A Discussion of Recent Internal Revenue Service Guidance

In this episode of S&C’s Critical Insights, Isaac Wheeler and Davis Wang, Co-Heads of S&C’s Tax Group, discuss the IRS’s year-end guidance in areas including the scope of the stock buyback tax and the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act (FIRPTA). 

Isaac and Davis start off by discussing Internal Revenue Code Section 4501, commonly referred to as the one percent buyback tax, which is intended to encourage corporations to reinvest excess cash in their operations rather than buy back stock.  The IRS clarified that some transactions will not be considered buybacks, such as corporate liquidations for many SPACs, while redemptions of preferred stock do appear to be subject to the tax.

On FIRPTA, they discussed guidance to determine in if an entity qualifies for an exemption from U.S. real property holding company status, including whether the IRS will look through partnerships and certain corporations.