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.
No determinations match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
Company receives extension for late REIT election
A real-estate company intended to qualify as a REIT from its first tax year, but its accounting firm filed an ordinary corporate return instead of Form 1120-REIT. The firm had also encountered a…
REIT may exclude lender patronage dividends from income tests
A publicly traded timberland REIT financed property acquisitions through loans from a cooperative bank and planned to amend its credit agreement so it could receive patronage dividends. Those…
REIT and subsidiary receive extension for TRS election
A REIT indirectly owned a subsidiary involved in a hotel leasing structure and intended to elect taxable REIT subsidiary (TRS) status effective when the hotel transaction closed. Transaction…
Inadvertent REIT election treated as never made
A corporation intended to file as a regular C corporation until it became eligible to elect REIT status, but its return preparer mistakenly filed Form 1120-REIT for its first year. After discovering…
REIT received 60 days to file its first election return
An investment vehicle was formed and structured with the clear intent to qualify as a REIT, but its sponsor omitted the new entity from the return-preparation engagement and a replacement tax team…
Outdoor advertising company received REIT qualification rulings
A corporation that owned and leased outdoor advertising displays planned to elect REIT status and to treat qualifying displays as real property under section 1033(g)(3). The IRS ruled that specified…
Outdoor advertising company received REIT income and asset rulings
A corporate group that built and leased outdoor advertising displays planned to elect REIT status and to treat specified displays as real property under section 1033(g)(3). The IRS ruled that rents…
Corporation received 90 days to make its late REIT election
A corporation intended to qualify as a real estate investment trust beginning with its first taxable year. Its accounting firm encountered an electronic extension rejection, then filed an extension…
Corporation received 90 days to correct its missed REIT election
A corporation intended to qualify as a real estate investment trust beginning with its first taxable year. Its accounting firm encountered an electronic extension rejection, then filed an extension…
Redevelopment tax credit refunds were qualifying REIT assets and income
A real estate investment trust redeveloped contaminated land and became eligible for two refundable state franchise tax credits tied to remediation, construction, operation, and real property taxes.…
REIT restructuring preserved TRS, rent, and independent contractor treatment
A publicly traded real estate investment trust restructured interests involving taxable REIT subsidiaries and a company that was the parent of an eligible independent contractor managing health care…
REIT subsidiary received more time to align its taxable-subsidiary election with corporate status
A REIT-owned limited liability company intended to elect corporate classification and taxable REIT subsidiary status for the same wholly owned subsidiary. The forms specified the same effective…
Inflation-swap income qualified for a regulated investment company's income test
A regulated investment company proposed using swaps tied to the Consumer Price Index to reduce inflation risk on mutual-fund shares and non-inflation-indexed bonds. The fund represented that the…
Data-center services and foreign inclusions qualified for the REIT income tests
A real estate investment trust owned and leased data centers where tenants connected their equipment to telecommunications carriers and sometimes used basic on-site support. The IRS ruled that…
REIT bankruptcy recoveries received favorable gross-income-test treatment
A publicly traded REIT sought guidance on amounts recovered from a former tenant's bankruptcy estate after the tenant defaulted on a master lease. The recovery included unpaid lease obligations,…
Farm-credit patronage dividends were excluded from REIT income tests
A publicly held timber REIT borrowed from farm-credit cooperatives to finance timberland acquisitions and refinance related debt. The cooperative lenders paid patronage dividends based on the amount…
IRS approves a multi-class REIT share structure
The IRS considered two planned real estate investment trusts that would issue multiple classes of common stock with different distribution-channel fees. The taxpayers also planned dividend…
REIT may disregard duplicated ground-rent income in gross-income tests
A company planned to qualify as a real estate investment trust through interests in two partnerships. One partnership would own the land, while another would lease the land and sublease the property…
IRS approves exclusion of certain REIT hedging income from gross-income tests
The IRS ruled for a real estate investment trust that income from certain original and counteracting interest-rate hedges would not count as gross income for the REIT income tests under IRC §…
IRS treats specified hedging derivatives as qualifying RIC income
The IRS ruled that income and gain from certain CPI swaps and volatility-index futures and options would qualify as other income derived from a regulated investment company's business of investing…
PLR 1346005: REIT liquidation sales are not prohibited transactions
The IRS ruled that a real estate investment trust’s planned sales of its remaining properties during liquidation would not be prohibited transactions under section 857(b)(6). The taxpayer had…
PLR 1345021: REIT subsidiary avoids an intervening C corporation period after acquisition
A real estate investment trust asked whether its acquisition of all shares of an S corporation would create an intervening period in which the acquired company was treated as a C corporation. The…
PLR 1341032: IRS approves the treatment of dividends and subsidiary REIT stock under the REIT income and asset tests
The IRS approved a publicly traded real estate investment trust's planned restructuring into two subsidiary REITs. The IRS ruled that dividends the taxpayer receives from each subsidiary REIT will…
PLR 1341015: IRS approves parking revenue as rents from real property
The IRS ruled that a real estate investment trust's parking revenue from proposed management agreements with its taxable REIT subsidiaries will qualify as rents from real property. The parking…
CCA 1340016: Chief Counsel advises respecting cross-border reorganizations and debt repayments
Chief Counsel analyzed whether the IRS should issue a notice of deficiency concerning a multinational group's two-stage restructuring. The advice concluded that the first reorganization and the…
PLR 1340004: IRS approves a REIT's liquidation property sales treatment
The IRS ruled that gain from a real estate investment trust's planned sale of all its assets while winding down will not be income from a prohibited transaction. The REIT represented that it…
IRS approves REIT cross-connectivity services as qualifying rent-related services
The IRS ruled that a real estate investment trust's telecommunications cross-connectivity services would not prevent tenant payments from qualifying as rents from real property. The services were…
PLR 1328018: IRS approves mortgage interests as REIT real estate assets
The IRS ruled that specified excess-servicing rights acquired through a subsidiary could be treated as interests in mortgages on real property and therefore as real estate assets for REIT purposes.…
PLR 1327006: IRS approves class-specific fees for a proposed non-traded REIT
The IRS ruled that a proposed public, non-traded real estate investment trust could issue two classes of common stock with different selling commissions, dealer manager fees, and distribution fees.…
PLR 1325002: IRS treats qualifying income from inflation-indexed swaps as RIC income
An investment fund that sought to protect its debt investments from inflation asked whether income from CPI-based swaps would count as qualifying income for regulated investment company purposes.…
PLR 1323016: REIT financing interests in structural improvements qualify as real-estate assets
The IRS considered a planned REIT that would finance permanent structural improvements to buildings and other facilities. It ruled that the REIT's interests in those improvements, secured by the…
PLR 1320007: IRS approves several REIT treatment questions for correctional facilities
The IRS considered a publicly traded corporation's planned election to be taxed as a real estate investment trust while it owned and operated correctional and detention facilities. It ruled that the…
PLR 1320002: IRS treats surface-site payments as REIT rents from real property
The IRS considered whether payments for a surface site used to access underground oil and gas would qualify as rents from real property for a REIT. The surface land and subsurface mineral rights had…
PLR 1320001: IRS treats surface-site payments as REIT rents from real property
The IRS considered whether payments for a surface site used to access underground oil and gas would qualify as rents from real property for a REIT. The surface land and subsurface mineral rights had…
PLR 1319003: Futures on volatility index qualified as RIC income under section 851
The IRS ruled that income and gains from a regulated investment company's futures contracts on a volatility index would qualify as “other income” derived from the fund's business of investing in…
PLR 1317001: IRS approves REIT treatment for correctional and community facilities
The IRS ruled that correctional, detention, halfway-house, and youth-services facilities were not health care facilities for the REIT rules, even though some provided limited medical or…
Two classes of REIT shares with different fees will not create preferential dividends
The IRS ruled for a planned nonlisted REIT that would issue two classes of common stock with different selling commissions, distribution fees, and other class-specific expenses. The differences in…
PLR 1315007: Certain REIT loans are not securities for the 25-percent TRS asset test
The IRS ruled that mortgage loans secured by real property and qualifying mezzanine loans held by a real estate investment trust would not be treated as securities for the 25-percent value test…
PLR 1315004: REIT's planned property sales are not prohibited transactions
The IRS considered a real estate investment trust's planned sales and other dispositions of properties during a debt restructuring and portfolio liquidation. The taxpayer represented that it…
PLR 1314002: IRS approves tax treatment for data-center REIT assets and income
A newly formed taxpayer planned to elect REIT status while owning and leasing data-center properties through an operating partnership. The IRS ruled that the data-center buildings and specified…
PLR 1313017: IRS grants more time for a taxable REIT subsidiary election
A REIT and its subsidiary asked for extra time to file Form 8875, the form used to elect to treat the subsidiary as a taxable REIT subsidiary. The entities said they intended the subsidiary to have…
PLR 1311009: IRS grants late REIT and taxable REIT subsidiary elections
The IRS treated a timberland investment trust's late election to be taxed as a real estate investment trust as timely made for one tax year. It also granted the trust and its subsidiary extra time…
PLR 1310020: Boat slips qualify as REIT real estate assets and their rental income qualifies as rents from real property
The IRS considered a REIT taxpayer's planned lease of a property containing apartments and a marina. It ruled that the marina's boat slips were real estate assets for purposes of IRC § 856. It also…
CCA 1306021: IRS explains REMIC suspended loss carryforwards for a residual-interest holder
Chief Counsel advice addressed how the basis limitation and suspended-loss rules apply to a taxpayer holding non-economic residual interests in real estate mortgage investment conduits. In the…
PLR 1304004: REIT may issue multiple common-stock classes with different fees
A corporation planning to elect REIT status proposed seven classes of common stock with different selling, dealer-manager, distribution, and service fees. The classes were intended for different…
PLR 1301007: IRS approves several income treatments for a communications-site REIT
A communications infrastructure company asked about several income and asset issues connected with its planned election to be taxed as a real estate investment trust. The IRS ruled that charges for…
PLR 1252009: IRS granted late-election relief for REIT and taxable REIT subsidiary elections
The IRS granted a real estate investment trust an extension of time to elect REIT status for a taxable year. It also allowed the REIT and its subsidiary to make a late election treating the…
PLR 1251005: IRS approves certain foreign income for a REIT's gross-income tests
The IRS ruled that certain inclusions from controlled foreign corporations and passive foreign investment companies would qualify under a real estate investment trust's 95-percent gross-income test.…
PLR 1250019: IRS treats mixed-use senior living facilities as qualified health care property
The IRS ruled that a real estate investment trust's mixed-use senior living communities were health care facilities under IRC section 856(e)(6)(D)(ii). The communities included independent living,…
PLR 1250008: IRS treats fixed timberland and easement payments as REIT-qualifying income
The IRS ruled that fixed initial rent and delay rent paid under mineral leases, along with payments for surface damage, seismic surveys, and temporary easements, would qualify as rents from real…
PLR 1250003: IRS treats offshore platform lease income as qualifying income
The IRS ruled that income from leasing an offshore oil and gas platform would qualify as rents from real property for purposes of the publicly traded partnership income exception. The platform and…
PLR 1246013: IRS treats certain foreign-subsidiary inclusions as qualifying REIT income
The IRS ruled that certain Subpart F and passive foreign investment company inclusions of a publicly traded real estate investment trust would qualify as income under the REIT gross-income test. The…
PLR 1244012: Different share-class fees do not create preferential dividends for a REIT
A real estate investment trust planned to issue three classes of common stock with different distribution, dealer manager, advisory, and class-specific expense allocations. The IRS ruled that…
PLR 1244009: IRS grants a REIT more time to declare a dividend for a prior-year election
A real estate investment trust intended to declare a dividend by the extended due date for its prior-year federal income tax return. Its tax department's new personnel did not advise it of the…
PLR 1244003: IRS grants more time for a PFIC mark-to-market election
A regulated investment company failed to identify two foreign corporations as passive foreign investment companies and did not make the IRC § 1296 mark-to-market elections for the prior tax year.…
CCA 1239006: CCA identifies who may be a REIT tax matters partner
Chief Counsel advice addressed the treatment of real estate investment trusts as partnerships for purposes of subtitle F of the Code, including the TEFRA procedures. It stated that under Treas. Reg.…
PLR 1238009: IRS grants extra time for a taxable REIT subsidiary election
The IRS granted a company and its subsidiary 60 days to file a corrected Form 8875 and make an election to treat the subsidiary as a taxable REIT subsidiary, effective as of the requested date. The…
PLR 1236006: IRS approves zero-value treatment of deferred offering costs for a REIT asset test
The IRS ruled that a newly formed corporation intending to elect REIT status could include deferred initial public offering costs on its GAAP balance sheet without failing the section 856 asset…
IRS treats excess mortgage servicing spreads as REIT real estate assets
The IRS ruled that a real estate investment trust's excess mortgage servicing spreads would qualify as interests in mortgages on real property and therefore as real estate assets for the REIT asset…
PLR 1232032: IRS approves REIT restructuring for state licensing requirements
A publicly traded real estate investment trust needed to restructure how certain health care communities were licensed and managed under State B law. The IRS ruled that the proposed independent…
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.