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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Couple gets 120 days for trust GST allocations
A married couple treated a gift to an irrevocable trust as made one-half by each spouse and reported amounts of GST exemption on their Forms 709. Their accountant advised them to allocate the…
Estate receives extra time to elect portability for a surviving spouse
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the decedent's gross…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability for a surviving spouse
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the decedent's gross…
Estate receives 120 days to make a late portability election
An estate failed to file Form 706 by the deadline for electing portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount. The estate represented that the decedent's gross estate, including…
Foreign entity receives 120 days for a late corporate classification election
A foreign entity owned through a qualified Subchapter S subsidiary intended to be classified as an association taxable as a corporation from a specified date. It failed to timely file Form 8832 to…
Estate gets 120 days to file a late portability election
An estate missed the Form 706 deadline for electing portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount. It represented that the decedent's gross estate, after considering taxable gifts,…
REIT and subsidiary receive 90 days for a late TRS election
A real estate investment trust and its wholly owned subsidiary intended to file Form 8875 so the subsidiary would be treated as a taxable REIT subsidiary for an acquired hotel property. Their tax…
Estate receives 120 days after missing the portability requirement
An estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. It represented that the decedent's estate, after taxable gifts,…
Estate receives late portability relief after overlooking the election
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and preserve the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. It represented that the estate, including taxable gifts, was below…
LLC receives 120 days for a late corporate classification election
A two-member entity converted into a limited liability company and intended to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation from the conversion date. It inadvertently failed to timely file…
Spouses receive 120 days to elect out of automatic GST allocations
A husband and wife made transfers to several irrevocable trusts with generation-skipping transfer tax potential and elected gift splitting on their annual gift tax returns. Their tax professionals…
Estate receives 120 days to document a decedent's mental incompetency
A decedent created a revocable trust before October 22, 1986, that later continued for descendants across multiple generations. The estate timely filed Form 706 but did not attach a physician's…
Foreign entity receives 120 days for a late change to corporate status
A foreign eligible entity had previously made an entity-classification election and later intended to change its classification to an association taxable as a corporation from a specified date. It…
Foreign entity receives 120 days to elect corporate classification
A foreign eligible entity owned within a consolidated group did not make an entity-classification election when it was formed. It later sought to be classified as an association taxable as a…
Foreign entity receives 120 days for a late disregarded-entity election
A foreign entity became wholly owned through an individual who became a U.S. tax resident on a specified date. The entity was eligible and intended to be treated as disregarded from that date but…
Foreign company receives late disregarded-entity election relief
A foreign entity was wholly owned by an individual who became a U.S. tax resident on a specified date. The entity intended to be disregarded for federal tax purposes from that date but inadvertently…
Taxpayer receives relief for late debt-and-hedge identification
A corporate group issued convertible notes and bought call options intended to hedge the notes' conversion feature. The taxpayer believed integrated tax treatment was automatic and did not timely…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the decedent's unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The personal representative stated that the…
Consolidated group receives more time to elect extended loss carryback
A parent corporation failed to timely elect an extended carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss. The failure occurred after the parent reasonably relied on a qualified tax…
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 for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the decedent's gross…
Estate receives portability election relief
An estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the decedent's unused estate tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that the gross estate and taxable gifts…
Taxpayer receives more time to allocate GST exemption
A married couple made several pre-2001 cash transfers to an irrevocable trust with generation-skipping transfer potential and elected gift splitting on their Forms 709. Their accountant failed to…
Estate receives more time to elect portability
A decedent's estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. The co-trustees represented that the gross estate,…
Estate receives more time to elect portability
A decedent's estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that its gross value, including…
Estate receives more time to elect portability
A decedent's estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that its gross value, including…
Estate receives more time to elect portability
A surviving spouse serving as executor did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the decedent's unused exclusion amount. The spouse represented that the estate was below the section 6018…
Foreign insurer receives more time for domestic corporation election
A regulated foreign insurance company timely filed a section 953(d) election statement with its return, then mailed additional information requested by the IRS. The IRS later reported that it had…
Late estate tax return is treated as timely for portability
A decedent's estate relied on a law firm that filed Form 706 after the deadline for electing portability of the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount. The estate represented that its gross value,…
Estate receives more time to elect portability
A decedent's estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that its gross value was below…
Single-owner entity receives late disregarded-entity election
A single-owner eligible entity intended to be treated as disregarded for federal tax purposes but did not file the required Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the entity satisfied the standards for…
Purchaser receives more time for section 338 elections
A U.S. purchaser acquired a foreign target and indirectly acquired the target's foreign affiliates in a transaction represented to be a qualified stock purchase. The purchaser intended to make…
Estate and spouse may allocate GST exemptions late
Spouses created a trust for their descendants and timely allocated GST exemptions to an initial split gift. For a later transfer, their attorney failed to prepare Forms 709 or advise them to…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity wholly owned by a U.S. citizen failed to file Form 8832 for its intended disregarded-entity status. The IRS concluded that the entity met the standards for discretionary…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded-entity election
A foreign eligible entity wholly owned by a U.S. citizen failed to file Form 8832 for its intended disregarded-entity status. The IRS concluded that the entity met the standards for discretionary…
Entity receives late corporate and S corporation elections
An eligible entity intended to be classified as a corporation and elect S corporation status from the same effective date. It failed to timely file both Form 8832 and Form 2553. The IRS found that…
Estate and spouse receive more time to allocate GST exemptions
A married couple transferred property to a trust for their children and more remote descendants, but their attorney failed to prepare gift tax returns for a later transfer or advise them to allocate…
Partnership receives more time to make a section 754 election
A limited liability company became a partnership for federal tax purposes when an owner's interest passed to a trust at death. The entity was eligible to elect under section 754 to adjust the basis…
S corporation receives more time for a section 336(e) election statement
A partnership bought all stock of an S corporation in a transaction represented to be a qualified stock disposition. The parties timely signed a binding agreement to make a section 336(e) election,…
Consolidated group receives more time to elect an extended NOL carryback
A consolidated corporate group incurred a net operating loss eligible for the extended carryback rules then available under section 172(b)(1)(H). The common parent intended to carry the loss back…
Foreign entities receive more time to elect corporate classification
Foreign eligible entities intended to elect treatment as associations taxable as corporations from a specified date, but they did not timely file valid Forms 8832. The IRS concluded that the…
Foreign insurer receives more time for two tax elections
A foreign property and casualty insurer intended to elect domestic-corporation treatment under section 953(d) and the small-insurance-company tax regime under section 831(b), but its manager did not…
Corporation's late tax-year change application is treated as timely
A corporation filed Form 1128 after the deadline to change its annual accounting period from a March 31 year-end to an April 30 year-end. It filed the application soon after the missed deadline and…
Parent receives more time to file LIFO elections for subsidiaries
A corporate parent transferred LIFO inventory to newly created subsidiaries in a restructuring and continued using the same LIFO method for tax and financial reporting. Its outside advisers did not…
Estate receives more time to elect portability of unused exclusion
An estate missed the deadline to file Form 706 and elect portability of the decedent's unused estate and gift tax exclusion for the surviving spouse. The executor represented that the gross estate…
Consolidated group may make a late NOL carryback waiver
A consolidated corporate group intended to waive the entire carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss and filed its returns consistently with that intent, but a valid election statement…
Consolidated group receives relief to make a late NOL carryback waiver
A consolidated corporate group failed to file a valid election waiving the carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss. The parent requested relief before the IRS discovered the failure…
Foreign limited partnership may make a late corporate classification election
A foreign limited partnership intended to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes, but it inadvertently failed to file Form 8832. Without an election, the…
Foreign limited partnership may make a late corporate classification election
A foreign limited partnership intended to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes, but it inadvertently failed to file Form 8832. Without an election, the…
Three partnerships may make late section 754 elections
Three limited liability companies treated as partnerships failed to make section 754 elections for the year in which an owner died. A section 754 election allows partnership property basis…
Foreign entity may make a late disregarded-entity election
A foreign entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its owner for U.S. federal tax purposes but failed to timely file Form 8832. Its indirect corporate owner filed U.S. tax and information…
Late tax-exempt controlled entity election received 60-day relief
A corporation wholly owned by a tax-exempt entity was a general partner in a partnership that owned low-income housing. The corporation intended to elect under section 168(h)(6)(F)(ii) not to be…
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 for the surviving spouse. The estate represented that its gross value,…
Estate receives 120 days to allocate GST exemption
A decedent transferred stock to an irrevocable trust but failed to allocate generation-skipping transfer tax exemption to the transfer. The decedent believed accountants would prepare the gift-tax…
Estate receives 120 days to make portability election
An estate failed to file a timely Form 706 electing portability of the deceased spouse's unused estate-tax exclusion. The surviving spouse, acting as executor, represented that the estate's value…
LLC receives 120 days to file entity-classification election
A single-member LLC intended to be treated as a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes but did not timely file the entity-classification election. It represented that it acted reasonably and in…
Late disregarded-entity election receives 120-day extension
A single-member LLC intended to be treated as a disregarded entity but did not timely file Form 8832. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and that granting relief would not…
Parent receives 120 days to make late QSub election
An S corporation owned all of a subsidiary and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary status for it, but failed to timely file Form 8869. The IRS concluded that the requirements for…
Estate receives 120 days for QTIP and GST elections
A decedent's will divided the residuary estate between GST-exempt and GST-nonexempt marital trusts for the surviving spouse. The return preparer mistakenly reported the combined value as passing…
Estate receives 120 days to elect portability
A surviving spouse relied on a qualified tax professional to file the estate tax return needed to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion amount, but the return was not filed on…
GST allocations receive relief and automatic treatment
A taxpayer and spouse made gifts to three irrevocable trusts for their children over several years, but their accountant did not file gift tax returns or allocate the taxpayer's generation-skipping…
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.