Publication 225
Farmer's Tax Guide

For use in preparing 2002 Returns

Acknowledgment:

The valuable advice and assistance given us each year by the National Farm Income Tax Extension Committee is gratefully acknowledged.

Foreclosure or Repossession

If you do not make payments you owe on a loan secured by property, the lender may foreclose on the loan or repossess the property. The foreclosure or repossession is treated as a sale or exchange from which you may realize gain or loss. This is true even if you voluntarily return the property to the lender. You may also realize ordinary income from cancellation of debt if the loan balance is more than the fair market value of the property.

Buyer's (borrower's) gain or loss.   You figure and report gain or loss from a foreclosure or repossession in the same way as gain or loss from a sale or exchange. The gain or loss is the difference between your adjusted basis in the transferred property and the amount realized. See Determining Gain or Loss, earlier.

(Keep for your records)

You can use Table 10-2 to figure your gain or loss from a foreclosure or repossession.

Amount realized on a nonrecourse debt.   If you are not personally liable for repaying the debt (nonrecourse debt) secured by the transferred property, the amount you realize includes the full amount of the debt canceled by the transfer. The total canceled debt is included in the amount realized even if the fair market value of the property is less than the canceled debt.

Example 1.   Ann paid $200,000 for land used in her farming business. She paid $15,000 down and borrowed the remaining $185,000 from a bank. Ann is not personally liable for the loan (nonrecourse debt), but pledges the land as security. The bank foreclosed on the loan 2 years after Ann stopped making payments. When the bank foreclosed, the balance due on the loan was $180,000 and the fair market value of the land was $170,000. The amount Ann realized on the foreclosure was $180,000, the debt canceled by the foreclosure. She figures her gain or loss in Part I, Form 4797, by comparing the amount realized ($180,000) with her adjusted basis ($200,000). She has a $20,000 deductible loss.

Example 2.   Assume the same facts as in Example 1 except the fair market value of the land was $210,000. The result is the same. The amount Ann realized on the foreclosure is $180,000, the debt canceled by the foreclosure. Because her adjusted basis is $200,000, she has a deductible loss of $20,000, which she reports in Part I, Form 4797.

Amount realized on a recourse debt.   If you are personally liable for repaying the debt (recourse debt), the amount realized on the foreclosure or repossession does not include the canceled debt that is income from cancellation of debt. However, if the fair market value of the transferred property is less than the canceled debt, the amount realized includes the canceled debt up to the fair market value of the property. You are treated as receiving ordinary income from the canceled debt for the part of the debt that is more than the fair market value. See Cancellation of debt, later.

Example 3.   Assume the same facts as in Example 1 earlier except Ann is personally liable for the loan (recourse debt). In this case, the amount she realizes is $170,000. This is the canceled debt ($180,000) up to the fair market value of the land ($170,000). Ann figures her gain or loss on the foreclosure by comparing the amount realized ($170,000) with her adjusted basis ($200,000). She has a $30,000 deductible loss, which she figures in Part I, Form 4797. She is also treated as receiving ordinary income from cancellation of debt. That income is $10,000 ($180,000 - $170,000). This is the part of the canceled debt not included in the amount realized. She reports this income on line 10 of Schedule F.

Seller's (lender's) gain or loss on repossession.   If you finance a buyer's purchase of property and later acquire an interest in it through foreclosure or repossession, you may have a gain or loss on the acquisition. For more information, see Repossession in Publication 537.

Cancellation of debt.   If property that is repossessed or foreclosed upon secures a debt for which you are personally liable (recourse debt), you generally must report as ordinary income the amount by which the canceled debt is more than the fair market value of the property. This income is separate from any gain or loss realized from the foreclosure or repossession. Report the income from cancellation of a business debt on Schedule F, line 10. Report the income from cancellation of a nonbusiness debt as miscellaneous income on line 21, Form 1040.

You can use Table 10-2 to figure your income from cancellation of debt.

However, income from cancellation of debt is not taxed if any of the following apply.

• The cancellation is intended as a gift.
• The debt is qualified farm debt (see chapter 4).
• The debt is qualified real property business debt (see chapter 5 of Publication 334).
• You are insolvent or bankrupt (see chapter 4).

Abandonment

The abandonment of property is a disposition of property. You abandon property when you voluntarily and permanently give up possession and use of the property with the intention of ending your ownership, but without passing it on to anyone else.

Business or investment property.   Loss from abandonment of business or investment property is deductible as an ordinary loss, even if the property is a capital asset. The loss is the property's adjusted basis when abandoned. This rule also applies to leasehold improvements the lessor made for the lessee that were abandoned. However, if the property is later foreclosed on or repossessed, gain or loss is figured as discussed earlier under Foreclosure or Repossession.

The abandonment loss is deducted in the tax year in which the loss is sustained. Report the loss on Form 4797, Part II, line 10.

Example.   Abena lost her contract with the local poultry processor and abandoned poultry facilities that she built for $100,000. At the time she abandoned the facilities, her mortgage balance was $85,000. She has a deductible loss of $66,554 (her adjusted basis). If the bank later forecloses on the loan or repossesses the facilities, she will have to figure her gain or loss as discussed earlier under Foreclosure or Repossession.

Personal-use property.   You cannot deduct any loss from abandonment of your home or other property held for personal use.

Canceled debt.   If the abandoned property secures a debt for which you are personally liable and the debt is canceled, you will realize ordinary income equal to the canceled debt. This income is separate from any loss realized from abandonment of the property. Report income from cancellation of a debt related to a business or rental activity as business or rental income. Report income from cancellation of a nonbusiness debt as miscellaneous income on line 21, Form 1040.

However, income from cancellation of debt is not taxed in certain circumstances. See Cancellation of debt, earlier.

Forms 1099-A and 1099-C.   A lender who acquires an interest in your property in a foreclosure, repossession, or abandonment should send you Form 1099-A showing the information you need to figure your loss from the foreclosure, repossession, or abandonment. However, if your debt is canceled and the lender must file Form 1099-C, the lender may include the information about the foreclosure, repossession, or abandonment on that form instead of Form 1099-A. The lender must file Form 1099-C and send you a copy if the canceled debt is $600 or more and the lender is a financial institution, credit union, federal government agency, or any organization that has a significant trade or business of lending money. For foreclosures, repossessions, or abandonments of property and debt cancellations occurring in 2002, these forms should be sent to you by January 31, 2003.

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