Basis of debt obligations in certain transactions.

• Author: Black, Robert S., II

On Dec. 20, 2005, the IRS released Rev. Rul. 2006-2, which revoked Rev. Rul. 74-503 generally as of that date. According to Rev. Rul. 74-503, a corporation (transferor) had no basis in its own stock, and under Sec. 362(a) had no basis in stock received from a controlled corporation (transferee) in exchange for the transferor's own stock in a transaction to which Sec. 351 applies. However, Rev. Rul. 2006-2 notes that it is inappropriate to apply Sec. 362(a) to determine a transferor's basis in transferee stock received in exchange for the transferor's own stock. Rev. Rul. 2006-2 further states that the other conclusions reached in Rev. Rul. 74-503--including whether the transferor and the transferee each have zero basis in stock received in the exchange--are "under study" by the IRS.

Exchange of Debt Obligation

The IRS addressed a similar transaction in Rev. Rul. 68-629, in which a transferor contributed its own debt obligation (rather than its own stock) to a transferee. In the revenue ruling, the IRS took the position that, because the transferor incurred no cost in making its debt obligation, the transferor had no basis in its own obligation. Although this position has not changed since Rev. Rul. 68-629 was issued, different courts have reached inconsistent decisions on the appropriate adjusted basis of a transferor's own debt obligation and the effect of such debt in a Sec. 351 exchange.

In 1971, the Tax Court examined this issue in which a transferor contributed its own debt obligation to a transferee in exchange for transferee stock in a transaction to which Sec. 351 applied (Alderman, 55 TC 662 (1971)). It ruled that because the transferor incurred no cost in making its debt obligation, the transferor's basis in such debt obligation was zero. The court also stated that the transferee's basis in the transferor's debt obligation was zero, presumably relying on Sec. 362(a). Although the transaction at issue occurred in 1963, the court cited Rev. Rul. 68-629, temporarily solidifying the IRS's position.

In 1989, the Second Circuit considered a similar transaction in which a transferor exchanged its own debt obligation for transferee stock in a transaction to which Sec. 351 applied, but reached a somewhat different conclusion (Lessinger, 872 F2d 519 (2d Cir. 1989)). Similar to Alderman, the Second Circuit held the transferor had no basis in its own debt obligation, noting that liabilities by definition generally do not have basis in tax...