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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LLC received late Form 8832 corporate classification relief
A limited liability company intended to be taxed as an association taxable as a corporation, but its advisers did not tell it to file Form 8832. The company represented that it had always intended…
Historic-certification application received filing relief
A property owner hired a consultant to prepare and file an application for historic-status certification before a rehabilitation project was placed in service. The consultant prepared the…
Estate received time for QTIP and reverse QTIP elections
An estate intended to obtain the marital deduction for a trust benefiting the surviving spouse, but its attorney reported all trust assets as jointly owned property and made no QTIP election. The…
Consolidated group received 60 days to waive CNOL carryback
A consolidated group intended to waive the entire carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss, and its returns were filed consistently with that intent, but the required election…
Closed-year tax-exempt controlled entity election received relief
A corporation owned by a section 501(c)(3) organization was treated as a tax-exempt controlled entity and served as general partner of a low-income housing partnership. The taxpayer intended to…
Consolidated group receives late CNOL carryback waiver relief
The parent of a consolidated group intended to waive the entire carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss but failed to file a valid election with the return. The group filed…
Foreign insurer receives more time to elect domestic treatment
A foreign insurance company intended to elect under section 953(d) to be treated as a domestic corporation and join its parent's consolidated return. The return was prepared and filed as if the…
Tax-exempt controlled entity receives late depreciation election relief
A corporation owned by a section 501(c)(3) organization was a general partner in a partnership that developed low-income rental housing. The partnership depreciated its property as though the…
Consolidated group gets 60 days to waive a CNOL carryback after returning its refund
A consolidated corporate group generated a consolidated net operating loss (CNOL), carried it back to an earlier year, and received a refund. The parent later returned the refund and sought to make…
Consolidated group gets 60 days to waive a CNOL carryback after returning its refund
A consolidated corporate group generated a consolidated net operating loss (CNOL), carried it back to an earlier year, and received a refund. The parent later returned the refund and sought to make…
Tax-exempt-controlled corporation gets 75 days to make a late depreciation election
A tax-exempt organization wholly owned a corporation that served as general partner of a low-income housing partnership. Without an election under Section 168(h)(6)(F)(ii), the corporation would be…
Late relief granted for a consolidated group to elect to waive its net operating loss carryback
A corporate group that has a net operating loss (NOL) can normally carry it back to earlier years for a refund, but it can instead elect to waive the carryback and save the loss for future years.…
Late relief granted for a foreign-formed partnership to make a section 754 basis-adjustment election
A section 754 election lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its assets after a partner is admitted or an interest changes hands, so the incoming partner's inside basis lines up with the value…
Late relief granted for a foreign-formed partnership to make a section 754 basis-adjustment election
A section 754 election lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its assets after a partner is admitted or an interest changes hands, so the incoming partner's inside basis lines up with the value…
Late relief granted for a partnership to make a section 754 basis-adjustment election
A section 754 election lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its assets after a partner sells an interest, so the buyer's share of inside basis matches what they paid (often unlocking added…
Late relief granted for a partnership to make a section 754 basis-adjustment election
When someone buys into a partnership, a section 754 election lets the partnership adjust the tax basis of its assets so the new partner's inside basis matches what they paid, which can produce extra…
Late relief to make an IC-DISC election after the company mistakenly filed an S-corporation election instead
An interest-charge domestic international sales corporation (IC-DISC) is a special export-incentive entity, and a company has to elect that status by filing Form 4876-A within 90 days of starting…
Late relief granted for two depreciation and R&E elections missed when the firm e-filed the return late
Certain tax elections have to be made on a timely filed return, so a late return can cost the taxpayer the election. A consolidated group of corporations planned two such elections for one tax year:…
Late relief granted to file a "separate line of business" election for a retirement plan
A large employer that runs genuinely separate lines of business can test each one on its own for the coverage and nondiscrimination rules that retirement plans must satisfy, but only if it notifies…
Late-election relief lets a foreign entity file Form 8832 to be taxed as a partnership
A foreign business entity (X) intended to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal tax purposes as of the date it was formed, but it inadvertently missed the deadline to file Form 8832, the…
Late-election relief lets a foreign entity file Form 8832 to be taxed as a partnership
A foreign business entity (X) intended to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal tax purposes as of the date it was formed, but it inadvertently missed the deadline to file Form 8832, the…
Former consolidated parent gets 60 days to waive a CNOL carryback
A corporation was the parent of a consolidated group until an unrelated buyer acquired it, ending the old group's tax year and bringing the companies into a new consolidated group. The former parent…
Estate gets 120 days to make a QTIP election for a newly discovered asset
A decedent's will gave the surviving spouse a lifetime usufruct over the remaining estate property. The executor timely filed Form 706 but did not make a qualified terminable interest property…
Estate gets 120 days to allocate GST exemption to four trusts
A decedent created an irrevocable trust that was divided into three separate trusts for the primary benefit of the decedent's children. The governing instrument stated an intent for the original…
QDOT trustees get 120 days to report the surviving spouse's citizenship
A decedent's estate claimed the marital deduction for property passing to a qualified domestic trust because the surviving spouse was not a U.S. citizen. The spouse later became a citizen after…
Acquirer gets 60 days to make a late success-based fee safe-harbor election
A corporate group incurred success-based fees while acquiring another business. Its accounting firm prepared the election statement for the Revenue Procedure 2011-29 safe harbor but inadvertently…
Foreign entity gets 120 days to elect disregarded status
A foreign eligible entity with a single owner intended to be treated as a disregarded entity from its formation date. It inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The entity represented that…
Foreign entity gets 120 days to elect disregarded status
A foreign eligible entity with a single owner intended to be treated as a disregarded entity from its formation date. It inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The entity represented that…
Foreign entity gets 120 days to elect disregarded status
A foreign eligible entity with a single owner intended to be treated as a disregarded entity from its formation date. It inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The entity represented that…
Spouse gets 120 days to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocations
A donor created an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer tax potential and later made gifts to it over a series of years. The donor and spouse intended not to allocate their GST…
Spouse gets 120 days to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocations
A donor created an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer tax potential and later made gifts to it over a series of years. The donor and spouse intended not to allocate their GST…
Donor gets 120 days to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocations
A donor created an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer tax potential and later made gifts to it over a series of years. The donor and spouse intended not to allocate their GST…
Spouse gets 120 days to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocations
A donor created an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer tax potential and later made gifts to it over a series of years. The donor and spouse intended not to allocate their GST…
Donor gets 120 days to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocations
A donor created an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer tax potential and later made gifts to it over a series of years. The donor and spouse intended not to allocate their GST…
Donor gets 120 days to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocations
A donor created an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer tax potential and later made gifts to it over a series of years. The donor and spouse intended not to allocate their GST…
Affiliated group gets 60 days to file its first consolidated return
A corporate parent created a new affiliated group by acquiring another corporation and intended to file a consolidated federal income tax return for the group. It failed to make a valid election…
Parties get 45 days to file a late Section 336(e) election statement
An LLC taxed as a partnership bought all the stock of an S corporation from its shareholders, and the parties represented that the sale was a qualified stock disposition. They timely entered a…
Estate gets 120 days to make a late portability election
A decedent left a surviving spouse and an unused portion of the federal estate and gift tax exclusion. The estate represented that it was not otherwise required to file Form 706 because of the gross…
Surviving LLC gets 120 days to elect corporate classification after a merger
An S corporation merged into an LLC, with the LLC surviving, and the parties intended the transaction to qualify as an IRC § 368(a)(1)(F) reorganization. The LLC also intended to be treated as an S…
Partnership gets 120 days to make a late Section 754 election
A limited partnership intended to make an IRC § 754 election after a partner died but failed to include a properly executed election with its return. The partnership represented that the failure was…
Real estate developer gets 45 days to make a late debt-income exclusion election
A real estate developer recognized cancellation-of-debt income after a wholly owned LLC purchased debt that had financed a condominium project. The developer's accountant reported the income on the…
LLC gets late classification and S elections plus inadvertent-termination relief
An LLC intended to be treated as an S corporation from its formation date, but it did not timely file either its entity-classification election or its S corporation election. Its sole shareholder…
LLC gets late classification and S elections plus inadvertent-termination relief
An LLC intended to be treated as an S corporation from its formation date, but it did not timely file either its entity-classification election or its S corporation election. Its sole shareholder…
LLC gets late classification and S elections plus inadvertent-termination relief
An LLC intended to be treated as an S corporation from its formation date, but it did not timely file either its entity-classification election or its S corporation election. Its sole shareholder…
LLC gets late classification and S elections plus inadvertent-termination relief
An LLC intended to be treated as an S corporation from its formation date, but it did not timely file either its entity-classification election or its S corporation election. Its sole shareholder…
IRS grants an estate extra time to make a late portability election
When one spouse dies without using all of their federal estate and gift tax exemption, the surviving spouse can inherit the leftover amount (the "deceased spousal unused exclusion," or DSUE) through…
IRS grants an estate extra time to make a late portability election
When one spouse dies without using all of their federal estate and gift tax exemption, the surviving spouse can inherit the leftover amount (the "deceased spousal unused exclusion," or DSUE) through…
Partnership gets 120 extra days to make a late Section 754 basis-adjustment election
A limited partnership meant to make a Section 754 election, which lets a partnership adjust the tax basis of its assets after a partner dies or a partnership interest changes hands, so the new owner…
Private foundation gets 60 extra days to make a late conduit-foundation election so its donors keep the 50% deduction limit
A private foundation that regrants money to other charities wanted "conduit foundation" treatment, which lets its individual donors deduct contributions at the higher 50 percent of income limit…
S corporation gets 120 extra days to make a late QSub election for its wholly owned subsidiary
An S corporation wholly owns a subsidiary corporation and wanted the subsidiary treated as a "qualified subchapter S subsidiary" (QSub). A QSub election makes the subsidiary invisible for tax…
Foreign entity gets 120 extra days to elect to be treated as a disregarded entity
A foreign business entity with a single owner wanted to be treated as a "disregarded entity" for U.S. tax purposes, meaning it is ignored as a separate taxpayer and its activities are reported…
Spouse gets 120 extra days to elect out of automatic GST exemption allocation on years of gifts to a trust
A donor set up an irrevocable trust for his children and their descendants, and over many years he and his spouse made gifts to it and split those gifts on their gift tax returns. Gifts to that kind…
Donor gets 120 extra days to elect out of automatic GST exemption allocation on years of gifts to a trust
A donor set up an irrevocable trust for his children and their descendants, and over many years he and his spouse made gifts to it and split those gifts on their gift tax returns. Gifts to that kind…
Spouse gets 120 extra days to elect out of automatic GST exemption allocation on years of gifts to a trust
A donor set up an irrevocable trust for his children and their descendants, and over many years he and his spouse made gifts to it and split those gifts on their gift tax returns. Gifts to that kind…
Donor gets 120 extra days to elect out of automatic GST exemption allocation on years of gifts to a trust
A donor set up an irrevocable trust for his children and their descendants, and over many years he and his spouse made gifts to it and split those gifts on their gift tax returns. Gifts to that kind…
Entity gets late relief to be taxed as a corporation and to elect S corporation status
An eligible business entity wanted two things effective on the same date: to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation (rather than a partnership or disregarded entity), and to be…
Lower-tier partnership gets 120 extra days to make a late Section 754 election
A partner in an upper-tier partnership died, and both that partnership and a lower-tier partnership it partly owned failed to make timely Section 754 elections for the year. The lower-tier…
Upper-tier partnership gets 120 extra days to make a late Section 754 election
A partner in an upper-tier partnership died, and both that partnership and a lower-tier partnership it partly owned failed to make timely Section 754 elections for the year. The upper-tier…
Foreign entity gets 120 extra days to elect partnership classification
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a partnership for U.S. federal tax purposes from the date it was formed. It missed the deadline to file Form 8832, the form used to make an…
Foreign entity gets 120 extra days to elect partnership classification
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a partnership for U.S. federal tax purposes from the date it was formed. It missed the deadline to file Form 8832, the form used to make an…
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.