On June 17, 2024, the IRS announced the formation of a dedicated group in the Office of Chief Counsel specifically focused on developing guidance on partnerships, which is expected to work with a new “passthrough working group” being established in the Large Business and International Division of the IRS. At the same time, Treasury and the IRS launched an attack on a specific partnership strategy involving so-called “basis bump” or “basis shifting” transactions involving related parties through a combination of guidance challenging the substance of such arrangements and declaring such arrangements to be “transactions of interest” that are subject to the strict disclosure requirements of the “reportable transaction” rules.1
Partnership Taxation
Tax Court Holds That Active Limited Partners of State Law Limited Partnerships May Be Subject to Self-Employment Tax
Introduction
Section 1402(a)(13) of the Internal Revenue Code provides that the distributive share of “limited partners, as such” from a partnership is not subject to self-employment tax.[1] Managers of private equity and hedge funds are routinely structured as limited partnerships to exclude management and incentive fees from self-employment…
Tax Court Provides Helpful Guidance on Requirements for Tax-Free Profits Interests
Introduction
On May 3, 2023, the United States Tax Court held in ES NPA Holding, LLC v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2023-55, that the taxpayer’s receipt of interests in a partnership in exchange for services rendered to the sole owner of the business before it became a partnership was for the benefit of the future partnership and, therefore, was a profits interest (rather than a capital interest). The taxpayer did not provide ongoing services to the partnership.
Senator Manchin Announces That He Will Not Support the Build Back Better Act – Where Things Stand Now
Today, December 19, 2021, Senator Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) said that he opposes the Build Back Better Act, which effectively prevents its passage. While there are no immediate prospects for the Build Back Better Act to become law, future tax acts tend to draw upon earlier proposals. With a view…
Tax Provisions of the American Families Plan
On Wednesday, April 28th, the White House announced the American Families Plan, the “human capital” infrastructure proposal. The American Families Plan would spend $1.8 trillion, including $800 billion in tax cuts over ten years, offset by $1.5 billion in new taxes over the same period. This blog…
Section 1446(f) Final Regulations: Key Changes to Guidance on Non-Publicly Traded Partnership Interest Transfers by Non-U.S. Persons
On October 7, 2020, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and Treasury Department released final regulations[1] providing guidance on the rules imposing withholding and reporting requirements under the Code[2] on dispositions of certain partnership interests by non-U.S. persons (the “Final Regulations”). The Final Regulations expand and modify proposed regulations[3] that were published on May 13, 2019 (the “Proposed Regulations”), and which we described in a prior Tax Talks post.[4] Unless otherwise specified, this post focuses on the differences between the Proposed Regulations and the Final Regulations affecting transfers of interests in non-publicly traded partnerships.
Enacted as part of the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” Section 1446(f) generally requires a transferee, in connection with the disposition of a partnership interest by a non-U.S. person, to withhold and remit ten percent of the “amount realized” by the transferor, if any portion of any gain realized by the transferor on the disposition would be treated under Section 864(c)(8) as effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States (“Section 1446(f) Withholding”).[5]
Prior to issuing the Proposed Regulations, the IRS had issued Notice 2018-08 and Notice 2018-29 to provide interim guidance with respect to Section 1446(f) Withholding.
Proposed Regulations on UBTI Provide Guidance to Tax-Exempt Organizations Making Fund Investments
On April 23, 2020, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) issued proposed regulations (the “Proposed Regulations”) under Section 512(a)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”). Section 512(a)(6) was enacted as part of the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act (the “TCJA”) and requires exempt organizations (including individual retirement accounts)[1] to calculate unrelated business taxable income (“UBTI”) separately with respect to each of their unrelated trades or businesses, thereby limiting the ability to use losses from one business to offset income or gain from another.
Simplification of UK Partnership Tax Reporting for Investment Fund Partnerships
In the Finance Act 2018, the UK Government enacted a number of changes to the information required in partnership returns that raised the concern of undue and impracticable administrative burden being imposed on UK investment fund partnerships.
The changes covered a number of areas, including requiring a UK partnership that had partnerships amongst its partners and could not identify all of its “indirect partners” to provide computation statements on four bases covering UK resident individuals and companies and non-UK resident individuals and companies. Given that many fund partnerships have other partnerships amongst their investors and that it is likely to be difficult (if possible) to obtain information on all indirect partners, this change will increase the return information that must be provided to HM Revenue & Customs (“HMRC”).
Section 1446(f) Proposed Regulations: Key Guidance on Partnership Interest Transfers by Non-U.S. Persons
On May 13, 2019, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and Treasury Department published proposed regulations providing guidance on the rules imposing withholding and reporting requirements under the Code[1] on dispositions of certain partnership interests by non-U.S. persons (the “Proposed Regulations”). The Proposed Regulations expand and in important ways modify earlier Notice 2018-29[2] on dispositions of non-publicly traded partnership interests.[3] Unless otherwise specified, this post focuses on the aspects of the Proposed Regulations affecting transfers of interests in non-publicly traded partnerships.
Enacted as part of the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”, Section 1446(f) generally requires a transferee, in connection with a disposition of a partnership interest by a non-U.S. person, to withhold and remit 10 percent of the “amount realized” by the transferor, if any portion of any gain realized by the transferor would be treated as effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States under the substantive sourcing rule of Section 864(c)(8).[4]
Prior to issuing the Proposed Regulations, the IRS issued Notice 2018-08 and Notice 2018-29 to provide interim guidance with respect to these withholding and information reporting requirements. On December 27, 2018, the IRS issued proposed regulations under Section 864(c)(8), providing rules determining the amount of gain or loss treated as effectively connected gain or loss with a U.S. trade or business.
“Passthrough Deduction” Regulations Finalized
On January 18, 2019, the U.S. Department of Treasury (“Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) released final regulations (the “Final Regulations”) regarding the “passthrough deduction” for qualified trade or business income under section 199A of the Internal Revenue Code.[1] The Final Regulations modify proposed regulations (the “Proposed Regulations”) that were released in August 2018. The Final Regulations apply to tax years ending after February 8, 2019, but taxpayers may rely on the Proposed Regulations for taxable years ending in calendar year 2018.
Section 199A was enacted in 2017 as part of the tax reform act.[2] Generally, section 199A provides a deduction (the “passthrough deduction”) of up to 20% for individuals and certain trusts and estates of certain of the income from certain trades or businesses that are operated as a sole proprietorship, or through certain passthrough entities. The passthrough deduction provides a maximum effective rate of 29.6%.
This post provides background and summarizes some of the most important changes from the Proposed Regulations to the Final Regulations. For more information, please contact any of the Proskauer tax lawyers listed on this post or your regular Proskauer contact.