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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Partnership gets more time to file a late Form 1128 to switch to a calendar year
A partnership wanted to change its tax year to a calendar year, which requires filing Form 1128 with its tax return. Its accounting firm timely got an extension to file the return but then missed the …
Extra time granted to elect out of automatic GST exemption allocation on gifts to two trusts
A married taxpayer set up two identical irrevocable trusts, one for each child, and made gifts to them. Gifts to that kind of trust are automatically allocated part of the taxpayer's generation-skippi…
Extra time granted to elect out of automatic GST exemption allocation on gifts to two trusts
A married taxpayer set up two irrevocable trusts, one for each child, and made gifts to them. Gifts to that kind of trust are automatically allocated part of the taxpayer's generation-skipping transfe…
90-day extension to file a late IC-DISC election after the IRS had no record of the original
An interest-charge domestic international sales corporation (IC-DISC) is a special entity that can give U.S. exporters a tax benefit, but a company has to elect that status by filing Form 4876-A withi…
75-day extension for an affiliated group to make a late election to file a consolidated return
A group of related corporations can choose to file one combined "consolidated" federal income tax return, with the top company as the common parent. That choice is made by actually filing the consolid…
75-day extension for a consolidated group to elect to waive its NOL carryback period
When a corporate group that files a consolidated return has a net operating loss, the default rule lets it carry that loss back to earlier years, but the group can instead elect to waive the carryback…
120-day extension to file a late check-the-box election treating a foreign entity as disregarded
A foreign entity with a single owner wanted to be treated as a disregarded entity (ignored as separate from its owner) for U.S. federal tax purposes. That requires filing Form 8832, the entity-classif…
75-day extension to file a late Section 336(e) election treating a stock sale as an asset sale
When a buyer purchases all the stock of an S corporation, a Section 336(e) election lets the parties treat the stock sale as if it were a sale of the company's assets, which is often better for tax pu…
60-day extension for a fund to make a late mark-to-market election on PFIC stock
U.S. investors in a passive foreign investment company (PFIC) can elect, under Section 1296, to "mark to market" their shares, meaning they report the annual change in value instead of facing the hars…
Late Form 8996 QOF self-certification treated as timely after taxpayer wrongly assumed no filing was due
A limited liability company (taxed as a partnership) was formed to invest in an opportunity zone business and operate as a Qualified Opportunity Fund, or QOF. To become a QOF, an entity must "self-cer…
Late Form 8996 self-certification as a Qualified Opportunity Fund treated as timely after preparer's omission
A limited liability company (taxed as a partnership) was set up to operate as a Qualified Opportunity Fund, or QOF, the investment vehicle that lets investors defer capital gains by putting them into …
120-day extension to file a late check-the-box election treating a foreign company as a disregarded entity
A foreign company wanted to be treated as a disregarded entity (ignored as separate from its owner) for U.S. federal tax purposes. To do that it had to file Form 8832, the entity-classification "check…
IRS grants more time to perfect a success-based-fee safe-harbor election
When a business pays a "success-based fee" (an advisor's fee that is owed only if a deal closes), the tax rules presume the whole fee must be capitalized rather than deducted. Revenue Procedure 2011-2…
Extra time granted to make an alternate valuation election after a CEO supplied false values
An estate normally values a deceased person's property as of the date of death, but Section 2032 lets the executor instead elect "alternate valuation," using values six months after death, when that w…
Extra time granted for an estate to make the portability election
When someone dies without using all of their federal estate and gift tax exemption, their surviving spouse can inherit the unused amount (the "deceased spousal unused exclusion," or DSUE) through a "p…
Extra time granted for an estate to make the portability election
When someone dies without using all of their federal estate and gift tax exemption, their surviving spouse can inherit the unused amount (the "deceased spousal unused exclusion," or DSUE) through a "p…
Extra time granted for a foreign entity to file its corporation (association) election
Under the "check-the-box" rules, an eligible business entity can choose how it is taxed by filing Form 8832. A foreign entity here intended to be taxed as an association (that is, as a corporation) as…
Extra time granted for a foreign entity to file its corporation (association) election
Under the "check-the-box" rules, an eligible business entity can choose how it is taxed by filing Form 8832. A foreign entity here intended to be taxed as an association (that is, as a corporation) as…
Extra time granted for a foreign entity to file its corporation (association) election
Under the "check-the-box" rules, an eligible business entity can choose how it is taxed by filing Form 8832. A foreign entity here intended to be taxed as an association (that is, as a corporation) as…
Extra time granted to elect to capitalize interest to personal property under § 266
Section 266 lets a taxpayer choose to add certain carrying charges, such as interest on a loan used to buy personal property, to the property's cost (capitalize them) instead of deducting them right a…
Extra time granted to elect out of automatic GST exemption allocation for a trust
The generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax applies when wealth passes to grandchildren or later generations. Each person has a GST exemption they can allocate to shield transfers from that tax. For ce…
Extra time granted to elect out of automatic GST exemption allocation for a trust
The generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax applies when wealth passes to grandchildren or later generations. Each person has a GST exemption they can allocate to shield transfers from that tax. For ce…
Extra time granted for a foreign entity to elect corporation (association) status
Under the "check-the-box" rules, an eligible business entity can choose how it is taxed by filing Form 8832. A foreign entity here had earlier elected to be disregarded (treated as if it did not exist…
Extra time granted for a foreign entity to elect corporation (association) status
Under the "check-the-box" rules, an eligible business entity can choose how it is taxed by filing Form 8832. A foreign entity here had earlier elected to be disregarded (treated as if it did not exist…
Late § 336(e) election allowed so an S corporation stock sale can be treated as an asset sale
When buyers acquire at least 80% of an S corporation's stock, the seller and buyer can jointly elect under Section 336(e) to treat the sale as if the company had sold its assets, which often gives the…
LLC gets 60 more days to self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund after its accountant wrongly said no return was due
An LLC (taxed as a partnership) was set up to invest in a qualified opportunity zone and to operate as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), a structure that lets investors defer and reduce capital-gain…
Estate received more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return missed the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The IRS…
Parties received more time to make a Section 336(e) election
A buyer acquired more than 80 percent of an S corporation's stock, and the parties intended to treat the stock sale as an asset sale under Section 336(e). They did not timely sign the required agreeme…
Estate received more time for QTIP and reverse QTIP elections
An estate timely filed Form 706, but its accountant did not advise the executor to make QTIP and reverse QTIP elections for a marital trust or include Schedule R. The trust required income distributio…
Estate received more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return did not timely make a portability election for the decedent's unused exclusion amount. The IRS concluded that the estate met the …
Estate received more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return missed the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount. The IRS concluded that the estate satisfied t…
Partnership received more time to self-certify as an opportunity fund
A partnership formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property intended to operate as a qualified opportunity fund. Its accounting firm did not know of that intent and omitted Form 8996 from th…
Partnership received more time to self-certify as an opportunity fund
A partnership formed to invest in a qualified opportunity zone business intended to operate as a qualified opportunity fund. Its accounting firm filed an extension and the members' individual forms bu…
Foreign entity received more time to elect partnership status
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes but did not timely file Form 8832. It represented that the failure did not result from tax avoidance or re…
Foreign entity received more time to elect partnership status
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes but failed to timely file Form 8832. It represented that the failure was not motivated by tax avoidance or…
Foreign entity received more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes but failed to timely file Form 8832. It represented that the failure did not result from tax avo…
Foreign entity received more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign eligible entity intended to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes but failed to timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the entity met the standards for regulatory lat…
Corporation denied late tax-year change after missing 90-day limit
A domestic corporation instructed its accounting firm to change its tax year, but internal miscommunications caused the firm to miss the filings needed for a timely Form 1128. The error was discovered…
S corporation received more time for two QSub elections
An S corporation wholly owned two subsidiaries and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary status for both. Because of inadvertence, it did not timely file Form 8869 for either subsidiary.…
Opportunity fund received 21 more days to file Form 8996
This supplemental ruling modified an earlier private letter ruling concerning a qualified opportunity fund election. Because of events outside the taxpayer's control, the IRS granted 21 additional day…
Estate received more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return did not timely elect portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount. The IRS concluded that the estate met the regulatory …
REIT received more time to elect out of bonus depreciation
A real estate investment trust intended not to claim additional first-year depreciation for several classes of qualified property. Its return reflected no depreciation for that property, but the accou…
Limited partnership received more time to elect partnership status
A domestic limited partnership had previously elected corporate classification and later intended to change back to partnership status. It did not timely file Form 8832, although it and its owners rep…
Foreign entity received more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity with one shareholder intended to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the regulatory late-e…
Opportunity fund received 21 more days to file Form 8996
This supplemental ruling modified an earlier private letter ruling concerning a qualified opportunity fund election. Because of events outside the taxpayer's control, the IRS granted 21 additional day…
Seven foreign entities received more time to elect partnership status
Seven foreign eligible entities intended to be classified as partnerships for federal tax purposes but did not file Form 8832 for their intended effective dates. Each entity asked for an extension und…
LLC received more time to elect corporate tax status
A limited liability company intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the regulatory requirements for …
Foreign entity received more time to elect partnership status
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as a partnership for federal tax purposes but failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that the entity met the standards for regulatory reli…
Partnership received more time to self-certify as an Opportunity Fund
A partnership was formed to operate as a Qualified Opportunity Fund but missed the deadline to file its first Form 1065 and accompanying Form 8996. Its managers knew that Form 8996 was required but di…
Partnership received more time to self-certify as an Opportunity Fund
A partnership formed to operate as a Qualified Opportunity Fund relied on an accounting firm to file its initial partnership return and Form 8996. The firm obtained an extension but failed to complete…
Estate received more time to elect portability
An estate was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return but failed to file Form 706 on time to transfer the decedent's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The IRS concluded that…
REIT received 90 days to make a late taxable REIT subsidiary election
A real estate investment trust and its subsidiary asked for extra time to file a joint election treating the subsidiary as a taxable REIT subsidiary effective from the REIT's intended start date. The …
Opportunity fund received 60 days to make late self-certification election
A partnership formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property failed to timely file both its partnership return and Form 8996, which was required to self-certify as a qualified opportunity fun…
Foreign entity received 120 days to make a late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file Form 8832 to be treated as disregarded from its single owner for federal tax purposes. The IRS found that the entity satisfied the standards for discret…
Corporation received 45 days to file its original accounting-method change form
A corporation changed from S corporation to C corporation status and determined that it could no longer use the cash method as its overall accounting method. Its CPA prepared an automatic change to th…
Foreign entity gets more time to elect partnership status
A foreign limited liability partnership that is eligible to choose how it is classified for U.S. federal tax purposes wanted to be treated as a partnership effective a specific date. To make that choi…
Taxpayer was denied extra time to request an accounting-period change
A taxpayer asked for extra time to file Form 1128 to change its annual accounting period. The request came more than 90 days after the form's due date. The IRS concluded that the taxpayer had not show…
Taxpayer was denied extra time to request an accounting-period change
A taxpayer asked for extra time to file Form 1128 to change its annual accounting period. The request came more than 90 days after the form's due date. The IRS concluded that the taxpayer had not show…
Taxpayer was denied extra time to request an accounting-period change
A taxpayer asked for extra time to file Form 1128 to change its annual accounting period. The request came more than 90 days after the form's due date. The IRS concluded that the taxpayer had not show…
Taxpayer is denied extra time to file Form 1128 for an accounting-period change
A taxpayer asked for an extension to file Form 1128 and change its annual accounting period under IRC § 442. The application was due with the short-period return, but the taxpayer did not seek late-el…
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.