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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Companion ruling grants the other spouse extra time to elect out of automatic GST exemption allocation to a GRAT
This is the companion to PLR 201839012, covering the other gift-splitting spouse for the same grantor retained annuity trust (GRAT). A taxpayer created a GRAT that continued for family members after…
Fund company gets more time to make the joint election that shifts a built-in loss from asset basis to stock basis
When property with a built-in loss (basis higher than value) is contributed to a corporation in a tax-free § 351 exchange, § 362(e)(2) normally forces the receiving corporation to reduce its basis…
Spouse granted extra time to elect out of automatic GST exemption allocation to a GRAT
A taxpayer created a grantor retained annuity trust (GRAT) that continued for family members after the annuity term ended, giving it generation-skipping transfer (GST) potential. The taxpayer and…
Parent company gets extra time to elect to file a consolidated return for the year it acquired a group of subsidiaries
A group of affiliated corporations can choose to file one combined ("consolidated") federal income tax return instead of separate returns, but the group makes that election simply by filing the…
Corporation gets more time to file the election to be treated as an IC-DISC after its form went missing
An interest-charge domestic international sales corporation (IC-DISC) is a special export tax vehicle that lets qualifying exporters defer some U.S. tax on export income. To claim that status, a…
Corporation gets more time to file the election to be treated as an IC-DISC after its form went missing
An interest-charge domestic international sales corporation (IC-DISC) is a special export tax vehicle that lets qualifying exporters defer some U.S. tax on export income. To claim that status, a…
Partnership gets more time to make a section 754 basis-adjustment election it missed
When someone buys into a partnership, the partnership can make a § 754 election so the new partner's share of the partnership's assets gets a basis adjustment that matches what they paid, which…
Extra time granted to elect out of automatic GST exemption allocation after accountant missed it
A taxpayer set up a grantor retained annuity trust (GRAT) that, once the annuity term ended, continued for the benefit of the taxpayer's descendants, meaning it could later generate a…
Late allocation of GST exemption to a charitable lead trust is allowed after the accountant forgot to make it
A married couple set up and funded an irrevocable charitable lead unitrust that pays a foundation for 20 years, then hands the remainder to their grandchildren. Because the grandchildren are two…
Late relief to elect out of bonus depreciation on rehabbed leasehold improvements
Two partnerships that buy, rehabilitate, and lease real estate placed qualified leasehold improvement property in service and claimed the § 47 rehabilitation credit on it. When you claim that…
Late relief granted to elect partnership classification
A foreign business entity, owned by foreign persons, wanted to be classified as a partnership for U.S. federal tax purposes once it became relevant to U.S. tax, but it missed the deadline to file…
Late relief granted to waive an NOL carryback for a consolidated group
The parent company of a consolidated group had a consolidated net operating loss (CNOL) for one tax year. It meant to give up the right to carry that loss back to earlier years (so it could instead…
120-day extension granted to make a late QSub election for a wholly owned subsidiary
An S corporation acquired all the stock of another S corporation and intended to fold it in as a "qualified subchapter S subsidiary" (QSub), which makes the subsidiary disappear for tax purposes so…
Late-election relief granted for an S corporation to file its §336(e) statement
Two individuals bought all the stock of an S corporation for cash and a note, and the buyers, sellers, and company signed a binding agreement to treat the stock sale as an asset sale under IRC…
Late-election relief granted to file a §336(e) statement treating a stock sale as an asset sale
A buyer (a partnership) acquired all the stock of a target corporation, and the parties agreed to treat the stock sale as an asset sale under IRC Section 336(e), which can give the buyer a…
Grants 45 days for late section 338(g) elections for seven CFCs
A foreign corporation acquired a foreign target in a qualified stock purchase and made section 338 elections for the target, a foreign subsidiary, and the parent of a consolidated group. It also…
Grants 120 days for late GST exemption allocation
An estate timely filed its federal estate and generation-skipping transfer tax return, but its CPA failed to allocate the decedent's available GST exemption to a trust with generation-skipping…
Grants 120 days for late section 754 election
A limited partnership failed to make a timely section 754 election for the year in which one of its partners died. The partnership represented that the omission was inadvertent, that it acted…
Grants late GST allocations for pre-2001 trust transfers
Two taxpayers established an irrevocable trust for their children and descendants, then made additional community-property transfers to it in a year ending on or before December 31, 2000. Their…
Grants late partnership election for foreign entity
A foreign entity owned through foreign and domestic entities intended to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal tax purposes from its formation date. Its domestic S corporation owner…
Late election to file a consolidated return is allowed after a missed filing
A corporation became the parent of a new affiliated group after acquiring another company and its subsidiaries. The group meant to file a single consolidated federal income tax return for the year,…
Grants extension for omitted section 754 election
A partnership failed to include a section 754 election with its return for the year an individual partner died. The partnership represented that the omission was inadvertent, that it acted…
Grants late partnership classification election for foreign entity
A foreign entity intended to be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes from its formation date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the entity…
Grants late disregarded entity election for foreign entity
A foreign entity intended to be classified as disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes from its formation date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the…
Grants late disregarded entity election for foreign entity
A foreign entity intended to be classified as disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes from its formation date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the…
Grants late disregarded entity election for foreign entity
A foreign entity intended to be classified as disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes from its formation date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the…
Grants late disregarded entity election for foreign entity
A foreign entity intended to be classified as disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes from its formation date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the…
Grants extension for missed IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation for its parent. A misunderstanding over which adviser would file Form 4876-A caused the…
Grants more time to file a loss-property basis election statement
A corporate parent requested extra time to file the statement required for a joint election under section 362(e)(2)(C). A subsidiary had transferred stock with a tax basis above fair market value to…
Grants more time for a foreign subsidiary's loss-property basis election
A corporate parent requested extra time to file the statement required for a joint election under section 362(e)(2)(C). A controlled foreign corporation had transferred stock with a tax basis above…
Grants time to divide a trust and make a QTIP election
A decedent's revocable trust became irrevocable at death and held the residuary estate, including a retirement account, for the surviving spouse during life with the remainder going to charities.…
Late election to defer a low-income housing credit period
A partnership placed a single-building low-income housing project in service but inadvertently failed to elect to begin its 10-year credit period in the following taxable year. It asked the IRS for…
Late success-fee safe-harbor election granted
A corporation acquired another company and treated its success-based investment banking fees under the safe harbor in Revenue Procedure 2011-29. It deducted 70 percent of the fees and capitalized 30…
A partnership gets to keep its straight-line depreciation election after filing late
An LLC taxed as a partnership built a mixed-use real estate development and, based on a cost segregation study, broke it into 5-year, 7-year, 15-year, and real property. It wanted to depreciate the…
A private foundation gets extra time to make a missed corpus-distribution election
A private foundation received large stock contributions from substantial donors and made grants, but it did not distribute a full 100 percent of those contributions in the same year. To help its…
Foreign entity receives late corporate-classification relief
A foreign eligible entity's owner intended the entity to be classified as a corporation for federal tax purposes, but the entity did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the entity met…
Partnership received 120 days to make late Section 754 election
A professional-services limited liability company treated as a partnership missed the deadline to make a Section 754 election for the year in which a buyer acquired a partnership interest. The…
Company received 60 days to file late LIFO election
A parent company transferred LIFO inventory to an indirectly owned subsidiary in a Section 351 transaction. The subsidiary consistently used LIFO for tax and financial reporting, but the group's tax…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late QDOT election
A decedent left the residue of his estate to his surviving spouse, who was not a United States citizen. Tax advisers told the spouse that a qualified domestic trust was needed for the estate to…
Late success-based-fee safe-harbor election granted
A consolidated corporate group paid a contingent adviser fee for an acquisition and reported the fee using Revenue Procedure 2011-29’s safe harbor, deducting 70 percent and capitalizing 30 percent.…
Grants 120 days for late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its formation date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The entity initially had one owner and later became wholly…
Grants late disregarded-entity election before partnership conversion
A foreign eligible entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its formation date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It initially had one owner and later became a…
Grants 120 days for foreign entity's late classification election
A foreign eligible entity had been indirectly wholly owned by the same taxpayer since its formation. It intended to elect disregarded-entity status from that date but inadvertently failed to file…
Grants 120 days for wholly owned foreign entity's late election
A foreign eligible entity had been wholly owned by one taxpayer since it was formed. It intended to be treated as disregarded from its formation date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on…
Grants late election before foreign entity became a partnership
A foreign eligible entity intended to be disregarded from its formation date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It was initially wholly owned by one taxpayer and later became a…
Grants 45 days for late success-fee safe-harbor election
A corporation paid a success-based financial advisory fee in connection with a stock acquisition. Its tax preparer did not advise it to elect the Revenue Procedure 2011-29 safe harbor, which…
Grants 60 days for late consolidated-return election
A corporation became the parent of a new affiliated group after acquiring a subsidiary. The group intended to file a consolidated federal return but failed to make a valid election under Treasury…
Grants 45 days to attach omitted success-fee election
A foreign entity taxed as a partnership incurred success-based fees when buyers acquired its direct and indirect ownership interests. Its return treated 70 percent of the fees as nonfacilitative and…
Grants foreign subsidiary's late disregarded-entity election
A foreign limited liability company formed a wholly owned foreign subsidiary and intended to treat it as disregarded from formation. The subsidiary did not timely file a valid Form 8832, but its…
Grants 120 days for late estate portability election
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate and gift tax exclusion to the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the decedent's…
Grants late Section 336(e) stock-disposition election
A partnership-taxed buyer acquired all stock of an S corporation from its shareholders for cash. The parties later decided to make a Section 336(e) election so the qualified stock disposition would…
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late Section 754 election
A partnership failed to make a Section 754 election for the year in which one owner sold its interest to the remaining and incoming owners. The election would permit a transferee-specific adjustment…
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late Section 754 election
A partnership failed to make a Section 754 election for the year in which one owner sold its interest to the remaining and incoming owners. The election would permit a transferee-specific adjustment…
Estate receives 120 days to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A decedent transferred cash to an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer tax potential but did not intend to allocate GST exemption to the transfer. The accounting firm preparing the…
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late Section 754 election
A partnership failed to make a Section 754 election for the year in which one owner sold its interest to the remaining and incoming owners. The election would permit a transferee-specific adjustment…
Parent receives extra time for a Section 338(g) election on a foreign acquisition
A U.S. consolidated group intended to make a Section 338(g) election for a controlled foreign corporation's purchase of a foreign target and deemed purchases of six foreign subsidiaries. The…
LLC receives extra time to elect corporate tax classification
A single-owner domestic limited liability company intended to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation, but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the…
Estate receives 120 days to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A decedent transferred cash to an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer tax potential but did not intend to allocate GST exemption to the transfer. The accounting firm preparing the…
Estate received 120 days to sever a trust for GST exemption allocation
A decedent's revocable trust directed tax-efficient use of the generation-skipping transfer tax exemption and favored trusts with inclusion ratios of either zero or one. The estate's law and…
Entity received 120 days for a late partnership classification election
An eligible entity had elected to be taxed as a corporation and later experienced a change of more than 50 percent in its ownership. It wanted to change to partnership classification within the…
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.