Exam 18: Corporate Taxation: Nonliquidating Distributions

A corporation's "earnings and profits" account is equal to the company's "retained earnings" account on its balance sheet.

Panda Company is owned equally by Min, her husband Bin, her sister Xiao, and her grandson, Han, each of whom hold 100 shares in the company. Under the family attribution rules, how many shares of Panda stock is Min deemed to own?

Pine Creek Company is owned equally by Bob and his sister Samantha, each of whom own 1,000 shares in the company. On December 31, 20X3, Pine Creek redeemed 200 of Samantha's shares for $5,000,000 in a transaction treated as an exchange by Samantha. Pine Creek has current E&P of $10,000,000 and accumulated E&P of $30,000,000 (computed without regard to the stock redemption). Assuming Pine Creek did not make any dividend distributions during 20X3, by what amount does the company reduce its E&P because of the redemption?

Comet Company is owned equally by Pat and his sister Pam, each of whom hold 100 shares in the company. Comet redeems 50 of Pam's shares on December 31, 20X3, for $1,000 per share in a transaction that Pam treats as an exchange for tax purposes. Comet has total E&P of $160,000 on December 31, 20X3. What are the tax consequences to Comet because of the stock redemption?

Grand River Corporation reported taxable income of $500,000 in 20X3 and paid federal income taxes of $170,000. Not included in the computation was a disallowed meals and entertainment expense of $2,000, tax-exempt income of $1,000, and deferred gain on a current year transaction treated as an installment sale of $25,000. The corporation's current earnings and profits for 20X3 would be:

Austin Company reports positive current E&P of $200,000 and negative accumulated E&P of $300,000. Austin distributed $250,000 to its sole shareholder, Betsy Bevo, on December 31, 20X3. Betsy' tax basis in her stock is $125,000. How much of the $250,000 distribution is treated as a dividend to Betsy and what is her tax basis in Austin stock after the distribution?

Orchard, Inc. reported taxable income of $800,000 in 20X3 and paid federal income taxes of $272,000. Included in the company's computation of taxable income is gain from sale of a depreciable asset of $200,000. The income tax basis of the asset was $50,000. The E&P basis of the asset using the alternative depreciation system was $75,000. Compute the company's current E&P for 20X3

Stock distributions are always tax-free to the recipient shareholder.

Which of the following statements is not considered a timing difference due to separate accounting methods for taxable income and E&P?

Green Corporation has current earnings and profits of $100,000 and negative accumulated earnings and profits of ($200,000). A $50,000 distribution from Green to its sole shareholder will not be treated as a dividend because total earnings and profits is a negative $100,000.

The "double taxation" of corporate income refers to the taxation of corporate income at both the entity-level and the shareholder-level.

Sam owns 70 percent of the stock of Club Corporation. Unrelated individuals own the remaining 30 percent. For a stock redemption of Sam's stock to be treated as an exchange under the "substantially disproportionate" test, what percentage of Club stock must Sam own after the redemption?

Viking Corporation is owned equally by Sven and his wife Olga, each of whom hold 100 shares in the company. Viking redeemed 75 shares of Sven's stock for $2,000 per share on December 31, 20X3. Viking has total E&P of $500,000. What are the tax consequences to Viking because of the stock redemption?

Aztec Company reports current E&P of $200,000 in 20X3 and accumulated E&P at the beginning of the year of negative $100,000. Aztec distributed $300,000 to its sole shareholder on January 1, 20X3. How much of the distribution is treated as a dividend in 20X3?

Yellowstone Corporation made a distribution of $300,000 to Cheney, Inc. in partial liquidation of the company on December 31, 20X3. Cheney, Inc. owns 50 percent of Yellowstone Corporation (1,000 shares). The other 50 percent is owned by an unrelated corporation. The distribution was in exchange for 50% of Cheney's stock in the company (500 shares). At the time of the distribution, the shares had a fair market value of $800 per share. Cheney's income tax basis in the shares was $500 per share. Yellowstone had total E&P of $5,000,000 at the time of the distribution. What is the amount and character (capital gain or dividend) of any income or gain recognized by Cheney as a result of the partial liquidation?

Goose Company is owned equally by Val and her sister Eugenia, each of whom own 500 shares in the company. Val wants to reduce her ownership in the company and have the transaction treated as an exchange for tax purposes. Determine the minimum amount of stock that Goose must redeem from Val for her to treat the redemption as being "substantially disproportionate with respect to the shareholder" and receive exchange treatment.

Tammy owns 60 percent of the stock of Huron Corporation. Unrelated individuals own the remaining 40 percent. For a stock redemption to be treated as an exchange under the "substantially disproportionate" rule, the redemption must reduce Tammy's stock ownership in Huron Corporation below 48 percent.

Which of the following statements is true?

General Inertia Corporation made a pro rata distribution of $50,000 to Tiara, Inc. in partial liquidation of the company on December 31, 20X3. Tiara, Inc. owns 500 shares (50%) of General Inertia. The distribution was in exchange for 250 shares of Tiara's stock in the company. After the partial liquidation, Tiara continued to own 50% of the remaining stock in General Inertia. At the time of the distribution, the shares had a fair market value of $200 per share. Tiara's income tax basis in the shares was $100 per share. General Inertia had total E&P of $800,000 at the time of the distribution. What amount of dividend or capital gain does Tiara recognize because of the transaction?

Biggain Corporation distributes land with a fair market value of $220,000 to its sole shareholder. Biggain's tax basis in the land is $115,000. Biggain will not report a gain on the distribution if it has a deficit of over $105,000 in earnings and profits.