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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Late estate tax return is treated as timely for portability
A decedent's estate relied on a law firm that filed Form 706 after the deadline for electing portability of the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount. The estate represented that its gross value, i…
Estate receives more time to elect portability
A decedent's estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that its gross value was below th…
Single-owner entity receives late disregarded-entity election
A single-owner eligible entity intended to be treated as disregarded for federal tax purposes but did not file the required Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the entity satisfied the standards for dis…
Purchaser receives more time for section 338 elections
A U.S. purchaser acquired a foreign target and indirectly acquired the target's foreign affiliates in a transaction represented to be a qualified stock purchase. The purchaser intended to make section…
Estate and spouse may allocate GST exemptions late
Spouses created a trust for their descendants and timely allocated GST exemptions to an initial split gift. For a later transfer, their attorney failed to prepare Forms 709 or advise them to allocate …
Foreign entity receives late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity wholly owned by a U.S. citizen failed to file Form 8832 for its intended disregarded-entity status. The IRS concluded that the entity met the standards for discretionary elec…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity wholly owned by a U.S. citizen failed to file Form 8832 for its intended disregarded-entity status. The IRS concluded that the entity met the standards for discretionary elec…
Entity receives late corporate and S corporation elections
An eligible entity intended to be classified as a corporation and elect S corporation status from the same effective date. It failed to timely file both Form 8832 and Form 2553. The IRS found that the…
Estate and spouse receive more time to allocate GST exemptions
A married couple transferred property to a trust for their children and more remote descendants, but their attorney failed to prepare gift tax returns for a later transfer or advise them to allocate t…
Partnership receives more time to make a section 754 election
A limited liability company became a partnership for federal tax purposes when an owner's interest passed to a trust at death. The entity was eligible to elect under section 754 to adjust the basis of…
S corporation receives more time for a section 336(e) election statement
A partnership bought all stock of an S corporation in a transaction represented to be a qualified stock disposition. The parties timely signed a binding agreement to make a section 336(e) election, wh…
Consolidated group receives more time to elect an extended NOL carryback
A consolidated corporate group incurred a net operating loss eligible for the extended carryback rules then available under section 172(b)(1)(H). The common parent intended to carry the loss back beyo…
Foreign entities receive more time to elect corporate classification
Foreign eligible entities intended to elect treatment as associations taxable as corporations from a specified date, but they did not timely file valid Forms 8832. The IRS concluded that the requireme…
Foreign insurer receives more time for two tax elections
A foreign property and casualty insurer intended to elect domestic-corporation treatment under section 953(d) and the small-insurance-company tax regime under section 831(b), but its manager did not f…
Corporation's late tax-year change application is treated as timely
A corporation filed Form 1128 after the deadline to change its annual accounting period from a March 31 year-end to an April 30 year-end. It filed the application soon after the missed deadline and re…
Parent receives more time to file LIFO elections for subsidiaries
A corporate parent transferred LIFO inventory to newly created subsidiaries in a restructuring and continued using the same LIFO method for tax and financial reporting. Its outside advisers did not te…
Estate receives more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the decedent's unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The executor represented that the gross estate and…
Consolidated group may make a late NOL carryback waiver
A consolidated corporate group intended to waive the entire carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss and filed its returns consistently with that intent, but a valid election statement m…
Consolidated group receives relief to make a late NOL carryback waiver
A consolidated corporate group failed to file a valid election waiving the carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss. The parent requested relief before the IRS discovered the failure and…
Foreign limited partnership may make a late corporate classification election
A foreign limited partnership intended to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes, but it inadvertently failed to file Form 8832. Without an election, the e…
Foreign limited partnership may make a late corporate classification election
A foreign limited partnership intended to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes, but it inadvertently failed to file Form 8832. Without an election, the e…
Three partnerships may make late section 754 elections
Three limited liability companies treated as partnerships failed to make section 754 elections for the year in which an owner died. A section 754 election allows partnership property basis adjustments…
Foreign entity may make a late disregarded-entity election
A foreign entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its owner for U.S. federal tax purposes but failed to timely file Form 8832. Its indirect corporate owner filed U.S. tax and information ret…
Late tax-exempt controlled entity election received 60-day relief
A corporation wholly owned by a tax-exempt entity was a general partner in a partnership that owned low-income housing. The corporation intended to elect under section 168(h)(6)(F)(ii) not to be treat…
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 its gross value, includi…
Estate receives 120 days to allocate GST exemption
A decedent transferred stock to an irrevocable trust but failed to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to the transfer. The decedent believed accountants would prepare the gift-tax ret…
Estate receives 120 days to make portability election
An estate failed to file a timely Form 706 electing portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion. The surviving spouse, acting as executor, represented that the estate's value and …
LLC receives 120 days to file entity-classification election
A single-member LLC intended to be treated as a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes but did not timely file the entity-classification election. It represented that it acted reasonably and in g…
Late disregarded-entity election receives 120-day extension
A single-member LLC intended to be treated as a disregarded entity but did not timely file Form 8832. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and that granting relief would not preju…
Parent receives 120 days to make late QSub election
An S corporation owned all of a subsidiary and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary status for it, but failed to timely file Form 8869. The IRS concluded that the requirements for regul…
Estate receives 120 days for QTIP and GST elections
A decedent's will divided the residuary estate between GST-exempt and GST-nonexempt marital trusts for the surviving spouse. The return preparer mistakenly reported the combined value as passing outri…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
A surviving spouse relied on a qualified tax professional to file the estate tax return needed to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount, but the return was not filed on ti…
GST allocations receive relief and automatic treatment
A taxpayer and spouse made gifts to three irrevocable trusts for their children over several years, but their accountant did not file gift tax returns or allocate the taxpayer's generation-skipping tr…
GST allocations receive relief and automatic treatment
A taxpayer and spouse made gifts to three irrevocable trusts for their children over several years, but their accountant did not file gift tax returns or allocate the taxpayer's generation-skipping tr…
Foreign entity receives 120 days for disregarded status election
A foreign entity wholly owned by a foreign trust intended to be treated as disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes, but it did not timely file Form 8832. The entity requested relief under …
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect disregarded-entity treatment from its formation date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. Its ownership changed among related foreign entitie…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
An estate did not file Form 706 by the deadline and later discovered that it had missed the election allowing the surviving spouse to use the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount. The executor re…
Entity receives late association election
A domestic eligible entity intended to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation from its formation date but failed to file Form 8832 on time. Its owner consistently treated the entity as …
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded status election
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file a properly executed Form 8832 electing to be disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Taxpayers receive late election to capitalize property taxes
A married couple held two parcels of unimproved, unproductive real estate for investment and deducted the property taxes instead of electing under section 266 to add them to the properties' tax basis.…
Foreign entity receives late partnership election relief
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as a partnership beginning when U.S. persons became its direct and indirect owners, but it did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the en…
Housing project receives late section 42 election relief
A taxpayer inadvertently failed to make its intended section 42(i)(2)(B) election for every building in a low-income housing project for which the state agency issued Forms 8609. The election concerne…
Consolidated group receives late stock loss election relief
A corporation in a consolidated group merged into its parent when its liabilities exceeded the value of its assets, causing the parent to recognize a loss on the subsidiary's stock. The group did not …
Late Form 1128 is treated as timely filed
A corporation sought to change from a calendar tax year to a March 31 year-end under the automatic procedures in Revenue Procedure 2006-45. It did not file Form 1128 by the deadline for the short-peri…
Housing project receives late multiple-building election
A taxpayer intended to treat all buildings in a low-income housing development as one multiple-building project but inadvertently failed to make an effective election on the Forms 8609 issued for ever…
Housing project receives late multiple-building election
A taxpayer intended to treat all buildings in a low-income housing development as one multiple-building project but inadvertently failed to make an effective election on the Forms 8609 issued for ever…
Housing project receives late multiple-building election
A taxpayer intended to treat all buildings in a low-income housing development as one multiple-building project but inadvertently failed to make an effective election on the Forms 8609 issued for ever…
Corporate group receives late consolidated return election
A corporation was formed to acquire five subsidiaries and intended to elect consolidated federal income tax filing for the group, but a valid consolidated return was not filed by the deadline. The par…
Housing project receives late section 42 election relief
A taxpayer inadvertently failed to make its intended section 42(i)(2)(B) election for every building in a low-income housing project for which the state agency issued Forms 8609. The election concerne…
Consolidated group receives late stock loss election relief
A corporation in a consolidated group merged into its parent when its liabilities exceeded the value of its assets, causing the parent to recognize a loss on the subsidiary's stock. The group did not …
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.