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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Entity received 120 days for a late corporate classification election
An eligible entity intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that its federal returns were consistent with…
Foreign entity received 120 days for a late disregarded-entity election
A foreign single-owner eligible entity intended to be disregarded for federal tax purposes from its formation date but failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that the regulatory-extension…
Tax-exempt controlled entity received 45 days for a late election
A private foundation wholly owned a taxable corporation that managed a partnership rehabilitating a historic building. Because the foundation owned more than half of the corporation, the corporation w…
Taxpayer received 60 days for a late success-fee safe harbor
A taxpayer paid two advisers success-based fees in connection with the sale of all its ownership interests. Its return preparer deducted 70 percent of the fees under the Revenue Procedure 2011-29 safe…
Taxpayer received 60 days to file a duplicate Form 3115
A consolidated group timely filed its return with the original Form 3115 for an automatic accounting-method change involving prepaid liabilities under the 12-month rule. Its accounting firm failed to …
Acquirer received 60 days for a late success-fee safe harbor
A taxpayer paid investment bankers contingent fees for helping it acquire an ownership interest in another business. Its timely return deducted 70 percent of the fees and capitalized 30 percent under …
Two foreign entities received 120 days to make late disregarded-entity elections
A domestic limited partnership formed two foreign limited liability companies in a tiered ownership structure. The two foreign entities intended to be disregarded for federal tax purposes from their f…
Parties received more time to complete a section 336(e) election
Purchasers acquired more than 80 percent of an S corporation's stock in a transaction represented to be a qualified stock disposition. The parties intended to elect under section 336(e) to treat the s…
Six investment-fund series received late corporate classification relief
Six series of business trusts intended from formation to be treated as corporations and regulated investment companies. Each had filed Form 1120-RIC and operated consistently with that intended status…
Partnership received late section 754 election relief after partner deaths
A limited partnership failed to make a timely section 754 election for three years in which deaths affected partnership interests. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and that re…
Extension granted for accounting-method change forms
A consolidated group failed to timely submit originals and signed duplicate copies of three Forms 3115 after its return preparer failed to file a requested Form 7004 extension. The forms covered depre…
Partnership received extension for section 754 election
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership failed to make a timely section 754 election for the year in which ownership interests were transferred. The company represented that it acted reason…
Spouses received time to recharacterize excess Roth IRA contributions
A married couple contributed to Roth IRAs during years when their modified adjusted gross income exceeded the eligibility limit. They discovered the problem after the ordinary deadlines for recharacte…
Late section 336(e) election received filing relief
A consolidated group sold all stock of a subsidiary and intended to elect under section 336(e) to treat the stock sale as an asset disposition. The seller and target signed the required election agree…
Late original Form 3115 received a 45-day filing extension
A corporation joining a consolidated group needed to change from the cash method to an accrual method. Its CPA timely filed the duplicate Form 3115 with the IRS, but a software problem delayed both th…
Late mortgage-credit-certificate election was deemed timely
A state-authorized issuer created a new mortgage credit certificate program and elected to forgo qualified mortgage bonds so it could allocate volume cap to the program. Bond counsel prepared the requ…
Taxpayer received more time to recharacterize excess Roth IRA contributions
A taxpayer made Roth IRA contributions over several years even though her modified adjusted gross income exceeded the eligibility limit. Her longtime certified public accountant knew both her income a…
Post-merger company received 60 days to make transaction-fee election
A company paid success-based fees to eight firms in connection with a series of mergers. An accounting firm advised that the fees qualified for the Revenue Procedure 2011-29 safe harbor, and the retur…
Foreign subsidiary received 120 days to elect disregarded status
A U.S. limited liability company formed a wholly owned foreign subsidiary and intended it to be treated as a disregarded entity from its formation date. The subsidiary did not timely file Form 8832, a…
Company received 60 days for a late merger-fee safe-harbor election
A company incurred success-based fees for a series of mergers and a separate target acquisition. The mergers qualified for the Revenue Procedure 2011-29 safe harbor, while the target acquisition did n…
Corporate group received 60 days to elect consolidated filing
A newly formed parent corporation and its subsidiaries failed to timely elect to file a consolidated federal income tax return after acquiring another corporate group. The parent requested relief befo…
Merged company received 60 days to file transaction-fee election
A company incurred success-based fees when it merged into a subsidiary of another company. The acquiring company's tax department, chief financial officer, and outside preparer all intended to use the…
Foreign entity received 120 days to elect disregarded status
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file Form 8832 to elect disregarded-entity treatment from a specified effective date. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and that late…
Surviving company received 60 days to file merger-fee election
A company incurred success-based fees when another company merged into its wholly owned subsidiary. Its internal tax department, chief financial officer, and outside preparer intended to use the Reven…
LLC received 120 days for entity classification and S elections
A domestic LLC's majority and minority owners intended it to be taxed as an S corporation from formation. The company did not timely file either Form 8832 to elect corporate classification or Form 255…
Investment fund received 60 days for 27 PFIC elections
An investment fund taxed as a partnership owned stock in 27 passive foreign investment companies. It had previously made section 1296 mark-to-market elections, but a transfer of more than half its cap…
Investment fund received 60 days for a PFIC election
An investment fund taxed as a partnership owned stock in a passive foreign investment company and had previously made a section 1296 mark-to-market election. A transfer of more than half the fund's ca…
Investment portfolio received 60 days for two PFIC elections
An investment portfolio within a larger fund was taxed as a partnership and held stock in two passive foreign investment companies. It had made mark-to-market elections for its first tax year, but a l…
Investment portfolio received 60 days for five PFIC elections
An investment portfolio within a larger fund was taxed as a partnership and held stock in five passive foreign investment companies. It had valid mark-to-market elections and renewed them after one te…
Surviving LLC received 120 days to elect corporate status
A domestic LLC survived a merger with an entity already taxed as a corporation. The LLC intended to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation from a specified date but inadvertently failed…
Parties received 45 days to file section 336(e) election statement
A partnership acquired all stock of an S corporation through a disregarded entity, and the S corporation later converted to a disregarded LLC. The seller and S corporation timely entered a binding agr…
S corporation received more time to file its section 336(e) election statement
An S corporation's sole shareholder sold at least 80 percent of its stock to two purchasers in a transaction represented to qualify as a qualified stock disposition. The parties timely entered a bindi…
Estate received 120 days to elect portability
An estate was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return because its gross estate and adjusted taxable gifts were below the filing threshold. It nevertheless needed a timely Form 706 to elect…
Partnership received 120 days to make a section 754 election
A limited liability company treated as a partnership intended to make a section 754 election for the year in which an investor purchased an interest, but it did not file the election on time. The part…
Missed portability election received a 120-day extension
A surviving spouse's tax advisor did not tell her that the deceased spouse's estate needed to file Form 706 to elect portability of the unused exclusion amount. The estate represented that its value a…
Taxpayers could undo automatic GST exemption allocations to two trusts
A married couple created two irrevocable trusts primarily for their children and did not intend to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to their gifts. Their accountant failed to explai…
Late GST opt-out elections were allowed for two family trusts
A husband and wife made gifts to two irrevocable trusts that were designed primarily for their children and had generation-skipping transfer potential. They did not want GST exemption allocated to the…
Partnership received late section 754 election relief after a partner's death
A partnership had a partner consisting of a single-member limited liability company disregarded from its owner. The owner died, and the partnership relied on an advisor who failed to make a section 75…
Late return preserved election out of bonus depreciation
An electric utility partnership consistently elected not to claim additional first-year depreciation and intended to do the same for the year at issue. Its financial statements, draft partner schedule…
Taxpayer could elect out of automatic GST allocations for five trusts
A taxpayer made two taxable transfers to one trust by exercising a limited power over property also subject to a general testamentary power. The taxpayer also funded four irrevocable annuity trusts wh…
Late GST opt-out elections were granted for five trusts
A taxpayer made a taxable transfer to one trust by exercising a limited power over property that was also subject to a general testamentary power. The taxpayer also funded four irrevocable trusts that…
Spouse received relief to opt out of an automatic GST allocation
A spouse held both a general testamentary power and a limited power over property in a trust created by the spouse's parent. The spouse exercised the limited power to transfer property to a new trust …
Two appointed trust transfers received late GST opt-out relief
A spouse held a general testamentary power and a limited power over a trust created by the spouse's parent. The spouse used the limited power in two years to transfer property to a trust for a child, …
Parties received relief to complete a late section 336(e) election
Two individuals sold at least 80 percent of an S corporation's stock to a partnership in a transaction represented to be a qualified stock disposition. The parties intended to make a section 336(e) el…
Affiliated group received 60 days to file its consolidated return election
A domestic parent and two subsidiaries formed an affiliated group but did not timely elect to file a consolidated federal income tax return for the year at issue. The parent relied on a qualified tax …
LLC received 120 days for late corporate classification election
After a sequence of acquisitions, name changes, a merger, conversion into a single-member LLC, ownership transfers, and an upstream liquidation, the taxpayer intended to be classified as an associatio…
Estate received 120 days for late 65-day distribution election
An estate made a distribution during the first 65 days of a fiscal year and intended under section 663(b) to treat it as paid or credited on the last day of the preceding fiscal year. The election was…
QDOT received 120 days to report surviving spouse's citizenship
A noncitizen surviving spouse established a qualified domestic trust and later became a United States citizen after continuously residing in the country. No principal distributions were made before ci…
Affordable-housing LLC received extensions for two related elections
A single-member LLC wholly owned by a section 501(c)(3) organization served as general partner of a low-income housing partnership. Its partnership agreement required it both to elect out of tax-exemp…
Parties received 45 days to complete late section 336(e) election
An individual purchased all shares of an S corporation, and the parties intended to elect under section 336(e) to treat the qualified stock disposition as an asset disposition. The election failed bec…
Spouses receive 120 days to opt out of automatic GST allocation
A husband created an irrevocable trust with three separate trusts for the couple's children and transferred cash to them. The spouses elected to split the gifts on timely Forms 709, but their accounta…
Spouses receive 120 days to opt out of automatic GST allocation
A husband created an irrevocable trust with three separate trusts for the couple's children and transferred cash to them. The spouses elected to split the gifts on timely Forms 709, but their accounta…
Estate receives 120 days for missed GST allocations
A decedent's will made direct cash skips to grandchildren and divided the residue into two trusts for the decedent's sons, both with generation-skipping transfer potential. The estate's attorney revie…
IRS retroactively revoked late section 754 election relief
The IRS had previously given a taxpayer 120 days to make a late section 754 election. That relief was based on a representation that no affected return was under examination, before Appeals, or before…
Corporation receives 60 days for success-fee safe harbor election
A corporation paid success-based adviser fees in connection with the sale of all its stock. Its accounting firm's analysis team received an acquisition-cost list that omitted the fees, while an update…
Corporation receives 60 days to attach success-fee election
A corporation paid success-based fees in a stock reorganization and reported 70 percent as deductible and 30 percent as capitalized under the Revenue Procedure 2011-29 safe harbor. The corporation and…
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…
Foreign entity received late disregarded-entity election relief
A foreign eligible entity with one owner intended to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from that owner but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that the entity met …
Partnership received late section 754 election relief
A partnership timely filed its return for a year in which partnership interests had been transferred but inadvertently omitted a section 754 election. The IRS granted 120 days to file the election for…
Estate received late section 1022 carryover-basis election relief
The executor of an estate for a decedent who died in 2010 missed the January 2012 deadline to file Form 8939 and elect the section 1022 carryover-basis regime in place of the reinstated estate tax. Th…
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.