2023 Connecticut General Statutes › Title 12 - Taxation › Chapter 208 - Corporation Business Tax › Section 12-213. - Definitions.

(a) When used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) “Taxpayer” and “company” mean any corporation, foreign municipal electric utility, as defined in section 12-59, electric distribution company, as defined in section 16-1, electric supplier, as defined in section 16-1, generation entity or affiliate, as defined in section 16-1, joint stock company or association or any fiduciary thereof and any dissolved corporation which continues to conduct business, but does not include a passive investment company or municipal utility, as defined in section 12-265;
(2) “Dissolved corporation” means any company which has terminated its corporate existence by resolution, expiration, decree or forfeiture;
(3) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Revenue Services;
(4) “Tax year” means the calendar year in which the tax is payable;
(5) “Income year” means the calendar year upon the basis of which net income is computed under this part, unless a fiscal year other than the calendar year has been established for federal income tax purposes, in which case it means the fiscal year so established or a period of less than twelve months ending as of the date on which liability under this chapter ceases to accrue by reason of dissolution, forfeiture, withdrawal, merger or consolidation;
(6) “Fiscal year” means the income year ending on the last day of any month other than December or an annual period which varies from fifty-two to fifty-three weeks elected by the taxpayer in accordance with the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code;
(7) “Paid” means “paid or accrued” or “paid or incurred”, construed according to the method of accounting upon the basis of which net income is computed under this part;
(8) “Received” means “received” or “accrued”, construed according to the method of accounting upon the basis of which net income is computed under this part;
(9) (A) “Gross income” means gross income, as defined in the Internal Revenue Code, and, in addition, means any interest or exempt interest dividends, as defined in Section 852(b)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code, received by the taxpayer or losses of other calendar or fiscal years, retroactive to include all calendar or fiscal years beginning after January 1, 1935, incurred by the taxpayer which are excluded from gross income for purposes of assessing the federal corporation net income tax, and in addition, notwithstanding any other provision of law, means interest or exempt interest dividends, as defined in said Section 852(b)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code, accrued on or after the application date, as defined in section 12-242ff, with respect to any obligation issued by or on behalf of the state, its agencies, authorities, commissions and other instrumentalities, or by or on behalf of its political subdivisions and their agencies, authorities, commissions and other instrumentalities;
(B) “Gross income” shall include, to the extent not properly includable in gross income for federal income tax purposes, an amount equal to (i) any distribution from a manufacturing reinvestment account not used in accordance with subdivision (3) of subsection (c) of section 32-9zz to the extent that a contribution to such account was subtracted from gross income pursuant to subparagraph (F) of subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 12-217 in computing net income for the current or a preceding income year, and (ii) any return of money from a manufacturing reinvestment account pursuant to subsection (d) of section 32-9zz to the extent that a contribution to such account was subtracted from gross income pursuant to subparagraph (F) of subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 12-217 in computing net income for the current or a preceding income year;
(C) “Gross income” shall not include the amount which for federal income tax purposes is treated as a dividend received by a domestic United States corporation from a foreign corporation on account of foreign taxes deemed paid by such domestic corporation, when such domestic corporation elects the foreign tax credit for federal income tax purposes;
(D) “Gross income” shall not include any amount which for federal income tax purposes is treated as a dividend received directly or indirectly by a taxpayer from a passive investment company;
(10) “Net income” means net earnings received during the income year and available for contributors of capital, whether they are creditors or stockholders, computed by subtracting from gross income the deductions allowed by the terms of section 12-217, except that in the case of a domestic insurance company which is a life insurance company, “net income” means life insurance company taxable income (A) increased by any amount or amounts which have been deducted in the computation of gain or loss from operations in respect of (i) the life insurance company's share of tax-exempt interest, (ii) operations loss carry-backs and capital loss carry-backs, and (iii) operations loss carry-overs and capital loss carry-overs arising in any taxable year commencing prior to January 1, 1973, and (B) reduced by any amount or amounts which have been deducted as operations loss carry-backs or capital loss carry-backs in the computation of gain or loss from operations for any taxable year commencing on or after January 1, 1973, but only to the extent that such amount or amounts would, for federal tax purposes, have been deductible in the taxable year as operations loss carry-overs or capital loss carry-overs if they had not been deducted in a previous taxable year as carry-backs, and provided no expense related to income, the taxation of which by the state of Connecticut is prohibited by the law or Constitution of the United States, as applied, or by the law or Constitution of this state, as applied, shall be deducted under this chapter and provided further no item may, directly or indirectly be excluded or deducted more than once;
(11) “Life insurance company” has the same meaning as it has under the Internal Revenue Code;
(12) “Life insurance company taxable income” has the same meaning as it has under the Internal Revenue Code;
(13) “Life insurance company's share” has the same meaning as it has under the Internal Revenue Code;
(14) “Operations loss carry-over”, with respect to a life insurance company, has the same meaning as it has under the Internal Revenue Code;
(15) “Operations loss carry-back”, with respect to a life insurance company, has the same meaning as it has under the Internal Revenue Code;
(16) “Capital loss carry-over”, with respect to a life insurance company, has the same meaning as it has under the Internal Revenue Code;
(17) “Capital loss carry-back”, with respect to a life insurance company, has the same meaning as it has under the Internal Revenue Code;
(18) “Gain or loss from operations”, with respect to a life insurance company, has the same meaning as it has under the Internal Revenue Code;
(19) “Fiduciary” means any receiver, liquidator, referee, trustee, assignee or other fiduciary or officer or agent appointed by any court or by any other authority, except the Banking Commissioner acting as receiver or liquidator under the authority of the provisions of sections 36a-210 and 36a-218 to 36a-239, inclusive;
(20) (A) “Carrying on or doing business” means and includes each and every act, power or privilege exercised or enjoyed in this state, as an incident to, or by virtue of, the powers and privileges acquired by the nature of any organization whether the form of existence is corporate, associate, joint stock company or fiduciary, and includes the direct or indirect engaging in, transacting or conducting of activity in this state by an electric supplier, as defined in section 16-1, or generation entity or affiliate, as defined in section 16-1, for the purpose of establishing or maintaining a market for the sale of electricity or of electric generation services, as defined in section 16-1, to end use customers located in this state through the use of the transmission or distribution facilities of an electric distribution company, as defined in section 16-1;
(B) A company that has contracted with a commercial printer for printing and distribution of printed material shall not be deemed to be carrying on or doing business in this state because of (i) the ownership or leasing by that company of tangible or intangible personal property located at the premises of the commercial printer in this state, (ii) the sale by that company of property of any kind produced or processed at and shipped or distributed from the premises of the commercial printer in this state, (iii) the activities of that company's employees or agents at the premises of the commercial printer in this state, which activities relate to quality control, distribution or printing services performed by the printer, or (iv) the activities of any kind performed by the commercial printer in this state for or on behalf of that company;
(C) A company that participates in a trade show or shows at the convention center, as defined in subdivision (3) of section 32-600, shall not be deemed to be carrying on or doing business in this state, regardless of whether the company has employees or other staff present at such trade shows, provided such company's activity at such trade shows is limited to displaying goods or promoting services, no sales are made, any orders received are sent outside this state for acceptance or rejection and are filled from outside this state, and provided further that such participation is not more than fourteen days, or part thereof, in the aggregate during the company's income year for federal income tax purposes;
(21) “Alternative energy system” means design systems, equipment or materials which utilize as their energy source solar, wind, water or biomass energy in providing space heating or cooling, water heating or generation of electricity, but shall not include wood-burning stoves;
(22) “S corporation” means any corporation which is an S corporation for federal income tax purposes and includes any subsidiary of such S corporation that is a qualified subchapter S subsidiary, as defined in Section 1361(b)(3)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code, all of whose assets, liabilities and items of income, deduction and credit are treated under the Internal Revenue Code, and shall be treated under this chapter, as assets, liabilities and such items, as the case may be, of such S corporation;
(23) “Internal Revenue Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent internal revenue code of the United States, as from time to time amended, effective and in force on the last day of the income year;
(24) “Partnership” means a partnership, as defined in the Internal Revenue Code, and includes a limited liability company that is treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes;
(25) “Partner” means a partner, as defined in the Internal Revenue Code, and includes a member of a limited liability company that is treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes;
(26) “Investment partnership” means a limited partnership that meets the gross income requirement of Section 851(b)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code, except that income and gains from commodities that are not described in Section 1221(1) of the Internal Revenue Code or from futures, forwards and options with respect to such commodities shall be included in income which qualifies to meet such gross income requirement, provided such commodities are of a kind customarily dealt with in an organized commodity exchange and the transaction is of a kind customarily consummated at such place, as required by Section 864(b)(2)(B)(iii) of the Internal Revenue Code. To the extent that such a partnership has income and gains from commodities that are not described in Section 1221(1) of the Internal Revenue Code or from futures, forwards and options with respect to such commodities, such income and gains must be derived by a partnership which is not a dealer in commodities and is trading for its own account as described in Section 864(b)(2)(B)(ii) of the Internal Revenue Code. The term “investment partnership” does not include a dealer, within the meaning of Section 1236 of the Internal Revenue Code, in stocks or securities;
(27) “Passive investment company” means any corporation which is a related person to a financial service company, as defined in section 12-218b, or to an insurance company, as defined in section 12-218b, and (A) employs not less than five full-time equivalent employees in the state; (B) maintains an office in the state; and (C) confines its activities to the purchase, receipt, maintenance, management and sale of its intangible investments, and the collection and distribution of the income from such investments, including, but not limited to, interest and gains from the sale, transfer or assignment of such investments or from the foreclosure upon or sale, transfer or assignment of the collateral securing such investments. For purposes of this subdivision, “intangible investments” shall be limited to loans secured by real property, as defined in section 12-218b, including a line of credit which is a loan secured by real property and which permits future advances by the passive investment company; the collateral or an interest in the collateral that secured such loans if the sale of such collateral or interest is actively marketed by or on behalf of the passive investment company; and any short-term investment of cash held by the passive investment company which cash is reasonably necessary for the operations of such passive investment company;
(28) (A) “Captive real estate investment trust” means, except as provided in subparagraph (B) of this subdivision, a corporation, a trust or an association (i) that is considered a real estate investment trust for the taxable year under Section 856 of the Internal Revenue Code; (ii) that is not regularly traded on an established securities market; (iii) in which more than fifty per cent of the voting power, beneficial interests or shares are owned or controlled, directly or constructively, by a single entity that is subject to Subchapter C of Chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code; and (iv) that is not a qualified real estate investment trust, as defined in subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of section 12-217. Any voting power, beneficial interests or shares in a real estate investment trust that are directly owned or controlled by a segregated asset account of a life insurance company, as described in Section 817 of the Internal Revenue Code, shall not be taken into account for purposes of determining whether a real estate investment trust is a captive real estate investment trust.
(B) “Captive real estate investment trust” does not include a corporation, a trust or an association, in which more than fifty per cent of the entity's voting power, beneficial interests or shares are owned by a single entity described in subparagraph (A)(iii) of this subdivision that is owned or controlled, directly or constructively, by (i) a corporation, a trust or an association that is considered a real estate investment trust under Section 856 of the Internal Revenue Code; (ii) a person exempt from taxation under Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code; (iii) a listed property trust or other foreign real estate investment trust that is organized in a country that has a tax treaty with the United States Treasury Department governing the tax treatment of these trusts; or (iv) a real estate investment trust that is intended to become regularly traded on an established securities market and that satisfies the requirements of Sections 856(a)(5) and 856(a)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code, as determined under Section 856(h) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(C) For purposes of this subdivision, the constructive ownership rules of Section 318 of the Internal Revenue Code, as modified by Section 856(d)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code, apply to the determination of the ownership of stock, assets or net profits of any person;
(29) “Combined group” means the group of all companies that have common ownership and are engaged in a unitary business, where at least one company is subject to tax under this chapter;
(30) “Combined group's net income” means the amount calculated under subsection (a) of section 12-218e;
(31) “Common ownership” means that more than fifty per cent of the voting control of each member of a combined group is directly or indirectly owned by a common owner or owners, either corporate or noncorporate, whether or not the owner or owners are members of the combined group. Whether voting control is indirectly owned shall be determined in accordance with Section 318 of the Internal Revenue Code;
(32) “Unitary business” means a single economic enterprise that is made up either of separate parts of a single business entity or of a group of business entities under common ownership, which enterprise is sufficiently interdependent, integrated or interrelated through its activities so as to provide mutual benefit and produce a significant sharing or exchange of value among such entities, or a significant flow of value among the separate parts. For purposes of this chapter, (A) any business conducted by a pass-through entity shall be treated as conducted by its members, whether directly held or indirectly held through a series of pass-through entities, to the extent of the member's distributive share of the pass-through entity's income, regardless of the percentage of the member's ownership interest or its distributive or any other share of pass-through entity income, and (B) any business conducted directly or indirectly by one corporation is unitary with that portion of a business conducted by another corporation through its direct or indirect interest in a pass-through entity if there is a mutual benefit and a significant sharing of exchange or flow of value between the two parts of the business and the two corporations are members of the same group of business entities under common ownership;
(33) “Designated taxable member” means, if the combined group has a common parent corporation and that common parent corporation is a taxable member, the common parent corporation and, in all other cases, the taxable member of the combined group that such group selects, in the manner prescribed by section 12-222, as its designated taxable member or, in the discretion of the commissioner or upon the failure of such group to select its designated taxable member in the manner prescribed by section 12-222, the taxable member of the combined group selected by the commissioner as the designated taxable member;
(34) “Group income year” means, if two or more members in the combined group file in the same federal consolidated tax return, the same income year as that used on the federal consolidated tax return and, in all other cases, the income year of the designated taxable member;
(35) “Nontaxable member” means a combined group member that is not a taxable member, but does not include a company that is exempt from the tax imposed by this chapter under subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of section 12-214;
(36) “Taxable member” means a combined group member that is subject to tax pursuant to this chapter;
(37) “Pass-through entity” means a partnership or an S corporation.
(b) As used in sections 12-214, 12-218 and 12-219a:
(1) “Limited partner” means a limited partner of a limited partnership that is treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes and includes a member of a limited liability company that is treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes and that is managed by managers, if such member is not a member-manager of such company;
(2) “General partner” means a partner of a general partnership, a general partner of a limited partnership that is treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes and a partner of a limited liability partnership and includes a member of a limited liability company that is treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes if such company is managed by managers and such member is a member-manager of such company, or if such company is not managed by managers;
(3) “Member-manager” means a member of a limited liability company that is treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, which member is, alone or together with others, vested with the management of the business, property and affairs of the limited liability company;
(4) “Proportionate part” means, with respect to a partner of a partnership, the percentage that the partnership used to determine such partner's distributive share of the ordinary income or loss of the partnership in an income year;
(5) “Derived from or connected with sources within this state” has the same meaning as it has under chapter 229 and the regulations adopted thereunder;
(6) “Distributive share” means, with respect to a partner of a partnership, such partner's distributive share of ordinary income or loss as determined for federal income tax purposes in an income year.
(1949 Rev., S. 1896; 1949, 1951, 1953, S. 1088d, 1105d; 1957, P.A. 560, S. 1; 1961, P.A. 376, S. 1; 428, S. 1; 1967, P.A. 741, S. 1; June, 1969, P.A. 1, S. 12; P.A. 73-350, S. 5, 27; 73-442, S. 3; P.A. 77-614, S. 139, 161, 610; P.A. 80-406, S. 3, 5; 80-482, S. 18, 348; 80-483, S. 53, 186; P.A. 82-400, S. 1, 3; P.A. 87-9, S. 2, 3; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-3, S. 98, 168; P.A. 95-2, S. 3, 37; P.A. 96-104, S. 1, 4; 96-139, S. 2, 13; 96-180, S. 25, 166; 96-197, S. 2, 11; P.A. 97-295, S. 3, 25; P.A. 98-28, S. 114, 115, 117; 98-110, S. 12, 27; 98-244, S. 5, 35; 98-262, S. 14, 22; P.A. 00-174, S. 21, 83; P.A. 03-84, S. 12; P.A. 05-260, S. 2; P.A. 06-186, S. 70; P.A. 10-188, S. 1; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 10-1, S. 60; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-1, S. 195; P.A. 14-60, S. 1–4; 14-69, S. 2; 14-134, S. 46; P.A. 15-244, S. 138; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-5, S. 139; P.A. 17-147, S. 23.)
History: 1961 acts added definition of “dissolved corporation,” last alternative to definition of income year, and reference to state bank and trust companies and national banks in definition of interest paid; 1967 act excluded from consideration as gross income amount which for federal income tax purposes is treated as a dividend received by domestic corporation from foreign corporation on account of foreign taxes paid by domestic corporation when foreign tax credit elected; 1969 act excluded municipal utilities under chapters 212 and 212a from consideration as taxpayer or company; P.A. 73-350 added exception in definition of “net income” and defined terms for purposes of the exception, effective May 9, 1973, and applicable to income years beginning on or after January 1, 1973; P.A. 73-442 included foreign municipal electric utilities in definition of “taxpayer” and “company”; P.A. 77-614 substituted commissioner of revenue services for tax commissioner and banking commissioner within the department of business regulation for bank commissioner and made banking department a division within the department of business regulation, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 80-406 defined “alternative energy system”; P.A. 80-482 deleted reference to abolished department of business regulation; P.A. 80-483 deleted reference to building and loan associations in definition of “interest paid”; P.A. 82-400 amended the definition of gross income to provide that with respect to a corporation engaged primarily in farming, gross income for purposes of the state corporation business tax does not include net gain from the sale of cattle raised on a farm owned by the corporation in this state, effective June 7, 1982 and applicable to income years of corporations commencing on or after January 1, 1981; (Revisor's note: Pursuant to P.A. 87-9, “banking commissioner” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “commissioner of banking”); June Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-3 added the definition of “S corporation”, effective August 22, 1991, and applicable to income years of corporations commencing on or after January 1, 1991; P.A. 95-2 redefined “gross income” to include exempt interest dividends under Sec. 852(b)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code, effective March 8, 1995; P.A. 96-104 redefined “carrying on or doing business” to add exception re companies contracting with commercial printers and made technical changes, effective July 1, 1996, and applicable to taxable years commencing on or after January 1, 1996; P.A. 96-139 redefined “net income” to specify that no expense related to income which is not taxable shall be deducted and that no item may be excluded or deducted more than once, made technical changes and deleted definition of “interest paid”, effective May 29, 1996; P.A. 96-180 conformed Subdiv. and Subpara. indicators to customary statutory usage, effective June 3, 1996; P.A. 96-197 designated existing section as Subsec. (a), revising Subdiv. and Subpara. indicators to conform with customary statutory usage and adding definitions of “internal revenue code”, “partnership”, “partner” and “investment partnership” and added new Subsec. (b), effective June 3, 1996, and applicable to income years commencing on or after January 1, 1996; P.A. 97-295 amended Subsec. (a)(9)(B) to delete exclusion for sale of homegrown cattle, effective July 8, 1997, and applicable to income years commencing on or after January 1, 1998; P.A. 98-28 amended Subsec. (a)(1) by adding electric distribution companies, electric suppliers and generation entities or affiliates and amended Subsec. (a)(20) by splitting language into Subparas. (A) and (B) and redesignating clauses accordingly, and by adding provision in Subpara. (A) re the direct or indirect engaging in, transacting or conducting of activity for the purpose of the sale of electricity or electric generation services, effective April 29, 1998; P.A. 98-110 added Subsec. (a)(27) defining “passive investment company” and made technical changes, effective May 19, 1998, and applicable to income years commencing on or after January 1, 1999 (Revisor's note: In Subsec. (a)(1) the Revisors changed the verb following “Taxpayer” and “company” from “means” to “mean”); P.A. 98-244 amended definition of “S corporation” to include any qualified subchapter S subsidiary in the definition, effective June 8, 1998, and applicable to income years commencing on or after January 1, 1998; P.A. 98-262 revised effective date of P.A. 97-295, but without affecting this section; P.A. 00-174 made a technical change in Subsec. (a)(20)(A), effective May 26, 2000; P.A. 03-84 changed “Commissioner of Banking” to “Banking Commissioner” in Subsec. (a)(19), effective June 3, 2003; P.A. 05-260 added Subdiv. (20)(C) re participation in trade shows at the convention center, effective July 13, 2005, and applicable to taxable years commencing on or after January 1, 2005; P.A. 06-186 amended Subsec. (a)(1) by changing citation re definition of municipal utility from “chapter 212 and chapter 212a” to “section 12-265”, effective July 1, 2006; P.A. 10-188 amended Subsec. (a) to add Subdiv. (28) defining “captive real estate investment trust” and to make a technical change in Subdiv. (3), effective July 1, 2010, and applicable to income years commencing on or after January 1, 2010; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 10-1 amended Subsec. (a)(28)(A) to make a technical change, effective July 1, 2010, and applicable to income years commencing on or after January 1, 2010; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-1 amended Subsec. (a)(9) to redefine “gross income” by adding new Subpara. (B) re manufacturing reinvestment account distribution and redesignating existing Subparas. (B) and (C) as Subparas. (C) and (D), effective June 15, 2012, and applicable to income years commencing on or after January 1, 2011; P.A. 14-60 made technical changes in Subsec. (a)(1), (10), (20)(A) and (28); P.A. 14-69 amended Subsec. (a)(9) to redefine “gross income” by deleting former Subpara. (B)(i) re manufacturing reinvestment account distribution and redesignating existing Subpara. (B)(ii)(I) and (II) as Subpara. (B)(i) and (ii), effective July 1, 2014, and applicable to income years commencing on or after January 1, 2014; P.A. 14-134 amended Subsec. (a)(20)(A) by deleting provision re electric company, effective June 6, 2014; P.A. 15-244 amended Subsec. (a) to make definitions applicable to chapter, rather than part, and add Subdivs. (29) to (37) to define “combined group”, “combined group's net income”, “common ownership”, “unitary business”, “designated taxable member”, “group income year”, “nontaxable member”, “taxable member” and “pass-through entity”, effective June 30, 2015, and applicable to income years commencing on or after January 1, 2015; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-5 changed effective date of P.A. 15-244, S. 138, from June 30, 2015, and applicable to income years commencing on or after January 1, 2015, to January 1, 2016, and applicable to income years commencing on or after that date, effective June 30, 2015; P.A. 17-147 amended Subdiv. (28)(A) to redefine “captive real estate investment trust”, effective July 7, 2017.
Cited. 127 C. 509; 130 C. 461; 135 C. 48. Retroactive effect not unconstitutional; applies to federal savings and loan associations. 142 C. 483. Cited. Id., 492; 178 C. 243; 179 C. 363; 199 C. 346; 202 C. 583; 220 C. 665; 224 C. 426; 235 C. 865.
Cited. 15 CS 205. Provision for fiscal year varying from 52 to 53 weeks incorporates provisions of internal revenue code pertinent to the effective use of this accounting method, including provision that such fiscal year be treated as beginning on first day of month in determining applicability of new tax provisions. 32 CS 127. Cited. 40 CS 77; 44 CS 90.