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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Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. It represented that the decedent's gross estate,…
Spouses receive 120 days to allocate GST exemption to an old trust gift
A grantor created a trust for descendants and relatives before December 31, 2000, and transferred property to it. The grantor and spouse timely elected gift splitting on their Forms 709, but their…
Spouse receives 120 days to allocate GST exemption to old trust gifts
A settlor created an irrevocable trust for children and descendants and made additional transfers before December 31, 2000. The settlor relied on tax professionals but did not timely file gift tax…
Settlor receives 120 days to allocate GST exemption to old trust gifts
A settlor created an irrevocable trust for children and descendants and made additional transfers before December 31, 2000. The settlor relied on tax professionals but did not timely file a gift tax…
Spouse receives 120 days to allocate GST exemption to an old trust gift
A settlor created and funded an irrevocable trust for a child and the settlor's descendants before December 31, 2000. The settlor relied on tax professionals but did not timely file Form 709 or…
Settlor receives 120 days to allocate GST exemption to an old trust gift
A settlor created and funded an irrevocable trust for a child and the settlor's descendants before December 31, 2000. The settlor relied on tax professionals but did not timely file Form 709 or…
Couple receives 120 days to make a late rental real estate grouping election
A married couple filed jointly, and one spouse represented that he qualified as a real estate professional for the relevant year. Their original return inadvertently omitted the statement electing…
Property company receives relief for a late initial REIT election
A property-holding limited liability company intended to elect real estate investment trust status for the first tax year in which it acquired industrial buildings. Its outside accounting firm…
Property owner receives relief for a late rehabilitation-credit passthrough election
A property owner rehabilitated a leased property and agreed to pass its qualified rehabilitation expenditures through to the tenant. The owner inadvertently missed the deadline to elect under…
Donor receives more time to allocate GST exemption to a trust
A donor transferred property to an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer potential before December 31, 2000. Her accountant timely filed the gift tax return but reported the gift and…
Donor receives more time to allocate GST exemption to a trust
A donor transferred property to an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer potential before December 31, 2000. Her accountant timely filed the gift tax return but reported the gift and…
Estate receives more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The decedent's gross estate was represented to be below…
Estate receives more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The decedent's gross estate was represented to be below…
Donor receives more time to allocate GST exemption to a trust
A donor transferred property to an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer potential before December 31, 2000. Her accountant timely filed the gift tax return but reported the gift…
REIT and subsidiary receive relief for a late TRS election
A real estate investment trust and an indirectly owned subsidiary intended the subsidiary to be a taxable REIT subsidiary, but the parties and their advisers overlooked the required Form 8875 amid a…
Foreign subsidiary receives relief for a late corporate classification election
A foreign entity wholly owned by another association intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation for federal tax purposes but did not timely file Form 8832. The IRS accepted…
Donor receives more time to opt out of automatic GST exemption allocation
A donor made a cash gift to a trust with generation-skipping transfer potential and hired a tax professional to prepare the gift tax return. Both the original return and a later amended return…
Estate receives more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The personal representatives stated that the gross…
Estate receives more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse, who also served as executor. The executor stated that…
Foreign entity receives relief for a late partnership classification election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes from the date it was organized but did not timely file Form 8832. The entity represented that it acted…
Foreign entity receives relief for a late partnership classification election
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes from the date it was organized but did not timely file Form 8832. The entity represented that it acted…
Donor receives more time to allocate GST exemption to a trust gift
A donor created a trust primarily for grandchildren and transferred an asset to it before January 1, 2001. A law firm prepared the donor's gift tax return, but its paralegal omitted the…
Housing owner receives relief for a late multiple-building election
An owner intended to treat all buildings in a low-income housing development as one multiple-building project but inadvertently failed to make an effective election for every building on Form 8609.…
Estate receives more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The estate stated that the gross estate plus the…
Estate receives more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The estate stated that the gross estate, including…
Estate receives more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. The estate stated that the gross estate plus the…
REIT and hotel subsidiary receive relief for a late TRS election
A real estate investment trust indirectly owned a company formed to lease a hotel property and intended that company to be a taxable REIT subsidiary when the hotel began operating. Outside advisers…
Taxpayer receives relief for a late accounting-method application
A taxpayer missed the deadline to file Form 3115 seeking consent to change its overall accounting method from cash to accrual, with an IRC § 481(a) adjustment. Accounting-method relief normally…
Taxpayer receives relief to opt out of bonus depreciation for seven years
A consolidated group intended not to claim additional first-year depreciation for every class of qualified property placed in service over seven tax years. Its returns, depreciation calculations,…
Acquirer receives relief for a late success-fee safe-harbor statement
A taxpayer acquired a controlling stock interest and paid success-based transaction fees. Its return followed the Revenue Procedure 2011-29 safe harbor by deducting 70 percent of the fees and…
Corporation receives relief for a late IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation and hired an accounting firm to prepare the required filings. The employee coordinating…
Estate receives 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 decedent's unused estate tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. Because the…
Estate receives 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 decedent's unused estate tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. Because the…
Foreign entity receives extra time to elect disregarded status
A foreign entity wholly owned by one owner failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect disregarded-entity status. The IRS concluded that the entity satisfied the standards for discretionary relief…
REIT and subsidiary receive 90 days to make a late TRS election
A corporation and its subsidiary filed Form 8875 before the parent qualified as a real estate investment trust, then mistakenly assumed the taxable REIT subsidiary election remained effective after…
Foreign entity receives extra time to elect partnership status
A foreign eligible entity with multiple owners failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect partnership classification for federal tax purposes. The entity represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Partnership receives 120 days to make a late section 754 election
A limited liability company treated as a partnership intended to make an IRC § 754 election after several members sold their interests, but it inadvertently omitted the election from its return. The…
Railroad group receives extra time to file credit forms
A consolidated railroad group did not timely file Forms 8900 for track-maintenance expenditures incurred by Class II and Class III railroad subsidiaries. The group had misunderstood consolidated…
Corporation receives 60 days to file late IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation and believed it had filed Form 4876-A for its first taxable year. The IRS had no valid…
Estate receives 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 decedent's unused estate tax exclusion. The surviving spouse, acting as…
Foreign insurer receives 60 days to elect domestic corporation treatment
A regulated foreign insurance company did not learn about the IRC § 953(d) election to be treated as a domestic corporation until its U.S. parent hired an accounting firm. The election deadline was…
Acquired company receives 60 days to elect success-based fee safe harbor
A corporate group paid a success-based advisory fee when it was acquired and became a related subsidiary of the buyer. Its return preparer did not tell it about the Revenue Procedure 2011-29 safe…
Tax-exempt controlled entity receives late election relief for rehabilitation project
A limited liability company wholly owned by a section 501(c)(3) organization was a tax-exempt controlled entity and the general partner of a partnership developing a project that claimed…
Estate receives 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 decedent's unused estate tax exclusion. The surviving spouse, acting as…
Parties receive late section 336(e) election relief for S corporation stock sale
A partnership purchased a specified percentage of an S corporation's stock, and the parties intended to treat the qualified stock disposition as a deemed asset sale under IRC § 336(e). They did not…
Estate receives 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 decedent's unused estate tax exclusion. The decedent's son represented that the…
Trust receives extra time to elect prior-year treatment for charitable payments
A trust made charitable contributions in one taxable year but intended to elect under IRC § 642(c) to treat them as paid in the preceding year. The trustee inadvertently failed to file the election…
Surviving spouse's estate receives relief for decedent's late portability election
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return missed the deadline to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate tax exclusion. After the surviving spouse also died,…
S corporation receives 120 days for four late QSub elections
An S corporation acquired all ownership interests in four subsidiaries and intended to elect QSub status for each from the acquisition date. It inadvertently missed the Forms 8869 deadline and later…
Estate receives 120 days to supplement late Form 706 for portability
An estate that was not otherwise required to file an estate tax return missed the portability-election deadline and later filed Form 706 after discovering the omission. The surviving spouse, acting…
Estate receives 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 decedent's unused estate tax exclusion. The surviving spouse, acting as…
Investment fund receives 90 days to file late constant-yield interest election
A regulated investment fund decided to elect the constant-yield method under Treas. Reg. § 1.1272-3 for all eligible debt instruments acquired during its first taxable year. Its financial statements…
Estate receives extra time for two prior-year charitable deduction elections
An estate made charitable contributions in each of two years but failed to elect under IRC § 642(c)(1) to treat each payment as made in the preceding taxable year. The IRS concluded that the estate…
Foreign entities receive 120 days to elect disregarded status
Several foreign entities indirectly owned by the common parent of a U.S. consolidated group failed to file effective Forms 8832 on time. The parent and its predecessor had filed all U.S. tax and…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate represented that the decedent's gross estate and taxable gifts…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate represented that the decedent's gross estate was below the basic…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate represented that the decedent's gross estate was below the basic…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
A surviving spouse serving as executor missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The executor represented that the decedent's…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate represented that the decedent's gross estate, including taxable…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion. The estate represented that the decedent's gross estate, including taxable…
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.