Introduction
Section 336(e)1 expressly delegates authority to Treasury to issue regulations, allowing taxpayers to elect to treat the sale, exchange or distribution of corporate stock as a deemed sale of the corporation’s underlying assets. On May 15, 2013, Treasury finalized regulations under Section 336(e).
What is the 336(e) Election?
A Section 336(e) election allows certain taxpayers to treat the sale, exchange or distribution of corporate stock as an asset sale. The benefit of an asset sale is obvious—the basis of the target corporation’s assets is stepped up to fair market value.
If an election is made, “old target” is treated as selling all of its assets to “new target.” New target is treated as purchasing those assets, resulting in a step-up in basis of the assets. Old target recognizes the gain or loss from the deemed asset sale immediately before the close of the stock transaction.
Section 336(e) is intended to provide taxpayers relief from multiple levels of tax on the same economic gain—economic gain attributable to the appreciation of assets held in corporate solution. Such multiple levels of tax can result from the taxable transfer of appreciated corporate stock where the assets in corporate solution do not receive a corresponding step-up in basis.
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Larry J. Brant
Editor
Larry J. Brant is a Shareholder and the Chair of the Tax & Benefits practice group at Foster Garvey, a law firm based out of the Pacific Northwest, with offices in Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Washington, D.C.; New York, New York, Spokane, Washington; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Beijing, China. Mr. Brant is licensed to practice in Oregon and Washington. His practice focuses on tax, tax controversy and transactions. Mr. Brant is a past Chair of the Oregon State Bar Taxation Section. He was the long-term Chair of the Oregon Tax Institute, and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Portland Tax Forum. Mr. Brant has served as an adjunct professor, teaching corporate taxation, at Northwestern School of Law, Lewis and Clark College. He is an Expert Contributor to Thomson Reuters Checkpoint Catalyst. Mr. Brant is a Fellow in the American College of Tax Counsel. He publishes articles on numerous income tax issues, including Taxation of S Corporations, Reasonable Compensation, Circular 230, Worker Classification, IRC § 1031 Exchanges, Choice of Entity, Entity Tax Classification, and State and Local Taxation. Mr. Brant is a frequent lecturer at local, regional and national tax and business conferences for CPAs and attorneys. He was the 2015 Recipient of the Oregon State Bar Tax Section Award of Merit.
