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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Foreign entity receives extra time for disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes, but Form 8832 was not timely filed. The IRS concluded that the entity acted reasonably and in…
Late Form 8832 allowed for foreign disregarded entity
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect disregarded-entity status but did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS found that the requirements for discretionary filing relief were met and granted a…
IRS grants late disregarded-entity classification election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as disregarded from its single owner, but it inadvertently missed the Form 8832 filing deadline. The IRS granted a 120-day extension to make the…
Foreign company may file late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be disregarded as separate from its owner but failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS determined that the entity qualified for discretionary election relief…
Filing extension granted for foreign entity classification election
A foreign eligible entity wanted disregarded-entity treatment effective from a specified date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832. The IRS granted 120 days to submit the late election. The…
Filing extension granted for foreign entity classification election
A foreign eligible entity wanted disregarded-entity treatment effective from a specified date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832. The IRS granted 120 days to submit the late election. The…
Filing extension granted for foreign entity classification election
A foreign eligible entity wanted disregarded-entity treatment effective from a specified date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832. The IRS granted 120 days to submit the late election. The…
Late accounting-period change application treated as timely
A corporation sought to change its tax year from June 30 to March 31 but filed Form 1128 after the short-period return deadline in Revenue Procedure 2006-45. It requested discretionary relief…
Late private activity bond volume-cap carryforward election accepted
A public housing agency received a state allocation of private activity bond volume cap for tax-exempt financing of a residential rental project. Because this was its first bond issue requiring a…
Late accounting-period change application treated as timely
A corporation sought to change its tax year from December 31 to February 28 but filed Form 1128 after the short-period return deadline in Revenue Procedure 2006-45. It requested discretionary relief…
Renewable energy partnership receives time to elect investment tax credits
A partnership with a tax equity investor intended to claim investment tax credits instead of production tax credits for renewable energy facilities. Its return preparer said it intended and believed…
Corporate group receives time to elect consolidated return filing
A domestic parent corporation and its affiliated group failed to timely elect consolidated federal income tax return filing by submitting a valid consolidated return. The group requested relief…
Real estate professional gets late relief to treat all rental properties as one activity
A taxpayer in a real property business qualified to make the election under IRC § 469(c)(7)(A) that treats all of his rental real estate interests as a single activity, which can make it easier to…
Late relief to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation for 24 GRATs
Over eight years, a taxpayer funded 24 grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), three each year, with the remainders passing to three trusts for her three children and their descendants. When each…
Late relief to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation for four GRATs
A married couple funded four grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) over several years, with the remainders passing to trusts for their two sons. When each GRAT's estate-tax inclusion period…
Late relief to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation for four GRATs
A married couple funded four grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) over several years, with the remainders passing to trusts for their two sons. When each GRAT's estate-tax inclusion period…
Corporation gets extra time to file the original Forms 3115 it forgot to attach
A domestic C corporation in a consolidated group made three automatic accounting-method changes for a tax year (covering prepaid liabilities, vacation pay, and marketing-allowance rebates) and filed…
Foreign entity gets late relief to elect partnership treatment on Form 8832
A foreign business entity eligible to choose its U.S. federal tax classification wanted to be treated as a partnership but failed to file Form 8832 (the "check-the-box" election) on time. Without…
Foreign entity gets late relief to elect partnership treatment on Form 8832
A foreign business entity eligible to choose its U.S. federal tax classification wanted to be treated as a partnership but failed to file Form 8832 (the "check-the-box" election) on time. Without…
Foreign entity gets late relief to elect partnership treatment on Form 8832
A foreign business entity that was eligible to choose how it is classified for U.S. federal tax purposes wanted to be treated as a partnership, but failed to file Form 8832 (the "check-the-box"…
LLC partnership gets late relief to make a Section 754 basis-adjustment election
A state limited liability company taxed as a partnership timely filed its return for the year in which interests were transferred, but inadvertently left off the election under IRC § 754. That…
Partnership joint venture gets late relief to make a Section 754 basis-adjustment election
A joint venture taxed as a partnership timely filed its return for the year in which partnership interests were transferred, but forgot to attach the election under IRC § 754. A § 754 election lets…
Trust gets extra time to make the 65-day election for a late-year distribution
A trust made a distribution to a beneficiary within the first 65 days of a tax year and wanted to treat it, under IRC § 663(b), as if it had been paid on the last day of the prior year. That…
Grants a married couple a late election to group all rental real estate as one activity
A married couple, one of whom was in a real property business, missed the election under § 469(c)(7) that lets a qualifying taxpayer treat all rental real estate as a single activity for the passive…
Grants a corporation a late safe-harbor election for success-based deal fees
A corporation that was acquired in a merger paid success-based fees to a financial adviser and a legal adviser, fees owed only because the deal closed. Tax law presumes such fees must be capitalized…
Grants a married couple a late election to group all rental real estate as one activity
A married couple, one of whom worked in a real property business, wanted to treat all of their rental real estate as a single activity for the passive activity loss rules under § 469(c)(7). Making…
Late disregarded-entity election approved before automatic partnership classification
A domestic limited liability company began with one member and later added members. It intended to be disregarded as separate from its owner from formation and then treated as a partnership when the…
Partnership receives time to make a late section 754 election
A limited partnership had partnership interests transferred during a tax year and timely filed its return, but inadvertently omitted the section 754 election. That election permits basis adjustments…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late QTIP election
A decedent left the residuary estate in a trust that paid all net income to the surviving spouse at least quarterly for life, with the remainder later held for descendants. The estate timely filed…
S corporation receives 120 days to file a late QSub election
An S corporation intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary treatment for a wholly owned subsidiary but failed to file Form 8869 on time. It reported all relevant tax years consistently…
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A partnership distributed property to a retiring partner and intended to elect under section 754 to adjust partnership property basis, but it inadvertently omitted the election from its timely…
Parties receive 45 days to file a late section 336(e) election statement
Purchasers acquired all stock of an S corporation from its shareholders, and the parties had timely signed a binding agreement to make a section 336(e) election that would treat the stock sale as an…
Consolidated group receives 60 days to correct its Form 3115 filing
A corporate group intended to use the automatic-consent procedures to change its accounting method for certain prepaid expenses to the 12-month rule. Its tax adviser attached Form 3115 to the timely…
Foreign entity receives 120 days to make a late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect disregarded-entity status from its intended effective date. The IRS found that the entity satisfied the standards for…
Foreign entity receives 120 days to make a late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect disregarded-entity status from its formation date. The IRS found that the entity satisfied the standards for regulatory-election…
Foreign entity receives 120 days to make a late partnership election
A foreign eligible entity failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect partnership status from its formation date. The IRS found that the entity satisfied the standards for regulatory-election relief…
Foreign entity receives 120 days to make a late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect disregarded-entity status from its formation date. The IRS found that the entity satisfied the standards for regulatory-election…
Foreign entity receives 120 days to make a late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect disregarded-entity status from its formation date. The IRS found that the entity satisfied the standards for regulatory-election…
Estate receives 120 days to allocate unused GST exemption
A married couple created a revocable trust that later divided into separate trusts, and the trust became irrevocable at the surviving spouse's death. The estate timely filed Form 706 but failed to…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability of unused exclusion
A decedent's estate was below the estate tax filing threshold, and the surviving spouse inherited the estate through the marital deduction. The spouse hired an experienced accountant to advise on…
Tax-exempt controlled entity received 45 days to make late election
A corporation wholly owned by a section 501(c)(3) organization intended to elect under section 168(h)(6)(F)(ii) not to be treated as a tax-exempt controlled entity. Its tax preparer filed the…
Foreign entity received 120 days to file late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its formation date but did not timely file Form 8832. It represented that the omission occurred despite reasonable, good-faith…
Foreign entity received 120 days to file late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its formation date but did not timely file Form 8832. It represented that the omission occurred despite reasonable, good-faith…
Foreign entity received 120 days to file late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its formation date but did not timely file Form 8832. It represented that the omission occurred despite reasonable, good-faith…
Parties receive more time to file a section 336(e) election statement
A purchaser acquired all the stock of an S corporation target through a disregarded entity. The seller and target had a timely written agreement to make a section 336(e) election, but the target's…
Taxpayer gets 60 days to file omitted success-fee safe-harbor election
A taxpayer acquired a company and used the Rev. Proc. 2011-29 safe harbor to deduct 70 percent of its success-based transaction fees and capitalize the other 30 percent. Its timely filed return…
Estate gets 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return missed the deadline to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. Based on the submitted…
Consolidated group gets 60 days to waive its loss carryback period
A consolidated corporate group intended to waive the entire carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss, and its returns consistently reflected that intent. A qualified tax professional…
Parties get extra time for a section 336(e) asset-sale election
A disregarded buyer acquired all the stock of an S corporation, and the parties intended to treat the transaction as an asset sale under section 336(e). They missed the deadline to execute the…
S corporation gets extra time to file its section 336(e) election statement
A buyer acquired more than 80 percent of an S corporation's stock, and the sellers and target timely signed an agreement to elect asset-sale treatment under section 336(e). The target's return and…
Foreign entity gets 120 days for a late corporate-classification election
A foreign eligible entity had filed an erroneous election to be treated as a partnership and sought to elect corporate tax status effective on the same redacted date. The entity represented that it…
Foreign entity gets 120 days for a late disregarded-entity election
A single-owner foreign eligible entity was classified by default as a corporation because its owner had limited liability. During a reorganization, the entity transferred its assets and liabilities…
Estate gets 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return missed the deadline to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion. Based on the submitted…
Taxpayer receives 60-day extension to complete accounting-method filing
A corporate taxpayer requested extra time to complete the procedural filing for an automatic accounting-method change. It had timely attached Form 3115 to its return to switch a subcontractor…
Trust receives 120-day extension for charitable-contribution election
A trust made charitable contributions during one tax year and intended to elect under section 642(c) to treat them as paid in the preceding year. Its tax adviser inadvertently failed to file the…
Trust receives 120-day extension for charitable-contribution election
A trust made charitable contributions during one tax year and intended to elect under section 642(c) to treat them as paid in the preceding year. Its tax adviser inadvertently failed to file the…
Trust receives 120-day extension for charitable-contribution election
A trust made charitable contributions during one tax year and intended to elect under section 642(c) to treat them as paid in the preceding year. Its tax adviser inadvertently failed to file the…
Estate receives 120-day extension to make QTIP election
A decedent's revocable trust created a marital trust that paid income to the surviving spouse and held only assets intended to qualify for the estate-tax marital deduction. The estate's return…
REIT receives 90-day extension for taxable-subsidiary election
A real estate investment trust and a subsidiary intended to elect taxable REIT subsidiary status effective from the subsidiary's formation. Their outside law firm believed the accounting firm would…
Tax-exempt controlled corporation receives late section 168 election relief
A corporation wholly owned by a tax-exempt organization was a limited partner in a partnership formed to operate low-income housing. The partnership agreement required the corporation to elect under…
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.