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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Late accounting-period application is treated as timely filed
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 late to change from a calendar tax year to a June 30 year-end. It submitted both the form and its request for discretionary relief within 90 days after the filing…
Foreign entity receives more time to elect partnership status
A foreign eligible entity with multiple owners intended to change its federal tax classification to a partnership but did not timely file Form 8832. It represented that it had no valuable assets or…
Foreign entity receives more time to elect corporate status
A foreign eligible entity intended to elect classification as an association taxable as a corporation from its formation date but inadvertently failed to timely file Form 8832. It represented that…
Fund receives late mark-to-market election relief for PFIC stock
A regulated investment company acquired publicly traded stock in a foreign corporation that became a passive foreign investment company. Its outside tax advisor identified the PFIC but failed to…
Corporation receives extra time to elect IC-DISC status
A domestic corporation was formed to operate as an interest charge domestic international sales corporation, or IC-DISC. Its law firm sent Form 4876-A to the related corporation for signature, but…
Estate receives extra time to allocate GST exemption to four trusts
A decedent made cash transfers to four trusts with generation-skipping transfer tax potential. The tax professional preparing the gift tax return incorrectly reduced the GST exemption allocated to…
Distributor receives extra time to file duplicate Form 3115
A wholesale distributor timely attached Form 3115 to its tax return to change an impermissible depreciation method under § 168. Its tax adviser did not explain that a signed copy also had to be…
Partner receives extra time to elect real-property debt exclusion
An individual partner received cancellation-of-debt income through several real estate partnerships after they restructured debt. The same tax firm prepared the partnership and individual returns…
Foreign insurer receives extra time for domestic and small-company elections
A foreign property and casualty insurance company relied on its law firm and accountant to handle its initial U.S. tax filings. Both the § 953(d) election to be treated as a domestic corporation and…
Consolidated group receives extra time to file duplicate Form 3115
A parent corporation and three subsidiaries changed their accounting method for deducting bonuses. The parent timely attached the original Form 3115 to its consolidated return and reflected the…
Corporation receives extra time to file two duplicate Forms 3115
A corporation prepared two Forms 3115 to change its accounting methods for software development costs and for specified prepaid expenses. It timely attached copies to its electronic return but did…
S corporation may make late real-property debt exclusion election
An S corporation with interests in several real estate partnerships received cancellation-of-debt income through three Schedules K-1. Its accountant properly excluded the eligible qualified real…
Spouse receives more time to allocate GST exemption to split gifts
A grantor created an irrevocable trust for three children and their descendants, and the spouses elected to split the gifts reported on their Forms 709. They intended the trust to have a zero…
Parent receives more time to make QSub election
An S corporation owned all of a domestic subsidiary's stock and intended to treat the subsidiary as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from a redacted date. It failed to file Form 8869 because of…
Late entity classification election relief granted
A foreign entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the requirements for…
Late disregarded-entity election relief approved
A foreign entity intended to be treated as disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 by the deadline. The IRS concluded that the entity met the…
Late historic-status certification application treated as timely
A taxpayer renovated a property while relying on a consultant and accountant but did not learn until after the property was placed in service that the first part of its historic-preservation…
Late taxable REIT subsidiary election relief granted
A real estate investment trust and a subsidiary intended to elect taxable REIT subsidiary status, but the joint venture operator responsible for regulatory compliance did not know that Form 8875 was…
Late QTIP election receives 120-day extension
An estate tax return incorrectly listed the surviving spouse, rather than a marital trust, as the beneficiary of an account. Because the error concealed the need to divide the marital trust and…
Late Roth IRA recharacterization receives 60-day extension
A taxpayer timely asked an IRA custodian to reverse a Roth conversion, but the custodian did not receive a required signature page and the taxpayer did not receive the custodian's follow-up letter.…
Misrouted Roth recharacterization receives 60-day extension
A taxpayer directed a custodian to recharacterize a Roth conversion back to the qualified retirement plan that had supplied the funds. Before the deadline, the custodian said the request was ready…
Parent gets 30 days to file subsidiaries' LIFO elections
A parent company transferred inventory to three newly formed subsidiaries in a represented § 351 restructuring. The subsidiaries consistently used the last-in, first-out inventory method, but the…
Foreign entity gets 120 days for late disregarded election
A foreign entity with one owner intended to elect disregarded-entity status but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. It represented that it was eligible to make the election, had acted…
Foreign entity receives late disregarded-election relief
A foreign entity wholly owned by an individual resident in a U.S. state failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect disregarded-entity status. The IRS found that the entity satisfied the standards for…
Dentist gets 60 days to opt out of bonus depreciation
An individual operating a dentistry business through a disregarded entity claimed 100 percent first-year bonus depreciation on all qualified property placed in service during a tax year. The outside…
Partnership gets 120 days for late section 754 election
A limited liability company taxed as a partnership failed to make a timely § 754 election for the year one of its partners died. The election allows basis adjustments when partnership property is…
Consolidated group may late-elect to waive CNOL carryback
A consolidated group incurred a consolidated net operating loss but failed to timely elect to relinquish the entire carryback period. The parent represented that neither the group nor another…
Late Form 1128 is treated as timely filed
A taxpayer filed Form 1128 late when seeking to change from a calendar tax year to a tax year ending January 31. The IRS found that the taxpayer acted reasonably and in good faith and that relief…
Taxpayer receives more time for tax-exempt controlled entity election
A tax-exempt entity wholly owned a taxpayer that was a partner in a low-income housing partnership. The taxpayer intended to elect under IRC § 168(h)(6)(F)(ii) not to be treated as tax-exempt for…
Foreign entity receives more time for disregarded entity election
A foreign eligible entity with one owner failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect disregarded entity status. The IRS found that the entity met the standards for discretionary relief under Treas.…
Taxpayer receives more time for success-based fee safe harbor election
A corporate taxpayer paid an investment bank a success-based fee for an acquisition. Its return capitalized 30 percent of the fee and treated 70 percent as a start-up expenditure, consistent with…
Taxpayer receives more time for success-fee elections on two acquisitions
A corporate group paid success-based investment banking fees for two acquisitions. Its return deducted 70 percent of each fee and capitalized 30 percent, consistent with the safe harbor in Rev.…
GST exemption applies automatically and marital trust may be divided
An estate made a reverse QTIP election for a marital trust but expressly allocated only part of the decedent’s GST exemption to a different bypass trust. The IRS ruled that the remaining GST…
Donors receive more time to allocate GST exemption to trust
Two donors created and funded a trust for their descendants, but their accountant failed to allocate GST exemption on their gift tax returns. The mistake was found later, before any…
Medical emergency supports late Form 8939 relief
An executor suffered a medical emergency, was hospitalized before the Form 8939 deadline, and did not return to work until after that deadline. The executor later filed the form to elect the…
Taxpayer receives more time for real property debt exclusion election
A partner received cancellation-of-debt income through an LLC that owned a commercial building. The partner represented that the income was eligible for the qualified real property business…
Group may make late elections out of bonus depreciation
An affiliated group did not claim additional first-year depreciation for any class of qualified property placed in service during two tax years. Its consolidated returns reflected that treatment,…
Estate may sever marital trust and complete QTIP and GST elections
A decedent’s trust authorized partial QTIP treatment and separate GST planning, but the estate’s return mistakenly treated the entire marital trust as not subject to a QTIP election and omitted…
RIC receives more time for PFIC mark-to-market election
A regulated investment company purchased publicly traded shares of a passive foreign investment company. An accounting firm identified the PFIC, but the adviser preparing the fund’s tax return…
Impermissible SIMPLE IRA transfer may be recharacterized
A taxpayer relied on a financial adviser’s recommendation to combine a traditional IRA with her SIMPLE IRA. The custodian of both accounts transferred the traditional IRA into the SIMPLE IRA even…
Late partnership election allowed only from a later date
A foreign eligible entity was treated by default as an association after several individuals acquired it, including a U.S. tax resident. The entity missed the deadline to file Form 8832 to elect…
Late disregarded-entity election allowed only from a later date
A foreign eligible entity was wholly owned through another entity after several individuals acquired the parent, including a U.S. tax resident. The subsidiary was treated by default as an…
Late partnership election allowed only from a later date
A foreign eligible entity was indirectly owned through another entity after several individuals acquired the parent, including a U.S. tax resident. The entity was treated by default as an…
Foreign entity receives 120 days for late partnership election
A foreign eligible entity failed to file Form 8832 on time to elect partnership classification from a redacted effective date. The IRS concluded that the entity met the standards for discretionary…
Late disregarded-entity election relief granted
A foreign single-owner entity intended to elect disregarded-entity status but did not file Form 8832 on time. It asked for an extension under the regulatory-election relief rules. Based on the…
Late QSub election relief granted
An S corporation intended to elect qualified subchapter S subsidiary status for a wholly owned subsidiary but did not file Form 8869 on time. The corporation represented that its returns for all…
S corporation receives late QSub election relief
An S corporation intended to treat a wholly owned subsidiary as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary from a specified date but missed the Form 8869 filing deadline. It represented that all relevant…
Late QSub filing receives 120-day extension
An S corporation failed to timely file Form 8869 for a wholly owned subsidiary it intended to treat as a qualified subchapter S subsidiary. It represented that its tax returns for the relevant years…
Missed QSub election deadline excused
An S corporation intended a wholly owned subsidiary to be a qualified subchapter S subsidiary but failed to timely submit Form 8869. The corporation represented that its returns consistently treated…
QSub election may be filed late
An S corporation intended to elect QSub treatment for its wholly owned subsidiary but did not file Form 8869 by the deadline. It represented that its returns consistently treated the subsidiary as a…
Foreign entity receives late classification election relief
A foreign entity wanted a federal tax classification different from its default classification but inadvertently missed the Form 8832 deadline. The IRS concluded that the entity met the standards…
Late Form 8832 relief granted from formation date
A foreign entity wanted to elect a federal tax classification other than its default but inadvertently failed to timely file Form 8832. The IRS concluded that the entity satisfied the standards for…
Formation-date classification election allowed late
A foreign entity intended to choose a tax classification other than its default classification but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the entity met the good-faith…
Foreign entity may backdate late Form 8832 to formation
A foreign entity sought a tax classification different from its default but missed the deadline for Form 8832. The IRS concluded that it acted reasonably and in good faith and that granting relief…
Late entity classification election approved
A foreign entity inadvertently failed to timely file Form 8832 to choose a classification different from its default federal tax status. The IRS determined that the entity qualified for…
IRS permits late classification election from formation
A foreign entity intended to elect out of its default federal tax classification but inadvertently missed the Form 8832 filing deadline. The IRS concluded that the entity met the standards for late…
Late Form 8832 election may use formation date
A foreign entity wanted a classification other than its default federal tax classification but inadvertently failed to file Form 8832 on time. The IRS found that the entity satisfied the…
Estate receives late election out of automatic GST allocation
A donor created a trust for a child and hired an accounting firm to prepare the related gift tax return. The firm failed to attach the statement electing out of the automatic allocation of…
Late IC-DISC election allowed, but capitalization failed
A domestic corporation formed to operate as an IC-DISC missed the deadline to file Form 4876-A after the form was inadvertently placed in a company file. The IRS concluded that the corporation met…
Partnership receives late section 754 election relief
A partner died, but the partnership's tax advisors did not tell the partnership that it could make an IRC § 754 election. The partnership therefore missed the deadline for the election in the year…
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.