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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Couple receives 60 days to make a late investment-income election
A married couple had investment-interest expense and capital gain from property held for investment, but their longtime accountant did not advise them to elect on Form 4952 to include part of the…
Foreign entity receives 120 days to elect disregarded status
A foreign eligible entity failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect disregarded-entity status with its requested effective date. The IRS found that the entity met the standards in Treas. Reg. §§…
Foreign entity receives 120 days to elect disregarded status
A foreign eligible entity failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect disregarded-entity status with its requested effective date. The IRS found that the entity met the standards in Treas. Reg. §§…
Parties receive extra time to complete a section 336(e) election
A partnership purchased at least 80 percent of an S corporation's stock from its shareholders, after which the target converted to an LLC. The parties intended to make a section 336(e) election so…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
A decedent's estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 because the represented gross estate and adjusted taxable gifts were below the filing threshold. The estate had unused exclusion…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
A decedent's estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 because the represented gross estate and adjusted taxable gifts were below the filing threshold. The estate had unused exclusion…
S corporation receives 120 days to make a late QSub election
An S corporation wholly owned one subsidiary, which in turn wholly owned a second subsidiary. The parent had elected to treat the first subsidiary as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary and intended…
LLC receives 120 days to make a late corporate classification election
A limited liability company intended from its formation to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation for federal tax purposes. It did not timely file Form 8832 to make that…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 because the decedent's gross estate and adjusted taxable gifts were below the filing threshold. The decedent left a surviving spouse and an…
LLC receives relief for late corporate classification and S elections
A limited liability company intended to be treated as an S corporation from a redacted effective date but inadvertently failed to file Form 2553 properly and on time. Because an LLC must first be…
Foreign entity receives 120 days to make a late disregarded-entity election
A foreign entity wholly owned by a U.S. citizen was formed to hold interests in another entity. It became relevant for U.S. tax purposes on a redacted date and intended to be classified as…
Foreign entity receives 120 days to make a late partnership election
A foreign entity owned by a U.S. citizen and another investor was formed to hold interests in another entity. It became relevant for U.S. tax purposes on a redacted date and intended to be…
Estate receives relief for late alternate valuation election
An estate's personal representative intended to elect the alternate valuation method under section 2032 after receiving advice about its potential benefits. The necessary alternate-date appraisals…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded-entity election relief
A foreign entity intended to elect disregarded-entity treatment but did not timely file Form 8832. It represented that it was eligible for the election, acted reasonably and in good faith, did not…
Taxpayer may elect out of automatic GST allocation for two GRATs
A taxpayer created two grantor retained annuity trusts, transferred company stock to them, and intended to elect out of automatic generation-skipping transfer exemption allocation. The taxpayer's…
S corporation received more time to make a QSub election
An S corporation acquired all the stock of a subsidiary and intended to treat it as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub) from the acquisition date. The corporation failed to file Form 8869 on…
Taxpayer received 45 days to file a duplicate Form 3115
An S corporation timely attached an original Form 3115 to its federal return for two accounting method changes affecting its QSub subsidiaries. Its accounting firm was also supposed to send the…
Affiliated group received more time to elect consolidated filing
A domestic parent corporation and its affiliated group failed to make a timely election to file a consolidated federal income tax return. The limitations period remained open, the parent was not…
Taxpayer received more time for success-fee safe harbor election
A corporation paid contingent financial-advisor fees in connection with a taxable acquisition of all its stock. Its return preparer applied the Revenue Procedure 2011-29 safe harbor, which treats 70…
Estate received more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
A decedent's estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 because of the represented value of the gross estate and taxable gifts. The estate nevertheless needed a timely estate tax return to…
Taxpayer received 45 days to file a duplicate Form 3115
An S corporation timely attached an original Form 3115 to its federal return for two accounting method changes affecting its QSub subsidiary. Its accounting firm was also supposed to send the…
Taxpayer receives 45 days to file a success-fee safe-harbor election
A partnership paid success-based financial advisory fees in connection with acquisitions of broadband businesses. Its return preparer analyzed the fees under Revenue Procedure 2011-29 and prepared…
Late section 336(e) election statement receives filing relief
A buyer acquired all the stock of an S corporation in a transaction represented to be a qualified stock disposition. The S corporation and its shareholder timely signed a binding agreement to make a…
Taxpayer receives 60 days to correct a success-fee election
A taxpayer incurred success-based fees when its ownership interests were sold and intended to use the Revenue Procedure 2011-29 safe harbor. Severe weather prevented its return-extension form from…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
An estate was not otherwise required to file Form 706 because its gross estate and adjusted taxable gifts were below the section 6018(a) filing threshold. The decedent left a surviving spouse and an…
LLC receives 120 days to file a corporate classification election
A domestic limited liability company intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation from a specified date. It failed to file Form 8832 within the normal election period and…
Investment company receives 90 days for a foreign-tax pass-through election
A regulated investment company intended to elect under section 853 to pass through foreign taxes to its shareholders. Its timely Form 1120-RIC consistently reflected that election, but the…
Spouses receive 120 days to opt out of automatic GST allocations
A married couple made split gifts over several years to five irrevocable trusts with generation-skipping potential. Their attorney prepared the gift tax returns but did not advise them about the…
Spouses receive 120 days to opt out of automatic GST allocations
A married couple made split gifts over several years to five irrevocable trusts with generation-skipping potential. Their attorney prepared the gift tax returns but did not advise them about the…
Partnership received 120 days to make late section 754 election
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership intended to make a section 754 election but inadvertently omitted a valid election from its timely filed return. It represented that it acted…
Late Form 1128 treated as timely filed
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 after the deadline for requesting an accounting-period change under Revenue Procedure 2006-46. It sought discretionary relief under Treasury Regulation section 301.9100-3…
Late section 336(e) election statement received filing extension
Shareholders sold all stock of an S corporation to a partnership through a disregarded entity, and the parties had a timely written agreement to make a section 336(e) election treating the stock…
Late section 336(e) election received conditional relief
Shareholders sold all stock of an S corporation to a partnership and entered a timely written agreement to make a section 336(e) election, but the S corporation's return and election statement were…
Section 336(e) agreement and statement received late-election relief
A partnership acquired all stock of an S corporation through a disregarded entity, and the parties intended to treat the stock sale as an asset disposition under section 336(e). They relied on a…
Foreign entity received 120 days for late Form 8832
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect disregarded-entity status but did not timely file Form 8832. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and that relief would not prejudice…
Foreign entity received late disregarded-entity election relief
A foreign eligible entity failed to timely file Form 8832 electing disregarded-entity status from the date it was organized. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and that relief…
Housing project gets 120 days to make 40-60 set-aside election
The owner of a multiple-building low-income housing project intended to elect the 40-60 minimum set-aside under section 42(g)(1)(B). It inadvertently omitted the election from the Form 8609…
Late REIT election treated as timely
A single-member limited liability company intended to elect real estate investment trust status for its first taxable year as a corporation. Its tax firm mistakenly omitted the company's Form 7004…
Partnership gets 120 days to make late section 754 election
A limited partnership intended to make a section 754 election after a partner died and partnership interests passed through a trust. The partnership instructed its tax advisors to make the election,…
Estate gets 120 days to make portability election
An estate that represented it was not otherwise required to file Form 706 sought extra time to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion. Although an estate-tax return…
LLC gets 120 days to elect partnership classification
A multi-member limited liability company had initially elected corporate classification for federal tax purposes. It later intended to be treated as a partnership from a specified effective date but…
IRS grants extra time for subsidiaries to file LIFO elections
After acquiring a corporate group, a taxpayer discovered that the former parent’s tax adviser had failed to advise that LIFO computations must be performed entity by entity and that each…
IRS grants late success-based-fee safe-harbor election
A corporation incurred success-based fees in an acquisition and reported them using Revenue Procedure 2011-29’s 70-percent deduction and 30-percent capitalization safe harbor. Its accounting firm…
IRS grants late Form 5471 accounting-period election
A taxpayer missed the deadline to file Form 5471 electing under section 898(c)(2) a controlled foreign corporation tax year beginning one month before the majority U.S. shareholder year. The…
IRS grants late Form 5471 accounting-period election
A taxpayer missed the deadline to file Form 5471 electing under section 898(c)(2) a controlled foreign corporation tax year beginning one month before the majority U.S. shareholder year. The…
IRS grants late Form 5471 accounting-period election
A taxpayer missed the deadline to file Form 5471 electing under section 898(c)(2) a controlled foreign corporation tax year beginning one month before the majority U.S. shareholder year. The…
IRS grants late Form 5471 accounting-period election
A taxpayer missed the deadline to file Form 5471 electing under section 898(c)(2) a controlled foreign corporation tax year beginning one month before the majority U.S. shareholder year. The…
IRS grants late Form 5471 accounting-period election
A taxpayer missed the deadline to file Form 5471 electing under section 898(c)(2) a controlled foreign corporation tax year beginning one month before the majority U.S. shareholder year. The…
IRS grants late disregarded-entity election for foreign entity
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as disregarded from its formation date, but Form 8832 was not timely filed because of inadvertence. The IRS found the section 301.9100…
IRS grants late consolidated-return election
A parent corporation failed to make a valid consolidated-return election by the return deadline after reasonably relying on a qualified tax professional. The IRS found that the parent acted…
IRS grants late Form 5471 accounting-period election
A taxpayer missed the deadline to file Form 5471 electing under section 898(c)(2) a controlled foreign corporation tax year beginning one month before the majority U.S. shareholder year. The…
IRS grants late Form 5471 accounting-period election
A taxpayer missed the deadline to file Form 5471 electing under section 898(c)(2) a controlled foreign corporation tax year beginning one month before the majority U.S. shareholder year. The…
IRS grants late Form 5471 accounting-period election
A taxpayer missed the deadline to file Form 5471 electing under section 898(c)(2) a controlled foreign corporation tax year beginning one month before the majority U.S. shareholder year. The…
IRS grants late Form 5471 accounting-period election
A taxpayer missed the deadline to file Form 5471 electing under section 898(c)(2) a controlled foreign corporation tax year beginning one month before the majority U.S. shareholder year. The…
IRS grants foreign entity late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity wholly owned by a domestic partnership inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 electing disregarded-entity status from its formation date. The IRS granted 120 days to file…
IRS grants late section 336(e) election
A partnership purchaser acquired all stock of an S corporation, which later liquidated, and the parties intended asset-sale treatment but missed the section 336(e) election requirements. The IRS…
IRS grants late section 336(e) election statement
Purchasers acquired more than 80 percent of an S corporation’s stock in a represented qualified stock disposition, but the target’s return and section 336(e) election statement were not timely…
IRS grants late trust 65-day election
A trust made a distribution within the first 65 days of a new tax year and intended to treat it as paid on the last day of the preceding year under section 663(b), but inadvertently missed the…
IRS grants extra time for a consolidated-return election
A corporate parent and its affiliated group failed to timely make the election to file a consolidated federal income tax return. The parent sought regulatory relief before the IRS discovered the…
Late trader mark-to-market election denied because hindsight created an advantage
Married taxpayers asked for extra time to elect the section 475(f) mark-to-market method for the husband's securities trading activity. They filed the election months after its due date, after a…
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.