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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IRS accepts late taxable REIT subsidiary election
A real estate investment trust and an indirectly owned subsidiary intended the subsidiary to be a taxable REIT subsidiary from its formation date. They missed the Form 8875 deadline because the sponso…
Fund receives relief for two elections on a late-filed return
A regulated investment company prepared a return containing two elections: one to treat certain later distributions as paid during the prior tax year, and another to accrue market discount using a con…
Fund receives relief for three elections on a late-filed return
A fund prepared its first regulated investment company return with three elections: to be treated as a RIC, to treat certain later distributions as paid during the prior tax year, and to accrue market…
IRS allows correction of a taxable REIT subsidiary election date
A real estate investment trust acquired an indirect interest in a corporation and intended that corporation to become its taxable REIT subsidiary on the acquisition date. The law firm filing their joi…
Late-filed REIT return is treated as a timely election
A newly taxable corporation intended to elect real estate investment trust status for its first short tax year. Its governing documents repeatedly stated that intent, and its manager relied on an acco…
IRS grants extension for late REIT election
A limited liability company elected corporate status and intended to elect real estate investment trust treatment for its first short tax year. A miscommunication between its manager and tax preparer …
Unmailed return receives late REIT election relief
A company intended to elect real estate investment trust treatment and relied on a tax firm to timely file its first Form 1120-REIT. During a change in the firm's paper-filing process, a temporary wor…
REIT receives more time for taxable subsidiary election
A property company intended to elect REIT status after it ceased being closely held and wanted its wholly owned service subsidiary treated as a taxable REIT subsidiary from the same date. Its earlier …
REIT and subsidiary receive 90 days to file a late taxable REIT subsidiary election
A real estate investment trust and an indirectly owned limited liability company intended to jointly elect taxable REIT subsidiary (TRS) treatment under IRC § 856(l). The subsidiary first needed corpo…
REIT and two subsidiaries receive more time for taxable REIT subsidiary elections
A real estate investment trust and two indirectly owned limited liability companies intended to jointly elect taxable REIT subsidiary (TRS) treatment under IRC § 856(l). The companies also needed corp…
IRS grants late taxable REIT subsidiary election
A real estate investment trust owned a hotel through disregarded entities and leased the hotel to a corporate tenant that was intended to be its taxable REIT subsidiary. The lease required the joint T…
IRS grants late taxable REIT subsidiary election
A real estate investment trust acquired an ownership interest in a subsidiary that leased facilities from the REIT, and both entities intended to elect taxable REIT subsidiary treatment. Their investm…
IRS grants extra time for a taxable REIT subsidiary election
A company intending to qualify as a real estate investment trust acquired an indirect interest in a subsidiary and planned to elect taxable REIT subsidiary status for that entity. The election was not…
A REIT's share of self-charged management fees is left out of the gross-income tests
A real estate investment trust (REIT) plans to restructure so that it indirectly owns a slice of the outside manager that runs its real estate portfolio. Because the REIT would then be a partner in th…
REIT received 90 days to make late taxable-subsidiary elections
A company intending to qualify as a real estate investment trust acquired a predecessor's properties and subsidiaries in a transaction represented to be an F reorganization. Its former law firm failed…
Late-election relief for a fund to defer a post-October capital loss under § 852(b)(8)
A regulated investment company (a business development company taxed as a RIC) intended to elect under § 852(b)(8)(A) to defer a "post-October capital loss," treating it as arising on the first day of…
IRS treats a delayed taxable REIT subsidiary election as timely despite COVID-19 filing obstacles
A publicly traded REIT indirectly acquired part of a foreign corporation and intended to elect for that corporation to be a taxable REIT subsidiary from the acquisition date. COVID-19 closures delayed…
IRS grants retroactive taxable REIT subsidiary status after foreign anti-hybrid rules changed the needed structure
A REIT operated foreign data-center investments through a company that had elected to be disregarded for U.S. tax purposes. After foreign anti-hybrid rules took effect, the REIT learned that interest …
IRS grants late taxable REIT subsidiary election relief after an adviser missed Form 8875
A newly formed REIT owned senior-housing facilities and formed a corporate subsidiary that held an interest in the operating partnership leasing those facilities. The REIT intended to elect taxable RE…
A REIT's billboard advertising income still counts as "rents from real property" despite short-term and TRS leases
A real estate investment trust (REIT) owns buildings with large billboard signs attached, and it leases the advertising space on those signs to tenants. It has elected to treat the signs as real prope…
REIT gets 90 days to file three missed taxable-subsidiary elections
A hotel REIT and three operating subsidiaries intended to make taxable REIT subsidiary elections when the REIT acquired interests in the subsidiaries. The company's tracking spreadsheet showed that ea…
State-required license holders do not disrupt a REIT's health-care-property leasing structure
A publicly traded health-care REIT wanted to use the statutory structure that permits a taxable REIT subsidiary to lease qualified health-care property when an eligible independent contractor operates…
IRS treats a late initial REIT return as a timely REIT election
An LLC elected corporate status and intended to elect real estate investment trust treatment beginning on the same effective date. Its accounting firm filed an extension for the LLC's parent fund, but…
Fees a fiber-network REIT charges wireless carriers to use its systems are "rents from real property"
A company that plans to elect REIT status builds and owns telecommunications infrastructure, mainly fiber optic cable systems, and lets wireless carriers use dedicated capacity under long-term agreeme…
IRS grants an LLC extra time to elect REIT status after its accountants missed the filing deadline
An LLC intended to be taxed as a corporation and to elect real estate investment trust (REIT) status by filing a Form 1120-REIT for its first year. A REIT election is made simply by filing that return…
A class-action settlement paid by a REMIC trustee to investors doesn't run through the REMICs, so it triggers no REMIC penalty taxes
A trustee for a group of mortgage securitizations (REMICs) was sued by investors who held "regular interests" in those deals. The investors claimed the trustee breached its duties by failing to chase …
IRS treats a regulated investment company's late dividend election as timely
A regulated investment company prepared and signed its Form 1120-RIC with an election under IRC § 855(a) to treat qualifying dividends as paid during the prior tax year. Its fund administrator intende…
IRS treats marina docks and storage rents as qualifying REIT property and income
A real estate investment trust planned to acquire interests in marina properties containing floating docks, dry-dock storage, and short-stay cabins. The floating docks were permanently attached by dee…
REIT subsidiary does not operate health care facilities managed by an independent operator
A real estate investment trust's taxable REIT subsidiary planned to acquire indirect majority interests in foreign partnerships that owned senior housing and health care communities. The local partner…
REIT accounting adjustments are excluded from income tests and support dividend E&P
A real estate investment trust changed its depreciation and amortization methods for communications-site assets it represented were real property or interests in real property. The changes produced po…
A new fund's late RIC and dividends-paid elections are treated as timely
A new series of an investment company intended to qualify as a regulated investment company and to make a section 855 election for dividends declared and distributed after year-end. The company respon…
A fund's late RIC and dividends-paid elections are treated as timely
A new series of an investment company intended to qualify as a regulated investment company and make a section 855 election for dividends declared and distributed after year-end. The company responsib…
Independent senior living facilities are not health care facilities under REIT rules
A real estate investment trust owned unlicensed independent retirement living facilities whose residents were responsible for their own personal and health care needs. The facilities supplied meals, h…
Investment company receives 90 days for a foreign-tax pass-through election
A regulated investment company intended to elect under section 853 to pass through foreign taxes to its shareholders. Its timely Form 1120-RIC consistently reflected that election, but the contractor …
Late REIT election treated as timely
A single-member limited liability company intended to elect real estate investment trust status for its first taxable year as a corporation. Its tax firm mistakenly omitted the company's Form 7004 fro…
Connected parking-garage revenue qualifies as REIT rent
Two REIT-owned parking garages in a mixed-use project had to be physically connected and jointly operated, making it impractical to identify which garage held each public customer’s car. The REITs use…
Connected parking-garage revenue qualifies as REIT rent
Two REIT-owned parking garages in a mixed-use project had to be physically connected and jointly operated, making it impractical to identify which garage held each public customer’s car. The REITs use…
Ground-lease rights are REIT real estate assets
A REIT acquired fee owners’ rights under ground leases covering land, rooftops, and other real property, together with successor leases or options allowing replacement leasing after existing tenants d…
Warehouse storage payments qualify as REIT rents
A proposed REIT group stored customer pallets in specialized warehouses and separated real-property charges from handling and other services performed by taxable REIT subsidiaries or independent contr…
City reimbursements qualify for a REIT's 95 percent income test
A real estate investment trust indirectly owned a mixed-use project and acquired rights under an economic development agreement to receive city reimbursements for public improvements. The reimbursemen…
Environmental remediation tax credits count as qualifying REIT income
A real estate investment trust indirectly owned a partnership developing a mixed-use project on a contaminated site in an economically distressed area. A state program awarded transferable tax credits…
Environmental remediation tax credits count as qualifying REIT income
A real estate investment trust indirectly owned a partnership developing a mixed-use project on a contaminated site in an economically distressed area. A state program awarded transferable tax credits…
Affiliated hotel manager can remain an eligible independent contractor
A hotel REIT asked whether a hotel manager would remain an eligible independent contractor after being acquired by a company affiliated with the REIT's investment advisor. The advisor also provided th…
Affiliated luxury-hotel manager can remain an eligible independent contractor
A luxury-hotel REIT asked whether a hotel manager would remain an eligible independent contractor after being acquired by a company affiliated with the REIT's investment advisor. The advisor also prov…
REIT receives 90-day extension for taxable-subsidiary election
A real estate investment trust and a subsidiary intended to elect taxable REIT subsidiary status effective from the subsidiary's formation. Their outside law firm believed the accounting firm would fi…
REIT receives 90-day extension for taxable-subsidiary election
A real estate investment trust and a subsidiary intended the subsidiary to be a taxable REIT subsidiary from its formation. An outside firm recommended filing Forms 8832 and 8875 but believed the part…
Carbon-offset credits count as qualifying REIT income
A timberland REIT's partnership expected to earn state cap-and-trade credits by committing forestland to long-term carbon-sequestration restrictions, monitoring, inventories, and independent verificat…
Carbon credits from two programs qualify as REIT income
A timberland REIT indirectly participated in two carbon-offset programs: a state cap-and-trade system for U.S. forest projects and a voluntary program for foreign timberland protected from deforestati…
Carbon credits earned through partnerships qualify as REIT income
A timberland REIT indirectly owned interests in six partnerships developing forest carbon-offset projects under a state cap-and-trade program. The projects required long-term land-use restrictions, mo…
Development tax credits treated as qualifying REIT income
A real estate investment trust indirectly invested in a partnership developing rental real estate in a designated economic-development area. State law awarded transferable tax credits based on the pro…
Marina slip and storage rents qualified as REIT rents from real property
A real estate investment trust planned to lease boat slips and shore-based storage spaces at a redeveloped marina. The IRS treated the boat slips as water space above land and the storage spaces as sp…
REIT may measure partnership interests by hypothetical liquidation shares
A company planning to elect REIT status intended to acquire economic interests in ten partnerships that leased and operated U.S. rental properties. Some partnerships did not maintain regulatory capita…
Marina docks and storage qualified for REIT treatment
A taxpayer planning to elect real estate investment trust status indirectly owned marinas with floating docks, dry dock storage, and, at one property, short-stay cabins. The floating docks were perman…
Development grant counted as qualifying REIT income
A real estate investment trust indirectly owned joint ventures redeveloping a regional shopping center on city-owned land. A state economic development program reimbursed the property owners for eligi…
Shopping-center grant qualified for the REIT income tests
A real estate investment trust held an interest in joint ventures redeveloping a regional shopping center on land leased from a city. A state program reimbursed the property owners through a city agen…
Farm-credit patronage dividends excluded from REIT income tests
A limited liability company planning to elect REIT status borrowed from a regulated farm cooperative to acquire timberlands. As an equity holder and borrower, it was entitled to patronage dividends ba…
Invalid EIN excused late taxable REIT subsidiary election
A REIT acquired a subsidiary and intended to elect both corporate classification for the subsidiary and taxable REIT subsidiary status. The forms were timely mailed using an EIN that the sellers had r…
REIT gets 90 days to make two late TRS elections
A real estate investment trust indirectly owned two foreign corporations that held legal title to self-storage properties and obtained financing. The REIT's outside tax advisers overlooked the need to…
REIT received 90 days to elect taxable subsidiary status
A real estate investment trust indirectly owned a corporation that leased qualified health-care property from the REIT and used eligible independent contractors to operate it. The sponsor intended the…
REIT received late taxable-subsidiary election relief
A real estate investment trust indirectly owned a corporation that leased qualified health-care property from the REIT and used eligible independent contractors to operate it. The sponsor intended the…
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.