IU International Corp. v. United States

34 Fed. Cl. 767, 77 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 696, 1996 U.S. Claims LEXIS 15, 1996 WL 51252
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedFebruary 8, 1996
DocketNo. 94-259 T
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 34 Fed. Cl. 767 (IU International Corp. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
IU International Corp. v. United States, 34 Fed. Cl. 767, 77 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 696, 1996 U.S. Claims LEXIS 15, 1996 WL 51252 (uscfc 1996).

Opinion

OPINION

HODGES, Judge.

This tax refund case is before the court on cross-motions for summary judgment.1 Plaintiff disputes the Internal Revenue Service’s interpretation of Treas.Reg. § 1.1502-32 regarding adjustment of a subsidiary’s stock basis for a consolidated tax return after a spin-off transaction. We rule for defendant.

BACKGROUND

IU International is the parent corporation of Unijax. In 1981, Unijax was the parent corporation of four companies: General Waterworks Corp., Conversion Systems, Big-gers Brothers, and International Mills Service.2 Unijax distributed the stock of the four companies to IU on December 11, 1981 as a tax-free spin-off transaction under 1. R.C. § 355.

Applicable treasury regulations state in pertinent part:

As of the end of each consolidated return year, each member owning stock in a subsidiary shall adjust the basis of such stock in the manner prescribed in this section. [768]*768If a subsidiary owns stock in any other subsidiary, the adjustment with respect to the stock of the higher tier subsidiary shall not be made until after the adjustment is made with respect to the stock of the lower tier subsidiary. In the case of a disposition (as defined in § 1.1502 — 19(b)) of stock of a subsidiary before the end of the taxable year, the adjustment with respect to such stock shall be made as of the date of disposition.

Treas.Reg. § 1.1502-32(a). IU allocated $79,889,945 of its basis in Unijax to General Waterworks pursuant to I.R.C. § 358 and Treas.Reg. § 1.358-2. Section 358 authorizes IRS to establish procedures for allocating basis of the distributing corporation between the distributing corporation and controlled corporations involved in a spin-off transaction; the allocation of earnings and profits is controlled by I.R.C. § 312 and Treas.Reg. § 1.312-10.

Plaintiff sold 41.8% of its General Waterworks stock to an unrelated corporation nine months after the spin-off, in September 1982. According to plaintiff, General Waterworks’ basis should be adjusted upward to reflect earnings and profits allocated to it as a result of IRS regulations governing the spin-off transaction. Those allocated earnings and profits were higher than General Waterworks’ actual earnings and profits for the year.

Plaintiff believed that the earnings and profits allocated by regulation represented an increase in earnings and profits for the year, so it made a positive adjustment to the basis of the subsidiary by the amount of the allocated earnings and profits ($27,229,174). This resulted in a relatively lower gain on the sale of stock for tax purposes. Plaintiff decreased its basis in Unijax by the same amount to offset this benefit. Defendant contends that the proper basis for the General Waterworks’ stock is the basis allocated to it according to the relative fair market value of the distributing corporation and its subsidiaries at the time of the transaction.

DISCUSSION

I.

The Commissioner has promulgated a detailed and comprehensive set of rules for adjusting the basis of a subsidiary’s stock held by a parent corporation filing a consol-dated return. Each year a positive or negative adjustment is made to the basis of the subsidiary’s stock according to the regulations. The adjustment in this transaction is positive — “an allocable part of the undistributed earnings and profits of the subsidiary for the taxable year.” Treas.Reg. § 1.1502-32(b)(l)(i).

In the case of a disposition, the basis and earnings and profits of the distributing corporation at the time of the transaction are allocated between it and the controlled corporations.3 Thus, IU’s basis in Unijax and Unijax’s earnings and profits were allocated among Unijax and its subsidiaries. First, the bases of the subsidiaries and of the distributing corporation are determined by fair market value. Second, the earnings and profits attributable to the subsidiaries and the distributing corporation are assigned by a formula set forth in the regulations.

A Basis

The first step in determining the basis of a spun-off subsidiary is to adjust the distributing corporation’s basis in the subsidiary pursuant to Treas.Reg. § 1.1502-32(b)(l)(i) by adding the undistributed earnings and profits of the subsidiary for the taxable year. Because this is a multiple-tier organization, Treas.Reg. § 1.1502-32(a) directs that “the adjustment with respect to the higher tier subsidiary shall not be made until after the adjustment is made with respect to the stock of the lower tier subsidiary.” Thus, the earnings and profits of the second-tier subsidiary increases the value of the first-tier subsidiary in the hands of the parent corporation. After adjusting the first-tier subsidiary’s earnings and profits, the parent’s basis in the first-tier subsidiary is adjusted.

[769]*769Unijax adjusted the basis of its stock in the subsidiaries by adding the undistributed earnings and profits and the dividends received from the subsidiaries for the taxable year. General Waterworks’ undistributed earnings and profits on the day of the transaction was negative (-$3 million), but was recorded as zero for the purposes of this calculation. Undistributed earnings and profits from the subsidiaries for the year totalled $5,150,859 and Unijax received $11,-780,652 in dividends during the year from its subsidiaries; the total earnings and profits from the subsidiaries to Unijax was roughly $17 million. IU’s basis in Unijax therefore was adjusted upward by the amount of the current undistributed earnings and profits— $17 million.

The distributing coloration’s basis is allocated between it and the controlled corporations pursuant to I.R.C. § 358(b)(1) and (2). The regulations state that “the basis of all the stock held before the transaction (as adjusted under § 1.358-1) shall be allocated among the stock of all classes ... held immediately after the transaction in proportion to the fair market values of the stock of each class.” Treas.Reg. § 1.358-2(a)(2). Thus, the basis for the distributing corporation and the controlled coiporations are determined according to fair market value.

Unijax reduced its basis as a result of the transaction by General Waterworks’ fair market value and that of the other subsidiaries. General Waterworks’ fair market value immediately after the spin-off was approximately $80,000,000; the other subsidiaries were valued at a total of $112,000,000. The amount allocated to General Waterworks’ basis was $79,889,945, as properly calculated pursuant to section 358(b)(2) and Treas.Reg. § 1.358-2(a)(2). IU’s remaining basis in Uni-jax was $89,858,588. Unijax’s fair market value immediately following the spin-off was $90,000,000.

B. Allocation of Earnings and Profits

After the determination of basis, earnings and profits are allocated between the distributing corporation and the controlled corporation according to I.R.C. § 312(h) and Treas. Reg. § 1.312-10(b). The regulation states: [T]he earnings and profits of the distributing corporation shall be decreased by the lesser of the following amounts:

(1) The amount by which the earnings and profits of the distributing corporation would have been decreased if it had transferred the stock of the controlled corporation to a new corporation in a reorganization ...

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Related

Iu International Corporation v. United States
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34 Fed. Cl. 767, 77 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 696, 1996 U.S. Claims LEXIS 15, 1996 WL 51252, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/iu-international-corp-v-united-states-uscfc-1996.