Foreign entity granted late corporate election
A foreign entity converted from an entity classified as a corporation into an eligible entity for U.S. federal tax purposes. It intended to continue corporate treatment but inadvertently failed to fil…
Late opportunity fund certifications allowed for two years
A partnership was organized to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund and indirectly invest in opportunity-zone property. Its federal partnership returns and Forms 8996 were not filed for two consecu…
Late section 382 closing-of-the-books election allowed
A loss corporation experienced an ownership change that limited its use of pre-change losses under section 382. It missed the deadline to elect to close its books on the ownership-change date, which w…
Late research expenditure elections allowed for three years
A corporation failed to make section 59(e) elections for research and experimental expenditures in three fiscal years. That election permits qualifying section 174 expenditures to be deducted ratably …
Foreign entity allowed late partnership election
A foreign limited liability partnership defaulted to corporate classification because all its members had limited liability. When a U.S. citizen became a partner, the entity and its owners intended pa…
Late taxable REIT subsidiary election allowed
A real estate investment trust wholly owned a subsidiary formed to facilitate industrial real estate investments. The parties intended to elect both corporate classification for the subsidiary and tax…
Late partnership basis election allowed after partner's death
A partnership failed to make a section 754 election on the return for the year in which one of its partners died. The election would apply the partnership-property basis adjustments required by sectio…
Late foreign disregarded entity election allowed
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a disregarded entity but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832. The IRS found that the entity satisfied the standards for discretionary filing r…
Late QSub election allowed
An S corporation acquired all the stock of a subsidiary and intended qualified subchapter S subsidiary treatment from the acquisition date. It inadvertently failed to file Form 8869. The IRS found tha…
Late average-income housing election allowed
An owner placed a low-income housing project in service but failed to make the correct irrevocable minimum set-aside election on Form 8609. Contemporaneous documents showed that the owner intended to …
Late election out of bonus depreciation allowed
A partnership claimed additional first-year depreciation on land improvements, building improvements, machinery, and equipment placed in service during a taxable year. Its accounting firm did not advi…
Foreign entity received 120 days to file a late partnership classification election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the entity satisfied the standards …
Foreign entity received 120 days to file a late partnership classification election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the entity satisfied the standards …
Foreign entity received 120 days to file a late partnership classification election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the entity satisfied the standards …
Foreign entity received 120 days to file a late partnership classification election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the entity satisfied the standards …
Foreign entity received 120 days to file a late disregarded-entity classification election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as a foreign disregarded entity for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the entity satisfied th…
Foreign entity received 120 days to file a late disregarded-entity classification election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as a foreign disregarded entity for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the entity satisfied th…
Housing partnership received 120 days to defer a building's credit period on Form 8609
A partnership placed a low-income housing building in service in one year and intended to begin the building's ten-year credit period in the following year. Its contemporaneous records reflected that …
More time granted to make the § 362(e)(2)(C) basis election for a built-in-loss property transfer
A taxpayer transferred property to a corporation in a tax-free § 351 exchange, but the property's tax basis was higher than its value (a built-in loss). To stop the same loss from being duplicated, § …
Consolidated group gets more time to make four tax elections it missed by filing its returns late
A corporate group that files a single consolidated tax return intended to make four elections on its returns for two years: to amortize research expenses over 10 years under § 59(e), to opt out of bon…
Foreign entity gets more time to elect "disregarded entity" tax treatment
A foreign company wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" for U.S. tax purposes, meaning it is ignored as separate from its single owner and its income flows directly to that owner. Under the "…
Foreign entity gets more time to elect corporate ("check-the-box") tax treatment
A foreign company wanted to be treated as a corporation for U.S. tax purposes. Under the "check-the-box" rules in Treasury Regulation 301.7701-3, an eligible entity can choose its own classification b…
Nonprofit-owned housing entity gets late relief to elect out of tax-exempt-entity depreciation treatment
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit created a wholly owned entity (treated as a corporation for tax purposes) to act as general partner in a low-income housing partnership. Because that entity is controlled by a ta…
Late Form 8716 electing a non-calendar tax year for an S corporation is accepted
An S corporation wanted to use a tax year that ends on a date other than the calendar year-end it would otherwise be required to use. Section 444 lets certain pass-through entities make that choice by…
Late Form 8996 self-certifying an Opportunity Zone fund is treated as timely filed
A limited partnership was set up to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), the vehicle investors use to defer capital gains by putting money into distressed Opportunity Zones. To become a QOF, an enti…
Estate gets more time to make a portability election so the surviving spouse can use the unused exclusion
When someone dies, their estate can make a "portability" election so the surviving spouse can use the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion (the DSUE amount). That election is made by filing a…
LLC gets late relief to be treated as a corporation and as an S corporation
A single-member LLC intended to be taxed as a corporation and then elected as an S corporation, both effective the same date. To do that it needed to file the entity-classification election and the S …
LLC gets more time to elect to be disregarded after being acquired by a corporation
An LLC had elected to be an S corporation, which meant it was automatically treated as a corporation (an "association") for tax purposes. A single corporation then bought all of the LLC's units in two…
Foreign entity gets more time to elect to be disregarded from its owner
A U.S. individual formed a foreign entity, which was later transferred to a corporation. By default that foreign entity is treated as a corporation (an "association") for U.S. tax purposes, but the ow…
Estate gets more time to make a portability election so the surviving spouse can use the unused exclusion
When someone dies, their estate can make a "portability" election so the surviving spouse can use the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion (the DSUE amount). That election is made by filing 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.