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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Partnership gets 120 days to file a section 754 election
A limited liability company treated as a partnership underwent a technical termination after partnership interests were transferred. Its timely return reflected basis adjustments as though a section 7…
Estate gets 120 days to elect portability
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the decedent's gross est…
Estate receives 120 days to make a portability election
An estate did not file Form 706 by the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the gross estate and a…
Corporate group receives 60 days to make a late consolidated return election
A parent corporation acquired a former consolidated group and intended to file a consolidated federal income tax return with itself as the new common parent. A valid election was not filed by the regu…
Corporate group receives 60 days to make a late consolidated return election
A parent corporation acquired a subsidiary and intended to file a consolidated federal income tax return with itself as common parent. A valid election was not filed by the regulatory deadline, and th…
Corporation receives relief for a late IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation and relied on an accounting firm to arrange the required election. Because of an apparent mi…
Corporation receives relief for a late IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation. Its accounting firm and law firm each mistakenly believed the other would file Form 4876-A,…
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A partnership failed to include a section 754 election with its return for the year in which a member died. The IRS concluded that the partnership satisfied the standards for discretionary regulatory-…
Estate receives 120 days to make a portability election
An estate did not file Form 706 by the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The surviving spouse, acting as executor, represen…
Estate receives 120 days to make a portability election
An estate did not file Form 706 by the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The estate's administrators represented that the g…
Estate receives 120 days to make a portability election
An estate did not file Form 706 by the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the gross estate and t…
Partnership's late tax-year change request was treated as timely
A partnership sought to change from a calendar tax year to a March 31 year-end but did not timely file Form 1128. The IRS found that the partnership acted reasonably and in good faith and that relief …
Estate receives 120 days to make a portability election
An estate did not file Form 706 by the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the gross estate and t…
Estate receives 120 days to make a portability election
An estate did not file Form 706 by the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The surviving spouse represented that the gross es…
Late election out of bonus depreciation was treated as timely
A consolidated group intended to elect out of additional first-year depreciation for every class of qualified property placed in service during a short tax year. An employee miscalculated the return d…
Estate receives 120 days for QTIP and reverse QTIP elections
A decedent's will created a marital trust funded by the estate's available generation-skipping transfer tax exemption. The accountant preparing Form 706 mistakenly omitted the trust from Schedule M, s…
Foreign entity received extra time to elect disregarded status
A foreign eligible entity with one owner failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect treatment as an entity disregarded from its owner. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and that…
Estate received extra time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate below the federal estate tax filing threshold failed to file Form 706 on time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount. Because the estate was not otherwise requ…
Estate received extra time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate below the federal estate tax filing threshold failed to file Form 706 on time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount. The failure followed reasonable reliance …
Small insurance company received extra time to make a section 831(b) election
A member of a series LLC failed to make the section 831(b) election with its first federal tax return for the year it said it qualified as an insurance company. It represented that its manager failed …
Estate received extra time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate below the federal estate tax filing threshold failed to file Form 706 on time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount. The failure followed reasonable reliance …
Estate received extra time to elect portability of unused exclusion
The surviving spouse, serving as executrix, failed to file Form 706 on time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount. She represented that the estate was below the federal…
Eligible entity receives 120 days to file a late corporate classification election
A domestic eligible entity intended to be taxed as a corporation from the date it was formed. It failed to file Form 8832 on time because of inadvertence. The IRS concluded that the entity met the req…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
A decedent's estate was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return because the gross estate, including taxable gifts, was below the applicable filing threshold. The estate missed the deadline…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
A decedent's estate was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return because the gross estate, including taxable gifts, was below the applicable filing threshold. The estate missed the deadline…
Corporate group receives 60 days to elect consolidated return filing
A holding company acquired a corporation that had headed its own consolidated group. After the acquisition, the former group continued filing under the acquired subsidiary, while the new parent filed …
Taxpayer receives 60 days to elect safe harbor for success-based fees
A company paid a financial adviser a success-based fee in connection with its sale. Its return allocated 70 percent of the fee to deductible activities and capitalized 30 percent, matching the safe ha…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the decedent's unused estate and gift tax exclusion to the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the gross estate and ad…
Taxpayer receives 60 days to file omitted accounting-method form
A corporate group hired a return preparer to file several Forms 3115 for automatic accounting-method changes. Copies were timely submitted to the IRS and most originals were attached to the consolidat…
Estate receives 120 days to make portability election
An estate failed to file Form 706 by the deadline for electing portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The surviving spouse, acting as executor, represented that…
Estate receives 120-day portability extension
An estate missed the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the gross estate was below the basic exclusion amount …
Surviving spouse gets 120 days to elect portability
An estate did not file Form 706 by the deadline to transfer the decedent's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The surviving spouse, as executor, represented that the estate was below the…
Small insurer receives 90 days to make section 831(b) election
A small insurance company failed to make a section 831(b) election with its first federal return. It represented that it relied on its manager to explain the timing requirements, but the manager did n…
Estate receives 120 days to make QTIP election
A decedent's will created a marital trust that paid all net income to the surviving spouse at least quarterly and allowed principal distributions for the spouse's support. The estate's Form 706 listed…
S corporation receives more time for section 336(e) election statement
A purchaser acquired all stock of an S corporation for cash, and the target and shareholder had timely signed a binding agreement to make a section 336(e) election treating the stock sale as an asset …
Estate receives more time to elect portability
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount. The personal representative stated that the gross estate, after accounting for ta…
Corporation receives more time to elect IC-DISC status
A corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation and hired an accounting firm to prepare its election. The completed but unsigned Form 4876-A was plac…
Estate receives relief for late portability election
An estate believed it had requested an extension and filed Form 706 three days before that supposed extension would have expired. The surviving spouse, who also served as executor, represented that th…
Foreign corporation receives more time to file branch profits tax waiver
A foreign corporation sold its only asset, a U.S. condominium used by its nonresident shareholders as a vacation home, and later dissolved. It believed withholding from the sale satisfied its U.S. tax…
Surviving spouse receives more time to elect portability
All of a decedent's assets passed directly to the surviving spouse by designation, survivorship ownership, or state law. Because no executor was appointed, the spouse was treated as the executor for e…
LLC receives more time for entity classification and tax-exempt control elections
A tax-exempt organization wholly owned a limited liability company that served as general partner of a partnership operating residential rental property. The LLC intended to elect corporate tax treatm…
LLC receives more time for corporate and depreciation elections
A tax-exempt organization wholly owned a limited liability company that was the general partner of a residential rental partnership. The LLC intended to elect treatment as a taxable corporation and to…
LLC gets late corporate and tax-exempt control elections
A tax-exempt organization owned an LLC that served as general partner of a partnership holding rehabilitated residential rental property. The LLC meant to elect corporate status and opt out of treatme…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The executor represented that the estate wa…
Estate received 120 days to elect portability after a missed deadline
An estate failed to file Form 706 by the deadline for electing portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The estate represented that its gross estate, including ta…
Estate received 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate did not file Form 706 by the deadline for electing portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The executors represented that the gross estate was below th…
Tax-exempt controlled entity received late MACRS election relief
A corporation indirectly owned by a tax-exempt entity developed residential rental property and intended to elect not to be treated as a tax-exempt controlled entity for depreciation purposes. The ele…
Rental-property company received late MACRS election relief
A rental-property corporation wholly owned by a tax-exempt entity intended to elect not to be treated as a tax-exempt controlled entity under the depreciation rules. Its transaction documents required…
Partnership's late Form 1128 is treated as timely filed
A partnership sought to adopt an April 30 tax year but did not file Form 1128 by the required deadline. It requested an extension soon after learning that the form was required. The IRS found that the…
Corporation receives 60 days to file its late IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC, but its Form 4876-A election was not filed for its first tax year. The corporat…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate missed the Form 706 deadline for electing portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the gross estate, including taxable gifts…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate missed the Form 706 deadline for electing portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the gross estate, including taxable gifts…
Corporate group receives 60 days to make a late consolidated return election
A corporation left its former consolidated group and became the parent of a new affiliated group. The new group intended to file a consolidated federal income tax return, but a valid election was not …
Parties receive more time to make a section 336(e) election
An individual purchased all the stock of an S corporation, and the buyer, seller, and target intended to make a section 336(e) election to treat the stock sale as an asset disposition. They missed the…
S corporation receives 120 days to make a late QSub election
An S corporation owned all the stock of a domestic subsidiary and intended to treat it as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from the acquisition date. The parent failed to file Form 8869 because of …
Entity receives 120 days to make a late corporate classification election
A domestic eligible entity intended to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation but failed to file Form 8832 on time. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and…
Foreign entity receives 120 days to make a late disregarded-entity election
A domestic corporation acquired all interests in a foreign eligible entity that was classified by default as an association. The owner intended the foreign entity to become disregarded for federal tax…
Taxpayer receives 60 days to elect success-fee safe harbor
A corporation paid a success-based fee in a taxable acquisition and deducted the entire amount on its short-period return. Its accountant neither documented that the full fee was non-facilitative nor …
Estate and spouse receive 120 days to allocate GST exemption
A decedent transferred property to an irrevocable trust for children and their families and elected with the decedent's spouse to treat the gift as made one-half by each spouse. Their accountant timel…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the decedent's gross est…
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.