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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Consolidated group could file a late waiver of its loss carryback
A corporate parent intended to waive the entire carryback period for its consolidated group's net operating loss. The group's returns consistently treated the waiver as effective, but the required…
Foreign entity received more time for a disregarded-entity election
A foreign entity and its sole owner had been unaware that an entity-classification election was needed to obtain disregarded-entity treatment. The entity requested permission to file Form 8832 late…
Late check-the-box election received 120-day relief
A foreign entity and its sole owner did not realize that they needed an entity-classification election to treat the entity as disregarded for U.S. federal tax purposes. They sought a late Form 8832…
Foreign entity could retroactively elect disregarded status
A wholly owned foreign entity and its owner had not known that a Form 8832 election was required to obtain disregarded-entity treatment. The entity asked to make the classification election late…
Export commission company received more time to elect IC-DISC status
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, selling its owner's industrial products to foreign buyers on commission. Its accounting…
Estates could make late GST exemption allocations to family trusts
A married couple made gifts to two irrevocable trusts for their sons and descendants in three years before 2001. They timely filed gift tax returns and elected to split the gifts equally, but their…
Partnership received 120 days to make a late Section 754 election
A limited partnership timely filed its federal tax return but inadvertently failed to include an election under Section 754. The partnership represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith…
REIT received a second extension for subsidiary elections
A REIT and two subsidiaries intended to elect taxable REIT subsidiary status and had already obtained an IRS extension to file Forms 8875. The law firm, accounting firm, and in-house advisor each…
Taxpayers received 45 days to file a duplicate Form 3115
A married couple changed the accounting methods of a wholly owned disregarded entity and filed the original Form 3115 with their timely return. Their accounting firm failed to mail the required…
Spouse received late GST exemption allocation relief
A decedent created an irrevocable trust for children and their descendants, and the spouses elected to split the original gift. The gift-tax returns failed to allocate either spouse's…
Foreign entity received late partnership election relief
A foreign entity with two owners intended to be classified as a partnership from its formation date but did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the entity satisfied the requirements…
Foreign entity obtained late disregarded-status relief
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as disregarded for federal tax purposes from a specified date but failed to timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the entity met the…
Grants 120 days to make late partnership basis election
A partnership wanted a section 754 election after a general partner died, but its tax return was filed without the election because it relied on its tax adviser. The partnership represented that it…
Grants estate 120 days to elect alternate valuation
An estate timely filed Form 706 within one year after its due date, but the CPA preparing the return failed to check the box electing alternate valuation under section 2032. The CPA stated that the…
Grants 120 days to file omitted section 754 election
A foreign corporation treated as a partnership for U.S. tax purposes intended to make a section 754 basis-adjustment election with its return, but failed to file a properly executed election. The…
Grants 120 days for late farmland special-use valuation election
An estate included farmland, but the accountant preparing its timely Form 706 did not advise the co-executors to elect special-use valuation under section 2032A. An attorney later discovered that…
Grants extra time to elect consolidated-return filing
A parent corporation and its affiliated subsidiaries failed to make a timely election to file a consolidated federal income tax return. The parent showed that it had reasonably relied on a qualified…
Grants extra time for a multiple-building housing-credit election
A taxpayer intended three low-income housing buildings to form one multiple-building project but inadvertently failed to make that election on the buildings' Forms 8609. Section 42 ordinarily treats…
Grants extra time to file a branch-profits-tax waiver
A foreign corporation had conducted a U.S. real-property leasing business through a partnership, then received and immediately sold the property and represented that it completely terminated its…
Grants extra time for an IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation for its parent. Its accounting firm prepared Form 4876-A on time, but the only staff…
Grants extra time for a partnership's section 754 election
A partnership underwent a technical termination after an owner acquired an additional interest. The partnership intended to elect under section 754 to adjust the basis of partnership property for…
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late Section 754 election
A lower-tier partnership sought extra time to make a section 754 election after a partner in its upper-tier partnership died. Both partnerships timely filed their returns, but an adviser…
Upper-tier partnership receives 120 days to make a late Section 754 election
An upper-tier partnership sought extra time to make a section 754 election after one of its partners died. The upper-tier partnership and a lower-tier partnership timely filed their returns, but an…
REIT group receives 90 days to make late taxable REIT subsidiary elections
A company planning to qualify as a REIT acquired interests in six health care companies that had previously been taxable REIT subsidiaries of another REIT. New joint elections on Form 8875 were…
Late return still makes timely election out of bonus depreciation after filing-extension error
A corporate group decided not to claim additional first-year depreciation on seven-year property placed in service during a short tax year. Its return preparer believed it had timely filed Form…
Subsidiaries receive relief for late elections out of bonus depreciation
Two subsidiaries decided not to claim additional first-year depreciation on five-year and seven-year property placed in service during a short tax year. Their corporate parent's return preparer…
Estate receives 120 days to allocate GST exemption after incorrect gift-splitting returns
A husband funded four trusts for his children, and the spouses elected to split their gifts equally under section 2513. Their gift tax returns mistakenly reported three-fourths of the total gift to…
Consolidated group receives 90 days to make a late intercompany-stock election
A consolidated corporate group inherited deferred gains from stock distributions completed before new intercompany-transaction regulations took effect in July 1995. The former parent had missed the…
Acquired corporation receives 60 days to file a late success-fee safe-harbor election
A corporation paid financial and transaction advisers success-based fees in connection with a cash acquisition. It intended to use the Rev. Proc. 2011-29 safe harbor, which generally treats 70…
Export corporation receives 60 days to file a late IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation in connection with its parent's exports. Its law firm prepared Form 4876-A, but the IRS…
Newly formed export corporation receives 60 days to correct its IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation was formed late in a calendar year to operate as an IC-DISC for a related agricultural-equipment exporter. Its law firm filed Form 4876-A using the corporation's first full…
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late Section 754 election
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership had a partner that was a grantor trust. After the grantor died, the partnership relied on an adviser to file a section 754 election for that year,…
Parties receive 45 days to file a late Section 336(e) election statement
A partnership-taxed buyer acquired all shares of an S corporation through a disregarded entity for cash. The parties intended the stock transaction to be treated as an asset sale under section…
Foreign foundation receives late disregarded-entity election for investment vehicle
A foreign tax-exempt private foundation held its U.S. investment portfolio through a single-owner foreign investment vehicle whose custodians had withheld U.S. tax from dividends. The foundation had…
Acquired group receives 60 days for success-based fee safe-harbor election
A corporate group was acquired in a taxable stock purchase after a subsidiary engaged an investment banker under a success-based fee arrangement. When the group's tax preparer filed the final…
S corporation receives 45 days to file late Section 336(e) election statement
An S corporation recapitalized into voting and nonvoting shares before two purchasers acquired its stock. A second shareholder received shares before the sale, sold them to one purchaser, and then…
Entity receives 120 days to make two late tax elections
A tax-exempt organization's wholly owned limited liability company managed partnerships that owned and rehabilitated low-income housing. The company intended from its inception to elect corporate…
Foreign entity receives 120 days to correct its classification election
A buyer acquired all interests in a foreign entity and made a section 338 election. The parties intended the acquired entity to become a disregarded entity on a later date, but its Form 8832…
Corporation receives 60 days to file omitted success-fee election statement
A corporation incurred a success-based fee when it acquired another corporation. Its return treated 70 percent of the fee as non-facilitative and capitalized the remaining 30 percent under the safe…
LLC receives 120 days to correct mistaken corporate classification
A two-owner limited liability company intended to be taxed as a partnership and filed its federal returns on that basis. It mistakenly submitted Form 8832 electing treatment as an association…
Export corporation receives 60 days to file IC-DISC election
A parent formed a domestic corporation solely to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation for export transactions. The parent relied on an accountant and law firm to…
Trust may revoke ESBT election and restore QSST treatment
A trust that owned stock in an S corporation had originally elected qualified Subchapter S trust treatment. Its trustee later converted the trust to an electing small business trust and then asked…
Shareholder trust may switch back from ESBT to QSST status
A trust holding S-corporation stock originally elected qualified Subchapter S trust treatment, then later converted to an electing small business trust. The trustee asked the IRS to revoke the ESBT…
Trust receives consent to replace ESBT status with QSST status
A trust that held shares in an S corporation had used qualified Subchapter S trust status before its trustee elected electing small business trust treatment. The trustee later sought consent to…
Estate receives 120 days to allocate a decedent's GST exemption to an earlier trust gift
A decedent created and funded an irrevocable trust for the decedent's children and their descendants. The decedent and spouse elected to split the gift on their Forms 709, but the decedent's return…
Investment partnership receives 60 days to make late PFIC mark-to-market elections
An investment portfolio taxed as a partnership owned stock in six passive foreign investment companies and decided to make section 1296 mark-to-market elections for them. Its accounting firm…
Investment partnership receives 60 days to make late PFIC elections for seven companies
An investment portfolio taxed as a partnership owned stock in seven passive foreign investment companies and decided to make section 1296 mark-to-market elections for them. Its accounting firm…
Investment partnership receives 60 days to make late PFIC elections for four companies
An investment portfolio taxed as a partnership owned stock in four passive foreign investment companies and decided to make section 1296 mark-to-market elections for them. Its accounting firm…
Investment partnership receives 60 days to make late PFIC elections for 12 companies
An investment portfolio taxed as a partnership owned stock in 12 passive foreign investment companies and decided to make section 1296 mark-to-market elections for them. Its accounting firm prepared…
Individual receives 60 days to file a late family-attribution waiver for a stock redemption
An individual was treated as owning corporate stock held by a grantor trust, while family members also owned or were treated as owning stock in the corporation. The trust's stock was redeemed for…
Married real estate taxpayers receive 120 days to make a late rental-activity grouping election
A married couple filed a joint return for a year in which one spouse was engaged in a real property business. They qualified to elect under section 469(c)(7) to treat all rental real estate…
Partnership receives 120 days to file a late section 754 basis-adjustment election
A partnership timely filed its federal return but inadvertently omitted a section 754 election to adjust the basis of partnership property. Such an election applies section 734 adjustments to…
Newly affiliated charity receives 30 days to revoke an old section 501(h) lobbying election
A health charity affiliated with another exempt health organization and changed its name after the affiliation. Within weeks, the organizations discovered that the charity had made a section 501(h)…
Foreign entity receives 120 days to elect partnership classification from formation
A foreign eligible entity's indirect owner intended the entity to be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes from its formation date. The entity did not timely file Form 8832 to make…
Foreign entity receives 120 days to elect disregarded status from formation
A foreign eligible entity's indirect owner intended the entity to be disregarded as separate from its owner for federal tax purposes from its formation date. The entity did not timely file Form 8832…
Corporate acquirer receives 45 days to make a late success-based-fee safe-harbor election
A corporate group acquired an engineering and design company in a taxable stock purchase and paid a contingent transaction fee to an adviser. An attorney told the foreign parent's tax director that…
Trust receives extra time for charitable-contribution election
A trust made charitable contributions in one year and reported them as deductions for the preceding year, as section 642(c) permits when a timely election is filed. The trust inadvertently omitted…
Donor receives extra time for GST allocations and trust election
A donor made stock and cash gifts over many years to an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer potential. Although the donor intended the trust to be GST-exempt and had enough exemption…
Donor receives extra time for GST allocations and trust election
A donor made stock and cash gifts over many years to an irrevocable trust for a child that had generation-skipping transfer potential. The donor consistently intended the trust to be GST-exempt and…
Late accounting-period application is treated as timely
A taxpayer sought to change from a calendar tax year to a tax year ending March 31 under the automatic procedure in Revenue Procedure 2006-46. It missed the deadline for Form 1128 but requested…
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.