OMB No. 1545-1983 Qualified Railroad Track Maintenance Credit Form 8900

© Attach to your tax return. Department of the Treasury

Internal Revenue Service

Attachment

Sequence No. 144

Name(s) shown on return Identifying number

1

1

2 2

5

4

6

7

Form 8900 (2008)

Qualified railroad track maintenance expenditures paid or incurred

(see instructions)

3a

Qualified railroad track maintenance credit from partnerships and S corporations

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

others, go to line 8

3a

Cat. No. 37708X

Enter 50% (.50) of line 1

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

instructions)

Multiply line 3d by $3,500

6

For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see back of form.

5 Enter the smaller of line 2 or line 4

4

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

d Total. Combine lines 3a through 3c ©

3b

3d

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

( )

General Instructions

Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless otherwise

noted.

● The credit has been extended to cover expenditures paid or incurred in

tax years beginning after 2007 and before 2010.

What’s New

● For tax years beginning after 2007, the credit is no longer limited by

tentative minimum tax and cannot be reported on page 1 of Form 3800.

Lines 8 through 11 are added to figure any passive activity limits and the

carryback of any unused credit from 2009 that previously would have

been reported on Form 3800. Report any carryforward of the credit from

2007 to 2008 on Form 3800, line 6. Report any carryback of the credit

from 2008 to 2007 on the 2007 Form 6478, Credit for Alcohol Used as

Fuel, line 10, and enter “RR” to the left of the entry space.

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:

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.

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

Surface Transportation Board (STB).

2008

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

instructions)

9 Subtract line 8 from line 7

10 Qualified railroad track maintenance credit allowed for 2008 from passive activities (see

instructions)

11 Carryback of the qualified railroad track maintenance credit from 2009 (see instructions)

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

8

9

10

11

12

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,

The Tax Extenders and AMT Relief Act of 2008 made the following

changes to the qualified railroad track maintenance credit.

● 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).
Form 8900 (2008) Page 2

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.

Line 3c

Adjustments to Basis

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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

track above) owned or leased by you.

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.

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

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.

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.

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).

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

railroad.)

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

railroad.)

Member of Controlled Group or Business Under

Common Control

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.

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 Limitations (for corporations).

Line 10

Enter the passive activity qualified railroad track maintenance credit

allowed for 2008 from Form 8582-CR or Form 8810.

Line 11

Enter any carryback if you amend your 2008 return to carry back an

unused qualified railroad track maintenance credit from 2009. Report any

carryback of the credit from 2008 to 2007 on the 2007 Form 6478, Credit

for Alcohol Used as Fuel, line 10, and enter “RR” to the left of the entry

space. Report any carryforward of the credit from 2007 to 2008 on Form

3800, line 6.