Taxable Asset Acquisition of a Freestanding C Corporation
Potentially two layers of Tax: Corporate layer – Target recognizes a taxable gain or loss on the sale of assets. Shareholder layer – Selling shareholders recognize a gain taxed as ordinary income if the target liquidates equal to the after-tax liquidating dividend less shareholders’ basis in the stock. The acquirer assumes a stepped-up (FV) basis in the target’s net assets. The acquirer allocates the purchase price to the acquired assets and liabilities for tax purposes in the same manner as it does for accounting purposes. The depreciation and amortization of all asset write-ups and intangibles recognized in the transaction, including goodwill, are tax-deductible. The target’s tax attributes, such as non-operating losses (NOLs), may be used immediately to offset the target’s taxable gain. Any remaining tax attributes are lost if the target liquidates. An acquisition of a freestanding C corporation will usually be structured as a purchase of stock because an asset purchase usually results in double taxation (i.e. the seller is taxed on the sale of assets, and the seller’s shareholders are taxed on any after-tax proceeds from the sale distributed by the seller).
Taxable Acquisition of a Corporate Subsidiary
In some situations, an asset sale will not result in double taxation. For example, if the target is a corporate subsidiary (with at least 80% ownership by the parent company), the target can generally sell its
This happens through a down-stairs merger. The remaining shell would be merged with Veritas and in exchange Seagate existing shareholders are distributed new Veritas shares proportionally. This unlocks the value of the shares without facing double taxation through the corporate tax of 34%. The existing shareholders only incur a personal capital gains tax on their investment holdings. The purpose of this part of the transaction is to successfully deliver the maximum amount of value from the appreciation of the Veritas stake to Seagate’s existing shareholders.
Target Corporation was founded in 1902 and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Target Corporation operates general merchandise and food discount stores throughout the United States. The company’s products range from household essentials, to electronics, to toys, to apparel and accessories, to home furnishings, to food and pet supplies. Most of the merchandise is sold under Target and SuperTarget trademarks, but it also sells under private-label brands, such as Archer Farms, Circo, Merona, and Room Essentials. The company also offers merchandise through programs like ClearRx, Great Save, and Home Design Event. Additionally, Target markets its merchandise under license and designer
Parent Corporation has owned 60% of Subsidiary Corporation’s single class of stock for a number of years. Tyrone owns the remaining 40% of the Subsidiary stock. On August 10, of the current year, Parent purchases Tyrone’s Subsidiary stock for cash. On September 15, Subsidiary adopts a plan of liquidation. Subsidiary then makes a single liquidating distribution on October 1. The
* Under ASC 805-740, a change in an acquirer’s valuation allowance for a deferred tax asset that results from a change in the acquirer’s circumstances caused by a business combination…
A) A taxable gift may occur when property is sold in an arm's length transaction for less than its FMV.
Ann paid $500 for her books and supplies and she incurred living expenses of $7,400.
c. The amounts recognized as of the acquisition date for each major class of assets acquired and liabilities assumed.
1. For the Tax year 2004, is SK eligible to switch from the accrual to cash method of accounting under Rev. Proc. 2001-10?
Section 351 of the Internal Revenue code allows a taxpayer to obtain non-recognition of gain or loss when property is transferred solely in exchange for stocks and immediately after the transfer, the transferor or transferors are in control of the corporation. This does not include non-qualified stock as provided under §351(g), however. As described above, each party transferred to the corporation qualifying tangible assets that are established as “property” for rules governing transfers to corporations. Moreover, directly after the exchange both shareholders obtained control of the corporation by satisfying the requirement of I.R.C. §368(c). Section 368 (c), defines control as holding at least 80% of the total combined voting power of all
b. A parent transfers the net assets of a wholly owned subsidiary into the parent and liquidates the subsidiary. That transaction is a change in legal organization but not a change in the reporting entity.
Facts: Murray Taxpayer was previously employed by a company who was illegally dumping chemicals into a river. Murray had knowledge concerning these illegal activities of his employer and made an ethical decision to report this to the Environmental Protection Agency. Upon inspection, the Environmental Protection Agency determined that Murrays employer was in fact illegally dumping and was appropriately fined for the charges. Murray’s employer reacted to his whistleblowing by firing him and making deliberate efforts to prevent Murray from gaining employment elsewhere. Murray then sued his former employer for damaging
One option for Tech Sonic is simply to alter the reported price of transferring the desired goods from one subsidiary to the other. To take advantage of the lower effective tax rate, Tech Sonic could record a higher transfer cost between the Malaysian subsidiary and the United States subsidiary so that a higher proportion of the revenue from the transaction is reported under the Malaysian arm, thus transferring a greater portion of the financial tax burden to Malaysia, where the tax rate is lower. This strategy may carry less overhead costs in terms of operational changes since there would not need to be any changes in the location of production for the chips in question. Yet this would result in a loss in recorded income and profitability for the subsidiary that is purchasing the transfer as compared to the subsidiary that is recorded as having produced and delivered the transfer. So the management structure and, particularly, the extent to which the company hierarchy is integrated will determine how much any such change will give rise to a rift between managers of the two subsidiaries. Another problem is that such merely clerical changes may invite investigation from tax officials or other outside watchdog observers, looking for instances where companies are artificially trying to reduce their tax burden in a particularly high tax rate. Yet another problem with this strategic option is
The current management team would get to keep their current positions. Strategies the financial buyer would most likely adopt in order to raise value of the company are cutting costs, selling off the assets and raising much leverage to take advantage of the lower cost of debt.
Further assume that none of these acquisitions will affect the acquirer’s equity cost of capital.
As mentioned above, when an asset is sold it may be sold in excess of the owner’s basis. When this occurs the taxpayer may be taxed on the gain at the more favorable capital gains rate (typically around 15%). What was not discussed in prior modules, was the treatment of capital gains for corporations, treatment of capital losses for both individuals and corporations, and how the length of ownership impact the classification and tax treatment of assets upon their sale.