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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LLC receives late corporate classification and S election relief
A single-member limited liability company intended from its formation date to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation and to elect S corporation status. It failed to timely file both …
Company receives late debt-and-hedge identification relief
A corporation issued convertible notes and simultaneously bought capped call options involving its stock. It was initially unaware that the notes and options could be integrated under Treasury Regulat…
Estate receives more time to allocate GST exemption to child trusts
A married couple's trust divided after the husband's death into survivor, credit-shelter, and marital trusts. The husband's estate made a QTIP election for the marital trust but did not make a reverse…
Estate receives more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
A decedent left a surviving spouse and an unused portion of the federal estate and gift tax exclusion. The estate represented that it was not otherwise required to file Form 706 because of the estate'…
Taxpayer gets 45 days to attach missing accounting-method form
A corporation intended to change two subsidiaries' Section 263A accounting methods and timely sent a copy of Form 3115 to the IRS. Its accounting firm failed to attach the original form to the consoli…
Estate gets 120 days to make omitted QTIP election
A decedent's revocable trust became a marital trust that paid all income to the surviving spouse for life. The spouse relied on tax professionals and was not initially advised to file an estate tax re…
Estate gets 120 days to elect portability
A decedent's estate was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return, but it needed one to transfer the decedent's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. After the estate missed the p…
REIT's late taxable-subsidiary election is treated as timely
A real estate investment trust financed loans through a wholly owned collateralized loan obligation. It intended to elect taxable REIT subsidiary treatment if the CLO generated excess inclusion income…
Foreign entity gets 120 days for late partnership election
A foreign eligible entity failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect partnership classification. The IRS found that the regulatory-relief requirements were satisfied and granted 120 days to file the el…
Parent gets 75 days for late Section 338(g) election
A consolidated group's foreign subsidiary acquired all the stock of another foreign corporation, but the parent failed to file the intended Section 338(g) election on time after relying on a qualified…
Foreign entity gets 120 days for disregarded-entity election
A foreign limited company inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner. The IRS found that the entity acted reasonably and in good faith an…
Foreign entity gets 120 days for partnership election
A foreign limited company inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect partnership treatment. The IRS found that the entity acted reasonably and in good faith and that relief would not prej…
Foreign entity gets 120 days for disregarded-entity election
A foreign limited company inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner. The IRS found that the entity acted reasonably and in good faith an…
Partnership gets 120 days for late Section 754 election
A partnership relied on its tax adviser but failed to make a Section 754 election after two partners died. The IRS found reasonable conduct, good faith, no hindsight, and no government prejudice, and …
Foreign entity gets 120 days for partnership election
A foreign limited company inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect partnership treatment. The IRS found that the entity acted reasonably and in good faith and that relief would not prej…
Foreign entity gets 120 days for disregarded-entity election
A foreign limited company inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner. The IRS found that the entity acted reasonably and in good faith an…
Foreign entity gets 120 days for partnership election
A foreign limited company inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect partnership treatment. The IRS found that the entity acted reasonably and in good faith and that relief would not prej…
Partnership gets 120 days for late Section 754 election
A partnership timely filed its return but omitted a Section 754 election after its tax preparers failed to advise it that an election was needed. The IRS found that the partnership acted reasonably an…
Homeowners association receives more time for Section 528 elections
A homeowners association inadvertently failed to file Form 1120-H elections for several taxable years. The IRS found that the association satisfied the standards for discretionary filing relief under …
Foreign entity receives more time for disregarded-entity election
A foreign entity wholly owned by a domestic corporation intended to be treated as a disregarded entity, and its owner consistently filed on that basis, but Form 8832 was not timely filed. The IRS foun…
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 …
LLC receives 120 days to file a late corporate-classification election
A state-law limited liability company intended to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation from a specified date. It missed the Form 8832 filing deadline because of inadvertence and asked…
Parties receive extra time to elect asset-sale treatment for an S corporation stock purchase
An individual bought all the stock of an S corporation, and the buyer, target, and shareholders intended to treat the transaction as an asset sale under IRC § 336(e). Their tax professional failed to …
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…
Supplemental ruling revises the facts of an earlier entity-classification ruling
This supplemental private letter ruling modifies the facts section of an earlier ruling and incorporates the rest of that ruling by reference. The revised facts describe a foreign corporation owned by…
Successor LLC receives more time to file a late section 336(e) election
A partnership-taxed purchaser acquired all the stock of an S corporation through a disregarded entity. The parties intended to elect under IRC § 336(e) to treat the qualified stock disposition as an a…
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A limited partnership intended to elect under IRC § 754 to adjust partnership-property basis after distributions or transfers of partnership interests. It timely filed its partnership return but inadv…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return based on the represented gross estate and taxable gifts. It nevertheless needed a timely Form 706 to elect portability of the decedent…
IRS grants extra time for a Section 336(e) election
A purchaser acquired all the stock of an S corporation from a seller, and the parties intended to elect under IRC § 336(e) to treat the qualified stock disposition as an asset disposition. The electio…
IRS grants estate extra time to elect portability
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return failed to timely elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount. The estate asked for regulatory relief so th…
IRS grants late election out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A taxpayer created a grantor retained annuity trust whose remaining property later passed to a family trust with generation-skipping transfer potential. The taxpayer's attorney failed to explain that …
IRS grants late election out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A taxpayer created a grantor retained annuity trust whose remaining property later passed to a family trust with generation-skipping transfer potential. The taxpayer's attorney failed to explain that …
IRS grants extra time for a Section 336(e) election
Shareholders sold all their stock in an S corporation target to a purchaser, and the parties intended to elect under IRC § 336(e) to treat the qualified stock disposition as an asset disposition. The …
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 extra time for IC-DISC election
An operating S corporation formed a subsidiary to act as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation for its export business. The subsidiary entered a commission agreement, received co…
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 Section 338(g) election
A domestic parent intended to make a § 338(g) election for a controlled foreign corporation's acquisition of a target's stock but failed to file a valid election on time. The parent represented that i…
IRS grants extra time for Section 338(g) election
A domestic parent intended to make a § 338(g) election for a controlled foreign corporation's acquisition of a target's stock but failed to file a valid election on time. The parent represented that i…
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…
Corporation gets 90 days to make a late IC-DISC election
A corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC, for an affiliated equipment exporter. Its owners and tax advisers intended to make the e…
IRS permits late identification of an integrated debt and hedge transaction
A corporation issued convertible notes and bought capped call options in the same transaction, intending to treat them as an integrated debt and hedge transaction under Treasury Regulation § 1.1275-6.…
Company in liquidation gets 120 days to file a corporate classification election
A state court placed a limited liability company into liquidation and appointed a receiver whose deputy took control of the company's assets and operations. The deputy relied on a tax professional who…
Late-filing relief to elect U.S. tax treatment and small-insurer status
A small foreign insurance company, owned equally by two individuals, writes extended-warranty coverage tied to a related recreational-vehicle business. It hired a tax professional who was supposed to …
Late-election relief to file a consolidated return
A parent corporation heading an affiliated group of companies missed the deadline to elect to file a consolidated federal income tax return for one tax year. The election under Treas. Reg. § 1.1502-75…
Late relief to elect corporate tax classification for a single-member LLC
A single-member LLC wanted to be taxed as a corporation from the day it was formed, but it never filed the required Form 8832 entity classification election on time. By default a single-owner LLC is d…
Late relief for a foreign entity to elect disregarded status
A foreign company wholly owned by a single owner wanted to be treated as a disregarded entity (ignored as separate from its owner) for U.S. federal tax purposes, effective from a specific date. By ina…
Parties receive extra time for a Section 336(e) election
A partnership purchaser acquired all the stock of an S corporation from its shareholders in a transaction represented to be a qualified stock disposition. The parties intended to make an IRC § 336(e) …
Affiliated group gets 90 days to elect consolidated filing
A domestic parent corporation and its affiliated group failed to make a valid election to file a consolidated federal income tax return by the filing deadline. The relevant assessment periods remained…
S corporation received extra time to file a Section 336(e) election
The owners intended a sale of all the stock of an S corporation to be treated as an asset sale under IRC § 336(e), but the required election statement was not filed on time. The parties requested disc…
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…
Consolidated group received extra time to waive an NOL carryback
A consolidated group intended to waive the entire carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss and reported the loss consistently with that choice, but it failed to attach a valid election s…
IRS grants a foreign entity more time to elect corporate classification
A foreign eligible entity intended to change from partnership classification to an association taxable as a corporation, but it did not file Form 8832 on time because of inadvertence. The entity repre…
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…
Late-filing relief to attach four accounting-method-change forms to a corporate return
A corporation with two lines of business (manufacturing and distribution) made four accounting-method changes for a tax year using the IRS automatic-change procedures, covering depreciation, the simpl…
Late-election relief for a foreign entity to switch from corporation to disregarded status
A single-owner foreign entity whose members all had limited liability defaulted to being treated as an association taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes. The owner intended for it to …
Late-election relief for a foreign entity to be a disregarded entity
A foreign entity with a single owner was eligible to elect to be disregarded (ignored as separate from its owner) for U.S. federal tax purposes, but it missed the deadline to file Form 8832 making tha…
Late-election relief to use the 70/30 safe harbor for success-based deal fees
A company that acquired another business paid its financial advisors fees that were contingent on the deal closing (success-based fees). Under a safe harbor in Revenue Procedure 2011-29, a buyer may d…
Late-election relief for an LLC to be taxed as a corporation and opt out of tax-exempt-use rules
A single-member LLC, wholly owned by a § 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, was the co-general partner in a partnership that developed a low-income housing tax credit property for the elderly. Because…
IRS grants relief for late entity-classification and S corporation elections
An eligible entity intended to be classified as a corporation and taxed as an S corporation from the same effective date, but it did not timely file either Form 8832 or Form 2553. It asked for an exte…
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.