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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Policyholders in a mutual-to-stock insurance conversion are treated as receiving and then selling the stock
A publicly traded company wanted to acquire a mutual insurance company by having the mutual convert into a stock insurance company. In the actual steps, the newly issued stock would go straight to the…
IRS denies 501(c)(3) status to a member group paying death benefits and scholarships to members' families
An organization applied for 501(c)(3) charitable status using the streamlined Form 1023-EZ. It collected monthly dues from members and, in return, paid death benefits to members' families and one-time…
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 …
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Qualified opportunity fund gets 60 days to file its late self-certification
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and invest in qualified opportunity zone property. A firm handled tax filings for about 75 rela…
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…
Opportunity fund's late self-certification was treated as timely
A partnership intended to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and invest in a qualified opportunity zone business. Its tax return preparer did not know that Form 8996 had to accompany the partners…
Qualified opportunity fund received 60 days for late self-certification
A partnership formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property intended to elect qualified opportunity fund status from its formation date. Its accountant knew Form 8996 had to accompany the in…
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…
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 …
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 …
Opportunity fund received 60 days to add its missed Form 8996
A partnership was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund, but its managing member lacked detailed federal tax and QOF knowledge. The partnership missed both its first Form 1065 deadline and…
Partnership's late Form 8996 was treated as a timely QOF election
A partnership intended from formation to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund, and its members contributed capital gain for that purpose. Its accountant timely filed Form 1065 but inadvertently omi…
LLC's amended-return Form 8996 was accepted as a timely QOF election
An LLC intended to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund, received members' capital-gain contributions, and acquired stock in a qualified opportunity zone business. Its accountant timely filed Form …
Partnership could aggregate royalty interests in three adjacent mineral leases
A partnership acquired royalty interests covering three adjacent mineral leases and used cost depletion, but it lacked reserve information needed to calculate depletion separately by property. It lear…
Delinquent Form 8996 was treated as a timely QOF self-certification
An LLC was organized to be a qualified opportunity fund and used members' contributions to buy stock in a qualified opportunity zone business. Its first accountant incorrectly concluded that the partn…
Opportunity fund receives 45 days to file late self-certification
A partnership organized as a limited liability company intended to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund from the month it was formed. Its first tax adviser failed to tell it that it needed to file …
Opportunity fund gets 60 days to file late self-certification
A partnership formed to be a qualified opportunity fund received capital contributions but had no income, deduction, gain, or loss in its first year. Its accountant incorrectly advised that no return …
Partnership received 60 days to make a late qualified opportunity fund election
A partnership was formed to invest in a qualified opportunity zone business and serve as a qualified opportunity fund. Its accounting firm mistakenly believed the entity was a corporation, so it did n…
Partnership received 60 days to make its first qualified opportunity fund election
A partnership was formed to serve as a qualified opportunity fund and received investor contributions during its first year, but it had no income or loss activity. Its accounting firm mistakenly belie…
Late-filed qualified opportunity fund election was treated as timely
A limited partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and serve as a qualified opportunity fund. Its general partner asked its accountant to extend the partnership's first …
Amended qualified opportunity fund election was treated as timely
A partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and intended to be a qualified opportunity fund from its first month. Its accountant agreed to prepare the required filings bu…
Opportunity fund received more time to file its omitted self-certification
A partnership-taxed limited liability company was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund. Its accountant prepared both the company's partnership return and Form 8996 for self-certification,…
Late opportunity-fund self-certification was treated as timely after intervening health issues
A limited liability company was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and operate as a qualified opportunity fund. A trust owned a redacted percentage of the company and was responsi…
Late opportunity-fund self-certification was treated as timely
A partnership formed to invest in qualified opportunity-zone property knew it needed to file Form 8996 for its first year and hired advisers to handle the filing. An administrative oversight among the…
Late opportunity-fund self-certification was treated as timely
A partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity-zone property, but its accounting firm misunderstood when the entity and initial contributions had been created. Because of that misundersta…
Late opportunity-fund self-certification was treated as timely
A partnership formed to invest in qualified opportunity-zone property hired an accounting firm to prepare and file the returns and elections needed for qualified-opportunity-fund treatment. The firm k…
Partnership received 60 days to self-certify as an opportunity fund
A partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity-zone property, but a miscommunication between a member's family office and the manager left its return preparer unaware that the entity exis…
Earlier GST exemption relief letter corrected
The IRS corrected and modified an earlier private letter ruling concerning generation-skipping transfer tax exemption. The earlier ruling incorrectly said the executor proposed to sever a marital trus…
Late opportunity fund self-certification allowed
A partnership was formed to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund and hold interests in a qualified opportunity zone business. Its accounting firm knew of that intention and extended the partnership…
Qualified opportunity fund received 60 days to file late self-certification
A partnership intended to operate as a qualified opportunity fund beginning in its first tax year. Its accounting firm mistakenly believed the partnership had no filing obligation for that year becaus…
Late-filed qualified opportunity fund self-certification treated as timely
A partnership was formed to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund and invest indirectly in qualified opportunity zone property. Its managing member hired a law firm to form the entity but mistakenly…
Opportunity fund received 60 days after its Form 8996 was filed with the wrong entity
A partnership was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and received capital from multiple investors in its first year. Its accounting firm prepared returns for the partnership and another…
Late qualified opportunity fund self-certification treated as timely
A partnership was organized to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and invest in qualified opportunity zone property. It relied on an accountant to prepare and file its first Form 1065 and Form 89…
Late qualified opportunity fund election treated as timely
A partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and serve as a qualified opportunity fund. Its members relied on an accountant to prepare the first Form 1065 and attach Form …
Partnership receives extra time for opportunity-zone deferral election
A partnership invested distributive shares of capital gains in a qualified opportunity fund within 180 days after the gain partnerships' return due date. Its tax adviser mistakenly concluded that the …
Late opportunity-fund self-certification is treated as timely
A partnership formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund filed its first return without Form 8996 because its return preparer omitted the form. A later adviser discovered the omission and filed…
Late qualified opportunity fund certification accepted
A multi-member limited liability company formed to invest in qualified opportunity zones filed Form 8996 late with its partnership return. Its longtime accountant mistakenly believed the company was a…
Opportunity fund gets 60 days for late certification
A partnership formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund hired an accounting firm to prepare and file its first partnership return. The firm timely filed the return but inadvertently indicated …
Late opportunity fund self-certification permitted
A partnership was organized to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and invest in qualified opportunity zone property. It later sought advice about completed transactions and learned that it had fa…
Late opportunity fund election allowed after bad advice
A partnership formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and operate as a qualified opportunity fund relied on its accounting firm for its first return. The firm incorrectly concluded tha…
Successor keeps acquired target's pre-2017 inversion date
A domestic corporate group proposed to acquire a foreign target that had become a surrogate foreign corporation before November 9, 2017. The buyer would acquire the target for cash, make section 338(g…
Fund receives more time to self-certify as a qualified opportunity fund
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and invest in qualified opportunity zone property. It relied on a tax adviser to make the requi…
Late QOF self-certification treated as timely after filing misunderstanding
A partnership was formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property and operate as a qualified opportunity fund. Its members used an accountant who misunderstood the structure of two separate op…
Late opportunity-fund certification accepted after adviser missed filing
A partnership with eighteen members was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and acquire qualified opportunity zone property. It hired a tax adviser to prepare the required filings, but t…
Missed extension does not prevent qualified opportunity fund election
A twelve-member partnership was organized to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund and invest in opportunity-zone property. It retained a tax adviser to handle the first-year filings, but the advise…
Extension granted for a partnership to self-certify as an opportunity fund
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership was formed to operate as a qualified opportunity fund and bought property in a qualified opportunity zone. Its members failed to file the partnership…
Extension granted to self-certify as an opportunity fund for two years
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership was formed to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund. Its tax adviser timely filed partnership returns for two years but failed to attach the requir…
Extension granted after an accountant omitted an opportunity fund form
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership was formed to qualify as a qualified opportunity fund. It relied on an accounting firm to file its first-year partnership return and all required for…
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.