Law Commons^™

Capital Gains Exception To The House's "General Utilities" Repeal: Further Indigestions From Overly Processed "Corn Products", John W. Lee

Faculty Publications

In this article, Lee first describes the mechanics and tax effects of cost basis corporate acquisitions and analyzes why current tax rules favor such acquisitions over carryover basis acquisition (e .g., tax-free mergers); then he describes the House's proposed repeal in HR 3838 of the General Utilities doctrine in current sections 336-338, focusing on the continued exemption for long-term capital gains of a closely held active business corporation. This sets the stage for analysis of the Corn Products doctrine, which under an "integral asset" reading would deny the exemption to most appreciated operating assets, surely not the intent of the …