Introduction. The regulations under this section and §§ 301.9100-2 and 301.9100-3 provide the standards the Commissioner will use to determine whether to grant an extension of time to make a regulatory election. The regulations under this section and § 301.9100-2 also provide an automatic extension of time to make certain statutory elections. An extension of time is available for elections that a taxpayer is otherwise eligible to make. However, the granting of an extension of time is not a determination that the taxpayer is otherwise eligible to make the election. Section 301.9100-2 provides automatic extensions of time for making regulatory and statutory elections when the deadline for making the election is the due date of the return or the due date of the return including extensions. Section 301.9100-3 provides extensions of time for making regulatory elections that do not meet the requirements of § 301.9100-2.

Terms. The following terms have the meanings provided below—

Election includes an application for relief in respect of tax; a request to adopt, change, or retain an accounting method or accounting period; but does not include an application for an extension of time for filing a return under section 6081.

Regulatory election means an election whose due date is prescribed by a regulation published in the Federal Register, or a revenue ruling, revenue procedure, notice, or announcement published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin (see § 601.601(d)(2) of this chapter).

Statutory election means an election whose due date is prescribed by statute.

Taxpayer means any person within the meaning of section 7701(a)(1).

General standards for relief. The Commissioner in exercising the Commissioner's discretion may grant a reasonable extension of time under the rules set forth in §§ 301.9100-2 and 301.9100-3 to make a regulatory election, or a statutory election (but no more than 6 months except in the case of a taxpayer who is abroad), under all subtitles of the Internal Revenue Code except subtitles E, G, H, and I.

Exceptions. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (c) of this section, an extension of time will not be granted—

For elections under section 4980A(f)(5); or

For elections that are expressly excepted from relief or where alternative relief is provided by a statute, a regulation published in the Federal Register, or a revenue ruling, revenue procedure, notice, or announcement published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin (see § 601.601(d)(2) of this chapter).

Effective dates. In general, this section and §§ 301.9100-2 and 301.9100-3 apply to all requests for an extension of time submitted to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on or after December 31, 1997. However, the automatic 12-month and 6-month extensions provided in § 301.9100-2 apply to elections for which corrective action is taken on or after December 31, 1997. For other requests for an extension of time, see §§ 301.9100-1T through 301.9100-3T in effect prior to December 31, 1997 (§§ 301.9100-1T through 301.9100-3T as contained in the 26 CFR part 1 edition revised as of April 1, 1997).