IRS Provides Estates Additional Time to Elect Portability.

In July, the IRS published Rev. Proc. 2022-32, which provides qualifying estates additional time (up to five years) to elect "portability," a provision allowing certain estates to grant use of any unused estate tax exemption to a surviving spouse.

This new guidance is applicable to deaths no earlier than July 8, 2017, of first-to-die (married) decedents who are U.S. citizens or residents and who have not timely filed and are not otherwise required to file an estate tax return. The procedure requires an estate tax return to be filed no later than five years after the decedent's death, with the executor's reliance on Rev. Proc. 2022-32 disclosed at the top of the form,

Prior to this release, portability elections were required to be made within nine months (where an estate tax return was required) or within two years (otherwise), Estates failing to elect portability within the prescribed window could request private letter rulings for late portability, but the IRS says these requests have created a significant burden on its resources (as well as a burden on taxpayers, thanks to the time and fees associated with such requests), With this new guidance in mind, practitioners should...