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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S corporation gets 60 days to opt out of bonus depreciation
An S corporation intended not to claim bonus depreciation for any class of qualified property placed in service during the year. Its timely return omitted the deductions and reported shareholder…
Estate gets 120 days to elect portability of unused exclusion
A decedent's estate did not file Form 706 by the deadline to elect portability of the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount. The surviving spouse, acting as executor, represented that the estate…
Donor may elect trust gifts out of automatic GST allocation
A taxpayer and spouse made annual gifts to an irrevocable life-insurance trust for their children and grandchildren. Their attorney advised that annual-exclusion gifts did not require gift-tax…
Donor gets 120 days to opt trust gifts out of GST allocation
A taxpayer and spouse made annual gifts to an irrevocable life-insurance trust for their children and grandchildren. Their attorney advised that annual-exclusion gifts did not require gift-tax…
Late section 336(e) election receives filing relief
A purchaser acquired all stock of an S corporation in a transaction represented to be a qualified stock disposition. The target and its shareholder had timely signed a binding agreement to make an…
Foreign entity receives late partnership election relief
A foreign eligible entity intended to be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes from its formation date but failed to file Form 8832 on time. Its owners consistently treated it as a…
Foreign entity may make late partnership election
A foreign eligible entity whose owners had limited liability intended to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found…
Foreign entity receives 120 days for late disregarded status
A foreign entity and its owner intended from formation to treat the entity as disregarded for U.S. federal tax purposes. The owner consistently filed returns on that basis, but the entity had not…
Loss corporation gets 60 days for a late closing election
A loss corporation experienced a section 382 ownership change but did not timely elect to close its books on the change date. It represented that the assessment period remained open and that it was…
Built-in-loss transfer gets 60 days for a late basis election
A partnership owned a controlled foreign corporation that transferred built-in-loss property to a newly formed corporate subsidiary in a purported section 351 exchange. Section 362(e)(2) would…
Foreign entity receives 120 days for partnership status
A foreign entity with two owners intended from formation to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal tax purposes. Its U.S. owner consistently filed returns on that basis, but the entity had not…
Foreign entity receives 120 days for late disregarded status
A foreign entity and its sole owner intended from formation to treat the entity as disregarded for U.S. federal tax purposes. The owner consistently filed returns on that basis, but the entity had…
Foreign entity gets late disregarded status before partnership
A foreign entity was wholly owned by one owner from formation and was intended to be disregarded for U.S. federal tax purposes. A second owner later acquired an interest, after which the owners…
Indirectly owned foreign entity gets late disregarded status
A foreign entity was owned by a foreign disregarded entity and indirectly by a U.S. corporation. The owners intended from formation to treat the lower-tier entity as disregarded, and U.S. returns…
Foreign entity receives 120 days for partnership status
A foreign entity with two owners intended from formation to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal tax purposes. The owners consistently filed returns on that basis, but the entity had not…
Acquisition-fee safe harbor statement may be filed late
A taxpayer incurred success-based fees in a covered business acquisition and intended to use the Rev. Proc. 2011-29 safe harbor. Its timely return followed the required economics by deducting 70…
Multiple acquisition-fee elections may be filed late
A taxpayer incurred success-based fees in several covered business acquisitions and intended to use the Rev. Proc. 2011-29 safe harbor for all of them. Its timely return followed the required…
Late Form 1128 treated as timely filed
The taxpayer filed Form 1128 late when seeking to change from a taxable year ending on the Saturday nearest September 30 to a calendar year. The IRS granted an extension under Treasury Regulation §…
Extensions granted for QSub and entity-classification elections
An S corporation failed to timely elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary status for a wholly owned entity, and related entity-classification elections also were not timely made. The IRS concluded…
Extension granted to waive CNOL carryback period
A consolidated group intended to relinquish the entire carryback period for a consolidated net operating loss, but its return did not include a valid election under Treasury Regulation §…
Extension granted for estate portability election
An estate below the estate-tax filing threshold failed to timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the decedent’s unused exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. Because the estate represented…
Extension granted to elect out of bonus depreciation
A foreign corporation claimed bonus depreciation on its original return, then repeatedly tried to electronically file an amended return electing out for all qualified property classes before the…
Extension granted for success-based fee safe-harbor election
A corporation incurred success-based advisory fees in a taxable acquisition and intended to use Revenue Procedure 2011-29’s safe harbor, under which 70 percent of the fees are treated as…
Extension granted for 2010 carryover-basis election
The personal representative of an individual who died in 2010 sought additional time to file Form 8939, elect the special carryover-basis regime under § 1022, and allocate basis increases to…
Extension granted for first-year IC-DISC election
A corporation was formed solely to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, but Form 4876-A was not filed because its CFO, law firm, and accounting firm each believed…
Extension granted after adviser missed IC-DISC election
A corporation was formed solely to operate as an IC-DISC and relied on its law and accounting firms to complete the necessary filings. The corporation was unaware that Form 4876-A was separately…
Extension granted for partnership § 754 election
A limited liability company classified as a partnership relied on its adviser to make a § 754 election after a partner died, but the adviser failed to include the election for the relevant year. The…
Lower-tier partnership receives § 754 election extension
A lower-tier partnership was partly owned by an upper-tier partnership whose partner died. To obtain the optional basis adjustment at both tiers, both partnerships needed § 754 elections, but the…
Limited partnership receives § 754 election extension
A state limited partnership relied on its adviser to make a § 754 election after a partner died, but the adviser failed to make the election for the relevant year. The IRS found that the partnership…
Extension granted for acquisition-fee safe-harbor election
A corporation paid success-based advisory fees in a taxable acquisition and intended to use Revenue Procedure 2011-29’s 70/30 safe-harbor allocation. Its timely return applied that allocation but…
Estate receives portability-election extension
An estate below the estate-tax filing threshold did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the deceased spouse’s unused exclusion amount. The surviving spouse, acting as executor,…
Portability-election extension granted despite taxable gifts
An estate did not timely file Form 706 to elect portability of the decedent’s unused exclusion amount. The surviving spouse, acting as personal representative, disclosed that the decedent had made…
City received 45 days to file private-activity-bond carryforward election
A city received private-activity-bond volume cap for a proposed multifamily housing bond issue and obtained a state carryforward allocation. Its adviser did not timely tell it that Form 8328 also…
Foreign entity received 120 days to file corporate classification election
A foreign entity intended to elect corporate tax classification effective on a specified date but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good…
Corporation received 60 days to file IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation was formed solely to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, and it began operating under a commission arrangement with its parent. Its…
Foreign corporation received 60 days for branch-profits-tax waiver
A foreign corporation held an interest in a domestic partnership that sold U.S. real property, creating effectively connected income. The corporation later elected partnership classification, which…
Tax-exempt-controlled corporation received 60 days to make depreciation election
A taxable corporation wholly owned by a section 501(c)(3) organization indirectly invested in a partnership that developed low-income rental housing. Because the corporation was tax-exempt…
Partnership received 120 days to make section 754 election
A partnership had transfers of ownership interests during a taxable year and intended to make a section 754 election to adjust the basis of partnership property. Its tax adviser inadvertently failed…
Consolidated groups received 60 days for ratable-allocation election
A new parent acquired an old parent and its subsidiaries, terminating one consolidated group and bringing the corporations into a new consolidated group. The groups intended to elect to allocate…
New corporate group received 60 days to elect consolidated filing
A newly formed parent became the common parent of an affiliated group but did not timely file the consolidated return that would make the group’s election to file together. The parent requested…
Hurricane Sandy victims received 45 days for prior-year loss election
Homeowners sustained a federally declared Hurricane Sandy disaster loss and claimed it on the return for the disaster year. Their original tax adviser did not know they could elect under section…
Corporation may make a new S election before five years expire
A corporation had voluntarily revoked its S corporation election and later changed its ownership by selling shares to additional eligible S corporation shareholders. It sought permission to make a…
Group receives extra time for consolidated return election
A corporate parent intended for its affiliated group to elect to file a consolidated federal income tax return, but a valid election was not filed by the deadline. The parent sought discretionary…
Late corporate classification election receives 120-day extension
A foreign entity intended to elect classification as an association taxable as a corporation but failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith, did not…
Taxpayer receives extra time to elect alternative depreciation
An electric power generator used the general depreciation system for property placed in service during two tax years. Its accounting firm had not told it that it could elect the alternative…
Insurer receives 90 days to make section 831(b) election
A small property and casualty insurer relied on two accounting firms to prepare and file its federal return. After changing firms, its owner discovered that neither firm had filed the return by the…
Parent receives 120 days for two late QSub elections
An S corporation wholly owned two domestic subsidiaries and intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary status for both on the date its own S election became effective. It failed to file…
Corporation receives 60 days for late IC-DISC election
A domestic corporation was formed solely to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation. Its law and accounting firms each mistakenly believed the other had filed Form…
Consolidated group receives late intercompany regulation election
A consolidated group had deferred gain from a pre-1995 distribution of foreign subsidiary stock. It failed to make the election that would apply the revised intercompany transaction regulations to…
Late entity-classification election granted
A foreign entity intended to elect corporate classification for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and…
Late disregarded-entity election granted
A foreign limited company with one nonresident-alien owner intended to elect disregarded-entity treatment but did not file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that the requirements for…
Late disregarded-entity election granted
A foreign entity intended to be treated as a disregarded entity from its formation date but failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that the requirements for discretionary relief under…
Late disregarded-entity election granted
A foreign entity intended to be treated as a disregarded entity from its formation date but failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS concluded that the requirements for discretionary relief under…
Late estate-tax portability election granted
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 executor represented that the gross estate,…
Late foreign-earned-income election granted
A taxpayer began working for a foreign affiliate abroad but did not timely file Form 2555 or otherwise elect the section 911 foreign-earned-income exclusion. Because Treasury Regulation section…
Late entity-classification election granted
A foreign entity intended to elect corporate classification for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and…
Late entity-classification election granted
A foreign entity intended to elect corporate classification for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and…
Late entity-classification election granted
A foreign entity intended to elect corporate classification for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and…
Late entity-classification election granted
A foreign entity intended to elect corporate classification for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and…
Late entity-classification election granted
A foreign entity intended to elect corporate classification for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it acted reasonably and in good faith and…
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.