Code of Federal Regulations · Section
§ 1.542-4 — -4 Corporations Filing Consolidated Returns
26 C.F.R. § 1.542-4
(a) General rule. A consolidated return under section 1501 shall determine the application of the personal holding company tax to the group and to any member thereof on the basis of the consolidated gross income and consolidated personal holding company income of the group, as determined under the regulations prescribed pursuant to section 1502 (relating to consolidated returns); however, this rule shall not apply to either (1) an ineligible affiliated group as defined in section 542(b)(2) and paragraph (b) of this section, or (2) an affiliated group of corporations a member of which is excluded from the definition of a personal holding company under section 542(c) and paragraph (c) of this section. Thus, in the latter two instances the gross income requirement provided in section 542(a)(1) and § 1.542-2 shall apply to each individual member of the affiliated group of corporations.
(b) Ineligible affiliated group. (1) Except for certain affiliated railroad corporations, as provided in subparagraph (2) of this paragraph, an affiliated group of corporations is an ineligible affiliated group and therefore may not use its consolidated gross income and consolidated personal holding company income to determine the liability of the group or any member thereof for personal holding company tax (as provided in paragraph (a) of this section), if (i) any member of such group, including the common parent, derived gross income from sources outside the affiliated group for the taxable year in an amount equal to 10 percent or more of its gross income from all sources for that year and (ii) 80 percent or more of the gross income from sources outside the affiliated group consists of personal holding company income as defined in section 543 and §§ 1.543-1 and 1.543-2. For purposes of subdivision (i) of this subparagraph gross income shall not include certain dividend income receivedby a common parent from a corporation not a member of the affiliated group which qualifies under section 542(b)(4) and paragraph (d) of this section. See particularly the examples contained in paragraph (d)(2) of this section. Intercorporate dividends received by members of the affiliated group (including the common parent) are to be included in the gross income from all sources for purposes of the test in subdivision (i) of this subparagraph. For purposes of subdivision (ii) of this subparagraph, section 543 and paragraph (a) of § 1.543-1 shall be applied as if the amount of gross income derived from sources outside the affiliated group by a corporation which is a member of such group is the gross income of such corporation.
(2) An affiliated group of railroad corporations shall not be considered to be an ineligible affiliated group, notwithstanding any other provisions of section 542(b)(2) and this paragraph, if the common parent of such group would be eligible to file a consolidated return under section 141 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939 prior to its amendment by the Revenue Act of 1942 (56 Stat. 798).
(3) See section 562(d) and § 1.562-3 for dividends paid deduction in the case of a distribution by a member of an ineligible affiliated group.
(4) The determination of whether an affiliated group of corporations is an ineligible group under section 542(b)(2) and this paragraph, may be illustrated by the following examples:
Corporations X, Y, and Z constitute an affiliated group of corporations which files a consolidated return for the calendar year 1954; Corporations Y and Z are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Corporation X and derive no gross income from sources outside the affiliated group; Corporation X, the common parent, has gross income in the amount of $250,000 for the taxable year 1954. $200,000 of such gross income consists of dividends received from Corporations Y and Z. The remaining $50,000 was derived from sources outside the affiliated group, $40,000 of which represents personal holding company income as defined in section 543. The $50,000 included in the gross income of Corporation X and derived from sources outside the affiliated group is more than 10 percent of X's gross income ($50,000/$250,000) and the $40,000 which represents personal holding company income is 80 percent of $50,000 (the amount considered to be the gross income of Corporation X). Accordingly, Corporations X, Y, and Z would be an ineligible affiliated group and the gross income requirement under section 542(a)(1) and § 1.542-2 would be applied to each corporation individually.
If, in the above example, only $30,000 of the $50,000 derived from sources outside the affiliated group by Corporation X represented personal holding company income, this group of affiliated corporations would not be an ineligible affiliated group. Although the $50,000 representing the gross income of Corporation X from sources outside the affiliated group is more than 10 percent of its total gross income, the amount of $30,000 representing personal holding company income is not 80 percent or more of the amount considered to be gross income for the purpose of this test. Under section 542(b)(2) and subparagraph (1) of this paragraph both the gross income and the personal holding company income requirements must be satisfied in determining that an affiliated group constitutes an ineligible group. Since both of these requirements have not been satisfied in this example this group of affiliated corporations would not be an ineligible group.
(c) Excluded corporations. The general rule for determining liability of an affiliated group under paragraph (a) of this section shall not apply if any member thereof is a corporation which is excluded, under section 542(c), from the definition of a personal holding company.
(d) Certain dividend income received by a common parent. (1) Dividends received by the common parent of an affiliated group from a corporation which is not a member of the affiliated group shall not be included in gross income or personal holding company income, for the purpose of the test under section 542(b)(2):
(i) If such common parent owned, directly or indirectly, more than 50 percent of the outstanding voting stock of the dividend paying corporation at the time such common parent became entitled to the dividend, and
(ii) If the dividend paying corporation is not a personal holding company for the taxable year in which the dividends are paid
Thus, if the tests in subdivisions (i) and (ii) of this subparagraph are met, the dividend income received by the common parent from such other corporation will not be considered gross income for purposes of the test in section 542(b)(2)(A) (paragraph (b) of this section), that is, either to determine gross income from sources outside the affiliated group or to determine gross income from all sources.
(2) The application of subparagraph (1) of this paragraph may be illustrated by the following examples:
Corporation X is the common parent of Corporation Y and Corporation Z and together they constitute an affiliated group which files a consolidated return under section 1501. Corporation Y and Corporation Z derived no income from sources outside the affiliated group. Corporation X, the common parent, had gross income of $100,000 for the calendar year 1954 of which amount $20,000 represented a dividend received from Corporation W, and $4,000 represented interest from Corporation T. The remaining gross income of X, $76,000, was received from Corporations Y and Z. Corporation X, for its entire taxable year, owned 60 percent of the voting stock of Corporation W which was not a personal holding company for the calendar year 1954. For the purpose of the gross income and personal holding company income test under section 542(b)(2) and paragraph (b) of this section, the $20,000 dividend received from Corporation W would not be included in the gross income or personal holding company income of Corporation X. The affiliated group would not be an ineligible group under section 542(b)(2) because 10 percent or more of its gross income was not from sources outside the affiliated group as required by section 542(b)(2)(A). Inasmuch as the $20,000 dividend from Corporation W is not included in the gross income of Corporation X for purposes of section 542(b)(2) Corporation X only has $4,000 gross income from sources outside the affiliated group which is only 5 percent of its gross income from all sources, $80,000.
If, in example 1, Corporation X owned 50 percent or less of the voting stock of Corporation W at the time X became entitled to the dividend, or if Corporation W had been a personal holding company for the taxable year in which the dividends were paid, the $20,000 dividends received by Corporation X would be included in gross income and personal holding company income of Corporation X for the purpose of the test under section 542(b)(2) and paragraph (b) of this section. Thus, the affiliated group would be an ineligible affiliated group under section 542(b)(2) because 24 percent of its gross income was from sources outside the affiliated group ($24,000/$100,000) and 100 percent of this $24,000 was personal holding company income.
Authorizing Statute
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Rules and regulations26 U.S.C. § 7805
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Advanced manufacturing production credit26 U.S.C. § 45X
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Alcohol, etc., used as fuel26 U.S.C. § 40
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Gross income defined26 U.S.C. § 61
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Transfers of excess pension assets to retiree health accounts26 U.S.C. § 420
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Partial exclusion for gain from certain small business stock26 U.S.C. § 1202
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Tax treatment of stripped bonds26 U.S.C. § 1286
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Current taxation of income from qualified electing funds26 U.S.C. § 1293
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Imposition of tax on certain foreign procurement26 U.S.C. § 5000C
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Returns regarding payments of interest26 U.S.C. § 6049
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Signing of returns and other documents26 U.S.C. § 6061
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General requirement of return, statement, or list26 U.S.C. § 6011
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Income from discharge of indebtedness26 U.S.C. § 108
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Indian general welfare benefits26 U.S.C. § 139E
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Bonds must be registered to be tax exempt; other requirements26 U.S.C. § 149
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Trade or business expenses26 U.S.C. § 162
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Accelerated cost recovery system26 U.S.C. § 168
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Amortizable bond premium26 U.S.C. § 171
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Golden parachute payments26 U.S.C. § 280G
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Distributions of stock and stock rights26 U.S.C. § 305
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Transfer to corporation controlled by transferor26 U.S.C. § 351
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Special rules for long-term contracts26 U.S.C. § 460
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Determination of basis of partner’s interest26 U.S.C. § 705
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Taxes of foreign countries and of possessions of United States26 U.S.C. § 901
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Controlled foreign corporations; United States persons26 U.S.C. § 957
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New energy efficient home credit26 U.S.C. § 45L
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2-percent floor on miscellaneous itemized deductions26 U.S.C. § 67
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Certain death benefits26 U.S.C. § 101
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Qualified business income26 U.S.C. § 199A
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Installment method26 U.S.C. § 453
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Certain payments for the use of property or services26 U.S.C. § 467
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Partners, not partnership, subject to tax26 U.S.C. § 701
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Extent of recognition of gain or loss on distribution26 U.S.C. § 731
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Capitalization of certain policy acquisition expenses26 U.S.C. § 848
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Special rules for determining source26 U.S.C. § 863
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Income of foreign governments and of international organizations26 U.S.C. § 892
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Definitions and special rules26 U.S.C. § 6241
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Computation and payment of tax26 U.S.C. § 1503
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Adjusted gross income defined26 U.S.C. § 62
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Treatment of loans with below-market interest rates26 U.S.C. § 7872
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Basis to distributees26 U.S.C. § 358
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Minimum participation standards26 U.S.C. § 410
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Other definitions and special rules26 U.S.C. § 860G
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Adjustments required by changes in method of accounting26 U.S.C. § 481
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Definitions26 U.S.C. § 7701
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Insurance income26 U.S.C. § 953
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Returns relating to actions affecting basis of specified securities26 U.S.C. § 6045B
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Information relating to certain trusts and annuity plans26 U.S.C. § 6047
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Enhanced oil recovery credit26 U.S.C. § 43
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Energy efficient commercial buildings deduction26 U.S.C. § 179D
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Redemption through use of related corporations26 U.S.C. § 304
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Certain stock purchases treated as asset acquisitions26 U.S.C. § 338
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Special limitations on certain excess credits, etc.26 U.S.C. § 383
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Optional treatment of elective deferrals as Roth contributions26 U.S.C. § 402A
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General rule for taxable year of inclusion26 U.S.C. § 451
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Qualified ABLE programs26 U.S.C. § 529A
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Charitable remainder trusts26 U.S.C. § 664
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Nonrecognition of gain or loss on contribution26 U.S.C. § 721
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Investment of earnings in United States property26 U.S.C. § 956
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Definitions and special rule26 U.S.C. § 1377
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Relief from joint and several liability on joint return26 U.S.C. § 6015
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Return of S corporation26 U.S.C. § 6037
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Notice of certain transfers to foreign persons26 U.S.C. § 6038B
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Information at source26 U.S.C. § 6041
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Imposition of accuracy-related penalty on underpayments26 U.S.C. § 6662
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Tax imposed26 U.S.C. § 1
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Railroad track maintenance credit26 U.S.C. § 45G
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Zero-emission nuclear power production credit26 U.S.C. § 45U
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Rehabilitation credit26 U.S.C. § 47
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Clean electricity investment credit26 U.S.C. § 48E
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Special rules26 U.S.C. § 52
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Election to expense certain depreciable business assets26 U.S.C. § 179
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Individual retirement accounts26 U.S.C. § 408
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Special rules for nondealers26 U.S.C. § 453A
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Deductions limited to amount at risk26 U.S.C. § 465
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Exemption from tax on corporations, certain trusts, etc.26 U.S.C. § 501
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Definition of regulated investment company26 U.S.C. § 851
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Source rules for personal property sales26 U.S.C. § 865
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Tax on nonresident alien individuals26 U.S.C. § 871
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Foreign base company income26 U.S.C. § 954
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S corporation defined26 U.S.C. § 1361
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Definitions26 U.S.C. § 1402
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Distributions of property26 U.S.C. § 301
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Life insurance contract defined26 U.S.C. § 7702
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Previously-owned clean vehicles26 U.S.C. § 25E
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Electricity produced from certain renewable resources, etc.26 U.S.C. § 45
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Clean fuel production credit26 U.S.C. § 45Z
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Taxation of employee annuities26 U.S.C. § 403
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Last-in, first-out inventories26 U.S.C. § 472
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Allocation of income and deductions among taxpayers26 U.S.C. § 482
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Definitions applicable to subparts A, B, C, and D26 U.S.C. § 643
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Taxable years of partner and partnership26 U.S.C. § 706
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Disposition of investment in United States real property26 U.S.C. § 897
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Administrative adjustment request by partnership26 U.S.C. § 6227
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Citizens or residents of the United States living abroad26 U.S.C. § 911
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Residence and source rules involving possessions26 U.S.C. § 937
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Rules relating to expatriated entities and their foreign parents26 U.S.C. § 7874
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Regulations26 U.S.C. § 1502
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Capitalization and inclusion in inventory costs of certain expenses26 U.S.C. § 263A
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Foreign corporations26 U.S.C. § 367
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Roth IRAs26 U.S.C. § 408A
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Minimum vesting standards26 U.S.C. § 411
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Partner’s distributive share26 U.S.C. § 704
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Unrealized receivables and inventory items26 U.S.C. § 751
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Taxation of residual interests26 U.S.C. § 860C
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Exclusions from gross income26 U.S.C. § 883
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Income affected by treaty26 U.S.C. § 894
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Other definitions and special rules26 U.S.C. § 989
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Special rules26 U.S.C. § 1474
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Returns of brokers26 U.S.C. § 6045
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Information returns of tax return preparers26 U.S.C. § 6060
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Authority to make credits or refunds26 U.S.C. § 6402
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Failure by individual to pay estimated income tax26 U.S.C. § 6654
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Interest on certain home mortgages26 U.S.C. § 25
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Credit for qualified commercial clean vehicles26 U.S.C. § 45W
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Interest on State and local bonds26 U.S.C. § 103
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Qualified lessee construction allowances for short-term leases26 U.S.C. § 110
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Losses26 U.S.C. § 165
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Charitable, etc., contributions and gifts26 U.S.C. § 170
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Incentive stock options26 U.S.C. § 422
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Deemed paid credit for subpart F inclusions26 U.S.C. § 960
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Election of mark to market for marketable stock26 U.S.C. § 1296
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Returns relating to certain life insurance contract transactions26 U.S.C. § 6050Y
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Clean vehicle credit26 U.S.C. § 30D
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Credit for carbon oxide sequestration26 U.S.C. § 45Q
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Amount of credit26 U.S.C. § 46
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Advanced manufacturing investment credit26 U.S.C. § 48D
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Arbitrage26 U.S.C. § 148
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Amortization of goodwill and certain other intangibles26 U.S.C. § 197
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Interest on education loans26 U.S.C. § 221
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Disallowance of certain entertainment, etc., expenses26 U.S.C. § 274
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Qualifications for tax credit employee stock ownership plans26 U.S.C. § 409
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Unrelated debt-financed income26 U.S.C. § 514
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Rules for allocation of basis26 U.S.C. § 755
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Rules for certain reserves26 U.S.C. § 807
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Special rules in case of foreign oil and gas income26 U.S.C. § 907
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Basis of property acquired from a decedent26 U.S.C. § 1014
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Special rules26 U.S.C. § 1298
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Definitions26 U.S.C. § 3401
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Extension of time for filing returns26 U.S.C. § 6081
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Renumbered § 45C]26 U.S.C. § 28
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Credit for production of clean hydrogen26 U.S.C. § 45V
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Energy credit26 U.S.C. § 48
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Limitation on credit26 U.S.C. § 904
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Qualified pension, profit-sharing, and stock bonus plans26 U.S.C. § 401
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Dependent care assistance programs26 U.S.C. § 129
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Special rules for nuclear decommissioning costs26 U.S.C. § 468A
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Mark to market accounting method for dealers in securities26 U.S.C. § 475
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Basis of distributed property other than money26 U.S.C. § 732
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Straddles26 U.S.C. § 1092
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Qualified electing fund26 U.S.C. § 1295
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Averaging of farm income26 U.S.C. § 1301
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Withholdable payments to foreign financial institutions26 U.S.C. § 1471
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Definitions26 U.S.C. § 1504
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Basis information to persons acquiring property from decedent26 U.S.C. § 6035
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Information with respect to certain foreign-owned corporations26 U.S.C. § 6038A
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Returns relating to cash received in trade or business, etc.26 U.S.C. § 6050I
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Credit for increasing research activities26 U.S.C. § 41
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Definitions and special rules26 U.S.C. § 150
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Passive activity losses and credits limited26 U.S.C. § 469
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Certain expenses for which credits are allowable26 U.S.C. § 280C
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Assumption of liability26 U.S.C. § 357
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Complete liquidations of subsidiaries26 U.S.C. § 332
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Distribution of stock and securities of a controlled corporation26 U.S.C. § 355
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Period for computation of taxable income26 U.S.C. § 441
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General rule for taxable year of deduction26 U.S.C. § 461
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Special rules for modified guaranteed contracts26 U.S.C. § 817A
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Treatment of variable contracts26 U.S.C. § 817
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Certain reinsurance agreements26 U.S.C. § 845
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Failure to file notice of redetermination of foreign tax26 U.S.C. § 6689
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Branch transactions26 U.S.C. § 987
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Qualified zone property defined26 U.S.C. § 1397D
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Withholdable payments to other foreign entities26 U.S.C. § 1472
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Liquidating, etc., transactions26 U.S.C. § 6043
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Verification of returns26 U.S.C. § 6065
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Mode or time of collection26 U.S.C. § 6302
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Transfer of certain credits26 U.S.C. § 6418
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American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning credits26 U.S.C. § 25A
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Refundable credit for coverage under a qualified health plan26 U.S.C. § 36B
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Clean electricity production credit26 U.S.C. § 45Y
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Other special rules26 U.S.C. § 50
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Treatment of community income26 U.S.C. § 66
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Basis to corporations26 U.S.C. § 362
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Election of taxable year other than required taxable year26 U.S.C. § 444
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Transactions between partner and partnership26 U.S.C. § 707
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Special allocation rules for certain asset acquisitions26 U.S.C. § 1060
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Discounted unpaid losses defined26 U.S.C. § 846
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Definitions and special rules26 U.S.C. § 864
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Capital asset defined26 U.S.C. § 1221
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Interest on tax deferral26 U.S.C. § 1291
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Passive foreign investment company26 U.S.C. § 1297
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Withholding of tax on nonresident aliens26 U.S.C. § 1441
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Returns as to interests in foreign partnerships26 U.S.C. § 6046A
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State and local income tax refunds26 U.S.C. § 6050E
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Returns relating to exchanges of certain partnership interests26 U.S.C. § 6050K
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Returns relating to higher education tuition and related expenses26 U.S.C. § 6050S
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Reporting of health insurance coverage26 U.S.C. § 6055
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Low-income housing credit26 U.S.C. § 42
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New markets tax credit26 U.S.C. § 45D
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Definitions and special rules26 U.S.C. § 414
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Qualified asset account; limitation on additions to account26 U.S.C. § 419A
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General rule for methods of accounting26 U.S.C. § 446
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Interest on certain deferred payments26 U.S.C. § 483
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Reserves for losses on loans of banks26 U.S.C. § 585
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Certain revocable trusts treated as part of estate26 U.S.C. § 645
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Insurance company taxable income26 U.S.C. § 832
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Income from sources within the United States26 U.S.C. § 861
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Treatment of certain foreign currency transactions26 U.S.C. § 988
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Functional currency26 U.S.C. § 985
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Other definitions and special rules26 U.S.C. § 1275
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Election to extend time for payment of tax on undistributed earnings26 U.S.C. § 1294
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Requirement to maintain minimum essential coverage26 U.S.C. § 5000A
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Returns by exempt organizations26 U.S.C. § 6033
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Information with respect to foreign financial assets26 U.S.C. § 6038D
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Returns relating to the cancellation of indebtedness by certain entities26 U.S.C. § 6050P
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Identifying numbers26 U.S.C. § 6109
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Elective payment of applicable credits26 U.S.C. § 6417
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Certain fringe benefits26 U.S.C. § 132
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Dependent defined26 U.S.C. § 152
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Interest26 U.S.C. § 163
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Bad debts26 U.S.C. § 166
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Special rules for credits and deductions26 U.S.C. § 642
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General rule for inventories26 U.S.C. § 471
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Political organizations26 U.S.C. § 527
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Special rules applicable to sections 661 and 66226 U.S.C. § 663
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Allowance of deductions and credits26 U.S.C. § 874
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Branch profits tax26 U.S.C. § 884
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Tax imposed on certain built-in gains26 U.S.C. § 1374
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Foreign tax-exempt organizations26 U.S.C. § 1443
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Valuation tables26 U.S.C. § 7520
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Losses on small business stock26 U.S.C. § 1244
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Distributions26 U.S.C. § 1368
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Definitions26 U.S.C. § 1473
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Information with respect to certain fines, penalties, and other amounts26 U.S.C. § 6050X
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Failure by corporation to pay estimated income tax26 U.S.C. § 6655