Title 26—Internal Revenue--Volume 1
PART 1—INCOME TAXES
§ 1.706-4   Determination of distributive share when a partner's interest varies.
(a) General rule —(1) Variations subject to this section. Except as provided in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, this section provides rules for determining the partners' distributive shares of partnership items when a partner's interest in a partnership varies during the taxable year as a result of the disposition of a partial or entire interest in a partnership as described in § 1.706-1(c)(2) and (3), or with respect to a partner whose interest in a partnership is reduced as described in § 1.706-1(c)(3), including by the entry of a new partner (collectively, a “variation”).
(2) Coordination with sections 706(d)(2) and 706(d)(3) and other Code sections. Items subject to allocation under other rules, including sections 108(e)(8) and 108(i) (which provide special allocation rules for certain items from the discharge or retirement of indebtedness section), section 704(c) (relating to allocations with respect to certain contributed property), § 1.704-3(a)(6) (relating to allocations with respect to revalued property), section 706(d)(2) (relating to the determination of partners' distributive shares of allocable cash basis items), and section 706(d)(3) (relating the determination of partners' distributive share of any item of an upper tier partnership attributable to a lower tier partnership), are not subject to the rules of this section. In addition, the rules of this section do not apply in making allocation of book items pursuant to § 1.704-1(b)(2)(iv)( e ), ( f ), or ( s ). In all cases, all partnership items for each taxable year must be allocated among the partners, and no partnership items may be duplicated, regardless of the particular provision of section 706 (or other Code section) which applies, and regardless of the method or convention adopted by the partnership.
(3) Allocation of items subject to this section. In determining the distributive share under section 702(a) of partnership items subject to this section, the partnership shall follow the steps described in this paragraph (a)(3)(i) through (x).
(i) First, determine whether either of the exceptions in paragraph (b) of this section (regarding certain changes among contemporaneous partners and partnerships for which capital is not a material income-producing factor) applies.
(ii) Second, determine which of its items are subject to allocation under the special rules for extraordinary items in paragraph (e) of this section, and allocate those items accordingly.
(iii) Third, determine with respect to each variation whether it will apply the interim closing method or the proration method. Absent an agreement of the partners (within the meaning of paragraph (f) of this section) to use the proration method, the partnership shall use the interim closing method. The partnership may use different methods (interim closing or proration) for different variations within each partnership taxable year; however, the Commissioner may place restrictions on the ability of partnerships to use different methods during the same taxable year in guidance published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin.
(iv) Fourth, determine when each variation is deemed to have occurred under the partnership's selected convention (as described in paragraph (c) of this section).
(v) Fifth, determine whether there is an agreement of the partners (within the meaning of paragraph (f) of this section) to perform regular monthly or semi-monthly interim closings (as described in paragraph (d) of this section). If so, then the partnership will perform an interim closing of its books at the end of each month (in the case of an agreement to perform monthly closings) or at the end and middle of each month (in the case of an agreement to perform semi-monthly closings), regardless of whether any variation occurs. Absent an agreement of the partners to perform regular monthly or semi-monthly interim closings, the only interim closings during the partnership's taxable year will be at the deemed time of the occurrence of variations for which the partnership uses the interim closing method.
(vi) Sixth, determine the partnership's segments, which are specific periods of the partnership's taxable year created by interim closings of the partnership's books. The first segment shall commence with the beginning of the taxable year of the partnership and shall end at the time of the first interim closing. Any additional segment shall commence immediately after the closing of the prior segment and shall end at the time of the next interim closing. However, the last segment of the partnership's taxable year shall end no later than the close of the last day of the partnership's taxable year. If there are no interim closings, the partnership has one segment, which corresponds to its entire taxable year.
(vii) Seventh, apportion the partnership's items for the year among its segments. The partnership shall determine the items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit of the partnership for each segment. In general, a partnership shall treat each segment as though the segment were a separate distributive share period. For example, a partnership may compute a capital loss for a segment of a taxable year even though the partnership has a net capital gain for the entire taxable year. For purposes of determining allocations to segments, any special limitation or requirement relating to the timing or amount of income, gain, loss, deduction, or credit applicable to the entire partnership taxable year will be applied based upon the partnership's satisfaction of the limitation or requirement as of the end of the partnership's taxable year. For example, the expenses related to the election to expense a section 179 asset must first be calculated (and limited if applicable) based on the partnership's full taxable year, and then the effect of any limitation must be apportioned among the segments in accordance with the interim closing method or the proration method using any reasonable method.
(viii) Eighth, determine the partnership's proration periods, which are specific portions of a segment created by a variation for which the partnership chooses to apply the proration method. The first proration period in each segment begins at the beginning of the segment, and ends at the first time of the first variation within the segment for which the partnership selects the proration method. The next proration period begins immediately after the close of the prior proration period and ends at the time of the next variation for which the partnership selects the proration method. However, each proration period shall end no later than the close of the segment.
(ix) Ninth, prorate the items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit in each segment among the proration periods within the segment.
(x) Tenth, determine the partners' distributive shares of partnership items under section 702(a) by taking into account the partners' interests in such items during each segment and proration period.
(4) Example.
At the beginning of 2017, PRS, a calendar year partnership, has three equal partners, A, B, and C. On April 16, 2017, A sells 50% of its interest in PRS to new partner D. On August 6, 2017, B sells 50% of its interest in PRS to new partner E. During 2015, PRS earned $75,000 of ordinary income, incurred $33,000 of ordinary deductions, earned $12,000 of capital gain in the ordinary course of its business, and sustained $9,000 of capital loss in the ordinary course of its business. Within that year, PRS earned $60,000 of ordinary income, incurred $24,000 of ordinary deductions, earned $12,000 of capital gain, and sustained $6,000 of capital loss between January 1, 2017, and July 31, 2017, and PRS earned $15,000 of gross ordinary income, incurred $9,000 of gross ordinary deductions, and sustained $3,000 of capital loss between August 1, 2017, and December 31, 2017. None of PRS's items are extraordinary items within the meaning of paragraph (e)(2) of this section. Capital is a material income-producing factor for PRS. For 2017, PRS determines the distributive shares of A, B, C, D, and E as follows:
(i) First, PRS determines that none of the exceptions in paragraph (b) of this section apply because capital is a material-income producing factor and no variation is the result of a change in allocations among contemporaneous partners.
(ii) Second, PRS determines that none of its items are extraordinary items subject to allocation under paragraph (e) of this section.
(iii) Third, the partners of PRS agree (within the meaning of paragraph (f) of this section) to apply the proration method to the April 16, 2017, variation, and PRS accepts the default application of the interim closing method to the August 6, 2017, variation.
(iv) Fourth, PRS determines the deemed date of the variations for purposes of this section based upon PRS's selected convention. Because PRS applied the proration method to the April 16, 2017, variation, PRS must use the calendar day convention with respect to the April 16, 2017, variation pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section. Therefore, the variation that resulted from A's sale to D on April 16, 2017, is deemed to occur for purposes of this section at the end of the day on April 16, 2017. Further, the partners of PRS agree (within the meaning of paragraph (f) of this section) to apply the semi-monthly convention to the August 6, 2017, variation. Therefore, the August 6, 2017, variation is deemed to occur at the end of the day on July 31, 2017.
(v) Fifth, the partners of PRS do not agree to perform regular semi-monthly or monthly closings as described in paragraph (d) of this section. Therefore, PRS will have only one interim closing for 2017, occurring at the end of the day on July 31.
(vi) Sixth, PRS determines that it has two segments for 2017. The first segment commences January 1, 2017, and ends at the close of the day on July 31, 2017. The second segment commences at the beginning of the day on August 1, 2017, and ends at the close of the day on December 31, 2017.
(vii) Seventh, PRS determines that during the first segment of its taxable year (beginning January 1, 2017, and ending July 31, 2017), it had $60,000 of ordinary income, $24,000 of ordinary deductions, $12,000 of capital gain, and $6,000 of capital loss. PRS determines that during the second segment of its taxable year (beginning August 1, 2017, and ending December 31, 2017), it had $15,000 of gross ordinary income, $9,000 of gross ordinary deductions, and $3,000 of capital loss.
(viii) Eighth, PRS determines that it has two proration periods. The first proration period begins January 1, 2017, and ends at the close of the day on April 16, 2017; the second proration period begins April 17, 2017, and ends at the close of the day on July 31, 2017.
(ix) Ninth, PRS prorates its income from the first segment of its taxable year among the two proration periods. Because each proration period has 106 days, PRS allocates 50% of its items from the first segment to each proration period. Thus, each proration period contains $30,000 gross ordinary income, $12,000 gross ordinary deductions, $6,000 capital gain, and $3,000 capital loss.
(x) Tenth, PRS calculates each partner's distributive share. Because A, B, and C were equal partners during the first proration period, each is allocated one-third of the partnership's items attributable to that proration period. Thus, A, B, and C are each allocated $10,000 gross ordinary income, $4,000 gross ordinary deductions, $2,000 capital gain, and $1,000 capital loss for the first proration period. For the second proration period, A and D each had a one-sixth interest in PRS and B and C each had a one-third interest in PRS. Thus, A and D are each allocated $5,000 gross ordinary income, $2,000 gross ordinary deductions, $1,000 capital gain, and $500 capital loss, and B and C are each allocated $10,000 gross ordinary income, $4,000 gross ordinary deductions, $2,000 capital gain, and $1,000 capital loss for the second proration period. For the second segment of PRS's taxable year, A, B, D, and E each had a one-sixth interest in PRS and C had a one-third interest in PRS. Thus, A, B, D, and E are each allocated $2,500 gross ordinary income, $1,500 gross ordinary deductions, and $500 capital loss, and C is allocated $5,000 gross ordinary income, $3,000 gross ordinary deductions, and $1,000 capital loss for the second segment.
(b) Exceptions —(1) Permissible changes among contemporaneous partners. The general rule of paragraph (a)(3) of this section, with respect to the varying interests of a partner described in § 1.706-1(c)(3), will not preclude changes in the allocations of the distributive share of items described in section 702(a) among contemporaneous partners for the entire partnership taxable year (or among contemporaneous partners for a segment if the item is entirely attributable to a segment), provided that—
(i) Any variation in a partner's interest is not attributable to a contribution of money or property by a partner to the partnership or a distribution of money or property by the partnership to a partner; and
(ii) The allocations resulting from the modification satisfy the provisions of section 704(b) and the regulations promulgated thereunder.
(2) Safe harbor for partnerships for which capital is not a material income-producing factor. Notwithstanding paragraph (a)(3) of this section, with respect to any taxable year in which there is a change in any partner's interest in a partnership for which capital is not a material income-producing factor, the partnership and such partner may choose to determine the partner's distributive share of partnership income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit using any reasonable method to account for the varying interests of the partners in the partnership during the taxable year provided that the allocations satisfy the provisions of section 704(b).
(c) Conventions —(1) In general. Conventions are rules of administrative convenience that determine when each variation is deemed to occur for purposes of this section. Because the timing of each variation is necessary to determine the partnership's segments and proration periods, which are used to determine the partners' distributive shares, the convention used by the partnership with respect to a variation will generally affect the allocation of partnership items. However, see paragraph (e) of this section for special rules regarding extraordinary items, which generally must be allocated without regard to the partnership's convention. Subject to the limitations set forth in paragraphs (c)(2) and (3) of this section, partnerships may generally choose from the following three conventions:
(i) Calendar day convention. Under the calendar day convention, each variation is deemed to occur for purposes of this section at the end of the day on which the variation occurs.
(ii) Semi-monthly convention. Under the semi-monthly convention, each variation is deemed to occur for purposes of this section either:
(A) In the case of a variation occurring on the 1st through the 15th day of a calendar month, at the end of the last day of the immediately preceding calendar month; or
(B) In the case of a variation occurring on the 16th through the last day of a calendar month, at the end of the 15th calendar day of that month.
(iii) Monthly convention. Under the monthly convention, each variation is deemed to occur for purposes of this section either:
(A) In the case of a variation occurring on the 1st through the 15th day of a calendar month, at the end of the last day of the immediately preceding calendar month; or
(B) In the case of a variation occurring on the 16th through the last day of a calendar month, at the end of the last day of that calendar month.
(2) Exceptions. (i) Notwithstanding paragraph (c)(1) of this section, all variations within a taxable year shall be deemed to occur no earlier than the first day of the partnership's taxable year, and no later than the close of the final day of the partnership's taxable year. Thus, in the case of a calendar year partnership applying either the semi-monthly or monthly convention to a variation occurring on January 1st through January 15th, the variation will be deemed to occur for purposes of this section at the beginning of the day on January 1st.
(ii) In the case of a partner who becomes a partner during the partnership's taxable year as a result of a variation, and ceases to be a partner as a result of another variation, if both such variations would be deemed to occur at the same time under the rules of paragraph (c)(1) of this section, then the variations with respect to that partner's interest will instead be treated as occurring on the dates each variation actually occurred. Thus, the partnership must treat such a partner as a partner for the entire portion of its taxable year during which the partner actually owned an interest. See Example 2 of paragraph (c)(4) of this section. However, this paragraph (c)(2)(ii) does not apply to publicly traded partnerships (as defined in section 7704(b)) that are treated as partnerships with respect to holders of publicly traded units (as described in § 1.7704-1(b) or 1.7704-1(c)(1)).
(iii) Notwithstanding paragraph (c)(1)(iii) of this section, a publicly traded partnership (as defined in section 7704(b)) that is treated as a partnership may consistently treat all variations occurring during each month as occurring at the end of the last day of that calendar month if the publicly traded partnership uses the monthly convention for those variations.
(3) Permissible conventions for each variation —(i) Rules applicable to all partnerships. A partnership generally shall use the calendar day convention for each variation; however, for all variations during a taxable year for which the partnership uses the interim closing method, the partnership may instead use the semi-monthly or monthly convention by agreement of the partners (within the meaning of paragraph (f) of this section). The partnership must use the same convention for all variations for which the partnership uses the interim closing method.
(ii) Publicly traded partnerships. A publicly traded partnership (as defined in section 7704(b)) that is treated as a partnership may, by agreement of the partners (within the meaning of paragraph (f) of this section) use any of the calendar day, the semi-monthly, or the monthly conventions with respect to all variations during the taxable year relating to its publicly-traded units (as described in § 1.7704-1(b) or (c)(1)), regardless of whether the publicly traded partnership uses the proration method with respect to those variations. A publicly traded partnership must use the same convention for all variations during the taxable year relating to its publicly traded units. A publicly traded partnership must use the calendar day convention with respect to all variations relating to its non-publicly traded units for which the publicly traded partnership uses the proration method.
(4) Examples. The following examples illustrate the principles in this paragraph (c).
(d)(1) Optional regular monthly or semi-monthly interim closings. Under the rules of this section, a partnership is not required to perform an interim closing of its books except at the time of any variation for which the partnership uses the interim closing method (taking into account the applicable convention). However, a partnership may, by agreement of the partners (within the meaning of paragraph (f) of this section) perform regular monthly or semi-monthly interim closings of its books, regardless of whether any variation occurs. Regardless of whether the partners agree to perform these regular interim closings, the partnership must continue to apply the interim closing or proration method to its variations according to the rules of this section.
(2) Example. The following example illustrates the principles in this paragraph (d).
(ii) The partners of PRS agree (within the meaning of paragraph (f) of this section) to use the interim closing method and the semi-monthly convention with respect to the variation occurring on August 29. Thus, the August variation is deemed to occur for purposes of this section at the end of the day on August 15, 2016. The partners of PRS agree (within the meaning of paragraph (f) of this section) to use the proration method with respect to the December 27 variation. Therefore, PRS must use the calendar day convention with respect to the December variation pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section. Thus, the December variation is deemed to occur for purposes of this section at the end of the day on December 27, 2016.
(iii) Pursuant to paragraph (d)(1) of this section, the partners of PRS agree (within the meaning of paragraph (f) of this section) to perform regular monthly interim closings. Therefore, PRS will have twelve interim closings for its 2016 taxable year, one at the end of every month and one at the end of the day on August 15. Therefore, PRS will have thirteen segments for 2016, one corresponding to each month from January through July, one segment from August 1 through August 15, one segment from August 16 through August 31, and one corresponding to each month from September through December. PRS must apportion its items among these segments under the rules of paragraph (a)(3) of this section.
(iv) PRS will have two proration periods for 2016, one from December 1 through December 27, and one from December 28 through December 31. Pursuant to the rules of paragraph (a)(3) of this section, PRS will prorate the items in its December segment among these two proration periods. Therefore, PRS will apportion 27/31 of all items in its December segment to the proration period from December 1 through December 27, and 4/31 of all items in its December segment to the proration period from December 28 through December 31.
(v) Pursuant to the rules of paragraph (a)(3)(x) of this section, PRS determines the partners' distributive shares of partnership items under section 702(a) by taking into account the partners' interests in such items during each of the thirteen segments and two proration periods. Thus, A, B, C, D, and E will each be allocated one-fifth of all items in the following segments: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, and August 1 through August 15. B, C, D, E, and F will each be allocated one-fifth of all items in the following segments: August 16 through August 31, September, October, and November. B, C, D, E, and F will each be allocated one-fifth of all items in the proration period from December 1 through December 27. C, D, E, and F will each be allocated one-quarter of all items in the proration period from December 28 through December 31.
(e) Extraordinary items —(1) General principles. Extraordinary items may not be prorated. The partnership must allocate extraordinary items among the partners in proportion to their interests in the partnership item at the time of day on which the extraordinary item occurred, regardless of the method (interim closing or proration method) and convention (daily, semi-monthly, or monthly) otherwise used by the partnership. These rules require the allocation of extraordinary items as an exception to the proration method, which would otherwise ratably allocate the extraordinary items across the segment, and the conventions, which could otherwise inappropriately shift extraordinary items between a transferor and transferee. However, publicly traded partnerships (as defined in section 7704(b)) that are treated as partnerships may, but are not required to, apply their selected convention in determining who held publicly traded units (as described in § 1.7704-1(b) or (c)(1)) at the time of the occurrence of an extraordinary item. Extraordinary items continue to be subject to any special limitation or requirement relating to the timing or amount of income, gain, loss, deduction, or credit applicable to the entire partnership taxable year (for example, the limitation for section 179 expenses).
(2) Definition. Except as provided in paragraph (e)(3) of this section, an extraordinary item is:
(i) Any item from the disposition or abandonment (other than in the ordinary course of business) of a capital asset as defined in section 1221 (determined without the application of any other rules of law);
(ii) Any item from the disposition or abandonment (other than in the ordinary course of business) of property used in a trade or business as defined in section 1231(b) (determined without the application of any holding period requirement);
(iii) Any item from the disposition or abandonment of an asset described in section 1221(a)(1), (a)(3), (a)(4), or (a)(5) if substantially all the assets in the same category from the same trade or business are disposed of or abandoned in one transaction (or series of related transactions);
(iv) Any item from assets disposed of in an applicable asset acquisition under section 1060(c);
(v) Any item resulting from any change in accounting method initiated by the filing of the appropriate form after a variation occurs;
(vi) Any item from the discharge or retirement of indebtedness (except items subject to section 108(e)(8) or 108(i), which are subject to special allocation rules provided in section 108(e)(8) and 108(i));
(vii) Any item from the settlement of a tort or similar third-party liability or payment of a judgment;
(viii) Any credit, to the extent it arises from activities or items that are not ratably allocated (for example, the rehabilitation credit under section 47, which is based on placement in service);
(ix) Any specified credit portion transferred pursuant to section 6418 and §§ 1.6418-1 through 1.6418-5;
(x) For all partnerships, any additional item if, the partners agree (within the meaning of paragraph (f) of this section) to consistently treat such item as an extraordinary item for that taxable year; however, this rule does not apply if treating that additional item as an extraordinary item would result in a substantial distortion of income in any partner's return; any additional extraordinary items continue to be subject to any special limitation or requirement relating to the timing or amount of income, gain, loss, deduction, or credit applicable to the entire partnership taxable year (for example, the limitation for section 179 expenses);
(xi) Any item which, in the opinion of the Commissioner, would, if ratably allocated, result in a substantial distortion of income in any return in which the item is included;
(xii) Any item identified as an additional class of extraordinary item in guidance published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin.
(xii) [Reserved]
(xiii) Applicable for partnership taxable years ending after December 29, 2022, any qualified conservation contribution (as defined in section 170(h)(1) and § 1.170A-14(a) without regard to whether such contribution is a disallowed qualified conservation contribution within the meaning of § 1.170A-14(j)(3)(vii)) made after December 29, 2022.
(3) Small item exception —(i) In general. A partnership may treat an item described in paragraph (e)(2) of this section (except for an item described in paragraph (e)(2)(xiii) of this section) as other than an extraordinary item for purposes of this paragraph (e) if, for the partnership's taxable year the total of all items in the particular class of extraordinary items (as enumerated in paragraphs (e)(2)(i) through (xii) of this section, for example, all tort or similar liabilities, but in no event counting an extraordinary item more than once) is less than five percent of the partnership's gross income, including tax-exempt income described in section 705(a)(1)(B), in the case of income or gain items, or gross expenses and losses, including section 705(a)(2)(B) expenditures, in the case of losses and expense items; and the total amount of the extraordinary items from all classes of extraordinary items amounting to less than five percent of the partnership's gross income, including tax-exempt income described in section 705(a)(1)(B), in the case of income or gain items, or gross expenses and losses, including section 705(a)(2)(B) expenditures, in the case of losses and expense items, does not exceed $10 million in the taxable year, determined by treating all such extraordinary items as positive amounts.
(ii) Applicability date. This paragraph (e)(3) applies to partnership taxable years ending after December 29, 2022. For partnership taxable years ending before December 30, 2022, see paragraph (e)(3) of this section contained in 26 CFR part 1, as revised April 1, 2024.
(4) Examples. The following examples illustrate the provisions of this paragraph (e).
(f) Agreement of the partners. For purposes of paragraphs (a)(3)(iii) (relating to selection of the proration method), (c)(3) (relating to selection of the semi-monthly or monthly convention), (d) (relating to performance of regular monthly or semi-monthly interim closings), and (e)(2)(ix) (relating to selection of additional extraordinary items) of this section, the term agreement of the partners means either an agreement of all the partners to select the method, convention, or extraordinary item in a dated, written statement maintained with the partnership's books and records, including, for example, a selection that is included in the partnership agreement, or a selection of the method, convention, or extraordinary item made by a person authorized to make that selection, including under a grant of general authority provided for by either state law or in the partnership agreement, if that person's selection is in a dated, written statement maintained with the partnership's books and records. In either case, the dated written agreement must be maintained with the partnership's books and records by the due date, including extension, of the partnership's tax return.
(g) Applicability date. (1) Except with respect to paragraph (c)(3) of this section, this section applies for partnership taxable years that begin on or after August 3, 2015. The rules of paragraph (c)(3) of this section apply for taxable years of partnerships other than existing publicly traded partnerships that begin on or after August 3, 2015. For purposes of the immediately preceding sentence, an existing publicly traded partnership is a partnership described in section 7704(b) that was formed prior to April 14, 2009. For purposes of this effective date provision, the termination of a publicly traded partnership under section 708(b)(1)(B) due to the sale or exchange of 50 percent or more of the total interests in partnership capital and profits is disregarded in determining whether the publicly traded partnership is an existing publicly traded partnership.
(2) Paragraph (e)(2)(ix) of this section applies to taxable years ending on or after April 30, 2024.
§ 1.706-5   Taxable year determination.
(a) In general. For purposes of § 1.706-4, the taxable year of a partnership shall be determined without regard to section 706(c)(2)(A) and its regulations.
(b) Effective/applicability date. This section applies for partnership taxable years that begin on or after August 3, 2015.
§ 1.707-0   Table of contents.
This section lists the captions that appear in §§ 1.707-1 through 1.707-9.
(a) Partner not acting in capacity as partner.
(b) Certain sales or exchanges of property with respect to controlled partnerships.
(1) Losses disallowed.
(2) Gains treated as ordinary income.
(3) Ownership of a capital or profits interest.
(c) Guaranteed payments.
(a) Treatment of transfers as a sale.
(1) In general.
(2) Definition and timing of sale.
(3) Application of disguised sale rules.
(4) Deemed terminations under section 708.
(b) Transfers treated as a sale.
(1) In general.
(2) Facts and circumstances.
(c) Transfers made within two years presumed to be a sale.
(1) In general.
(2) Disclosure of transfers made within two years.
(d) Transfers made more than two years apart presumed not to be a sale.
(e) Scope.
(f) Examples.
(a) Guaranteed payments and preferred returns.
(1) Guaranteed payment not treated as part of a sale.
(i) In general.
(ii) Reasonable guaranteed payments.
(iii) Unreasonable guaranteed payments.
(2) Presumption regarding reasonable preferred returns.
(3) Definition of reasonable preferred returns and guaranteed payments.
(i) In general.
(ii) Reasonable amount.
(4) Examples.
(b) Presumption regarding operating cash flow distributions.
(1) In general.
(2) Operating cash flow distributions.
(i) In general.
(ii) Operating cash flow safe harbor.
(iii) Tiered partnerships.
(c) Accumulation of guaranteed payments, preferred returns, and operating cash flow distributions.
(d) Exception for reimbursements of preformation expenditures.
(1) In general.
(2) Capital expenditures incurred by another person.
(3) Contribution of a partnership interest with capital expenditures property.
(4) Special rule for qualified liabilities.
(i) In general.
(ii) Anti-abuse rule.
(5) Scope of capital expenditures.
(6) Example.
(e) Other exceptions.
(f) Ordering rule cross reference.
(a) Liability assumed or taken subject to by partnership.
(1) In general.
(2) Partner's share of liability.
(i) Recourse liability.
(ii) Nonrecourse liability.
(3) Reduction of partner's share of liability.
(4) Special rule applicable to transfers of encumbered property to a partnership by more than one partner pursuant to a plan.
(5) Special rule applicable to qualified liabilities.
(6) Qualified liability of a partner defined.
(7) Liability incurred within two years of transfer presumed to be in anticipation of the transfer.
(i) In general.
(ii) Disclosure of transfers of property subject to liabilities incurred within two years of the transfer.
(8) Liability incurred by another person.
(b) Treatment of debt-financed transfers of consideration by partnerships.
(1) In general.
(2) Partner's allocable share of liability.
(i) In general.
(ii) Debt-financed transfers made pursuant to a plan.
(A) In general.
(B) Special rule.
(iii) Reduction of partner's share of liability.
(3) Ordering rule.
(c) Refinancings.
(d) Share of liability where assumption accompanied by transfer of money.
(e) Tiered partnerships and other related persons.
(f) Examples.
(a) In general.
(b) Special rules relating to liabilities.
(1) In general.
(2) Qualified liabilities.
(c) Disclosure rules.
(d) Examples.
(a) In general.
(b) Method of providing disclosure.
(c) Disclosure by certain partnerships.
(a) Sections 1.707-3 through 1.707-6.
(1) In general.
(2) Transfers occurring on or before April 24, 1991.
(3) Effective date of section 73 of the Tax Reform Act of 1984.
(b) Section 1.707-8 disclosure of certain information.
§ 1.707-1   Transactions between partner and partnership.
(a) Partner not acting in capacity as partner. A partner who engages in a transaction with a partnership other than in his capacity as a partner shall be treated as if he were not a member of the partnership with respect to such transaction. Such transactions include, for example, loans of money or property by the partnership to the partner or by the partner to the partnership, the sale of property by the partner to the partnership, the purchase of property by the partner from the partnership, and the rendering of services by the partnership to the partner or by the partner to the partnership. Where a partner retains the ownership of property but allows the partnership to use such separately owned property for partnership purposes (for example, to obtain credit or to secure firm creditors by guaranty, pledge, or other agreement) the transaction is treated as one between a partnership and a partner not acting in his capacity as a partner. However, transfers of money or property by a partner to a partnership as contributions, or transfers of money or property by a partnership to a partner as distributions, are not transactions included within the provisions of this section. In all cases, the substance of the transaction will govern rather than its form. See paragraph (c)(3) of § 1.731-1.
(b) Certain sales or exchanges of property with respect to controlled partnerships —(1) Losses disallowed. (i) No deduction shall be allowed for a loss on a sale or exchange of property (other than an interest in the partnership, directly or indirectly, between a partnership and a partner who owns, directly or indirectly, more than 50 percent of the capital interest or profits interest in such partnership. A loss on a sale or exchange of property, directly or indirectly, between two partnerships in which the same persons own, directly or indirectly, more than 50 percent of the capital interest or profits interest in each partnership shall not be allowed.
(ii) If a gain is realized upon the subsequent sale or exchange by a transferee of property with respect to which a loss was disallowed under the provisions of subdivision (i) of this subparagraph, section 267(d) (relating to amount of gain where loss previously disallowed) shall apply as though the loss were disallowed under section 267(a)(1).
(2) Gains treated as ordinary income. Any gain recognized upon the sale or exchange, directly or indirectly, of property which, in the hands of the transferee immediately after the transfer, is property other than a capital asset, as defined in section 1221, shall be ordinary income if the transaction is between a partnership and a partner who owns, directly or indirectly, more than 80 percent of the capital interest or profits interest in the partnership. This rule also applies where such a transaction is between partnerships in which the same persons own, directly or indirectly, more than 80 percent of the capital interest or profits interest in each partnership. The term property other than a capital asset includes (but is not limited to) trade accounts receivable, inventory, stock in trade, and depreciable or real property used in the trade or business.
(3) Ownership of a capital or profits interest. In determining the extent of the ownership by a partner, as defined in section 761(b), of his capital interest or profits interest in a partnership, the rules for constructive ownership of stock provided in section 267(c) (1), (2), (4), and (5) shall be applied for the purpose of section 707(b) and this paragraph. Under these rules, ownership of a capital or profits interest in a partnership may be attributed to a person who is not a partner as defined in section 761(b) in order that another partner may be considered the constructive owner of such interest under section 267(c). However, section 707(b)(1)(A) does not apply to a constructive owner of a partnership interest since he is not a partner as defined in section 761(b). For example, where trust T is a partner in the partnership ABT, and AW, A's wife, is the sole beneficiary of the trust, the ownership of a capital and profits interest in the partnership by T will be attributed to AW only for the purpose of further attributing the ownership of such interest to A. See section 267(c) (1) and (5). If A, B, and T are equal partners, then A will be considered as owning more than 50 percent of the capital and profits interest in the partnership, and losses on transactions between him and the partnership will be disallowed by section 707(b)(1)(A). However, a loss sustained by AW on a sale or exchange of property with the partnership would not be disallowed by section 707, but will be disallowed to the extent provided in paragraph (b) of § 1.267(b)-1. See section 267 (a) and (b), and the regulations thereunder.
(c) Guaranteed payments. Payments made by a partnership to a partner for services or for the use of capital are considered as made to a person who is not a partner, to the extent such payments are determined without regard to the income of the partnership. However, a partner must include such payments as ordinary income for his taxable year within or with which ends the partnership taxable year in which the partnership deducted such payments as paid or accrued under its method of accounting. See section 706(a) and paragraph (a) of § 1.706-1. Guaranteed payments are considered as made to one who is not a member of the partnership only for the purposes of section 61(a) (relating to gross income) and section 162(a) (relating to trade or business expenses). For a guaranteed payment to be a partnership deduction, it must meet the same tests under section 162(a) as it would if the payment had been made to a person who is not a member of the partnership, and the rules of section 263 (relating to capital expenditures) must be taken into account. This rule does not affect the deductibility to the partnership of a payment described in section 736(a)(2) to a retiring partner or to a deceased partner's successor in interest. Guaranteed payments do not constitute an interest in partnership profits for purposes of sections 706(b)(3), 707(b), and 708(b). For the purposes of other provisions of the internal revenue laws, guaranteed payments are regarded as a partner's distributive share of ordinary income. Thus, a partner who receives guaranteed payments for a period during which he is absent from work because of personal injuries or sickness is not entitled to exclude such payments from his gross income under section 105(d). Similarly, a partner who receives guaranteed payments is not regarded as an employee of the partnership for the purposes of withholding of tax at source, deferred compensation plans, etc. The provisions of this paragraph may be illustrated by the following examples:
§ 1.707-2   Disguised payments for services. [Reserved]
§ 1.707-3   Disguised sales of property to partnership; general rules.
(a) Treatment of transfers as a sale —(1) In general. Except as otherwise provided in this section, if a transfer of property by a partner to a partnership and one or more transfers of money or other consideration by the partnership to that partner are described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, the transfers are treated as a sale of property, in whole or in part, to the partnership.
(2) Definition and timing of sale. For purposes of §§ 1.707-3 through 1.707-5, the use of the term sale (or any variation of that word) to refer to a transfer of property by a partner to a partnership and a transfer of consideration by a partnership to a partner means a sale or exchange of that property, in whole or in part, to the partnership by the partner acting in a capacity other than as a member of the partnership, rather than a contribution and distribution to which sections 721 and 731, respectively, apply. A transfer that is treated as a sale under paragraph (a)(1) this section is treated as a sale for all purposes of the Internal Revenue Code (e.g., sections 453, 483, 1001, 1012, 1031 and 1274). The sale is considered to take place on the date that, under general principles of Federal tax law, the partnership is considered the owner of the property. If the transfer of money or other consideration from the partnership to the partner occurs after the transfer of property to the partnership; the partner and the partnership are treated as if, on the date of the sale, the partnership transferred to the partner an obligation to transfer to the partner money or other consideration.
(3) Application of disguised sale rules. If a person purports to transfer property to a partnership in a capacity as a partner, the rules of this section apply for purposes of determining whether the property was transferred in a disguised sale, even if it is determined after the application of the rules of this section that such person is not a partner. If after the application of the rules of this section to a purported transfer of property to a partnership, it is determined that no partnership exists because the property was actually sold, or it is otherwise determined that the contributed property is not owned by the partnership for tax purposes, the transferor of the property is treated as having sold the property to the person (or persons) that acquired ownership of the property for tax purposes.
(4) Deemed terminations under section 708. In applying the rules of this section, transfers resulting from a termination of a partnership under section 708(b)(1)(B) are disregarded.
(b) Transfers treated as a sale —(1) In general. A transfer of property (excluding money or an obligation to contribute money) by a partner to a partnership and a transfer of money or other consideration (including the assumption of or the taking subject to a liability) by the partnership to the partner constitute a sale of property, in whole or in part, by the partner to the partnership only if based on all the facts and circumstances—
(i) The transfer of money or other consideration would not have been made but for the transfer of property; and
(ii) In cases in which the transfers are not made simultaneously, the subsequent transfer is not dependent on the entrepreneurial risks of partnership operations.
(2) Facts and circumstances. The determination of whether a transfer of property by a partner to the partnership and a transfer of money or other consideration by the partnership to the partner constitute a sale, in whole or in part, under paragraph (b)(1) of this section is made based on all the facts and circumstances in each case. The weight to be given each of the facts and circumstances will depend on the particular case. Generally, the facts and circumstances existing on the date of the earliest of such transfers are the ones considered in determining whether a sale exists under paragraph (b)(1) of this section. Among the facts and circumstances that may tend to prove the existence of a sale under paragraph (b)(1) of this section are the following:
(i) That the timing and amount of a subsequent transfer are determinable with reasonable certainty at the time of an earlier transfer;
(ii) That the transferor has a legally enforceable right to the subsequent transfer;
(iii) That the partner's right to receive the transfer of money or other consideration is secured in any manner, taking into account the period during which it is secured;
(iv) That any person has made or is legally obligated to make contributions to the partnership in order to permit the partnership to make the transfer of money or other consideration;
(v) That any person has loaned or has agreed to loan the partnership the money or other consideration required to enable the partnership to make the transfer, taking into account whether any such lending obligation is subject to contingencies related to the results of partnership operations;
(vi) That a partnership has incurred or is obligated to incur debt to acquire the money or other consideration necessary to permit it to make the transfer, taking into account the likelihood that the partnership will be able to incur that debt (considering such factors as whether any person has agreed to guarantee or otherwise assume personal liability for that debt);
(vii) That the partnership holds money or other liquid assets, beyond the reasonable needs of the business, that are expected to be available to make the transfer (taking into account the income that will be earned from those assets);
(viii) That partnership distributions, allocation or control of partnership operations is designed to effect an exchange of the burdens and benefits of ownership of property;
(ix) That the transfer of money or other consideration by the partnership to the partner is disproportionately large in relationship to the partner's general and continuing interest in partnership profits; and
(x) That the partner has no obligation to return or repay the money or other consideration to the partnership, or has such an obligation but it is likely to become due at such a distant point in the future that the present value of that obligation is small in relation to the amount of money or other consideration transferred by the partnership to the partner.
(c) Transfers made within two years presumed to be a sale —(1) In general. For purposes of this section, if within a two-year period a partner transfers property to a partnership and the partnership transfers money or other consideration to the partner (without regard to the order of the transfers), the transfers are presumed to be a sale of the property to the partnership unless the facts and circumstances clearly establish that the transfers do not constitute a sale.
(2) Disclosure of transfers made within two years. Disclosure to the Internal Revenue Service in accordance with § 1.707-8 is required if—
(i) A partner transfers property to a partnership and the partnership transfers money or other consideration to the partner with a two-year period (without regard to the order of the transfers);
(ii) The partner treats the transfers other than as a sale for tax purposes; and
(iii) The transfer of money or other consideration to the partner is not presumed to be a guaranteed payment for capital under § 1.707-4(a)(1)(ii), is not a reasonable preferred return within the meaning of § 1.707-4(a)(3), and is not an operating cash flow distribution within the meaning of § 1.707-4(b)(2).
(d) Transfers made more than two years apart presumed not to be a sale. For purposes of this section, if a transfer of money or other consideration to a partner by a partnership and the transfer of property to the partnership by that partner are more than two years apart, the transfers are presumed not to be a sale of the property to the partnership unless the facts and circumstances clearly establish that the transfers constitute a sale.
(e) Scope. This section and §§ 1.707-4 through 1.707-9 apply to contributions and distributions of property described in section 707(a)(2)(A) and transfers described in section 707(a)(2)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(f) Examples. The following examples illustrate the application of this section.
(ii) Under paragraph (a)(2) of this section, A and the partnership are treated as if, on April 9, 1992, A sold a portion of property X to the partnership in exchange for an obligation to transfer $3,000,000 to A one year later. Section 1274 applies to this obligation because it does not bear interest and is payable more than six months after the date of the sale. As a result, A's amount realized from the receipt of the partnership's obligation will be the imputed principal amount of the partnership's obligation to transfer $3,000,000 to A, which equals $2,721,088 (the present value on April 9, 1992, of a $3,000,000 payment due one year later, determined using a discount rate of 10 percent, compounded semiannually). Therefore, A's amount realized from the receipt of the partnership's obligation is $2,721,088 (without regard to whether the sale is reported under the installment method). A is therefore considered to have sold only $2,721,088 of the fair market value of property X. The remainder of the $3,000,000 payment ($278,912) is characterized in accordance with the provisions of section 1272. Accordingly, A must recognize $1,904,761 of gain ($2,721,088 amount realized less $816,327 adjusted tax basis ($1,200,000 multiplied by $2,721,088/$4,000,000)) on the sale of property X to the partnership. The gain is reportable under the installment method of section 453 if the sale is otherwise eligible. Assuming A receives no other transfers that are treated as consideration for the sale of property under this section, A is considered to have contributed to the partnership, in A's capacity as a partner, $1,278,912 of the fair market value of property X with an adjusted tax basis of $383,673.
(ii) If, within two years of C's transfer of land to the partnership, a transfer is made to C pursuant to the provision requiring a distribution upon completion of the building, the transfer is presumed to be, under paragraph (c) of this section, part of a sale of the land to the partnership. C may rebut the presumption that the transfer is part of a sale if the facts and circumstances clearly establish that—
(A) The transfer to C would have been made without regard to C's transfer of land to the partnership; or
(B) The partnership's obligation or ability to make this transfer to C depends, at the time of the transfer to the partnership, on the entrepreneurial risks of partnership operations.
(iii) For example, if the partnership will be able to fund the transfer of cash to C only to the extent that permanent loan proceeds exceed the cost of constructing the building, the fact that excess permanent loan proceeds will be available only if the cost to complete the building is significantly less than the amount projected by a reasonable budget would be evidence that the transfer to C is not part of a sale. Similarly, a condition that limits the amount of the permanent loan to the cost of constructing the building (and thereby limits the partnership's ability to make a transfer to C) unless all or a substantial portion of the building is leased would be evidence that the transfer to C is not part of a sale, if a significant risk exists that the partnership may not be able to lease the building to that extent. Another factor that may prove that the transfer of cash to C is not part of a sale would be that, at the time the land is transferred to the partnership, no lender has committed to make a permanent loan to fund the transfer of cash to C.
(iv) Facts indicating that the transfer of cash to C is not part of a sale, however, may be offset by other factors. An offsetting factor to restrictions on the permanent loan proceeds may be that the permanent loan is to be a recourse loan and certain conditions to the loan are likely to be waived by the lender because of the creditworthiness of the partners or the value of the partnership's other assets. Similarly, the factor that no lender has committed to fund the transfer of cash to C may be offset by facts establishing that the partnership is obligated to attempt to obtain such a loan and that its ability to obtain such a loan is not significantly dependent on the value that will be added by successful completion of the building, or that the partnership reasonably anticipates that it will have (and will utilize) an alternative source to fund the transfer of cash to C if the permanent loan proceeds are inadequate.
(ii) Shortly before G's transfer of the land to the partnership, the partnership secures commitments from lending institutions for construction and permanent financing. To obtain the construction loan, H guarantees completion of the building for a cost of $5,000,000. The partnership is not obligated to reimburse or indemnify H if H must make payment on the completion guarantee. The permanent loan will be funded upon completion of the building, which is expected to occur two years after G's transfer of the land. The amount of the permanent loan is to equal the lesser of $5,000,000 or 80 percent of the appraised value of the improved property at the time the permanent loan is closed. Under the partnership agreement, the partnership is obligated to apply the proceeds of the permanent loan to retire the construction loan and to hold any excess proceeds for transfer to G 25 months after G's transfer of the land to the partnership. The appraised value of the improved property at the time the permanent loan is closed is expected to exceed $5,000,000 only if the partnership is able to lease a substantial portion of the improvements by that time, and there is a significant risk that the partnership will not be able to achieve a satisfactory occupancy level. The partnership completes construction of the building for the projected cost of $5,000,000 approximately two years after G's transfer of the land. Shortly thereafter, the permanent loan is funded in the amount of $5,000,000. At the time of funding the land and building have an appraised value of $7,000,000. The partnership transfers the $1,000,000 excess permanent loan proceeds to G 25 months after G's transfer of the land to the partnership.
(iii) G's transfer of the land to the partnership and the partnership's transfer of $1,000,000 to G occurred more than two years apart. In accordance with paragraph (d) of this section, those transfers are presumed not to be a sale unless the facts and circumstances clearly establish that the transfers constitute a sale of the property, in whole or part, to the partnership. The transfer of $1,000,000 to G would not have been made but for G's transfer of the land to the partnership. In addition, at the time G transferred the land to the partnership, G had a legally enforceable right to receive a transfer from the partnership at a specified time an amount that equals the excess of the permanent loan proceeds over $4,000,000. In this case, however, there was a significant risk that the appraised value of the property would be insufficient to support a permanent loan in excess of $4,000,000 because of the risk that the partnership would not be able to achieve a sufficient occupancy level. Therefore, the facts of this example indicate that at the time G transferred the land to the partnership the subsequent transfer of $1,000,000 to G depended on the entrepreneurial risks of partnership operations. Accordingly, G's transfer of the land to the partnership is not treated as part of a sale.
(ii) I's transfer of the office building to the partnership and the partnership's transfer of the government securities and cash to I occurred more than two years apart. Therefore, those transfers are presumed not to be a sale unless the facts and circumstances clearly establish that the transfers constitute a sale. Absent I's transfer of the office building to the partnership, I would not have received the government securities from the partnership. The facts including the amount and nature of partnership assets) indicate that, at the time that I transferred the office building to the partnership, the timing of the transfer of the government securities to I was anticipated and was not dependent on the entrepreneurial risks of partnership operations. Moreover, the facts indicate that the partnership allocations were designed to effect an exchange of the burdens and benefits of ownership of the government securities in anticipation of the transfer of those securities to I and those burdens and benefits were effectively shifted to I on formation of the partnership. Accordingly, the facts and circumstances clearly establish that I sold the office building to the partnership on February 1, 1992, in exchange for the partnership's obligation to transfer the government securities to I and to make certain other cash transfers to I.
§ 1.707-4   Disguised sales of property to partnership; special rules applicable to guaranteed payments, preferred returns, operating cash flow distributions, and reimbursements of preformation expenditures.
(a) Guaranteed payments and preferred returns —(1) Guaranteed payment not treated as part of a sale —(i) In general. A guaranteed payment for capital made to a partner is not treated as part of a sale of property under § 1.707-3(a) (relating to treatment of transfers as a sale). A party's characterization of a payment as a guaranteed payment for capital will not control in determining whether a payment is, in fact, a guaranteed payment for capital. The term guaranteed payment for capital means any payment to a partner by a partnership that is determined without regard to partnership income and is for the use of that partner's capital. See section 707(c). For this purpose, one or more payments are not made for the use of a partner's capital if the payments are designed to liquidate all or part of the partner's interest in property contributed to the partnership rather than to provide the partner with a return on an investment in the partnership.
(ii) Reasonable guaranteed payments. Notwithstanding the presumption set forth in § 1.707-3(c) (relating to transfers made within two years of each other), for purposes of section 707(a)(2) and the regulations thereunder a transfer of money to a partner that is characterized by the parties as a guaranteed payment for capital, is determined without regard to the income of the partnership and is reasonable (within the meaning of paragraph (a)(3) of this section) is presumed to be a guaranteed payment for capital unless the facts and circumstances clearly establish that the transfer is not a guaranteed payment for capital and is part of a sale.
(iii) Unreasonable guaranteed payments. A transfer of money to a partner that is characterized by the parties as a guaranteed payment for capital but that is not reasonable (within the meaning of paragraph (a)(3) of this section) is presumed not to be a guaranteed payment for capital unless the facts and circumstances clearly establish that the transfer is a guaranteed payment for capital. A transfer that is not a guaranteed payment for capital is subject to the rules of § 1.707-3.
(2) Presumption regarding reasonable preferred returns. Notwithstanding the presumption set forth in § 1.707-3(c) (relating to transfers made within two years of each other), a transfer of money to a partner that is characterized by the parties as a preferred return and that is reasonable (within the meaning of paragraph (a)(3) of this section) is presumed not to be part of a sale of property to the partnership unless the facts and circumstances (including the likelihood and expected timing of the subsequent allocation of income or gain to support the preferred return) clearly establish that the transfer is part of a sale. The term preferred return means a preferential distribution of partnership cash flow to a partner with respect to capital contributed to the partnership by the partner that will be matched, to the extent available, by an allocation of income or gain.
(3) Definition of reasonable preferred returns and guaranteed payments —(i) In general. A transfer of money to a partner that is characterized as a preferred return or guaranteed payment for capital is reasonable only to the extent that the transfer is made to the partner pursuant to a written provision of a partnership agreement that provides for payment for the use of capital in a reasonable amount, and only to the extent that the payment is made for the use of capital after the date on which that provision is added to the partnership agreement.
(ii) Reasonable amount. A transfer of money that is made to a partner during any partnership taxable year and is characterized as a preferred return or guaranteed payment for capital is reasonable in amount if the sum of any preferred return and any guaranteed payment for capital that is payable for that year does not exceed the amount determined by multiplying either the partner's unreturned capital at the beginning of the year or, at the partner's option, the partner's weighted average capital balance for the year (with either amount appropriately adjusted, taking into account the relevant compounding periods, to reflect any unpaid preferred return or guaranteed payment for capital that is payable to the partner) by the safe harbor interest rate for that year. The safe harbor interest rate for a partnership's taxable year equals 150 percent of the highest applicable Federal rate, at the appropriate compounding period or periods, in effect at any time from the time that the right to the preferred return or guaranteed payment for capital is first established pursuant to a binding, written agreement among the partners through the end of the taxable year. A partner's unreturned capital equals the excess of the aggregate amount of money and the fair market value of other consideration (net of liabilities) contributed by the partner to the partnership over the aggregate amount of money and the fair market value of other consideration (net of liabilities) distributed by the partnership to the partner other than transfers of money that are presumed to be guaranteed payments for capital under paragraph (a)(1)(ii) of this section, transfers of money that are reasonable preferred returns within the meaning of this paragraph (a)(3), and operating cash flow distributions within the meaning of paragraph (b)(2) of this section.
(4) Examples. The following examples illustrate the application of paragraph (a) of this section:
(ii) The transfer of money to be made to A under the partnership agreement is characterized by the parties as a guaranteed payment for capital and is determined without regard to the income of the partnership. The transfer is also reasonable within the meaning of § 1.707-4(a)(3). The transfer, therefore, is presumed to be a guaranteed payment for capital. The presumption set forth in § 1.707-3(c) (relating to transfers made within two years of each other) thus does not apply to this transfer. The transfer will not be treated as part of a sale of property to the partnership unless the facts and circumstances clearly establish that the transfer is not a guaranteed payment for capital but is part of a sale.
(iii) The presumption that the transfer is a guaranteed payment for capital is not rebutted, because there are no facts indicating that the transfer is not a guaranteed payment for the use of capital.
(A) Partnership net taxable income and loss will be allocated 75 percent to C and 25 percent to D; and
(B) All partnership cash flow (determined prior to consideration of the guaranteed payment) will be distributed 75 percent to C and 25 percent to D except that guaranteed payments that the partnership is obligated to make to C are payable solely out of D's share of the partnership's cash flow.
(ii) If D's share of the partnership's cash flow is not sufficient to make the guaranteed payment to C, then D is obligated to contribute any shortfall to the partnership, even in the event the partnership is liquidated. Thus, the effect of the guaranteed payment arrangement is that the guaranteed payment to C is funded entirely by D. The partnership agreement complies with the requirements of § 1.704-1(b)(2)(ii)( b ). Assume that, at the time the partnership is formed, the partnership or D could borrow $25,000 pursuant to a loan requiring equal payments of principal and interest over a four-year term at the current market interest rate of approximately 12 percent (compounded annually). Assume that the highest applicable Federal rate in effect at the time the partnership is formed is 10 percent compounded annually.
(iii) The transfer of money to be made to C under the partnership agreement is characterized by the parties as a guaranteed payment for capital and is determined without regard to the income of the partnership. The transfer is also reasonable within the meaning of § 1.707-4(a)(3). The transfer, therefore, is presumed to be a guaranteed payment for capital. The presumption set forth in § 1.707-3(c) (relating to transfers made within two years of each other) thus does not apply to this transfer. The transfer will not be treated as part of a sale of property to the partnership unless the facts and circumstances clearly establish that the transfer is not a guaranteed payment for capital and is part of a sale.
(iv) For the first four years of partnership operations, the total guaranteed payments made to C under the partnership agreement will equal $33,332. If the characterization of those payments as guaranteed payments for capital within the meaning of section 707(c) were respected, C would be allocated $24,999 of the deductions that would be claimed by the partnership for those payments, thereby leaving the balance in C's capital account approximately $25,000 less than it would have been if the guaranteed payments had not been made. The guaranteed payments thus have the effect of offsetting approximately $25,000 of the credit made to C's capital account for the property transferred to the partnership by C. C's resulting capital account is approximately equivalent to the capital account C would have had if C had only contributed 75 percent of the property to the partnership. Furthermore, the effect of D's funding the guaranteed payment to C (either through reduced distributions of cash flow to D or additional contributions) is that D's capital account is approximately equivalent to the capital account D would have had if D had contributed 25 percent of the property (or contributed cash so that the partnership could purchase the 25 percent). Moreover, a $25,000 loan requiring equal payments of principal and interest over a four-year term at the current market interest rate of 12 percent (compounded annually), would have resulted in annual payments of principal and interest of $8,230.86. Consequently, the guaranteed payments effectively place the partners in the same economic position that they would have been in had D purchased a one-quarter interest in the property from C financed at the current market rate of interest, and then C and D each contributed their share of the property to the partnership. In view of the burden the guaranteed payments place on D's right to transfers of partnership cash flow and D's legal obligation to make contributions to the partnership to the extent necessary to fund the guaranteed payments, D has effectively purchased through the partnership a one-quarter interest in the property from C.
(v) Under these facts, the presumption that the transfers to C are guaranteed payments for capital is rebutted, because the facts and circumstances clearly establish that the transfers are part of a sale and not guaranteed payments for capital. Under § 1.707-3(a), C and the partnership are treated as if C sold a one-quarter interest in the property to the partnership in exchange for a promissory note evidencing the partnership's obligation to make the guaranteed payments.
(b) Presumption regarding operating cash flow distributions —(1) In general. Notwithstanding the presumption set forth in § 1.707-3(c) (relating to transfers made within two years of each other), an operating cash flow distribution is presumed not to be part of a sale of property to the partnership unless the facts and circumstances clearly establish that the transfer is part of a sale.
(2) Operating cash flow distributions —(i) In general. One or more transfers of money by the partnership to a partner during a taxable year of the partnership are operating cash flow distributions for purposes of paragraph (b)(1) of this section to the extent that those transfers are not presumed to be guaranteed payments for capital under paragraph (a)(1)(ii) of this section, are not reasonable preferred returns within the meaning of paragraph (a)(3) of this section, are not characterized by the parties as distributions to the partner acting in a capacity other than as a partner, and to the extent they do not exceed the product of the net cash flow of the partnership from operations for the year multiplied by the lesser of the partner's percentage interest in overall partnership profits for that year or the partner's percentage interest in overall partnership profits for the life of the partnership. For purposes of the preceding sentence, the net cash flow of the partnership from operations for a taxable year is an amount equal to the taxable income or loss of the partnership arising in the ordinary course of the partnership's business and investment activities, increased by tax exempt interest, depreciation, amortization, cost recovery allowances and other noncash charges deducted in determining such taxable income and decreased by—
(A) Principal payments made on any partnership indebtedness;
(B) Property replacement or contingency reserves actually established by the partnership;
(C) Capital expenditures when made other than from reserves or from borrowings the proceeds of which are not included in operating cash flow; and
(D) Any other cash expenditures (including preferred returns) not deducted in determining such taxable income or loss.
(ii) Operating cash flow safe harbor. For any taxable year, in determining a partner's operating cash flow distributions for the year, the partner may use the partner's smallest percentage interest under the terms of the partnership agreement in any material item of partnership income or gain that may be realized by the partnership in the three-year period beginning with such taxable year. This provision is merely intended to provide taxpayers with a safe harbor and is not intended to preclude a taxpayer from using a different percentage under the rules of paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section.
(iii) Tiered partnerships. In the case of tiered partnerships, the upper-tier partnership must take into account its share of the net cash flow from operations of the lower-tier partnership applying principles similar to those described in paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section, so that the amount of the upper-tier partnership's operating cash flow distributions is neither overstated nor understated.
(c) Accumulation of guaranteed payments, preferred returns, and operating cash flow distributions. Guaranteed payments for capital, preferred returns, and operating cash flow distributions presumed not to be part of a sale under the rules of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section do not lose the benefit of the presumption by reason of being retained for distribution in a later year.
(d) Exception for reimbursements of preformation expenditures. (1) In general. A transfer of money or other consideration by the partnership to a partner is not treated as part of a sale of property by the partner to the partnership under § 1.707-3(a) (relating to treatment of transfers as a sale) to the extent that the transfer to the partner by the partnership is made to reimburse the partner for, and does not exceed the amount of, capital expenditures that—
(i) Are incurred during the two-year period preceding the transfer by the partner to the partnership; and
(ii) Are incurred by the partner with respect to—
(A) Partnership organization and syndication costs described in section 709; or
(B) Property transferred to the partnership by the partner, but only to the extent the reimbursed capital expenditures do not exceed 20 percent of the fair market value of such property at the time of the transfer (the 20-percent limitation). However, the 20-percent limitation of this paragraph (d)(1)(ii)(B) does not apply if the fair market value of the transferred property does not exceed 120 percent of the partner's adjusted basis in the transferred property at the time of the transfer (the 120-percent test). This paragraph (d)(1)(ii)(B) shall be applied on a property-by-property basis, except that a partner may aggregate any of the transferred property under this paragraph (d)(1) to the extent—
( 1 ) The total fair market value of such aggregated property (of which no single property's fair market value exceeds 1 percent of the total fair market value of such aggregated property) is not greater than the lesser of 10 percent of the total fair market value of all property, excluding money and marketable securities (as defined under section 731(c)), transferred by the partner to the partnership, or $1,000,000;
( 2 ) The partner uses a reasonable aggregation method that is consistently applied; and
( 3 ) Such aggregation of property is not part of a plan a principal purpose of which is to avoid §§ 1.707-3 through 1.707-5.
(C) [Reserved].
(2) Capital expenditures incurred by another person. For purposes of paragraph (d)(1) of this section, a partner steps in the shoes of a person (to the extent the person was not previously reimbursed under paragraph (d)(1) of this section) with respect to capital expenditures the person incurred with respect to property transferred to the partnership by the partner to the extent the partner acquired the property from the person in a nonrecognition transaction described in section 351, 381(a), 721, or 731.
(3) Contribution of a partnership interest with capital expenditures property. If a person transfers property with respect to which the person incurred capital expenditures (capital expenditures property) to a partnership (lower-tier partnership) and, within the two-year period beginning on the date upon which the person incurred the capital expenditures, transfers an interest in the lower-tier partnership to another partnership (upper-tier partnership) in a nonrecognition transaction under section 721, the upper-tier partnership steps in the shoes of the person who transferred the capital expenditures property to the lower-tier partnership with respect to the capital expenditures that are not otherwise reimbursed to the person. The upper-tier partnership may be reimbursed by the lower-tier partnership under paragraph (d)(1) of this section to the extent the person could have been reimbursed for the capital expenditures by the lower-tier partnership under paragraph (d)(1) of this section. In addition, for purposes of paragraph (d)(1) of this section, the person is deemed to have transferred the capital expenditures property to the upper-tier partnership and may be reimbursed by the upper-tier partnership under paragraph (d)(1) of this section to the extent the person could have been reimbursed for the capital expenditures by the lower-tier partnership under paragraph (d)(1) of this section and has not otherwise been previously reimbursed. The aggregate reimbursements for capital expenditures under this paragraph (d)(3) shall not exceed the amount that the person could have been reimbursed for such capital expenditures under paragraph (d)(1) of this section.
(4) Special rule for qualified liabilities —(i) In general. For purposes of paragraph (d)(1) of this section, if capital expenditures were funded by the proceeds of a qualified liability defined in § 1.707-5(a)(6)(i) that a partnership assumes or takes property subject to in connection with a transfer of property to the partnership by a partner, a transfer of money or other consideration by the partnership to the partner is not treated as made to reimburse the partner for such capital expenditures to the extent the transfer of money or other consideration by the partnership to the partner exceeds the partner's share of the qualified liability (as determined under § 1.707-5(a)(2), (3), and (4)). Capital expenditures are treated as funded by the proceeds of a qualified liability to the extent the proceeds are either traceable to the capital expenditures under § 1.163-8T or were actually used to fund the capital expenditures, irrespective of the tracing requirements under § 1.163-8T.
(ii) Anti-abuse rule. If capital expenditures and a qualified liability are incurred under a plan a principal purpose of which is to avoid the requirements of paragraph (d)(4)(i) of this section, the capital expenditures are deemed funded by the qualified liability.
(5) Scope of capital expenditures. For purposes of this section and § 1.707-5, the term capital expenditures has the same meaning as the term capital expenditures has under the Internal Revenue Code and applicable regulations, except that it includes capital expenditures taxpayers elect to deduct, and does not include deductible expenses taxpayers elect to treat as capital expenditures.
(6) Example. The following example illustrates the application of paragraph (d) of this section:
(ii) Under paragraph (d)(1)(ii)(B) of this section, the 20-percent limitation on reimbursed capital expenditures applies on a property-by-property basis. The 120-percent test also applies on a property-by-property basis. Accordingly, the tangible asset and the goodwill each constitutes a separate property. Z incurred the capital expenditures with respect to the tangible asset only. The $550,000 fair market value of the tangible asset exceeds 120 percent of Z's $450,000 adjusted basis in the asset at the time of the transfer (120 percent × $450,000 = $540,000). Thus, the 20-percent limitation applies so that the reimbursement of Z's $130,000 of capital expenditures is limited to 20 percent of the fair market value of the tangible asset, or $110,000 (20 percent × $550,000).
(e) Other exceptions. The Commissioner may provide by guidance published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin that other payments or transfers to a partner are not treated as part of a sale for purposes of section 707(a)(2) and the regulations thereunder.
(f) Ordering rule cross reference. For payments or transfers by a partnership to a partner to which the rules under this section and § 1.707-5(b) apply, see the ordering rule under § 1.707-5(b)(3).
§ 1.707-5   Disguised sales of property to partnership; special rules relating to liabilities.
(a) Liability assumed or taken subject to by partnership —(1) In general. For purposes of this section and §§ 1.707-3 and 1.707-4, if a partnership assumes or takes property subject to a qualified liability (as defined in paragraph (a)(6) of this section) of a partner, the partnership is treated as transferring consideration to the partner only to the extent provided in paragraph (a)(5) of this section. By contrast, if the partnership assumes or takes property subject to a liability of the partner other than a qualified liability, the partnership is treated as transferring consideration to the partner to the extent that the amount of the liability exceeds the partner's share of that liability immediately after the partnership assumes or takes subject to the liability as provided in paragraphs (a) (2), (3) and (4) of this section.
(2) Partner's share of liability. A partner's share of any liability of the partnership is determined under the following rules:
(i) Recourse liability. A partner's share of a recourse liability of the partnership equals the partner's share of the liability under the rules of section 752 and the regulations in this part under section 752. A partnership liability is a recourse liability to the extent that the obligation is a recourse liability under § 1.752-1(a)(1) or would be treated as a recourse liability under that section if it were treated as a partnership liability for purposes of that section.
(ii) Nonrecourse liability. A partner's share of a nonrecourse liability of the partnership is determined by applying the same percentage used to determine the partner's share of the excess nonrecourse liability under § 1.752-3(a)(3). A partnership liability is a nonrecourse liability of the partnership to the extent that the obligation is a nonrecourse liability under § 1.752-1(a)(2) or would be a nonrecourse liability of the partnership under § 1.752-1(a)(2) if it were treated as a partnership liability for purposes of that section.
(3) Reduction of partner's share of liability. For purposes of this section, a partner's share of a liability, immediately after a partnership assumes or takes property subject to the liability, is determined by taking into account a subsequent reduction in the partner's share if—
(i) At the time that the partnership assumes or takes property subject to the liability, it is anticipated that the transferring partner's share of the liability will be subsequently reduced;
(ii) The anticipated reduction is not subject to the entrepreneurial risks of partnership operations; and
(iii) The reduction of the partner's share of the liability is part of a plan that has as one of its principal purposes minimizing the extent to which the assumption of or taking property subject to the liability is treated as part of a sale under § 1.707-3.
(4) Special rule applicable to transfers of encumbered property to a partnership by more than one partner pursuant to a plan. For purposes of paragraph (a)(1) of this section, if the partnership assumes or takes property or properties subject to the liabilities of more than one partner pursuant to a plan, a partner's share of the liabilities assumed or taken subject to by the partnership pursuant to that plan immediately after the transfers equals the sum of that partner's shares of the liabilities (other than that partner's qualified liabilities, as defined in paragraph (a)(6) of this section) assumed or taken subject to by the partnership pursuant to the plan. This paragraph (a)(4) does not apply to any liability assumed or taken subject to by the partnership with a principal purpose of reducing the extent to which any other liability assumed or taken subject to by the partnership is treated as a transfer of consideration under paragraph (a)(1) of this section.
(5) Special rule applicable to qualified liabilities. (i) If a transfer of property by a partner to a partnership is not otherwise treated as part of a sale, the partnership's assumption of or taking subject to a qualified liability in connection with a transfer of property is not treated as part of a sale. If a transfer of property by a partner to the partnership is treated as part of a sale without regard to the partnership's assumption of or taking subject to a qualified liability (as defined in paragraph (a)(6) of this section) in connection with the transfer of property, the partnership's assumption of or taking subject to that liability is treated as a transfer of consideration made pursuant to a sale of such property to the partnership only to the extent of the lesser of—
(A) The amount of consideration that the partnership would be treated as transferring to the partner under paragraph (a)(1) of this section if the liability were not a qualified liability; or
(B) The amount obtained by multiplying the amount of the qualified liability by the partner's net equity percentage with respect to that property.
(ii) A partner's net equity percentage with respect to an item of property equals the percentage determined by dividing—
(A) The aggregate transfers of money or other consideration to the partner by the partnership (other than any transfer described in this paragraph (a)(5)) that are treated as proceeds realized from the sale of the transferred property; by
(B) The excess of the fair market value of the property at the time it is transferred to the partnership over any qualified liability encumbering the property or, in the case of any qualified liability described in paragraph (a)(6)(i) (C) or (D) of this section, that is properly allocable to the property.
(iii) Notwithstanding paragraph (a)(5)(i) of this section, in connection with a transfer of property by a partner to a partnership that is treated as a sale due solely to the partnership's assumption of or taking property subject to a liability other than a qualified liability, the partnership's assumption of or taking property subject to a qualified liability is not treated as a transfer of consideration made pursuant to the sale if the total amount of all liabilities other than qualified liabilities that the partnership assumes or takes subject to is the lesser of 10 percent of the total amount of all qualified liabilities the partnership assumes or takes subject to, or $1,000,000.
(6) Qualified liability of a partner defined. A liability assumed or taken subject to by a partnership in connection with a transfer of property to the partnership by a partner is qualified liability of the partner only to the extend—
(i) The liability is—
(A) A liability that was incurred by the partner more than two years prior to the earlier of the date the partner agrees in writing to transfers the property or the date the partner transfers the property to the partnership and that has encumbered the transferred property throughout that two-year period;
(B) A liability that was not incurred in anticipation of the transfer of the property to a partnership, buy that was incurred by the partner within the two-year period prior to the earlier of the date the partner agrees in writing to transfer the property or the date the partner transfers the property to the partnership and that has encumbered the transferred property since it was incurred (see paragraph (a)(7) of this section for further rules regarding a liability incurred within two years of a property transfer or of a written agreement to transfer);
(C) A liability that is allocable under the rules of § 1.163-8T to capital expenditures (as described under § 1.707-4(d)(5)) with respect to the property;
(D) A liability that was incurred in the ordinary course of the trade or business in which property transferred to the partnership was used or held but only if all the assets related to that trade or business are transferred other than assets that are not material to a continuation of the trade or business; or
(E) A liability that was not incurred in anticipation of the transfer of the property to a partnership, but that was incurred in connection with a trade or business in which property transferred to the partnership was used or held but only if all the assets related to that trade or business are transferred other than assets that are not material to a continuation of the trade or business (see paragraph (a)(7) of this section for further rules regarding a liability incurred within two years of a transfer presumed to be in anticipation of the transfer); and
(ii) If the liability is a recourse liability, the amount of the liability does not exceed the fair market value of the transferred property (less the amount of any other liabilities that are senior in priority and that either encumber such property or are liabilities described in paragraph (a)(6)(i) (C) or (D) of this section) at the time of the transfer.
(7) Liability incurred within two years of transfer presumed to be in anticipation of the transfer —(i) In general. For purposes of this section, if within a two-year period a partner incurs a liability (other than a liability described in paragraph (a)(6)(i) (C) or (D) of this section) and transfers property to a partnership or agrees in writing to transfer the property, and in connection with the transfer the partnership assumes or takes the property subject to the liability, the liability is presumed to be incurred in anticipation of the transfer unless the facts and circumstances clearly establish that the liability was not incurred in anticipation of the transfer.
(ii) Disclosure of transfers of property subject to liabilities incurred within two years of the transfer. A partner that treats a liability assumed or taken subject to by a partnership in connection with a transfer of property as a qualified liability under paragraph (a)(6)(i)(B) of this section or under paragraph (a)(6)(i)(E) of this section (if the liability was incurred by the partner within the two-year period prior to the earlier of the date the partner agrees in writing to transfer the property or the date the partner transfers the property to the partnership) must disclose such treatment to the Internal Revenue Service in accordance with § 1.707-8.
(8) Liability incurred by another person. Except as provided in paragraph (e)(2) of this section, a partner steps in the shoes of a person for purposes of paragraph (a) of this section with respect to a liability the person incurred or assumed to the extent the partner assumed or took property subject to the liability from the person in a nonrecognition transaction described in section 351, 381(a), 721, or 731.
(b) Treatment of debt-financed transfers of consideration by partnerships —(1) In general. For purposes of § 1.707-3, if a partner transfers property to a partnership, and the partnership incurs a liability and all or a portion of the proceeds of that liability are allocable under § 1.163-8T to a transfer of money or other consideration to the partner made within 90 days of incurring the liability, the transfer of money or other consideration to the partner is taken into account only to the extent that the amount of money or the fair market value of the other consideration transferred exceeds that partner's allocable share of the partnership liability. For purposes of paragraph (b) of this section, an upper-tier partnership's share of the liability of a lower-tier partnership as described under § 1.707-5(a)(2) that is treated as a liability of the upper-tier partnership under § 1.752-4(a) shall be treated as a liability of the upper-tier partnership incurred on the same day the liability was incurred by the lower-tier partnership.
(2) Partner's allocable share of liability —(i) In general. A partner's allocable share of a partnership liability for purposes of paragraph (b)(1) of this section equals the amount obtained by multiplying the partner's share of the liability as described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section by the fraction determined by dividing—
(A) The portion of the liability that is allocable under § 1.163-8T to the money or other consideration transferred to the partner; by
(B) The total amount of the liability.
(ii) Debt-financed transfers made pursuant to a plan —(A) In general. Except as provided in paragraph (b)(2)(iii) of this section, if a partnership transfers to more than one partner pursuant to a plan all or a portion of the proceeds of one or more partnership liabilities, paragraph (b)(1) of this section is applied by treating all of the liabilities incurred pursuant to the plan as one liability, and each partner's allocable share of those liabilities equals the amount obtained by multiplying the sum of the partner's shares of each of the respective liabilities (as defined in paragraph (a)(2) of this section) by the fraction obtained by dividing—
( 1 ) The portion of those liabilities that is allocable under § 1.163-8T to the money or other consideration transferred to the partners pursuant to the plan; by
( 2 ) The total amount of those liabilities.
(B) Special rule. Paragraph (b)(2)(ii)(A) of this section does not apply to any transfer of money or other property to a partner that is made with a principal purpose of reducing the extent to which any transfer is taken into account under paragraph (b)(1) of this section.
(iii) Reduction of partner's share of liability. For purposes of paragraph (b)(2) of this section, a partner's share of a liability immediately after a partnership incurs the liability is determined by taking into account a subsequent reduction in the partner's share if—
(A) At the time that the partnership incurs the liability, it is anticipated that the partner's share of the liability that is allocable to a transfer of money or other consideration to the partner will be reduced subsequent to the transfer;
(B) The anticipated reduction is not subject to the entrepreneurial risks of partnership operations; and
(C) The reduction of the partner's share of the liability is part of a plan that has as one of its principal purposes minimizing the extent to which the partnership's distribution of the proceeds of the borrowing is treated as part of a sale.
(3) Ordering rule. The treatment of a transfer of money or other consideration under paragraph (b) of this section is determined before applying the rules under § 1.707-4.
(c) Refinancings. To the extent that the proceeds of a partner or partnership liability (the refinancing debt ) are allocable under the rules of § 1.163-8T to payments discharging all or part of any other liability of that partner or of the partnership, as the case may be, the refinancing debt is treated as the other liability for purposes of applying the rules of this section.
(d) Share of liability where assumption accompanied by transfer of money. For purposes of §§ 1.707-3 through 1.707-5, if pursuant to a plan a partner pays or contributes money to the partnership and the partnership assumes or takes subject to one or more liabilities (other than qualified liabilities) of the partner, the amount of those liabilities that the partnership is treated as assuming or taking subject to is reduced (but not below zero) by the money transferred.
(e) Tiered partnerships and other related persons. (1) If a lower-tier partnership succeeds to a liability of an upper-tier partnership, the liability in the lower-tier partnership retains the characterization as qualified or nonqualified that it had under these rules in the upper-tier partnership. A similar rule applies to other related party transactions involving liabilities to the extent provided by guidance published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin.
(2) If an interest in a partnership that has one or more liabilities (the lower-tier partnership) is transferred to another partnership (the upper-tier partnership), the upper-tier partnership's share of any liability of the lower-tier partnership that is treated as a liability of the upper-tier partnership under § 1.752-4(a) is treated as a qualified liability under paragraph (a)(6)(i) of this section to the extent the liability would be a qualified liability under paragraph (a)(6)(i) of this section had the liability been assumed or taken subject to by the upper-tier partnership in connection with a transfer of all of the lower-tier partnership's property to the upper-tier partnership by the lower-tier partnership. For purposes of determining whether the liability constitutes a qualified liability under paragraphs (a)(6)(i)(B) and (E) of this section, a determination that the liability was not incurred in anticipation of the transfer of property to the upper-tier partnership is based on whether the partner in the lower-tier partnership anticipated transferring its interest in the lower-tier partnership to the upper-tier partnership at the time the liability was incurred by the lower-tier partnership.
(f) Examples. The following examples illustrate the application of this section.
(1) Example 1. Partnership's assumption of nonrecourse liability encumbering transferred property. (i) A and B form partnership AB, which will engage in renting office space. A transfers $500,000 in cash to the partnership, and B transfers an office building to the partnership. At the time it is transferred to the partnership, the office building has a fair market value of $1,000,000, has an adjusted basis of $400,000, and is encumbered by a $500,000 nonrecourse liability, which B incurred 12 months earlier to finance the acquisition of other property and which the partnership assumed. No facts rebut the presumption that the liability was incurred in anticipation of the transfer of the property to the partnership. Assume that this liability is a nonrecourse liability of the partnership within the meaning of section 752 and the regulations thereunder. The partnership agreement provides that partnership items will be allocated equally between A and B, including excess nonrecourse liabilities under § 1.752-3(a)(3). The partnership agreement complies with the requirements of § 1.704-1(b)(2)(ii)( b ).
(ii) The nonrecourse liability secured by the office building is not a qualified liability within the meaning of paragraph (a)(6) of this section. B would be allocated 50 percent of the excess nonrecourse liability under the partnership agreement. Accordingly, immediately after the partnership's assumption of that liability, B's share of the liability as determined under paragraph (a)(2) of this section is $250,000 (B's 50 percent share of the partnership's excess nonrecourse liability as determined in accordance with B's share of partnership profits under § 1.752-3(a)(3)).
(iii) The partnership's assumption of the liability encumbering the office building is treated as a transfer of $250,000 of consideration to B (the amount by which the liability ($500,000) exceeds B's share of that liability immediately after the partnership's assumption of the liability ($250,000)). B is treated as having sold $250,000 of the fair market value of the office building to the partnership in exchange for the partnership's assumption of a $250,000 liability. This results in a gain of $150,000 ($250,000 minus ($250,000/$1,000,000 multiplied by $400,000)).
(2) Example 2. Partnership's assumption of recourse liability encumbering transferred property . (i) C transfers property Y to a partnership. At the time of its transfer to the partnership, property Y has a fair market value of $10,000,000 and is subject to an $8,000,000 liability that C incurred, immediately before transferring property Y to the partnership, in order to finance other expenditures. Upon the transfer of property Y to the partnership, the partnership assumed the liability encumbering that property. The partnership assumed this liability solely to acquire property Y. Under section 752 and the regulations in this part under section 752, immediately after the partnership's assumption of the liability encumbering property Y, the liability is a recourse liability of the partnership and C's share of that liability is $7,000,000.
(ii) Under the facts of paragraph (f)(2)(i) of this section ( Example 2 ), the liability encumbering property Y is not a qualified liability. Accordingly, the partnership's assumption of the liability results in a transfer of consideration to C in connection with C's transfer of property Y to the partnership in the amount of $1,000,000 (the excess of the liability assumed by the partnership ($8,000,000) over C's share of the liability immediately after the assumption ($7,000,000)). See paragraphs (a)(1) and (2) of this section.
(3) Example 3. Subsequent reduction of transferring partner's share of liability . (i) The facts are the same as in paragraph (f)(2) of this section ( Example 2 ). In addition, property Y is a fully leased office building, the rental income from property Y is sufficient to meet debt service, and the remaining term of the liability is ten years. It is anticipated that, three years after the partnership's assumption of the liability, C's share of the liability under section 752 will be reduced to zero because of a shift in the allocation of partnership losses pursuant to the terms of the partnership agreement. Under the partnership agreement, this shift in the allocation of partnership losses is dependent solely on the passage of time.
(ii) Under paragraph (a)(3) of this section, if the reduction in C's share of the liability was anticipated at the time of C's transfer, was not subject to the entrepreneurial risks of partnership operations, and was part of a plan that has as one of its principal purposes minimizing the extent of sale treatment under § 1.707-3 (that is, a principal purpose of allocating a large percentage of losses to C in the first three years when losses were not likely to be realized was to minimize the extent to which C's transfer would be treated as part of a sale), C's share of the liability immediately after the assumption is treated as equal to C's reduced share.
(4) Example 4. Trade payables as qualified liabilities. (i) D and E form partnership DE which will engage in a consulting business that requires no overhead and minimal cash on hand for daily operating expenses. Previously, D and E, as individual sole proprietors, operated separate consulting businesses. D and E each transfer to the partnership sufficient cash to cover daily operating expenses together with the goodwill and trade payables related to each sole proprietorship. Due to uncertainty over the collection rate on the trade receivables related to their sole proprietorships, D and E agree that none of the trade receivables will be transferred to the partnership.
(ii) Under the facts of this example, all the assets related to the consulting business (other than the trade receivables) together with the trade payables were transferred to partnership DE. The trade receivables retained by D and E are not material to a continuation of the trade or business by the partnership because D and E contributed sufficient cash to cover daily operating expenses. Accordingly, the trade payables transferred to the partnership constitute qualified liability under paragraph (a)(6) of this section.
(5) Partnership's assumption of a qualified liability as sole consideration. (i) F purchases property Z in 2012. In 2017, F transfers property Z to a partnership. At the time of its transfer to the partnership, property Z has a fair market value of $165,000 and an adjusted tax basis of $75,000. Also, at the time of the transfer, property Z is subject to a $75,000 nonrecourse liability that F incurred more than two years before transferring property Z to the partnership. The liability has been secured by property Z since it was incurred by F. Upon the transfer of property Z to the partnership, the partnership assumed the liability encumbering that property. The partnership made no other transfers to F in consideration for the transfer of property Z to the partnership. Assume that immediately after the partnership's assumption of the liability encumbering property Z, F's share of that liability for disguised sale purposes is $25,000 in accordance with § 1.707-5(a)(2).
(ii) The $75,000 liability secured by property Z is a qualified liability of F because F incurred the liability more than two years prior to the partnership's assumption of the liability and the liability has encumbered property Z for more than two years prior to F's transfer. See paragraph (a)(6) of this section. Therefore, since no other transfer to F was made as consideration for the transfer of property Z, under paragraph (a)(5) of this section, the partnership's assumption of the qualified liability of F encumbering property Z is not treated as part of a sale.
(6) Example 6. Partnership's assumption of a qualified liability in addition to other consideration. (i) The facts are the same as in paragraph (f)(5) of this section ( Example 5) , except that the partnership makes a transfer to F of $30,000 in money that is consideration for F's transfer of property Z to the partnership under § 1.707-3.
(ii) As in paragraph (f)(5) of this section ( Example 5 ), the $75,000 liability secured by property Z is a qualified liability of F. Since the partnership transferred $30,000 to F in addition to assuming the qualified liability under paragraph (a)(5) of this section, assuming no other exception to disguised sale treatment applies to the transfer of the $30,000, the partnership's assumption of this qualified liability is treated as a transfer of additional consideration to F to the extent of the lesser of—
(A) The amount that the partnership would be treated as transferring to F if the liability were not a qualified liability ($50,000 (that is, the excess of the $75,000 qualified liability over F's $25,000 share of that liability)); or
(B) The amount obtained by multiplying the qualified liability ($75,000) by F's net equity percentage with respect to property Z (one-third).
(iii) F's net equity percentage with respect to property Z equals the fraction determined by dividing—
(A) The aggregate amount of money or other consideration (other than the qualified liability) transferred to F and treated as part of a sale of property Z under § 1.707-3(a) ($30,000 transfer of money); by
(B) F's net equity in property Z ($90,000 (that is, the excess of the $165,000 fair market value over the $75,000 qualified liability)).
(iv) Accordingly, the partnership's assumption of the qualified liability of F encumbering property Z is treated as a transfer of $25,000 (one-third of $75,000) of consideration to F pursuant to a sale. Therefore, F is treated as having sold $55,000 of the fair market value of property Z to the partnership in exchange for $30,000 in money and the partnership's assumption of $25,000 of the qualified liability. Accordingly, F must recognize $30,000 of gain on the sale (the excess of the $55,000 amount realized over $25,000 of F's adjusted basis for property Z (that is, one-third of F's adjusted basis for the property, because F is treated as having sold one-third of the property to the partnership)).
(7) Example 7. Partnership's assumptions of liabilities encumbering properties transferred pursuant to a plan . (i) Pursuant to a plan, G and H transfer property 1 and property 2, respectively, to an existing partnership in exchange for interests in the partnership. At the time the properties are transferred to the partnership, property 1 has a fair market value of $10,000 and an adjusted tax basis of $6,000, and property 2 has a fair market value of $10,000 and an adjusted tax basis of $4,000. At the time properties 1 and 2 are transferred to the partnership, a $6,000 nonrecourse liability (liability 1) is secured by property 1 and a $7,000 recourse liability of F (liability 2) is secured by property 2. Properties 1 and 2 are transferred to the partnership, and the partnership takes subject to liability 1 and assumes liability 2. G and H incurred liabilities 1 and 2 immediately prior to transferring properties 1 and 2 to the partnership and used the proceeds for personal expenditures. The liabilities are not qualified liabilities. Assume that G and H are each allocated $2,000 of liability 1 in accordance with paragraph (a)(2)(ii) of this section (which determines a partner's share of a nonrecourse liability). Assume further that G's share of liability 2 is $3,500 and H's share is $0 in accordance with paragraph (a)(2)(i) of this section (which determines a partner's share of a recourse liability).
(ii) G and H transferred properties 1 and 2 to the partnership pursuant to a plan. Accordingly, the partnership's taking subject to liability 1 is treated as a transfer of only $500 of consideration to G (the amount by which liability 1 ($6,000) exceeds G's share of liabilities 1 and 2 ($5,500)), and the partnership's assumption of liability 2 is treated as a transfer of only $5,000 of consideration to H (the amount by which liability 2 ($7,000) exceeds H's share of liabilities 1 and 2 ($2,000)). G is treated under the rule in § 1.707-3 as having sold $500 of the fair market value of property 1 in exchange for the partnership's taking subject to liability 1 and H is treated as having sold $5,000 of the fair market value of property 2 in exchange for the assumption of liability 2.
(8) Example 8. Partnership's assumption of liability pursuant to a plan to avoid sale treatment of partnership assumption of another liability . (i) The facts are the same as in paragraph (f)(7) of this section ( Example 7 ), except that—
(A) H transferred the proceeds of liability 2 to the partnership; and
(B) H incurred liability 2 in an attempt to reduce the extent to which the partnership's taking subject to liability 1 would be treated as a transfer of consideration to G (and thereby reduce the portion of G's transfer of property 1 to the partnership that would be treated as part of a sale).
(ii) Because the partnership assumed liability 2 with a principal purpose of reducing the extent to which the partnership's taking subject to liability 1 would be treated as a transfer of consideration to G, liability 2 is ignored in applying paragraph (a)(3) of this section. Accordingly, the partnership's taking subject to liability 1 is treated as a transfer of $4,000 of consideration to G (the amount by which liability 1 ($6,000) exceeds G's share of liability 1 ($2,000)). On the other hand, the partnership's assumption of liability 2 is not treated as a transfer of any consideration to H because H's share of that liability equals $7,000 as a result of H's transfer of $7,000 in money to the partnership.
(9) Example 9. Partnership's assumptions of qualified liabilities encumbering properties transferred pursuant to a plan in addition to other consideration. (i) Pursuant to a plan, I transfers property 1 and J transfers property 2 plus $10,000 in cash to partnership IJ in exchange for equal interests in the partnership. At the time the properties are transferred to the partnership, property 1 has a fair market value of $100,000, an adjusted tax basis of $5,000, and is encumbered by a qualified liability of $50,000 ( liability 1). Property 2 has a fair market value of $100,000, an adjusted tax basis of $5,000, and is encumbered by a qualified liability of $70,000 ( liability 2). Pursuant to the plan, the partnership transferred to I $10,000 in cash. That amount is consideration for I's transfer of property 1 to the partnership under § 1.707-3. In accordance with § 1.707-5(a)(2), I and J are each allocated $25,000 of liability 1 and $35,000 of liability 2.
(ii) Because the partnership transferred $10,000 to I as consideration for the transfer of property, under § 1.707-5(a)(5), the partnership's assumption of liability 1 is treated as a transfer of additional consideration to I, even though liability 1 is a qualified liability, to the extent of the lesser of—
(A) The amount that the partnership would be treated as transferring to I if the liability were not a qualified liability; or
(B) The amount obtained by multiplying the qualified liability by I's net equity percentage with respect to property 1.
(iii) Because I and J transferred properties 1 and 2 to the partnership pursuant to a plan, treating I's qualified liability as a nonqualified liability under § 1.707-5(a)(5)(i)(A) enables I to apply the special rule applicable to transfers of encumbered property to a partnership by more than one partner pursuant to a plan under § 1.707-5(a)(4). Under this alternative test, the partnership's assumption of liability 1 encumbering property 1 is treated as a transfer of zero ($0) additional consideration to I pursuant to a sale. This is because the amount of liability 1 ($50,000) does not exceed the sum of I's share of liability 1 treated as a nonqualified liability ($25,000) and I's share of liability 2 ($35,000)).
(iv) The alternative under § 1.707-5(a)(5)(i)(B) is the amount obtained by multiplying the qualified liability ($50,000) by I's net equity percentage with respect to property 1. I's net equity percentage with respect to property 1 equals one-fifth, the fraction determined by dividing—
(A) The aggregate amount of money or other consideration (other than the qualified liability) transferred to I and treated as part of a sale of property 1 under § 1.707-3(a) (the $10,000 transfer of money; by
(B) I's net equity in property 1 ($50,000 i.e., the excess of the $100,000 fair market value over the $50,000 qualified liability).
(v) Under this alternative test, the partnership's assumption of the qualified liability encumbering property 1 is treated as a transfer of $10,000 (one-fifth of the $50,000 qualified liability) of additional consideration to I pursuant to a sale.
(vi) Applying § 1.707-5(a)(5) to these facts, the partnership's assumption of liability 1 is treated as a transfer of additional consideration to I to the extent of the lesser of—
(A) zero; or
(B) $10,000.
(vii) Therefore, the partnership's assumption of I's qualified liability encumbering property 1 is not treated as a transfer of any additional consideration to I pursuant to a sale, and I is treated as having only received $10,000 of the fair market value of property 1 to the partnership in exchange for $10,000 in cash. Accordingly, I must recognize $9,500 of gain on the sale, that is, the excess of the $10,000 amount realized over $500 of I's adjusted tax basis for property 1 (one-tenth of I's adjusted tax basis for the property, because I is treated as having sold one-tenth of the property to the partnership). Since no other transfer to J was made as consideration for the transfer of property 2, the partnership's assumption of the qualified liability of J encumbering property 2 is not treated as part of a sale.
(10) Example 10. Treatment of debt-financed transfers of consideration by partnership. (i) K transfers property Z to partnership KL in exchange for a 50 percent interest therein on April 9, 2017. On September 13, 2017, the partnership incurs a nonrecourse liability of $20,000. On November 17, 2017, the partnership transfers $20,000 to K, and $10,000 of this transfer is allocable under the rules of § 1.163-8T to proceeds of the partnership liability incurred on September 13, 2017. The remaining $10,000 is paid from other partnership funds. Assume that on November 17, 2017, for disguised sale purposes, K's share of the $20,000 liability incurred on September 13, 2017, is $10,000 in accordance with § 1.707-5(a)(2).
(ii) Because a portion of the transfer made to K on November 17, 2017, is allocable under § 1.163-8T to proceeds of a partnership liability that was incurred by the partnership within 90 days of that transfer, K is required to take the transfer into account in applying the rules of this section and § 1.707-3 only to the extent that the amount of the transfer exceeds K's allocable share of the liability used to fund the transfer. K's allocable share of the $20,000 liability used to fund $10,000 of the transfer to K is $5,000 (K's share of the liability ($10,000) multiplied by the fraction obtained by dividing—
(A) The amount of the liability that is allocable to the distribution to K ($10,000); by
(B) The total amount of such liability ($20,000)).
(iii) Therefore, K is required to take into account $15,000 of the $20,000 partnership transfer to K for purposes of this section and § 1.707-3. Under these facts, assuming no other exception applies and the within-two-year presumption is not rebutted, this $15,000 transfer will be treated under the rule in § 1.707-3 as part of a sale by K of property Z to the partnership.
(11) Example 11. Treatment of debt-financed transfers of consideration and transfers characterized as guaranteed payments by a partnership. (i) The facts are the same as in paragraph (f)(10) of this section ( Example 10 ) except that the entire $20,000 transfer to K is allocable under the rules of § 1.163-8T to proceeds of the partnership liability incurred on September 13, 2017. In addition, the partnership agreement provides that K is to receive a guaranteed payment for the use of K's capital in the amount of $10,000 in each of the three years following the transfer of property Z. Ten thousand dollars of the transfer made to K on November 17, 2017, is pursuant to this provision of the partnership agreement. Assume that the guaranteed payment to K constitutes a reasonable guaranteed payment within the meaning of § 1.707-4(a)(3).
(ii) Under these facts, the rules under both § 1.707-4(a) and § 1.707-5(b) apply to the November 17, 2017 transfer to K by the partnership. Thus, the ordering rule in § 1.707-5(b)(3) requires that the § 1.707-5(b) debt-financed distribution rules apply first to determine the treatment of the $20,000 transfer. Because the entire transfer made to K on November 17, 2017, is allocable under § 1.163-8T to proceeds of a partnership liability that was incurred by the partnership within 90 days of that transfer, K is required to take the transfer into account in applying the rules of this section and § 1.707-3 only to the extent that the amount of the transfer exceeds K's allocable share of the liability used to fund the transfer. K's allocable share of the $20,000 liability used to fund the transfer to K is $10,000 (K's share of the liability ($10,000) multiplied by the fraction obtained by dividing—
(A) The amount of the liability that is allocable to the distribution to K ($20,000); by
(B) The total amount of such liability ($20,000)).
(iii) The remaining $10,000 amount of the transfer to K that exceeds K's allocable share of the liability is tested to determine whether an exception under § 1.707-4 applies. Because $10,000 of the payment to K is a reasonable guaranteed payment for capital under § 1.707-4(a)(1)(ii), the $10,000 transfer will not be treated as part of a sale by K of property Z to the partnership under § 1.707-3.
(12) Example 12. Treatment of debt-financed transfers of consideration by partnership made pursuant to plan. (i) O transfers property X, and P transfers property Y, to partnership OP in exchange for equal interests therein on June 1, 2017. On October 1, 2017, the partnership incurs two nonrecourse liabilities: Liability 1 of $8,000 and Liability 2 of $4,000. On December 15, 2017, the partnership transfers $2,000 to each of O and P pursuant to a plan. The transfers made to O and P on December 15, 2017 are allocable under § 1.163-8T to the proceeds of either Liability 1 or Liability 2. Assume that under § 1.707-5(a)(2), O's and P's share of Liability 1 is $4,000 each and of Liability 2 is $2,000 each on December 15, 2017.
(ii) Because the partnership transferred pursuant to a plan a portion of the proceeds of the two liabilities to O and P, paragraph (b)(1) of this section is applied by treating Liability 1 and Liability 2 as a single $12,000 liability. Pursuant to paragraph (b)(2)(ii)(A) of this section, each partner's allocable share of the $12,000 liability equals the amount obtained by multiplying the sum of the partner's share of Liability 1 and Liability 2 ($6,000) ($4,000 for Liability 1 plus $2,000 for Liability 2) by the fraction obtained by dividing—
(A) The amount of the liability that is allocable to the distribution to O and P pursuant to the plan ($4,000); by
(B) The total amount of such liability ($12,000).
(iii) Therefore, O's and P's allocable share of the $12,000 liability is $2,000 each. Accordingly, because a portion of the proceeds of the $12,000 liability are allocable under § 1.163-8T to the $2,000 transfer made to each of O and P within 90 days of incurring the liability, and the $2,000 transfer does not exceed O's or P's $2,000 allocable share of that liability, each is required to take into account $0 of the $2,000 transfer for purposes of this section and § 1.707-3. Under these facts, no part of the transfers to O and P will be treated as part of a sale of property X by O or of property Y by P.



(13) Example 13. Borrowing against pool of receivables. (i) M generates receivables which have an adjusted basis of zero in the ordinary course of its business. For M to use receivables as security for a loan, a commercial lender requires M to transfer the receivables to a partnership in which M has a 90 percent interest. In January, 1992, M transfers to the partnership receivables with a face value of $100,000. N (who is not related to M) transfers $10,000 cash to the partnership in exchange for a 10 percent interest. The partnership borrows $80,000, secured by the receivables, and makes a distribution of $72,000 of the proceeds to M and $8,000 of the proceeds to N within 90 days of incurring the liability. M's share of the liability under § 1.707-5(a)(2) is $72,000 (90 percent × $80,000).
(ii) Because the transfer of the loan proceeds to M is allocable under § 1.163-8T to proceeds of a partnership loan that was incurred by the partnership within 90 days of that transfer, M is required to take the transfer into account in applying the rules of this section and § 1.707-3 only to the extent that the amount of the transfer ($72,000) exceeds M's allocable share of the liability used to fund the transfer. Because the distribution was a debt-financed transfer pursuant to a plan, M's allocable share of the liability is $72,000 ($72,000 × $80,000/80,000) under § 1.707-5(b)(2)(ii). Therefore, M is not required to take into account any of the loan proceeds for purposes of this section and § 1.707-3.
(iii) When the receivables are collected, M must be allocated the gain on the contributed receivables under section 704(c). However, the lender permits the partnership to distribute cash to the partners only to the extent of the value of new receivables contributed to the partnership. In 1993, M contributes additional receivables and receives a distribution of cash. The taxable income recognized by the partnership on the receivables is taxable income of the partnership arising in the ordinary course of the partnership's activities. To the extent the distribution does not exceed 90 percent (M's percentage interest in overall partnership profits) of the partnership's operating cash flow under § 1.707-4(b), the distribution to M is presumed not to be a part of a sale of receivables by M to the partnership, and the presumption is not rebutted under these facts.
§ 1.707-6   Disguised sales of property by partnership to partner; general rules.
(a) In general. Rules similar to those provided in § 1.707-3 apply in determining whether a transfer of property by a partnership to a partner and one or more transfers of money or other consideration by that partner to the partnership are treated as a sale of property, in whole or in part, to the partner.
(b) Special rules relating to liabilities —(1) In general. Rules similar to those provided in § 1.707-5 apply to determine the extent to which an assumption of or taking subject to a liability by a partner, in connection with a transfer of property by a partnership, is considered part of a sale. Accordingly, if a partner assumes or takes property subject to a qualified liability (as defined in paragraph (b)(2) of this section) of a partnership, the partner is treated as transferring consideration to the partnership only to the extent provided in paragraph (b). If the partner assumes or takes subject to a liability that is not a qualified liability, the amount treated as consideration transferred to the partnership is the amount that the liability assumed or taken subject to by the partner exceeds the partner's share of that liability (determined under the rules of § 1.707-5(a)(2)) immediately before the transfer. Similar to the rules provided in § 1.707-5(a)(4), if more than one partner assumes or takes subject to a liability pursuant to a plan, the amount that is treated as a transfer of consideration by each partner is the amount by which all of the liabilities (other than qualified liabilities) assumed or taken subject to by the partner pursuant to the plan exceed the partner's share of all of those liabilities immediately before the assumption or taking subject to. This paragraph (b)(1) does not apply to any liability assumed or taken subject to by a partner with a principal purpose of reducing the extent to which any other liability assumed or taken subject to by a partner is treated as a transfer of consideration under this paragraph (b).
(2) Qualified liabilities. (i) If a transfer of property by a partnership to a partner is not otherwise treated as part of a sale, the partner's assumption of or taking subject to a qualified liability is not treated as part of a sale. If a transfer of property by a partnership to the partner is treated as part of a sale without regard to the partner's assumption of or taking subject to a qualified liability, the partner's assumption of or taking subject to that liability is treated as a transfer of consideration made pursuant to a sale of such property to the partner only to the extent of the lesser of—
(A) The amount of consideration that the partner would be treated as transferring to the partnership under paragraph (b) of this section if the liability were not a qualified liability; or
(B) The amount obtained by multiplying the amount of the liability at the time of its assumption or taking subject to by the partnership's net equity percentage with respect to that property.
(ii) A partnership's net equity percentage with respect to an item of property encumbered by a qualified liability equals the percentage determined by dividing—
(A) The aggregate transfers to the partnership from the partner (other than any transfer described in this paragraph (b)(2)) that are treated as the proceeds realized from the sale of the transferred property to the partner; by
(B) The excess of the fair market value of the property at the time it is transferred to the partner over any qualified liabilities of the partnership that are assumed or taken subject to by the partner at that time.
(iii) For purposes of this section, the definition of a qualified liability is that provided in § 1.707-5(a)(6) with the following exceptions—
(A) In applying the definition, the qualified liability is one that is originally an obligation of the partnership and is assumed or taken subject to by the partner in connection with a transfer of property to the partner; and
(B) If the liability was incurred by the partnership more than two years prior to the earlier of the date the partnership agrees in writing to transfer the property or the date the partnership transfers the property to the partner, that liability is a qualified liability whether or not it has encumbered the transferred property throughout the two-year period.
(c) Disclosure rules. Similar to the rules provided in §§ 1.707-3(c)(2) and 1.707-5(a)(7)(ii), a partnership is to disclose to the Internal Revenue Service, in accordance with § 1.707-8, the facts in the following circumstances:
(1) When a partnership transfers property to a partner and the partner transfers money or other consideration to the partnership within a two-year period (without regard to the order of the transfers) and the partnership treats the transfers as other than a sale for tax purposes; and
(2) When a partner assumes or takes subject to a liability of a partnership in connection with a transfer of property by the partnership to the partner, and the partnership incurred the liability within the two-year period prior to the earlier of the date the partnership agrees in writing to the transfer of property or the date the partnership transfers the property, and the partnership treats the liability as a qualified liability under rules similar to § 1.707-5(a)(6)(i)(B).
(d) Examples. The following examples illustrate the rules of this section.
(ii) Since the transfer of $1,100,000 to the partnership by A is made within two years of the transfer of property X to A, under rules similar to those provided in § 1.707-3(c), the transfers are presumed to be a sale unless the facts and circumstances clearly establish otherwise. If no facts exist that would rebut this presumption, on the date that the partnership transfers property X to A, the partnership is treated as having sold property X to A in exchange for A's obligation to transfer $1,100,000 to the partnership one year later.
(ii) The liability is not allocable under the rules of § 1.163-8T to capital expenditures with respect to the property transferred to B and was not incurred in the ordinary course of the trade or business in which the property transferred to the partner was used or held. Since the partnership incurred the nonrecourse liability within two years of the transfer to B, under rules similar to those provided in § 1.707-5(a)(5), the liability is presumed to be incurred in anticipation of the transfer unless the facts and circumstances clearly establish the contrary. Assuming no facts exist to rebut this presumption, the liability taken subject to by B is not a qualified liability. The partnership is treated as having received, on the date of the transfer of property Y to B, $500,000 ($600,000 liability assumed by B less B's share of the $100,000 liability immediately prior to the transfer) as consideration for the sale of one-half ($500,000/$1,000,000) of property Y to B. The partnership is also treated as having distributed to B, in B's capacity as a partner, the other one-half of property Y.
§ 1.707-7   Disguised sales of partnership interests. [Reserved]
§ 1.707-8   Disclosure of certain information.
(a) In general. The disclosure referred to in § 1.707-3(c)(2) (regarding certain transfers made within two years of each other), § 1.707-5(a)(7)(ii) (regarding a liability incurred within two years prior to a transfer of property), and § 1.707-6(c) (relating to transfers of property from a partnership to a partner in situations analogous to those listed above) is to be made in accordance with paragraph (b) of this section.
(b) Method of providing disclosure. Disclosure is to be made on a completed Form 8275 or on a statement attached to the return of the transferor of property for the taxable year of the transfer that includes the following:
(1) A caption identifying the statement as disclosure under section 707;
(2) An identification of the item (or group of items) with respect to which disclosure is made;
(3) The amount of each item; and
(4) The facts affecting the potential tax treatment of the item (or items) under section 707.
(c) Disclosure by certain partnerships. If more than one partner transfers property to a partnership pursuant to a plan, the disclosure required by this section may be made by the partnership on behalf of all the transferors rather than by each transferor separately.
§ 1.707-9   Effective dates and transitional rules.
(a) Sections 1.707-3 through 1.707-6 —(1) In general. Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph (a), §§ 1.707-3 through 1.707-6 apply to any transaction with respect to which all transfers occur on or after October 5, 2016. For any transaction with respect to which all transfers that are part of a sale of an item of property occur after April 24, 1991, and any of such transfers occurs before October 5, 2016, §§ 1.707-3 through 1.707-6 as contained in 26 CFR part 1 revised as of April 1, 2016, apply.
(2) Transfers occurring on or before April 24, 1991. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (a)(3) of this section, in the case of any transaction with respect to which one or more of the transfers occurs on or before April 24, 1991, the determination of whether the transaction is a disguised sale of property (including a partnership interest) under section 707(a)(2) is to be made on the basis of the statute and the guidance provided regarding that provision in the legislative history of section 73 of the Tax Reform Act of 1984 (Pub. L. 98-369, 98 Stat. 494). See H.R. Rep. No. 861, 98th Cong., 2d Sess. 859-62 (1984); S. Prt. No. 169 (Vol. I), 98th Cong., 2d Sess. 223-32 (1984); H.R. Rep. No. 432 (Pt. 2), 98th Cong., 2d Sess. 1216-21 (1984).
(3) Effective date of section 73 of the Tax Reform Act of 1984. Sections 1.707-3 through 1.707-6 do not apply to any transfer of money or other consideration to which section 73(a) of the Tax Reform Act of 1984 (Pub. L. 98-369, 98 Stat. 494) does not apply pursuant to section 73(b) of that Act.
(4) Applicability date of § 1.707-5(a)(2) and (f)(2), (3), (7), and (8). (i) Section 1.707-5(a)(2) and (f)(2), (3), (7), and (8) apply to any transaction with respect to which all transfers occur on or after October 4, 2019. However, a partnership and its partners may apply § 1.707-5(a)(2) and (f)(2), (3), (7), and (8) to any transaction with respect to which all transfers occur on or after January 3, 2017.
(ii) For any transaction with respect to which any transfers occur before January 3, 2017, § 1.707-5(a)(2) and (f), as contained in 26 CFR part 1 revised as of April 1, 2016, apply.
(iii) For any transaction with respect to which all transfers occur on or after January 3, 2017, and any of such transfers occurs before October 4, 2019, see § 1.707-9T(a)(5) as contained in 26 CFR part 1 revised as of April 1, 2019.
(b) Section 1.707-8 disclosure of certain information. The disclosure provisions described in § 1.707-8 apply to transactions with respect to which all transfers that are part of a sale of property occur after September 30, 1992.
§ 1.708-1   Continuation of partnership.
(a) General rule. For purposes of subchapter K, chapter 1 of the Code, an existing partnership shall be considered as continuing if it is not terminated.
(b) Termination —(1) General rule. A partnership shall terminate when the operations of the partnership are discontinued and no part of any business, financial operation, or venture of the partnership continues to be carried on by any of its partners in a partnership. For example, on November 20, 1956, A and B, each of whom is a 20-percent partner in partnership ABC, sell their interests to C, who is a 60-percent partner. Since the business is no longer carried on by any of its partners in a partnership, the ABC partnership is terminated as of November 20, 1956. However, where partners DEF agree on April 30, 1957, to dissolve their partnership, but carry on the business through a winding up period ending September 30, 1957, when all remaining assets, consisting only of cash, are distributed to the partners, the partnership does not terminate because of cessation of business until September 30, 1957.
(i) Upon the death of one partner in a 2-member partnership, the partnership shall not be considered as terminated if the estate or other successor in interest of the deceased partner continues to share in the profits or losses of the partnership business.
(ii) For the continuation of a partnership where payments are being made under section 736 (relating to payments to a retiring partner or a deceased partner's successor in interest), see paragraph (a)(6) of § 1.736-1.
(2) A partnership shall terminate when 50 percent or more of the total interest in partnership capital and profits is sold or exchanged within a period of 12 consecutive months. Such sale or exchange includes a sale or exchange to another member of the partnership. However, a disposition of a partnership interest by gift (including assignment to a successor in interest), bequest, or inheritance, or the liquidation of a partnership interest, is not a sale or exchange for purposes of this subparagraph. Moreover, if the sale or exchange of an interest in a partnership (upper-tier partnership) that holds an interest in another partnership (lower-tier partnership) results in a termination of the upper-tier partnership, the upper-tier partnership is treated as exchanging its entire interest in the capital and profits of the lower-tier partnership. If the sale or exchange of an interest in an upper-tier partnership does not terminate the upper-tier partnership, the sale or exchange of an interest in the upper-tier partnership is not treated as a sale or exchange of a proportionate share of the upper-tier partnership's interest in the capital and profits of the lower-tier partnership. The previous two sentences apply to terminations of partnerships under section 708(b)(1)(B) occurring on or after May 9, 1997; however, the sentences may be applied to terminations occurring on or after May 9, 1996, provided that the partnership and its partners apply the sentences to the termination in a consistent manner. Furthermore, the contribution of property to a partnership does not constitute such a sale or exchange. See, however, paragraph (c)(3) of § 1.731-1. Fifty percent or more of the total interest in partnership capital and profits means 50 percent or more of the total interest in partnership capital plus 50 percent or more of the total interest in partnership profits. Thus, the sale of a 30-percent interest in partnership capital and a 60-percent interest in partnership profits is not the sale or exchange of 50 percent or more of the total interest in partnership capital and profits. If one or more partners sell or exchange interests aggregating 50 percent or more of the total interest in partnership capital and 50 percent or more of the total interest in partnership profits within a period of 12 consecutive months, such sale or exchange is considered as being within the provisions of this subparagraph. When interests are sold or exchanged on different dates, the percentages to be added are determined as of the date of each sale. For example, with respect to the ABC partnership, the sale by A on May 12, 1956, of a 30-percent interest in capital and profits to D, and the sale by B on March 27, 1957, of a 30-percent interest in capital and profits to E, is a sale of a 50-percent or more interest. Accordingly, the partnership is terminated as of March 27, 1957. However, if, on March 27, 1957, D instead of B, sold his 30-percent interest in capital and profits to E, there would be no termination since only one 30-percent interest would have been sold or exchanged within a 12-month period.
(3) For purposes of subchapter K, chapter 1 of the Code, a partnership taxable year closes with respect to all partners on the date on which the partnership terminates. See section 706(c)(1) and paragraph (c)(1) of § 1.706-1. The date of termination is:
(i) For purposes of section 708(b)(1)(A), the date on which the winding up of the partnership affairs is completed.
(ii) For purposes of section 708(b)(1)(B), the date of the sale or exchange of a partnership interest which, of itself or together with sales or exchanges in the preceding 12 months, transfers an interest of 50 percent or more in both partnership capital and profits.
(4) If a partnership is terminated by a sale or exchange of an interest, the following is deemed to occur: The partnership contributes all of its assets and liabilities to a new partnership in exchange for an interest in the new partnership; and, immediately thereafter, the terminated partnership distributes interests in the new partnership to the purchasing partner and the other remaining partners in proportion to their respective interests in the terminated partnership in liquidation of the terminated partnership, either for the continuation of the business by the new partnership or for its dissolution and winding up. In the latter case, the new partnership terminates in accordance with (b)(1) of this section. This paragraph (b)(4) applies to terminations of partnerships under section 708(b)(1)(B) occurring on or after May 9, 1997; however, this paragraph (b)(4) may be applied to terminations occurring on or after May 9, 1996, provided that the partnership and its partners apply this paragraph (b)(4) to the termination in a consistent manner. The provisions of this paragraph (b)(4) are illustrated by the following example:
(ii) Following the deemed contribution of assets and liabilities by the terminated AB partnership to a new partnership (new AB) and the liquidation of the terminated AB partnership, the adjusted tax basis of Property X in the hands of new AB is $16,000. See Section 723. The book value of Property X in the hands of new partnership AB is also $16,000 (the book value of Property X immediately before the termination) and B and C each have a capital account of $8,000 in new AB (the balance of their capital accounts in AB prior to the termination). See § 1.704-1(b)(2)(iv)( l ) (providing that the deemed contribution and liquidation with regard to the terminated partnership are disregarded in determining the capital accounts of the partners and the books of the new partnership). Additionally, under § 301.6109-1(d)(2)(iii) of this chapter, new AB retains the taxpayer identification number of the terminated AB partnership.
(iii) Property X was not section 704(c) property in the hands of terminated AB and is therefore not treated as section 704(c) property in the hands of new AB, even though Property X is deemed contributed to new AB at a time when the fair market value of Property X ($30,000) was different from its adjusted tax basis ($16,000). See § 1.704-3(a)(3)(i) (providing that property contributed to a new partnership under § 1.708-1(b)(4) is treated as section 704(c) property only to the extent that the property was section 704(c) property in the hands of the terminated partnership immediately prior to the termination).
(5) If a partnership is terminated by a sale or exchange of an interest in the partnership, a section 754 election (including a section 754 election made by the terminated partnership on its final return) that is in effect for the taxable year of the terminated partnership in which the sale occurs, applies with respect to the incoming partner. Therefore, the bases of partnership assets are adjusted pursuant to sections 743 and 755 prior to their deemed contribution to the new partnership. This paragraph (b)(5) applies to terminations of partnerships under section 708(b)(1)(B) occurring on or after May 9, 1997; however, this paragraph (b)(5) may be applied to terminations occurring on or after May 9, 1996, provided that the partnership and its partners apply this paragraph (b)(5) to the termination in a consistent manner.
(6) Treatment of certain start-up or organizational expenses following a technical termination —(i) In general. If a partnership that has elected to amortize start-up expenditures under section 195(b) or organizational expenses under section 709(b)(1) terminates in a transaction (or a series of transactions) described in section 708(b)(1)(B) or paragraph (b)(2) of this section, the new partnership must continue to amortize those expenditures over the remaining portion of the amortization period adopted by the terminating partnership. See section 195 and § 1.195-1 for rules concerning the amortization of start-up expenditures and section 709 and § 1.709-1 for rules concerning the amortization of organizational expenses.
(ii) Effective/applicability date. This paragraph (b)(6) applies to a technical termination of a partnership under section 708(b)(1)(B) that occurs on or after December 9, 2013.
(c) Merger or consolidation —(1) General rule. If two or more partnerships merge or consolidate into one partnership, the resulting partnership shall be considered a continuation of the merging or consolidating partnership the members of which own an interest of more than 50 percent in the capital and profits of the resulting partnership. If the resulting partnership can, under the preceding sentence, be considered a continuation of more than one of the merging or consolidating partnerships, it shall, unless the Commissioner permits otherwise, be considered the continuation solely of that partnership which is credited with the contribution of assets having the greatest fair market value (net of liabilities) to the resulting partnership. Any other merging or consolidating partnerships shall be considered as terminated. If the members of none of the merging or consolidating partnerships have an interest of more than 50 percent in the capital and profits of the resulting partnership, all of the merged or consolidated partnerships are terminated, and a new partnership results.
(2) Tax returns. The taxable years of any merging or consolidating partnerships which are considered terminated shall be closed in accordance with the provisions of section 706(c) and the regulations thereunder, and such partnerships shall file their returns for a taxable year ending upon the date of termination, i.e., the date of merger or consolidation. The resulting partnership shall file a return for the taxable year of the merging or consolidating partnership that is considered as continuing. The return shall state that the resulting partnership is a continuation of such merging or consolidating partnership, shall retain the employer identification number (EIN) of the partnership that is continuing, and shall include the names, addresses, and EINs of the other merged or consolidated partnerships. The respective distributive shares of the partners for the periods prior to and including the date of the merger or consolidation and subsequent to the date of merger or consolidation shall be shown as a part of the return.
(3) Form of a merger or consolidation —(i) Assets-over form. When two or more partnerships merge or consolidate into one partnership under the applicable jurisdictional law without undertaking a form for the merger or consolidation, or undertake a form for the merger or consolidation that is not described in paragraph (c)(3)(ii) of this section, any merged or consolidated partnership that is considered terminated under paragraph (c)(1) of this section is treated as undertaking the assets-over form for Federal income tax purposes. Under the assets-over form, the merged or consolidated partnership that is considered terminated under paragraph (c)(1) of this section contributes all of its assets and liabilities to the resulting partnership in exchange for an interest in the resulting partnership, and immediately thereafter, the terminated partnership distributes interests in the resulting partnership to its partners in liquidation of the terminated partnership.
(ii) Assets-up form. Despite the partners' transitory ownership of the terminated partnership's assets, the form of a partnership merger or consolidation will be respected for Federal income tax purposes if the merged or consolidated partnership that is considered terminated under paragraph (c)(1) of this section distributes all of its assets to its partners (in a manner that causes the partners to be treated, under the laws of the applicable jurisdiction, as the owners of such assets) in liquidation of the partners' interests in the terminated partnership, and immediately thereafter, the partners in the terminated partnership contribute the distributed assets to the resulting partnership in exchange for interests in the resulting partnership.
(4) Sale of an interest in the merging or consolidating partnership. In a transaction characterized under the assets-over form, a sale of all or part of a partner's interest in the terminated partnership to the resulting partnership that occurs as part of a merger or consolidation under section 708(b)(2)(A), as described in paragraph (c)(3)(i) of this section, will be respected as a sale of a partnership interest if the merger agreement (or another document) specifies that the resulting partnership is purchasing interests from a particular partner in the merging or consolidating partnership and the consideration that is transferred for each interest sold, and if the selling partner in the terminated partnership, either prior to or contemporaneous with the transaction, consents to treat the transaction as a sale of the partnership interest. See section 741 and § 1.741-1 for determining the selling partner's gain or loss on the sale or exchange of the partnership interest.
(5) Examples. The following examples illustrate the rules in paragraphs (c)(1) through (4) of this section:
(ii) B, a partner in both partnerships prior to the merger, owns a greater than 50-percent interest in the resulting partnership following the merger. Accordingly, because the fair market value of partnership Y's assets (net of liabilities) was greater than that of partnership X's, under paragraph (c)(1) of this section, partnership X will be considered to terminate in the merger. As a result, even though, for state law purposes, the transaction was undertaken with partnership Y contributing its assets and liabilities to partnership X and distributing interests in partnership X to its partners, pursuant to paragraph (c)(3)(i) of this section, for Federal income tax purposes, the transaction will be treated as if partnership X contributed its assets to partnership Y in exchange for interests in partnership Y and then liquidated, distributing interests in partnership Y to A and B.
(ii) Under paragraph (c)(3)(ii) of this section, the form of the partnership merger will be respected so that partnership X will be treated as following the assets-up form for Federal income tax purposes.
(ii) The partnerships are treated as undertaking the assets-over form described in paragraph (c)(3)(i) of this section because the partnerships undertook a form that is not the assets-up form described in paragraph (c)(3)(ii) of this section. Accordingly, for Federal income tax purposes, partnership X is deemed to contribute its assets and liabilities to partnership Y in exchange for interests in partnership Y, and, immediately thereafter, partnership X is deemed to have distributed the interests in partnership Y to its partners in liquidation of their interests in partnership X.
(ii) Because the merger agreement satisfies the requirements of paragraph (c)(4) of this section and C provides the necessary consent, C will be treated as selling its interest in partnership X to partnership Y for $150 before the merger. See section 741 and § 1.741-1 to determine the amount and character of C's gain or loss on the sale or exchange of its interest in partnership X.
(iii) Because the merger agreement satisfies the requirements of paragraph (c)(4) of this section, partnership Y is considered to have purchased C's interest in partnership X for $150 immediately before the merger. See § 1.704-1(b)(2)(iv)( l ) for determining partnership Y's capital account in partnership X. Partnership Y's adjusted basis of its interest in partnership X is determined under section 742 and § 1.742-1. To the extent any built-in gain or loss on section 704(c) property in partnership X would have been allocated to C (including any allocations with respect to property revaluations under section 704(b) (reverse section 704(c) allocations)), see section 704 and § 1.704-3(a)(7) for determining the built-in gain or loss or reverse section 704(c) allocations apportionable to partnership Y. Similarly, after the merger is completed, the built-in gain or loss and reverse section 704(c) allocations attributable to C's interest are apportioned to D, E, and F under section 704(c) and § 1.704-3(a)(7).
(iv) Under paragraph (c)(3)(i) of this section, partnership X contributes its assets and liabilities attributable to the interests of A and B to partnership Y in exchange for interests in partnership Y; and, immediately thereafter, partnership X distributes the interests in partnership Y to A and B in liquidation of their interests in partnership X. At the same time, partnership X distributes assets to partnership Y in liquidation of partnership Y's interest in partnership X. Partnership Y's bases in the distributed assets are determined under section 732(b).
(6) Prescribed form not followed in certain circumstances. (i) If any transactions described in paragraph (c)(3) or (4) of this section are part of a larger series of transactions, and the substance of the larger series of transactions is inconsistent with following the form prescribed in such paragraph, the Commissioner may disregard such form, and may recast the larger series of transactions in accordance with their substance.
(ii) Example. The following example illustrates the rules in paragraph (c)(6) of this section:
(7) Effective date. This paragraph (c) is applicable to partnership mergers occurring on or after January 4, 2001. However, a partnership may apply paragraph (c) of this section to partnership mergers occurring on or after January 11, 2000.
(d) Division of a partnership —(1) General rule. Upon the division of a partnership into two or more partnerships, any resulting partnership (as defined in paragraph (d)(4)(iv) of this section) or resulting partnerships shall be considered a continuation of the prior partnership (as defined in paragraph (d)(4)(ii) of this section) if the members of the resulting partnership or partnerships had an interest of more than 50 percent in the capital and profits of the prior partnership. Any other resulting partnership will not be considered a continuation of the prior partnership but will be considered a new partnership. If the members of none of the resulting partnerships owned an interest of more than 50 percent in the capital and profits of the prior partnership, none of the resulting partnerships will be considered a continuation of the prior partnership, and the prior partnership will be considered to have terminated. Where members of a partnership which has been divided into two or more partnerships do not become members of a resulting partnership which is considered a continuation of the prior partnership, such members' interests shall be considered liquidated as of the date of the division.
(2) Tax consequences —(i) Tax returns. The resulting partnership that is treated as the divided partnership (as defined in paragraph (d)(4)(i) of this section) shall file a return for the taxable year of the partnership that has been divided and retain the employer identification number (EIN) of the prior partnership. The return shall include the names, addresses, and EINs of all resulting partnerships that are regarded as continuing. The return shall also state that the partnership is a continuation of the prior partnership and shall set forth separately the respective distributive shares of the partners for the periods prior to and including the date of the division and subsequent to the date of division. All other resulting partnerships that are regarded as continuing and new partnerships shall file separate returns for the taxable year beginning on the day after the date of the division with new EINs for each partnership. The return for a resulting partnership that is regarded as continuing and that is not the divided partnership shall include the name, address, and EIN of the prior partnership.
(ii) Elections. All resulting partnerships that are regarded as continuing are subject to preexisting elections that were made by the prior partnership. A subsequent election that is made by a resulting partnership does not affect the other resulting partnerships.
(3) Form of a division —(i) Assets-over form. When a partnership divides into two or more partnerships under applicable jurisdictional law without undertaking a form for the division, or undertakes a form that is not described in paragraph (d)(3)(ii) of this section, the transaction will be characterized under the assets-over form for Federal income tax purposes.
(A) Assets-over form where at least one resulting partnership is a continuation of the prior partnership. In a division under the assets-over form where at least one resulting partnership is a continuation of the prior partnership, the divided partnership (as defined in paragraph (d)(4)(i) of this section) contributes certain assets and liabilities to a recipient partnership (as defined in paragraph (d)(4)(iii) of this section) or recipient partnerships in exchange for interests in such recipient partnership or partnerships; and, immediately thereafter, the divided partnership distributes the interests in such recipient partnership or partnerships to some or all of its partners in partial or complete liquidation of the partners' interests in the divided partnership.
(B) Assets-over form where none of the resulting partnerships is a continuation of the prior partnership. In a division under the assets-over form where none of the resulting partnerships is a continuation of the prior partnership, the prior partnership will be treated as contributing all of its assets and liabilities to new resulting partnerships in exchange for interests in the resulting partnerships; and, immediately thereafter, the prior partnership will be treated as liquidating by distributing the interests in the new resulting partnerships to the prior partnership's partners.
(ii) Assets-up form —(A) Assets-up form where the partnership distributing assets is a continuation of the prior partnership. Despite the partners' transitory ownership of some of the prior partnership's assets, the form of a partnership division will be respected for Federal income tax purposes if the divided partnership (which, pursuant to § 1.708-1(d)(4)(i), must be a continuing partnership) distributes certain assets (in a manner that causes the partners to be treated, under the laws of the applicable jurisdiction, as the owners of such assets) to some or all of its partners in partial or complete liquidation of the partners' interests in the divided partnership, and immediately thereafter, such partners contribute the distributed assets to a recipient partnership or partnerships in exchange for interests in such recipient partnership or partnerships. In order for such form to be respected for transfers to a particular recipient partnership, all assets held by the prior partnership that are transferred to the recipient partnership must be distributed to, and then contributed by, the partners of the recipient partnership.
(B) Assets-up form where none of the resulting partnerships are a continuation of the prior partnership. If none of the resulting partnerships are a continuation of the prior partnership, then despite the partners' transitory ownership of some or all of the prior partnership's assets, the form of a partnership division will be respected for Federal income tax purposes if the prior partnership distributes certain assets (in a manner that causes the partners to be treated, under the laws of the applicable jurisdiction, as the owners of such assets) to some or all of its partners in partial or complete liquidation of the partners' interests in the prior partnership, and immediately thereafter, such partners contribute the distributed assets to a resulting partnership or partnerships in exchange for interests in such resulting partnership or partnerships. In order for such form to be respected for transfers to a particular resulting partnership, all assets held by the prior partnership that are transferred to the resulting partnership must be distributed to, and then contributed by, the partners of the resulting partnership. If the prior partnership does not liquidate under the applicable jurisdictional law, then with respect to the assets and liabilities that, in form, are not transferred to a new resulting partnership, the prior partnership will be treated as transferring these assets and liabilities to a new resulting partnership under the assets-over form described in paragraph (d)(3)(i)(B) of this section.
(4) Definitions —(i) Divided partnership. For purposes of paragraph (d) of this section, the divided partnership is the continuing partnership which is treated, for Federal income tax purposes, as transferring the assets and liabilities to the recipient partnership or partnerships, either directly (under the assets-over form) or indirectly (under the assets-up form). If the resulting partnership that, in form, transferred the assets and liabilities in connection with the division is a continuation of the prior partnership, then such resulting partnership will be treated as the divided partnership. If a partnership divides into two or more partnerships and only one of the resulting partnerships is a continuation of the prior partnership, then the resulting partnership that is a continuation of the prior partnership will be treated as the divided partnership. If a partnership divides into two or more partnerships without undertaking a form for the division that is recognized under paragraph (d)(3) of this section, or if the resulting partnership that had, in form, transferred assets and liabilities is not considered a continuation of the prior partnership, and more than one resulting partnership is considered a continuation of the prior partnership, the continuing resulting partnership with the assets having the greatest fair market value (net of liabilities) will be treated as the divided partnership.
(ii) Prior partnership. For purposes of paragraph (d) of this section, the prior partnership is the partnership subject to division that exists under applicable jurisdictional law before the division.
(iii) Recipient partnership. For purposes of paragraph (d) of this section, a recipient partnership is a partnership that is treated as receiving, for Federal income tax purposes, assets and liabilities from a divided partnership, either directly (under the assets-over form) or indirectly (under the assets-up form).
(iv) Resulting partnership. For purposes of paragraph (d) of this section, a resulting partnership is a partnership resulting from the division that exists under applicable jurisdictional law after the division and that has at least two partners who were partners in the prior partnership. For example, where a prior partnership divides into two partnerships, both partnerships existing after the division are resulting partnerships.
(5) Examples. The following examples illustrate the rules in paragraphs (d)(1), (2), (3), and (4) of this section:
(ii) Under paragraph (d)(3)(ii) of this section, partnership ABCD will be treated as following the assets-up form for Federal income tax purposes.
(ii) Under paragraph (d)(3)(i) of this section, because partnership ABCD did not undertake the assets-up form with respect to all of the assets transferred to partnership CD, partnership ABCD will be treated as undertaking the assets-over form in transferring the assets to partnership CD. Accordingly, for Federal income tax purposes, partnership ABCD is deemed to contribute property Y and property Z to partnership CD in exchange for interests in partnership CD, and immediately thereafter, partnership ABCD is deemed to distribute the interests in partnership CD to partner C and partner D in liquidation of their interests in partnership ABCD.
(ii) Partnerships AB1 and AB2 both are considered a continuation of partnership ABCD, while partnership CD is considered a new partnership formed at the beginning of the day on November 2, 1999. Under paragraph (d)(3)(i)(A) of this section, partnership ABCD will be treated as following the assets-over form, with partnership ABCD contributing property X to partnership AB1 and property Z to partnership CD, and distributing the interests in such partnerships to the designated partners.
(ii) Under the last sentence of paragraph (d)(4)(i) of this section, partnership AB1 will be treated as the resulting partnership that is the divided partnership. Under paragraph (d)(3)(i)(A) of this section, partnership ABCD will be treated as following the assets-over form, with partnership ABCD contributing property Y to partnership AB2 and property Z to partnership CD, and distributing the interests in such partnerships to the designated partners.
(ii) Because resulting partnership CD is not a continuation of the prior partnership (partnership ABCD), partnership CD cannot be treated, for Federal income tax purposes, as the partnership that transferred assets ( i.e., the divided partnership), but instead must be treated as a recipient partnership. Under the last sentence of paragraph (d)(4)(i) of this section, partnership AB1 will be treated as the resulting partnership that is the divided partnership. Under paragraph (d)(3)(i)(A) of this section, partnership ABCD will be treated as following the assets-over form, with partnership ABCD contributing property Y to partnership AB2 and property Z to partnership CD, and distributing the interests in such partnerships to the designated partners.
(ii) Partnership ABCDE distributes Blackacre to A and B and titles Blackacre in the names of A and B. A and B then contribute Blackacre to partnership AB in exchange for interests in partnership AB. Partnership ABCDE will be treated as following the assets-up form described in paragraph (d)(3)(ii)(B) of this section for Federal income tax purposes.
(iii) Partnership ABCDE distributes Whiteacre to C and D and titles Whiteacre in the names of C and D. C and D then contribute Whiteacre to partnership CD in exchange for interests in partnership CD. Partnership ABCDE will be treated as following the assets-up form described in paragraph (d)(3)(ii)(B) of this section for Federal income tax purposes.
(iv) Partnership ABCDE does not liquidate under state law so that, in form, the assets in new partnership DE are not considered to have been transferred under state law. Partnership ABCDE will be treated as undertaking the assets-over form described in paragraph (d)(3)(i)(B) of this section for Federal income tax purposes with respect to the assets of partnership DE. Thus, partnership ABCDE will be treated as contributing Redacre to partnership DE in exchange for interests in partnership DE; and, immediately thereafter, partnership ABCDE will be treated as distributing interests in partnership DE to D and E in liquidation of their interests in partnership ABCDE. Partnership ABCDE then terminates.
(6) Prescribed form not followed in certain circumstances. If any transactions described in paragraph (d)(3) of this section are part of a larger series of transactions, and the substance of the larger series of transactions is inconsistent with following the form prescribed in such paragraph, the Commissioner may disregard such form, and may recast the larger series of transactions in accordance with their substance.
(7) Effective date. This paragraph (d) is applicable to partnership divisions occurring on or after January 4, 2001. However, a partnership may apply paragraph (d) of this section to partnership divisions occurring on or after January 11, 2000.
§ 1.709-1   Treatment of organization and syndication costs.
(a) General rule. Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, no deduction shall be allowed under chapter 1 of the Code to a partnership or to any partner for any amounts paid or incurred, directly or indirectly, in partnership taxable years beginning after December 31, 1975, to organize a partnership, or to promote the sale of, or to sell, an interest in the partnership.
(b) Election to amortize organizational expenses —(1) In general. Under section 709(b), a partnership may elect to amortize organizational expenses as defined in section 709(b)(3) and § 1.709-2(a). In the taxable year in which a partnership begins business, an electing partnership may deduct an amount equal to the lesser of the amount of the organizational expenses of the partnership, or $5,000 (reduced (but not below zero) by the amount by which the organizational expenses exceed $50,000). The remainder of the organizational expenses is deductible ratably over the 180-month period beginning with the month in which the partnership begins business. All organizational expenses of the partnership are considered in determining whether the organizational expenses exceed $50,000, including expenses incurred on or before October 22, 2004.
(2) Time and manner of making election. A partnership is deemed to have made an election under section 709(b) to amortize organizational expenses as defined in section 709(b)(3) and § 1.709-2(a) for the taxable year in which the partnership begins business. A partnership may choose to forgo the deemed election by affirmatively electing to capitalize its organizational expenses on a timely filed Federal income tax return (including extensions) for the taxable year in which the partnership begins business. The election either to amortize organizational expenses under section 709(b) or to capitalize organizational expenses is irrevocable and applies to all organizational expenses of the partnership. A change in the characterization of an item as an organizational expense is a change in method of accounting to which sections 446 and 481(a) apply if the partnership treated the item consistently for two or more taxable years. A change in the determination of the taxable year in which the partnership begins business also is treated as a change in method of accounting if the partnership amortized organizational expenses for two or more taxable years.
(3) Liquidation of partnership —(i) In general. If there is a winding up and complete liquidation of the partnership prior to the end of the amortization period, the unamortized amount of organizational expenses is a partnership deduction in its final taxable year to the extent provided under section 165 (relating to losses). However, there is no partnership deduction with respect to its capitalized syndication expenses.
(ii) Technical termination of a partnership. If a partnership that has elected to amortize organizational costs under section 709(b) terminates in a transaction (or a series of transactions) described in section 708(b)(1)(B) or § 1.708-1(b)(2), the termination shall not be treated as resulting in a liquidation of the partnership for purposes of section 709(b)(2). See § 1.708-1(b)(6) for rules concerning the treatment of these organizational costs by the new partnership.
(4) Examples. The following examples illustrate the application of this section:
(5) Effective/applicability date. This section applies to organizational expenses paid or incurred after August 16, 2011. However, taxpayers may apply all the provisions of this section to organizational expenses paid or incurred after October 22, 2004, provided that the period of limitations on assessment of tax for the year the election under paragraph (b)(2) of this section is deemed made has not expired. For organizational expenses paid or incurred on or before September 8, 2008, taxpayers may instead apply § 1.709-1, as in effect prior to that date (§ 1.709-1 as contained in 26 CFR part 1 edition revised as of April 1, 2008). Paragraph (b)(3)(ii) of this section applies to a technical termination of a partnership under section 708(b)(1)(B) that occurs on or after December 9, 2013.
§ 1.709-2   Definitions.
(a) Organizational expenses. Section 709(b)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code defines organizational expenses as expenses which:
(1) Are incident to the creation of the partnership;
(2) Are chargeable to capital account; and
(3) Are of a character which, if expended incident to the creation of a partnership having an ascertainable life, would (but for section 709(a)) be amortized over such life.
(b) Syndication expenses. Syndication expenses are expenses connected with the issuing and marketing of interests in the partnership. Examples of syndication expenses are brokerage fees; registration fees; legal fees of the underwriter or placement agent and the issuer (the general partner or the partnership) for securities advice and for advice pertaining to the adequacy of tax disclosures in the prospectus or placement memorandum for securities law purposes; accounting fees for preparation of representations to be included in the offering materials; and printing costs of the prospectus, placement memorandum, and other selling and promotional material. These expenses are not subject to the election under section 709(b) and must be capitalized.
(c) Beginning business. The determination of the date a partnership begins business for purposes of section 709 presents a question of fact that must be determined in each case in light of all the circumstances of the particular case. Ordinarily, a partnership begins business when it starts the business operations for which it was organized. The mere signing of a partnership agreement is not alone sufficient to show the beginning of business.
§ 1.721-1   Nonrecognition of gain or loss on contribution.
(a) No gain or loss shall be recognized either to the partnership or to any of its partners upon a contribution of property, including installment obligations, to the partnership in exchange for a partnership interest. This rule applies whether the contribution is made to a partnership in the process of formation or to a partnership which is already formed and operating. Section 721 shall not apply to a transaction between a partnership and a partner not acting in his capacity as a partner since such a transaction is governed by section 707. Rather than contributing property to a partnership, a partner may sell property to the partnership or may retain the ownership of property and allow the partnership to use it. In all cases, the substance of the transaction will govern, rather than its form. See paragraph (c)(3) of § 1.731-1. Thus, if the transfer of property by the partner to the partnership results in the receipt by the partner of money or other consideration, including a promissory obligation fixed in amount and time for payment, the transaction will be treated as a sale or exchange under section 707 rather than as a contribution under section 721. For the rules governing the treatment of liabilities to which contributed property is subject, see section 752 and § 1.752-1.
(b)(1) Normally, under local law, each partner is entitled to be repaid his contributions of money or other property to the partnership (at the value placed upon such property by the partnership at the time of the contribution) whether made at the formation of the partnership or subsequent thereto. To the extent that any of the partners gives up any part of his right to be repaid his contributions (as distinguished from a share in partnership profits) in favor of another partner as compensation for services (or in satisfaction of an obligation), section 721 does not apply. The value of an interest in such partnership capital so transferred to a partner as compensation for services constitutes income to the partner under section 61. The amount of such income is the fair market value of the interest in capital so transferred, either at the time the transfer is made for past services, or at the time the services have been rendered where the transfer is conditioned on the completion of the transferee's future services. The time when such income is realized depends on all the facts and circumstances, including any substantial restrictions or conditions on the compensated partner's right to withdraw or otherwise dispose of such interest. To the extent that an interest in capital representing compensation for services rendered by the decedent prior to his death is transferred after his death to the decedent's successor in interest, the fair market value of such interest is income in respect of a decedent under section 691.
(2) To the extent that the value of such interest is: (i) Compensation for services rendered to the partnership, it is a guaranteed payment for services under section 707(c); (ii) compensation for services rendered to a partner, it is not deductible by the partnership, but is deductible only by such partner to the extent allowable under this chapter.
(c) Underwritings of partnership interests —(1) In general. For the purpose of section 721, if a person acquires a partnership interest from an underwriter in exchange for cash in a qualified underwriting transaction, the person who acquires the partnership interest is treated as transferring cash directly to the partnership in exchange for the partnership interest and the underwriter is disregarded. A qualified underwriting transaction is a transaction in which a partnership issues partnership interests for cash in an underwriting in which either the underwriter is an agent of the partnership or the underwriter's ownership of the partnership interests is transitory.
(2) Effective date. This paragraph (c) is effective for qualified underwriting transactions occurring on or after May 1, 1996.
(d) Debt-for-equity exchange —(1) In general. Except as otherwise provided in section 721 and the regulations under section 721, section 721 applies to a contribution of a partnership's indebtedness by a creditor to the debtor partnership in exchange for a capital or profits interest in the partnership (debt-for-equity exchange). See § 1.108-8(a) for rules in determining the debtor partnership's discharge of indebtedness income.
(2) Exception. Section 721 does not apply to a debt-for-equity exchange to the extent the transfer of the partnership interest to the creditor is in exchange for the partnership's indebtedness for unpaid rent, royalties, or interest (including accrued original issue discount) that accrued on or after the beginning of the creditor's holding period for the indebtedness. The debtor partnership will not recognize gain or loss upon the transfer of a partnership interest to a creditor in a debt-for-equity exchange for unpaid rent, royalties, or interest (including accrued original issue discount).
(3) Cross reference. For rules in determining whether a partnership interest transferred to a creditor in a debt-for-equity exchange is treated as payment of interest or accrued original issue discount, see §§ 1.446-2 and 1.1275-2, respectively.
(4) Effective/applicability date. This paragraph (d) applies to debt-for-equity exchanges occurring on or after November 17, 2011.
§ 1.721(c)-1   Overview, definitions, and rules of general application.
(a) Overview —(1) In general . This section and §§ 1.721(c)-2 through 1.721(c)-7 (collectively, the section 721(c) regulations ) provide rules under section 721(c). This section provides definitions and rules of general application for purposes of the section 721(c) regulations. Section 1.721(c)-2 provides the general operative rules that override section 721(a) nonrecognition of gain upon a contribution of section 721(c) property to a section 721(c) partnership. Section 1.721(c)-3 describes the gain deferral method, which may be applied in order to avoid the immediate recognition of gain upon a contribution of section 721(c) property to a section 721(c) partnership. Section 1.721(c)-4 provides rules regarding acceleration events for purposes of applying the gain deferral method. Section 1.721(c)-5 identifies exceptions to the rules regarding acceleration events provided in § 1.721(c)-4(b). Section 1.721(c)-6 provides procedural and reporting requirements. Section 1.721(c)-7 provides examples illustrating the application of the section 721(c) regulations.
(2) Scope . Paragraph (b) of this section provides definitions. Paragraph (c) of this section describes the treatment of a change in form of a partnership. Paragraph (d) of this section provides an anti-abuse rule. Paragraph (e) of this section provides the dates of applicability.
(b) Definitions . The following definitions apply for purposes of the section 721(c) regulations. Unless otherwise indicated, the definitions apply on a property-by-property basis, as applicable.
(1) Acceleration event . An acceleration event has the meaning provided in § 1.721(c)-4(b).
(2) Built-in gain . Built-in gain is, with respect to property contributed to a partnership, the excess of the book value of the property over the partnership's adjusted tax basis in the property upon the contribution, determined without regard to the application of § 1.721(c)-2(b).
(3) Consistent allocation method . The consistent allocation method is the method described in § 1.721(c)-3(c).
(4) Controlled partnership . A partnership is a controlled partnership with respect to a U.S. transferor if the U.S. transferor and related persons control the partnership. For purposes of this paragraph (b)(4), control is determined based on all the facts and circumstances, except that a partnership will be deemed to be controlled by a U.S. transferor and related persons if those persons, in the aggregate, own (directly or indirectly through one or more partnerships) more than 50 percent of the interests in the partnership capital or profits.
(5) Direct or indirect partner . A direct or indirect partner is a person (other than a partnership) that owns an interest in a partnership directly or indirectly through one or more partnerships.
(6) Excluded property . Excluded property is—
(i) A cash equivalent;
(ii) A security within the meaning of section 475(c)(2), without regard to section 475(c)(4);
(iii) Tangible property with a book value exceeding adjusted tax basis by no more than $20,000 or with an adjusted tax basis in excess of book value; and
(iv) An interest in a partnership in which 90 percent or more of the property (as measured by value) held by the partnership (directly or indirectly through interests in one or more partnerships that are not excluded property) consists of property described in paragraphs (b)(6)(i) through (iii) of this section.
(7) Gain deferral contribution. A gain deferral contribution is a contribution of section 721(c) property to a section 721(c) partnership with respect to which the recognition of gain is deferred under the gain deferral method.
(8) Gain deferral method . The gain deferral method is the method described in § 1.721(c)-3(b).
(9) Partial acceleration event . A partial acceleration event is an event described in § 1.721(c)-5(d)(2) or (3).
(10) Regulatory allocation . A regulatory allocation is—
(i) An allocation pursuant to a minimum gain chargeback, as defined in § 1.704-2(b)(2);
(ii) A partner nonrecourse deduction, as determined in § 1.704-2(i)(2);
(iii) An allocation pursuant to a partner minimum gain chargeback, as described in § 1.704-2(i)(4);
(iv) An allocation pursuant to a qualified income offset, as defined in § 1.704-1(b)(2)(ii)( d );
(v) An allocation with respect to the exercise of a noncompensatory option described in § 1.704-1(b)(2)(iv)( s ); and
(vi) An allocation of partnership level ordinary income or loss described in § 1.751-1(b)(3).
(11) Related foreign person . A related foreign person is, with respect to a U.S. transferor, a related person (other than a partnership) that is not a U.S. person.
(12) Related person —(i) In general . A related person is, with respect to a U.S. transferor, a person that is related (within the meaning of section 267(b) or 707(b)(1)) to the U.S. transferor.
(ii) Modification to the application of section 267(b). For purposes of determining if a person is a related person with respect to a U.S. transferor, section 267(b) is applied without regard to section 267(c)(3).
(13) Remaining built-in gain —(i) In general . Remaining built-in gain is, with respect to section 721(c) property subject to the gain deferral method, the built-in gain reduced by decreases in the difference between the property's book value and adjusted tax basis, but, for purposes of this paragraph (b)(13)(i), without taking into account increases or decreases to the property's book value pursuant to § 1.704-1(b)(2)(iv)( f ) or ( s ).
(ii) Special rule for tiered partnerships. If section 721(c) property is described in § 1.721(c)-3(d)(1)(ii), the remaining built-in gain includes the new positive reverse section 704(c) layer described in § 1.721(c)-3(d)(1)(ii), reduced by decreases in the difference between the property's book value and adjusted tax basis, but, for purposes of this paragraph (b)(13)(ii), without taking into account increases or decreases to the property's book value pursuant to § 1.704-1(b)(2)(iv)(f) or (s) that are unrelated to the revaluation described in § 1.721(c)-3(d)(1)(i).
(14) Section 721(c) partnership —(i) In general . A partnership (domestic or foreign) is a section 721(c) partnership if there is a contribution of section 721(c) property to the partnership and, after the contribution and all transactions related to the contribution—
(A) A related foreign person with respect to the U.S. transferor is a direct or indirect partner in the partnership; and
(B) The U.S. transferor and related persons own 80 percent or more of the interests in partnership capital, profits, deductions, or losses.
(ii) Special rule for tiered partnerships . A partnership described in § 1.721(c)-3(d)(1) or (2) is deemed to be a section 721(c) partnership for purposes of the gain deferral method.
(15) Section 721(c) property —(i) In general . Section 721(c) property is property, other than excluded property, with built-in gain that is contributed to a partnership by a U.S. transferor, including pursuant to a contribution described in § 1.721(c)-2(d) (partnership look-through rule). If the U.S. transferor is treated as contributing its share of property to a partnership pursuant to § 1.721(c)-2(d), the entire property will be section 721(c) property.
(ii) Special rule for tiered partnerships . Property described in § 1.721(c)-3(d)(1)(ii) and an interest in a partnership described in § 1.721(c)-3(d)(2)(ii) is deemed to be section 721(c) property.
(16) Successor event . A successor event is an event described in § 1.721(c)-5(c)(2), (3), (4), or (5).
(17) Termination event . A termination event is an event described in § 1.721(c)-5(b)(2), (3), (4), (5), (6), or (7).
(18) U.S. transferor —(i) In general . A U.S. transferor is a United States person within the meaning of section 7701(a)(30) (a U.S. person ), other than a domestic partnership.
(ii) Special rule for tiered partnerships . Solely for purposes of applying the consistent allocation method, a U.S. transferor includes a partnership that is treated as a U.S. transferor under § 1.721(c)-3(d)(1)(iii) or (d)(2)(i).
(c) Change in form of a partnership . A mere change in identity, form, or place of organization of a partnership or a recapitalization of a partnership will not cause the partnership to become a section 721(c) partnership.
(d) Anti-abuse rule . If a U.S. transferor engages in a transaction (or series of transactions) or an arrangement with a principal purpose of avoiding the application of the section 721(c) regulations, the transaction (or series of transactions) or the arrangement may be recharacterized (including by aggregating or disregarding steps or disregarding an intermediate entity) in accordance with its substance.
(e) Applicability dates —(1) In general . Except as provided in paragraphs (e)(2) and (3) of this section, this section applies to contributions occurring on or after August 6, 2015, and to contributions that occurred before August 6, 2015 resulting from an entity classification election made under § 301.7701-3 of this chapter that was effective on or before August 6, 2015 but was filed on or after August 6, 2015.
(2) Certain provisions . Except as provided in paragraph (e)(3) of this section, paragraphs (b)(6)(iv) and (c) of this section apply to contributions occurring on or after January 18, 2017, and to contributions that occurred before January 18, 2017 resulting from an entity classification election made under § 301.7701-3 of this chapter that was effective on or before January 18, 2017 but was filed on or after January 18, 2017. Except as provided in paragraph (e)(3) of this section, paragraph (b)(14)(i)(B) of this section applies by replacing “80 percent or more” with “greater than 50 percent” with respect to contributions that occurred on or after August 6, 2015 but before January 18, 2017, and with respect to contributions that occurred before August 6, 2015 resulting from an entity classification election made under § 301.7701-3 of this chapter that was effective on or before August 6, 2015, but was filed on or after August 6, 2015 but before January 18, 2017. Except as provided in paragraph (e)(3) of this section, paragraph (b)(12)(ii) of this section applies to contributions occurring on or after January 17, 2020.
(3) Election to apply the provisions described in paragraph (e)(2) of this section retroactively. Paragraphs (b)(6)(iv) and (c) of this section and paragraph (b)(14)(i)(B) of this section, without the modification described in paragraph (e)(2) of this section, may, by election, be applied to a contribution that occurred on or after August 6, 2015 but before January 18, 2017, and to a contribution that occurred before August 6, 2015 resulting from an entity classification election made under § 301.7701-3 of this chapter that was effective on or before August 6, 2015 but was filed on or after August 6, 2015. The election described in the preceding sentence must have been made by applying paragraph (b)(6)(iv) or (c) as described in paragraph (e)(2) of this section or paragraph (b)(14)(i)(B) of this section, without the modification described in paragraph (e)(2) of this section, as applicable, to the contribution on a timely filed original return (including extensions) or an amended return filed no later than July 18, 2017. Paragraph (b)(12)(ii) of this section, may, by election, be applied to a contribution that occurred on or after August 6, 2015 but before January 17, 2020, and to a contribution that occurred before August 6, 2015 resulting from an entity classification election made under § 301.7701-3 of this chapter that was effective on or before August 6, 2015 but was filed on or after August 6, 2015. The election described in the preceding sentence must be made by applying paragraph (b)(12)(ii) of this section to the contribution on a timely filed original return (including extensions) or an amended return filed no later July 17, 2020.
§ 1.721(c)-2   Recognition of gain on certain contributions of property to partnerships with related foreign partners.
(a) Scope . This section provides the general operative rules that override section 721(a) nonrecognition of gain upon a contribution of section 721(c) property to a section 721(c) partnership. Paragraph (b) of this section provides the general rule that nonrecognition of gain under section 721(a) does not apply to a contribution of section 721(c) property to a section 721(c) partnership. Paragraph (c) of this section provides a de minimis exception to the application of the general rule in paragraph (b) of this section. Paragraph (d) of this section provides rules for identifying a section 721(c) partnership when a partnership in which a U.S. transferor is a direct or indirect partner contributes property to another partnership. Paragraph (e) of this section provides the dates of applicability. For definitions that apply for purposes of this section, see § 1.721(c)-1(b).
(b) General rule for contributions of section 721(c) property . Except as provided in this paragraph (b), paragraph (c) of this section, and § 1.721(c)-3 (describing the gain deferral method), nonrecognition under section 721(a) will not apply to gain realized by the contributing partner upon a contribution of section 721(c) property to a section 721(c) partnership. This paragraph (b) does not apply to a direct contribution by a U.S. transferor if the U.S. transferor and related persons with respect to the U.S. transferor do not own 80 percent or more of the interests in partnership capital, profits, deductions, or losses.
(c) De minimis exception . Paragraph (b) of this section will not apply with respect to contributions to a section 721(c) partnership during a taxable year of the section 721(c) partnership for which the sum of the built-in gain with respect to all section 721(c) property contributed in that taxable year does not exceed $1 million. If, pursuant to the last sentence of paragraph (b) of this section, a direct contribution of property to the section 721(c) partnership by a U.S. transferor is not subject to paragraph (b) of this section, then such contribution is not taken into account for purposes of this paragraph (c).
(d) Rules for identifying a section 721(c) partnership when a partnership contributes property to another partnership —(1) Partnership look-through rule . If a U.S. transferor is a direct or indirect partner in a partnership (upper-tier partnership) and the upper-tier partnership contributes all or a portion of its property to another partnership (lower-tier partnership), then, for purposes of determining if the lower-tier partnership is a section 721(c) partnership, the U.S. transferor is treated as contributing to the lower-tier partnership its share of the property actually contributed by the upper-tier partnership to the lower-tier partnership.
(2) Exception for a technical termination of a partnership . Paragraph (d)(1) of this section will not apply to a deemed contribution that occurs as a result of a termination of a partnership described in section 708(b)(1)(B) (technical termination). If a partnership is a section 721(c) partnership immediately before a technical termination, see § 1.721(c)-5(c)(4) (which treats technical terminations as successor events in certain circumstances).
(e) Applicability dates —(1) In general . Except as provided in paragraphs (e)(2) and (3) of this section, this section applies to contributions occurring on or after August 6, 2015, and to contributions that occurred before August 6, 2015 resulting from an entity classification election made under § 301.7701-3 of this chapter that was effective on or before August 6, 2015 but was filed on or after August 6, 2015.
(2) Certain provisions . Except as provided in paragraph (e)(3) of this section, the final sentence of paragraph (b) of this section, the final sentence of paragraph (c) of this section, and paragraph (d)(2) of this section apply to contributions occurring on or after January 18, 2017, and to contributions that occurred before January 18, 2017 resulting from an entity classification election made under § 301.7701-3 of this chapter that was effective on or before January 18, 2017 but was filed on or after January 18, 2017.
(3) Election to apply the provisions described in paragraph (e)(2) of this section retroactively. The final sentence of paragraph (b) of this section, the final sentence of paragraph (c) of this section, and paragraph (d)(2) of this section may, by election, be applied to a contribution that occurred on or after August 6, 2015 but before January 18, 2017, and to a contribution that occurred before August 6, 2015 resulting from an entity classification election made under § 301.7701-3 of this chapter that was effective on or before August 6, 2015 but was filed on or after August 6, 2015. The election must have been made by applying the final sentence of paragraph (b) of this section, the final sentence of paragraph (c) of this section, or paragraph (d)(2) of this section, as applicable, to the contribution on a timely filed original return (including extensions) or an amended return filed no later than July 18, 2017.