Recent Regulations Issued on the Treatment of Partnership Liabilities Under the Disguised Sales Rules Still Meeting With Much Criticism

On October 5, 2016 the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury issued Final and Temporary Regulations (T.D. 9788) pertaining to how liabilities are to be allocated and treated for purposes of applying the disguised sales rules under section 707 and when certain obligations will be as a recourse liability under section 752. Shortly thereafter, new proposed regulations (REG-122855-15) withdrew a portion of the recent rule-making to the extent not adopted in the final regulations and contain new proposed regulations on: (i) whether certain obligations to restore a deficit balance in a partner’s capital account are to be regarded (versus disregarded) for purposes of section 704; and (ii) when partnership liabilities are to be treated as recourse liabilities under section 752. These are important regulations obviously and, as reported in a prior blog post, will affect many if not most partnerships and their partners, including members of limited liability companies and limited liability limited partners. The regulations were to be effective on date of issuance with an important deferred date on the application of revisions to the disguised sales rules and liabilities until early next month. [1]