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.
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…
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…
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…
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…
Spouses get 120 days to allocate GST exemption to transfers made before 2001
Two spouses created separate irrevocable trusts for their children and descendants before 2001, then made additional cash transfers to both trusts that had generation-skipping transfer tax potential. …
Spouses get 120 days to allocate GST exemption to transfers made before 2001
Two spouses created separate irrevocable trusts for their children and descendants before 2001, then made additional cash transfers to both trusts that had generation-skipping transfer tax potential. …
Estate gets 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 because the decedent's gross estate and adjusted taxable gifts were represented to be below the filing threshold. The estate nevertheless needed t…
Spouse gets 120 days to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A donor created and funded an irrevocable trust for the donor's children and their descendants, and the donor and spouse elected to split the gift. Their tax professional prepared their gift tax retur…
Donor gets 120 days to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A donor created and funded an irrevocable trust for the donor's children and their descendants, and the donor and spouse elected to split the gift. Their tax professional prepared their gift tax retur…
Estate gets 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 because the decedent's gross estate and adjusted taxable gifts were represented to be below the filing threshold. The estate nevertheless needed t…
REIT received 60 days to elect out of bonus depreciation
A real estate investment trust intended to elect out of additional first-year depreciation for its 5-year and 15-year property under Section 168(k)(7). Its return preparer did not claim bonus deprecia…
Corporation received 45 days to file a late tax-year change request
A domestic corporation had used an S corporation tax year until a foreign corporation acquired all of its stock, terminating the S election. The new shareholder signed Form 1128 to change the corporat…
Opportunity fund received 60 days to file a late self-certification
A partnership was formed to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund and invest indirectly in opportunity-zone property. Its planned business acquisition was delayed into the following year, and its la…
Taxpayers received 60 days to make a late qualified-stock rollover election
One spouse sold shares of a company the spouse had co-founded and invested part of the proceeds in another company within 60 days. The taxpayers intended to elect under Section 1045 to defer gain by r…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate failed to timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. It represented that the estate was not otherwise required to file an es…
Estate received late relief to sever a marital trust for GST tax purposes
An estate intended to divide a marital trust into generation-skipping transfer tax exempt and non-exempt shares and made related entries on its timely Form 706. Its advisers failed to explain that the…
Homeowners association received more time to make two Section 528 elections
A homeowners association failed to file Forms 1120-H for two tax years because its officers relied on a tax professional and did not fully understand the association's federal filing requirements. A n…
Estate received 60 more days to make a QTIP election
A decedent's estate intended to claim the estate tax marital deduction for all property placed in a marital trust for the surviving spouse. The estate's lawyer claimed the deduction on a timely Form 7…
Foreign corporation received more time to file its branch profits tax waiver
A foreign corporation sold its only U.S. real property and intended to completely terminate its U.S. trade or business. Its tax preparer initially believed that expected tax refunds remained U.S. asse…
Two partnerships received more time to make Section 754 elections
Two partnerships failed to attach Section 754 elections to their returns for the year a common partner died. The IRS found that both partnerships satisfied the standards for regulatory-election relief…
Tax-exempt controlled corporation received more time to make a depreciation election
A corporation wholly owned by a Section 501(c)(3) organization was a tax-exempt controlled entity and the managing member of a partnership. The corporation intended to elect under Section 168(h)(6)(F)…
Partnership received more time to make a Section 754 election
A partnership intended to make a Section 754 election but did not attach a valid election to its return by the deadline. The IRS found that the partnership satisfied the standards for regulatory-elect…
Foreign entity gets more time to elect disregarded-entity status
A foreign business entity that is eligible to choose how it is classified for U.S. federal tax purposes wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" (that is, ignored as separate from its single own…
Partnership received more time to make a Section 754 election
A partnership missed the deadline to make a Section 754 election after the death of a partner's spouse in a community property state. The IRS concluded that the partnership satisfied the standards for…
Entity received more time to elect corporate tax classification
An eligible business entity intended to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation but did not timely file Form 8832. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and t…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return missed the deadline for electing portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount. The estate asked for an extension …
Estate received 120 days to elect portability
An estate that was not otherwise required to file Form 706 failed to make a timely portability election for the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount. The estate requested discretionary relief und…
Foreign entity received 120 days for late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner but did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the entity satisfied the standards for discretio…
Company received 120 days for late foreign disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its sole owner but inadvertently missed the deadline for filing Form 8832. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in g…
Foreign company received 120 days to file Form 8832
A foreign company intended to elect disregarded-entity treatment from a specified date but failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and that granting…
Amended Form 8996 was treated as a timely QOF election
A partnership formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property timely filed Form 1065 but omitted Form 8996. Neither the partnership representative nor the experienced CPA who prepared the retu…
Housing project received 120 days to make omitted average-income elections
The owner of a multi-building low-income housing project intended to elect the average-income minimum set-aside under Section 42(g)(1)(C). Contemporaneous records showed that intent, but the owner ina…
Partnership received 120 days to make late Section 754 election
A limited partnership failed to file a Section 754 election for the tax year in which a partner died while owning an interest through a grantor trust. The partnership represented that it had relied on…
Partnership received conditional relief for late Section 754 election
A limited liability limited partnership intended to make a Section 754 election for the year a partner died, but its qualified tax professional neither made nor advised it to make the election. Based …
Foreign entity received 120 days for late corporate classification election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect association status, making it taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes, but failed to file Form 8832 for the intended effective date. Based so…
Taxpayer received 60 days for late success-based fee election
A consolidated group's subsidiary paid a success-based financial-adviser fee in connection with acquiring one business and selling another. The taxpayer intended to elect the Revenue Procedure 2011-29…
LLC received conditional relief for late Section 754 election
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership inadvertently failed to make a Section 754 election for the year one of two spouses holding an interest as community property died. Based solely on t…
Foreign entity received relief for late partnership election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect partnership classification but inadvertently failed to timely file Form 8832. After a member died and the estate was administered, the entity became single-…
REIT received 90 days to make a late taxable-subsidiary election
A real estate investment trust intended for a service-provider subsidiary to be treated as a taxable REIT subsidiary effective when the subsidiary began operations. Outside counsel formed the entity a…
Estate received 120 days to elect portability
An estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 but needed an estate tax return to transfer the decedent's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The estate did not timely file the ret…
Parties received relief for a late Section 336(e) election
A purchaser acquired all stock of an S corporation, and the parties intended to elect under Section 336(e) to treat the stock sale as an asset sale. They relied on a qualified tax professional who fai…
Estate received 120 days to elect portability
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return missed the deadline to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. The election was needed s…
Estate received 120 days to elect portability
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return missed the deadline to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. The election was needed s…
LLC received relief for late corporate classification election
A single-owner limited liability company intended to be taxed as a corporation from its formation date but did not timely file Form 8832. Without the election, the company was disregarded as separate …
Estate received 120 days to elect portability
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return missed the deadline to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. The election was needed s…
Opportunity fund received more time to file self-certification
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership was formed to serve as a qualified opportunity fund. It expected an experienced accounting firm to file its first tax return and Form 8996, but a mis…
Opportunity fund received 60 days to make its election
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership was created to invest in opportunity-zone property and operate as a qualified opportunity fund. The company and its advisers expected an experienced …
Late opportunity-fund self-certification was treated as timely
Members without tax experience formed a partnership-taxed limited liability company to operate as a qualified opportunity fund. They discussed compliance work with a tax accountant but mistakenly beli…
Missed opportunity-fund election was accepted as timely
Members without tax experience organized a partnership-taxed limited liability company to serve as a qualified opportunity fund. They had discussed tax compliance with an accountant but misunderstood …
Partnership received 120 days to make a late Section 754 election
A partnership failed to file a Section 754 election for the year a partner died, despite relying on tax advisers to make the election. The IRS found that the partnership satisfied the standards for la…
Adviser omission led to late Section 754 election relief
A partner who held an interest through a grantor trust died, but the partnership's adviser did not explain the availability of a Section 754 election. The partnership therefore omitted the election fr…
Partnership received relief for an adviser-missed Section 754 election
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership missed a Section 754 election after a partner who held an interest through a grantor trust died. The partnership's adviser had not informed it that t…
Late Section 754 election was allowed after partner's death
A limited partnership failed to make a Section 754 election after a partner who held an interest through a grantor trust died. Its adviser had not informed the partnership that the election was availa…
CPA filing error did not defeat opportunity-fund election
An S corporation intended to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and relied on its CPA to extend and file its first corporate return with Form 8996. An administrative error caused the CPA to miss …
Foreign entity received more time to elect disregarded status
A foreign single-owner eligible entity became relevant for U.S. tax purposes with a default classification as an association taxable as a corporation. It intended to change to disregarded-entity statu…
Foreign subsidiary received late disregarded-entity election relief
A domestic corporation formed and wholly owned a foreign eligible entity whose default classification was an association taxable as a corporation. No Form 8832, Form 8858, or Form 5471 had been filed,…
Late election allowed foreign entity to be disregarded
A corporation formed and wholly owned a foreign eligible entity that defaulted to association status for U.S. tax purposes. Form 8832 and the related Forms 8858 and 5471 were not filed, although the e…
Foreign entity obtained 120 days for a late Form 8832
A domestic corporate owner formed a foreign eligible entity that defaulted to association status. The taxpayers did not file Form 8832, Form 8858, or Form 5471, but reported the foreign entity's activ…
Corporation received 90 days to perfect its IC-DISC election
A corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation. Its sole owner believed a prepared Form 4876-A had been properly executed and filed, but the IRS lat…
Partnership received late Section 754 election relief after a death
A partnership inadvertently failed to make a Section 754 election for the relevant year after one of its partners died. The IRS found that the partnership met the requirements for late-election relief…
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.