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 receives 120 days for late section 754 election
A partnership timely filed its return for the year in which one of its partners died but omitted a section 754 election. That election would allow a basis adjustment to partnership property…
IRS grants 120 extra days to make a late QSub election for a subsidiary the taxpayer forgot to elect
An S corporation (X) acquired a chain of companies. One of them (Sub 1) was itself an S corporation that owned a lower-tier company (Sub 2) treated as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary, or QSub.…
IRS denies a late mark-to-market (section 475(f)) election because the trader relied on hindsight
An individual who traded securities wanted to make a "mark-to-market" election under section 475(f)(1). That election lets a qualifying trader treat gains and losses as ordinary and value positions…
IRS grants 60 days to file three years of late Forms 8996 self-certifying an LLC as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
An LLC taxed as a partnership was formed to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), the vehicle used to invest capital gains in designated opportunity zones for tax benefits. To be a QOF, the entity…
IRS grants 120 extra days to make a late QSub election for a wholly-owned subsidiary
An S corporation (X) owned all of the stock of a subsidiary (Sub) and meant to elect to treat Sub as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary, or QSub, as soon as X became an S corporation. A QSub is not…
Purchaser received more time to file section 338 elections
A U.S. corporate purchaser acquired more than 80 percent of a foreign target and was treated as acquiring the target's foreign subsidiary, but valid section 338(g) elections were not filed on time.…
Parent received more time to file a section 338 election
A consolidated group's parent intended to make a section 338(g) election after a member acquired all the stock of an unrelated foreign target, but a valid election was not filed by the deadline. The…
Qualified opportunity fund received 60 days to file Form 8996
A partnership formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property failed to file its first return, extension request, and Form 8996 on time. Its adviser contacted an accounting firm on the…
Late qualified opportunity fund certifications accepted for two years
A limited partnership formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property hired a long-time tax adviser to prepare its first two federal returns and the forms needed to self-certify as a…
Amended Form 8996 treated as timely for a qualified opportunity fund
A partnership formed to invest in qualified opportunity zone property intended to self-certify as a qualified opportunity fund, but its return preparer did not attach Form 8996 to the first-year…
Late qualified opportunity fund certifications accepted for three years
A partnership that owned an interest in real property located in an opportunity zone failed to complete its Form 8996 self-certifications for several years. After a manager hired a certified public…
Late taxable REIT subsidiary election treated as effective
A publicly traded REIT and its foreign corporate subsidiary intended to file Form 8875 so the subsidiary would be treated as a taxable REIT subsidiary from its formation date. The REIT's tax…
LLC received 120 days to file a late corporate classification election
A single-owner limited liability company intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation from its formation date. Its default federal classification was a disregarded entity,…
Late success-fee safe-harbor election denied after audit disallowance
A corporation paid an investment bank a success-based fee in connection with its acquisition and chose not to use Revenue Procedure 2011-29's safe harbor, which would have allowed a 70 percent…
Late REMIC election treated as timely
A trust intended one segregated mortgage asset pool to elect real estate mortgage investment conduit status as part of a tiered REMIC structure. Its administrator timely filed the elections for the…
LLC gets 120 days to file late corporate classification election
A domestic limited liability company intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation from a redacted effective date. It failed to file Form 8832 on time because of inadvertence…
Estate gets 120 days to make late portability election
An estate below the normal estate-tax filing threshold failed to file Form 706 on time to transfer the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. Because the estate…
Partnership gets 60 days to opt out of bonus depreciation
A partnership claimed 100 percent bonus depreciation on five-year and seven-year property placed in service during a redacted tax year. After filing its return, the partnership and its return…
IRS grants 90 more days to file a late IC-DISC election that was never recorded
A company was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation (IC-DISC), a special export-incentive entity that earns commissions on a related business's export…
IRS grants extra time to file a late section 336(e) election on an S corporation stock sale
A partnership bought all the stock of an S corporation from its shareholders. The buyers and sellers wanted the deal treated for tax purposes as if the company had sold its assets rather than its…
IRS grants extra time to make a late section 754 partnership basis-adjustment election after a partner died
A general partnership had a partner who died owning roughly a certain percentage of the firm. When a partnership interest changes hands (including on a partner's death), a "section 754 election"…
IRS grants 60 more days to file a missed safe-harbor election for success-based deal fees
A corporation that heads a consolidated group made an acquisition and paid its advisers "success-based fees," fees owed only if the deal closed. Tax rules presume such fees must be capitalized…
IRS grants 60 more days to file a missed safe-harbor election for success-based deal fees
A corporation that heads a consolidated group made an acquisition and paid an adviser "success-based fees," fees owed only if the deal closed. Tax rules presume such fees must be capitalized (spread…
9100 relief to file a late section 336(e) election treating an S-corp stock sale as an asset sale
An individual bought all the stock of an S corporation from its shareholders. The buyer and sellers wanted the stock purchase treated as if the company had sold its assets, an option the tax law…
9100 relief to make a late election out of bonus depreciation after the preparer forgot to attach the statement
A partnership (an LLC filing Form 1065) decided to elect out of bonus depreciation, the extra first-year write-off that section 168(k) otherwise allows, for all classes of qualified property it…
9100 relief to file a late section 754 election after a partnership interest sale
A partnership (an LLC taxed as a partnership) had part of its ownership sold to a new partner. When a partnership interest changes hands, the partnership can make a section 754 election so the…
IRS grants a late-filing extension for a fund to self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
An LLC taxed as a partnership was formed specifically to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), the vehicle that lets investors defer and reduce capital-gains tax by investing in designated…
IRS grants late-filing relief for a fund to self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund after its accountant missed the return
An LLC taxed as a partnership was formed to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), the vehicle that lets an investor defer capital-gains tax by reinvesting the gain in a business located in a…
IRS grants late-election relief for a partnership to keep its chosen fiscal year under section 444
A partnership normally must use a "required" tax year tied to its owners' tax years, but IRC § 444 lets it elect a different fiscal year (with a limited deferral period) if it files Form 8716 on…
IRS grants late-filing relief to self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund after the preparer omitted Form 8996
An LLC taxed as a partnership was formed to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), the vehicle that lets investors defer capital-gains tax by reinvesting the gain in a designated low-income…
IRS grants late-filing relief to self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund after the preparer omitted Form 8996
An LLC taxed as a partnership was formed to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), the vehicle that lets investors defer capital-gains tax by reinvesting the gain in a designated low-income…
Late partnership basis-adjustment election (§ 754) allowed under 9100 relief
A limited partnership meant to make a section 754 election, which lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its assets when interests change hands or property is distributed, so the incoming or…
Late Form 1128 to change a corporation's tax year allowed under 9100 relief
A C corporation that provides engineering and architectural design services wanted to change its tax year end and file Form 1128 (Application to Adopt, Change, or Retain a Tax Year) to do so. Under…
Late election to amortize R&E expenditures over 10 years allowed under 9100 relief
A calendar-year, accrual-method taxpayer wanted to spread its research and experimental (R&E) expenditures over 10 years using the election in Code section 59(e), rather than deduct them all at…
Late election to waive the NOL carryback period granted to a consolidated group (9100 relief)
A parent company that files a consolidated tax return for its corporate group asked the IRS for extra time to make a missed election. When a consolidated group has a net operating loss (a "CNOL"),…
Late Form 1128 to change an accounting period allowed under 9100 relief
A taxpayer wanted to change its tax year (accounting period) and needed to file Form 1128 to get IRS permission, but missed the filing deadline. Under Rev. Proc. 2002-39, Form 1128 must be filed by…
Late check-the-box election to be taxed as a corporation allowed under 9100 relief
A limited liability company wanted to be classified as a corporation for federal tax purposes (an "entity classification," or "check-the-box," election) effective on a chosen date, but it missed the…
Late QSub election allowed under 9100 relief
An S corporation bought another corporation as a wholly owned subsidiary and meant to treat it as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary (a "QSub"), which lets the IRS ignore the subsidiary as a…
9100 relief for a late Section 59(e) election to amortize R&D costs over 10 years
A consolidated group of corporations wanted to spread the deduction for its research and experimental (R&D) costs over 10 years rather than take them all at once, an option Code § 59(e) allows if…
IRS grants a partnership 120 more days to make a late Section 754 basis-adjustment election after a partner's death
A partnership asked the IRS for extra time to make a late election under Section 754 of the tax code, and the IRS agreed. A Section 754 election lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its assets…
IRS grants a lower-tier partnership 120 more days to make a late Section 754 basis-adjustment election after a partner's death
A partnership asked the IRS for extra time to make a late Section 754 election, and the IRS granted it. A Section 754 election lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its assets when a partner…
IRS grants a corporate parent 75 more days to make a late election to file a consolidated return
A parent corporation that heads a group of affiliated companies wanted to file one combined ("consolidated") federal income tax return for the whole group, but it missed the deadline to make that…
IRS grants an LLC 120 more days to make a late Section 754 basis-adjustment election after new members bought in
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership meant to make a Section 754 election but missed the filing deadline. A Section 754 election lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its assets…
IRS treats a late Form 8996 as timely, letting an LLC self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
An investment LLC set up to develop real estate in Qualified Opportunity Zones wanted to be treated as a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), which requires filing Form 8996 with a timely tax return…
9100 relief to treat a late Form 8996 QOF self-certification as timely
A limited partnership was formed to be a qualified opportunity fund (a "QOF"), the vehicle investors use to defer capital gains by investing in low-income "opportunity zones" under Code § 1400Z-2.…
9100 relief to treat a late Form 8996 QOF self-certification as timely
A limited liability company, taxed as a partnership, was formed to be a qualified opportunity fund (a "QOF"), the vehicle that lets investors defer capital gains by investing in low-income…
Late corporate-classification and S-corporation elections allowed for an LLC
A limited liability company wanted to be taxed as an S corporation. To get there, an LLC normally has to take two steps: first elect (on Form 8832) to be treated as a corporation, then elect…
9100 relief for a foreign entity's late check-the-box election to be a partnership
A foreign business entity wanted to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal tax purposes. Under the "check-the-box" rules (Treas. Reg. § 301.7701-3), an eligible entity can choose its tax…
IRS grants a corporate parent 60 more days to make a late consolidated-return election
A corporate parent wanted its affiliated group of corporations to file a single consolidated federal income tax return, with itself as the common parent, for a particular tax year. That choice, the…
IRS grants 90 more days to make a late IC-DISC election after a defective Form 4876-A
A company was set up to be an interest charge domestic international sales corporation (IC-DISC), a special export-incentive entity that earns commissions on a related company's exports and gives…
Estate gets extra time to make a late portability election
When one spouse dies without using all of their federal estate tax exemption, the leftover amount (the "deceased spousal unused exclusion," or DSUE) can be passed to the surviving spouse. But this…
Buyer gets late-election relief to treat an S-corp stock purchase as an asset purchase
A partnership bought all the stock of an S corporation through a disregarded subsidiary. The parties intended to treat the deal, for tax purposes, as if the S corporation had sold its assets rather…
Foreign entity gets late-election relief to be taxed as a corporation
A foreign business entity meant to be treated as a corporation for U.S. tax purposes from the day it was formed, which requires filing Form 8832 (an "entity classification" or "check-the-box"…
Laid-off startup employee gets more time to make a QSBS gain-rollover election
An early startup employee held qualified small business stock (QSBS), sold some of it after being laid off, and within 60 days used the proceeds to buy more stock in the same company. Section 1045…
Partnership gets late-election relief to deduct demolished building components
A partnership renovated a building it owned, demolishing parts of it (walls, windows, roofing, plumbing, HVAC, wiring). When you demolish part of a depreciable building, tax rules let you make a…
Fund gets late-election relief to self-certify as a Qualified Opportunity Fund
Investors rolled capital gains into an LLC intending it to be a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), a vehicle that lets taxpayers defer (and potentially reduce) tax on gains reinvested in economically…
LLC gets extra time to make a late section 754 basis-adjustment election
A partnership (an LLC taxed as a partnership) wanted to make a section 754 election, which lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its property when a partner's interest is transferred or…
LLC gets late-election relief to be taxed as a corporation
A single-member LLC, wholly owned by a corporation, meant to elect to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation for federal tax purposes (rather than being disregarded, which is the…
Parties received more time to elect asset-sale treatment for an S corporation stock sale
An S corporation's shareholders sold all of its stock to a purchaser, and the parties intended to treat the transaction as an asset sale under section 336(e). A qualified tax professional failed to…
Donor received 120 days to elect GST trust treatment for prior transfers
A donor created a trust for descendants and transferred cash and securities to it over two years. The donor instructed an attorney to elect on Form 709 to treat the trust as a generation-skipping…
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.