Form 8900

Department of the Treasury 

Internal Revenue Service

Qualified Railroad Track Maintenance Credit

© Attach to your tax return.

OMB No. 1545-1983

2009

Attachment 

Sequence No. 144

Name(s) shown on return Identifying number

1 Qualified railroad track maintenance expenditures paid or incurred 

(see instructions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 

2 Enter 50% (.50) of line 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 

3 a Number of miles of railroad track owned or leased by you (see 

instructions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3a 

b Less: number of miles of railroad track owned or leased by you and 

assigned to other eligible taxpayers for purposes of this credit. See 

instructions for more information, including required statement . . . 3b ( )

c Number of miles of railroad track assigned to you by the owner or 

lessee for purposes of this credit. See instructions for more 

information, including required statement . . . . . . . . . 3c 

d Total. Combine lines 3a through 3c . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . © 3d

4 Multiply line 3d by $3,500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 

5 Enter the smaller of line 2 or line 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

6 Qualified railroad track maintenance credit from partnerships and S corporations . . . . . . 6 

7 Add lines 5 and 6. Partnerships and S corporations, report this amount on Schedule K; all 

others, go to line 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 

8 Qualified railroad track maintenance credit included on line 7 from passive activities (see 

instructions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 

9 Subtract line 8 from line 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 

10 Qualified railroad track maintenance credit allowed for 2009 from passive activities (see 

instructions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 

11 Carryforward of any qualified railroad track maintenance credit that originated in a tax year that 

began after 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 

12 Add lines 9 through 11. Report this amount on Form 3800, line 29g . . . . . . . . . . . 12 

General Instructions

Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless otherwise 

noted.

What’s New

The qualified railroad track maintenance credit is scheduled to expire for 

tax years beginning after 2009.

Who Must File

Eligible taxpayers use Form 8900 to claim the railroad track 

maintenance credit (RTMC) with respect to qualified railroad track 

maintenance expenditures (QRTME) paid or incurred during the tax year. 

If you are an assignor with respect to miles of eligible railroad track, you 

must file Form 8900 even if you do not claim any RTMC. See the 

instructions for line 3b for the additional information that must be 

provided by assignors.

Definitions

Eligible taxpayers include:

1. Any Class II or Class III railroad, as these terms are defined by the 

Surface Transportation Board (STB).

2. Any person (including a Class I railroad (see below)) who transports 

property using the rail facilities of a Class II or Class III railroad.

3. Any person (including a Class I railroad (see below)) who furnishes 

railroad-related services or property to a Class II or Class III railroad.

For purposes of 2 or 3 above, the taxpayer is only eligible to claim the 

credit with respect to miles of eligible railroad track assigned to it by a 

Class II or Class III railroad for purposes of the credit. See the 

instructions for line 3c.

Class I railroads include only the following seven entities:

● BNSF,

● CSX,

● Grand Trunk Corporation (a holding company for all of Canadian 

National’s U.S. railroad operations),

● Kansas City Southern,

● Norfolk Southern,

● Soo Line (owned by Canadian Pacific), and

● Union Pacific.

Rail facilities of a Class II or Class III railroad are railroad yards, tracks,

bridges, tunnels, wharves, docks, stations, and other related assets that

are used in the transport of freight by a railroad and owned or leased by

that railroad.

Railroad-related property is property that is provided directly to a 

Class II or Class III railroad and is unique to railroads. For a complete

description, see Regulations section 1.45G-1(b)(7).

Railroad-related services are services that are provided directly to, and

are unique to, a railroad and that relate to railroad shipping, loading and

unloading of railroad freight, or repairs of rail facilities or railroad-related

property. For examples of what are, and what are not, railroad-related

services, see Regulations section 1.45G-1(b)(8).

Eligible railroad track is railroad track located within the United States

that is owned or leased by a Class II or Class III railroad at the close of

its tax year. The railroad is treated as owning the railroad track if it is

subject to depreciation under section 167 by the railroad. Double track 

is treated as multiple lines of railroad track, rather than as a single line of

railroad track. That is, one mile of single track is one mile, but one mile 

of double track is two miles.

For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see instructions. Cat. No. 37708X Form 8900 (2009)
Form 8900 (2009) Page 2

Qualifying railroad structure is property located within the United States

that includes, in part, tunnels, bridges, and railroad track. For a complete

description, see Regulations section 1.45G-1(b)(4).

QRTME are expenditures (whether or not otherwise chargeable to a capital 

account) for maintaining, repairing, and improving a qualifying railroad 

structure that is owned or leased as of January 1, 2005, by a Class II or Class 

III railroad. If you paid or incurred QRTME during the tax year, you do not 

have to reduce that QRTME by any amount of direct or indirect 

reimbursement to which you are entitled from a Class II or Class III railroad 

which made an assignment of eligible railroad track to you.

Adjustments to Basis

Some or all of the QRTME paid or incurred by an eligible taxpayer may be 

required to be capitalized as a tangible asset or an intangible asset, if 

applicable. See Regulations section 1.45G-1(e)(1).

Use the amount of RTMC to reduce the basis of a qualifying railroad 

structure (including railroad track) asset or intangible asset, if applicable. The 

reduction is limited to the amount of QRTME capitalized with respect to the 

asset. For further details, see Regulations section 1.45G-1(e)(2).

Member of Controlled Group or Business Under 

Common Control

For purposes of figuring the credit, all members of a “controlled group of 

corporations” and all members of a “group of businesses under common 

control” are treated as a single taxpayer. See Regulations section 

1.45G-1(f)(2) for a definition of these terms. As a member, compute your 

credit based on your proportionate share of QRTME giving rise to the 

group’s RTMC. Enter your share of the credit on line 5. Attach a statement 

showing how your share of the credit was figured, and write “See Attached” 

next to the entry space for line 5.

Specific Instructions

Figure the current year credit from your trade or business on lines 1 through 

5. Skip lines 1 through 5 if you are only claiming a credit that was allocated 

to you from an S corporation or partnership.

Line 1

Qualified railroad track maintenance expenditures must be paid or incurred 

by an eligible taxpayer during the tax year.

The payment by an eligible taxpayer, as an assignee, to a Class II or Class 

III railroad, as an assignor, in exchange for an assignment of miles of eligible 

railroad track for purposes of the credit computation is treated as QRTME 

paid or incurred by the assignee and not the assignor.

Line 3a (This line only applies to you if you are a Class II or Class III railroad.)

Enter the number of eligible railroad track miles (see Eligible railroad track

above) owned or leased by you.

Line 3b (This line only applies to you if you are a Class II or Class III railroad.)

You must reduce on line 3b the number of miles of eligible railroad track 

entered on line 3a that you assigned to another eligible taxpayer for 

purposes of the credit computation. You can only assign each mile of 

railroad track once during your tax year. Each mile of railroad track that you 

assign is treated as being assigned on the last day of your tax year.

An assigned mile of eligible railroad track need not correspond to any 

specific mile of eligible railroad track with respect to which the eligible 

taxpayer actually pays or incurs the QRTME. Further, an assignment requires 

no transfer of legal title or other indicia of ownership of the eligible railroad 

track, and need not specify the location of any assigned mile of eligible 

railroad track. However, the following information must be provided with 

respect to the assignment in the form of a statement attached to the tax 

return for the tax year for which the assignment is made.

● The name and taxpayer identification number of each assignee.

● The total number of miles of the assignor’s eligible railroad track.

● The number of miles of eligible railroad track assigned by the assignor for 

the tax year to the assignee.

● The total number of miles of eligible railroad track assigned by the assignor 

for the tax year to all assignees.

Line 3c

The following information must be provided with respect to the assignment in 

the form of a statement attached to the tax return for the tax year for which 

the assignment is made.

● The total number of miles of eligible railroad track assigned to the assignee 

for the assignee’s tax year.

● Attestation that the assignee has in writing, and has retained as part of the 

assignee’s records for purposes of Regulations section 1.6001-1(a), the 

following information from each assignor:

a. The name and taxpayer identification number of each assignor;

b. The effective date of each assignment (treated as being made by the 

assignor at the end of its tax year) to the assignee; and

c. The number of miles of eligible railroad track assigned by each assignor 

to the assignee for the tax year of the assignee.

Notes. 1. The assignee cannot reassign miles.

2. If the assignor, in its required statement (see the instructions for 

line 3b above), assigns more miles than it has at the end of its tax 

year, the excess will be used to reduce each assignee’s allocation 

in the same proportion as the assignee’s original allocation of 

miles bears in relation to the total miles originally assigned.

Line 8

Enter the amount included on line 7 that is from a passive activity. Generally, 

a passive activity is a trade or business in which you did not materially 

participate. Rental activities are generally considered passive activities, 

whether or not you materially participate. For details, see Form 8582-CR, 

Passive Activity Credit Limitations (for individuals, estates, and trusts), or 

Form 8810, Corporate Passive Activity Loss and Credit Limita- tions (for 

corporations).

Line 10

Enter the passive activity qualified railroad track maintenance credit allowed 

for 2009 from Form 8582-CR or Form 8810.

Line 11

Use line 11 to show any carryforward of the qualified railroad track 

maintenance credit from 2008. For carryforwards of the credit from years 

prior to 2008, show the carryforwards on line 6 of Form 3800.

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask for the information on this form 

to carry out the Internal Revenue laws of the United States. You are required 

to give us the information. We need it to ensure that you are complying with 

these laws and to allow us to figure and collect the right amount of tax.

You are not required to provide the information requested on a form that is 

subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act unless the form displays a valid 

OMB control number. Books or records relating to a form or its instructions 

must be retained as long as their contents may become material in the 

administration of any Internal Revenue law. Generally, tax returns and return 

information are confidential, as required by section 6103.

The time needed to complete and file this form will vary depending on 

individual circumstances. The estimated burden for individual taxpayers filing 

this form is approved under OMB control number 1545-0074 and is included 

in the estimates shown in the instructions for their individual income tax 

return. The estimated burden for all other taxpayers who file this form is 

shown below.

Recordkeeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 hr., 4 min.

Learning about the law or the form . . . . . . . . . 53 min.

Preparing, copying, assembling, and 

sending the form to the IRS . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 hr.

If you have comments concerning the accuracy of these time estimates or 

suggestions for making this form simpler, we would be happy to hear from 

you. See the instructions for the tax return with which this form is filed.