Publication 544
Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets

For use in preparing 2002 Returns

Abandonments

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.

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 later. The abandonment loss is deducted in the tax year in which the loss is sustained.

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

Example.   Ann abandoned her home that she bought for $200,000. At the time she abandoned the house, her mortgage balance was $185,000. She has a nondeductible loss of $200,000 (the adjusted basis). If the bank later forecloses on the loan or repossesses the house, she will have to figure her gain or loss as discussed later under Foreclosures and Repossessions.

Cancellation of 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 other income on line 21, Form 1040.

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

• The cancellation is intended as a gift.
• The debt is qualified farm debt (see chapter 4 of Publication 225, Farmer's Tax Guide).
• The debt is qualified real property business debt (see chapter 5 of Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business).
• You are insolvent or bankrupt (see Publication 908).

Forms 1099-A and 1099-C.   If your abandoned property secures a loan and the lender knows the property has been abandoned, the lender should send you Form 1099-A showing information you need to figure your loss from the abandonment. However, if your debt is canceled and the lender must file Form 1099-C, the lender may include the information about the abandonment on that form instead of on Form 1099-A. The lender must file Form 1099-C and send you a copy if the amount of debt canceled 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 abandonments of property and debt cancellations occurring in 2002, these forms should be sent to you by January 31, 2003.

Foreclosures
and Repossessions

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 also may 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 Gain or Loss From Sales and Exchanges, earlier.

You can use Table 1-2 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 debt canceled by the transfer. The full canceled debt is included even if the fair market value of the property is less than the canceled debt.

Example 1.   Chris bought a new car for $15,000. He paid $2,000 down and borrowed the remaining $13,000 from the dealer's credit company. Chris is not personally liable for the loan (nonrecourse), but pledges the new car as security. The credit company repossessed the car because he stopped making loan payments. The balance due after taking into account the payments Chris made was $10,000. The fair market value of the car when repossessed was $9,000. The amount Chris realized on the repossession is $10,000. That is the debt canceled by the repossession, even though the car's fair market value is less than $10,000. Chris figures his gain or loss on the repossession by comparing the amount realized ($10,000) with his adjusted basis ($15,000). He has a $5,000 nondeductible loss.

Example 2.   Abena paid $200,000 for her home. She paid $15,000 down and borrowed the remaining $185,000 from a bank. Abena is not personally liable for the loan (nonrecourse debt), but pledges the house as security. The bank foreclosed on the loan because Abena stopped making payments. When the bank foreclosed on the loan, the balance due was $180,000, the fair market value of the house was $170,000, and Abena's adjusted basis was $175,000 due to a casualty loss she had deducted. The amount Abena realized on the foreclosure is $180,000, the debt canceled by the foreclosure. She figures her gain or loss by comparing the amount realized ($180,000) with her adjusted basis ($175,000). She has a $5,000 realized gain.

Amount realized on a recourse debt.   If you are personally liable for the debt (recourse debt), the amount realized on the foreclosure or repossession does not include the canceled debt that is your 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 1.   Assume the same facts as in the previous Example 1, except Chris is personally liable for the car loan (recourse debt). In this case, the amount he realizes is $9,000. This is the canceled debt ($10,000) up to the car's fair market value ($9,000). Chris figures his gain or loss on the repossession by comparing the amount realized ($9,000) with his adjusted basis ($15,000). He has a $6,000 nondeductible loss. He also is treated as receiving ordinary income from cancellation of debt. That income is $1,000 ($10,000 - $9,000). This is the part of the canceled debt not included in the amount realized.

Example 2.   Assume the same facts as in the previous Example 2, except Abena 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 house ($170,000). Abena figures her gain or loss on the foreclosure by comparing the amount realized ($170,000) with her adjusted basis ($175,000). She has a $5,000 nondeductible loss. She also is 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.

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 on 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 debt related to a business or rental activity as business or rental income. Report the income from cancellation of a nonbusiness debt as other income on line 21, Form 1040.

You can use Table 1-2 to figure your income from cancellation of debt.

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

• The cancellation is intended as a gift.
• The debt is qualified farm debt (see chapter 4 of Publication 225, Farmer's Tax Guide).
• The debt is qualified real property business debt (see chapter 5 of Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business).
• You are insolvent or bankrupt (see Publication 908).

Forms 1099-A and 1099-C.   A lender who acquires an interest in your property in a foreclosure or repossession should send you Form 1099-A showing the information you need to figure your gain or loss. However, if the lender also cancels part of your debt and must file Form 1099-C, the lender may include the information about the foreclosure or repossession on that form instead of on Form 1099-A. The lender must file Form 1099-C and send you a copy if the amount of debt canceled 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 or repossessions occurring in 2002, these forms should be sent to you by January 31, 2003.

Involuntary Conversions

An involuntary conversion occurs when your property is destroyed, stolen, condemned, or disposed of under the threat of condemnation and you receive other property or money in payment, such as insurance or a condemnation award. Involuntary conversions are also called involuntary exchanges.

Gain or loss from an involuntary conversion of your property is usually recognized for tax purposes unless the property is your main home. You report the gain or deduct the loss on your tax return for the year you realize it. (You cannot deduct a loss from an involuntary conversion of property you held for personal use unless the loss resulted from a casualty or theft.)

However, depending on the type of property you receive, you may not have to report a gain on an involuntary conversion. You do not report the gain if you receive property that is similar or related in service or use to the converted property. Your basis for the new property is the same as your basis for the converted property. This means that the gain is deferred until a taxable sale or exchange occurs.

If you receive money or property that is not similar or related in service or use to the involuntarily converted property and you buy qualifying replacement property within a certain period of time, you can choose to postpone reporting the gain.

This publication explains the treatment of a gain or loss from a condemnation or disposition under the threat of condemnation. If you have a gain or loss from the destruction or theft of property, see Publication 547.

Condemnations

A condemnation is the process by which private property is legally taken for public use without the owner's consent. The property may be taken by the federal government, a state government, a political subdivision, or a private organization that has the power to legally take it. The owner receives a condemnation award (money or property) in exchange for the property taken. A condemnation is like a forced sale, the owner being the seller and the condemning authority being the buyer.

Example.   A local government authorized to acquire land for public parks informed you that it wished to acquire your property. After the local government took action to condemn your property, you went to court to keep it. But, the court decided in favor of the local government, which took your property and paid you an amount fixed by the court. This is a condemnation of private property for public use.

Threat of condemnation.   A threat of condemnation exists if a representative of a government body or a public official authorized to acquire property for public use informs you that the government body or official has decided to acquire your property. You must have reasonable grounds to believe that, if you do not sell voluntarily, your property will be condemned.

The sale of your property to someone other than the condemning authority qualifies as an involuntary conversion, provided you have reasonable grounds to believe that your property will be condemned. If the buyer of this property knows at the time of purchase that it will be condemned and sells it to the condemning authority, this sale also qualifies as an involuntary conversion.

Reports of condemnation.   A threat of condemnation exists if you learn of a decision to acquire your property for public use through a report in a newspaper or other news medium, and this report is confirmed by a representative of the government body or public official involved. You must have reasonable grounds to believe that they will take necessary steps to condemn your property if you do not sell voluntarily. If you relied on oral statements made by a government representative or public official, the Internal Revenue Service may ask you to get written confirmation of the statements.

Example.   Your property lies along public utility lines. The utility company has the authority to condemn your property. The company informs you that it intends to acquire your property by negotiation or condemnation. A threat of condemnation exists when you receive the notice.

Related property voluntarily sold.   A voluntary sale of your property may be treated as a forced sale that qualifies as an involuntary conversion if the property had a substantial economic relationship to property of yours that was condemned. A substantial economic relationship exists if together the properties were one economic unit. You also must show that the condemned property could not reasonably or adequately be replaced. You can choose to postpone reporting the gain by buying replacement property. See Postponement of Gain, later.

Gain or Loss
From Condemnations

If your property was condemned or disposed of under the threat of condemnation, figure your gain or loss by comparing the adjusted basis of your condemned property with your net condemnation award.

If your net condemnation award is more than the adjusted basis of the condemned property, you have a gain. You can postpone reporting gain from a condemnation if you buy replacement property. If only part of your property is condemned, you can treat the cost of restoring the remaining part to its former usefulness as the cost of replacement property. See Postponement of Gain, later.

If your net condemnation award is less than your adjusted basis, you have a loss. If your loss is from property you held for personal use, you cannot deduct it. You must report any deductible loss in the tax year it happened.

You can use Part 2 of Table 1-3 to figure your gain or loss from a condemnation award.

Main home condemned.   If you have a gain because your main home is condemned, you generally can exclude the gain from your income as if you had sold or exchanged your home. You may be able to exclude up to $250,000 of the gain (up to $500,000 if married filing jointly). For information on this exclusion, see Publication 523. If your gain is more than you can exclude but you buy replacement property, you may be able to postpone reporting the rest of the gain. See Postponement of Gain, later.

Condemnation award.   A condemnation award is the money you are paid or the value of other property you receive for your condemned property. The award is also the amount you are paid for the sale of your property under threat of condemnation.

Payment of your debts.   Amounts taken out of the award to pay your debts are considered paid to you. Amounts the government pays directly to the holder of a mortgage or lien against your property are part of your award, even if the debt attaches to the property and is not your personal liability.

Example.   The state condemned your property for public use. The award was set at $200,000. The state paid you only $148,000 because it paid $50,000 to your mortgage holder and $2,000 accrued real estate taxes. You are considered to have received the entire $200,000 as a condemnation award.

Interest on award.   If the condemning authority pays you interest for its delay in paying your award, it is not part of the condemnation award. You must report the interest separately as ordinary income.

Payments to relocate.   Payments you receive to relocate and replace housing because you have been displaced from your home, business, or farm as a result of federal or federally assisted programs are not part of the condemnation award. Do not include them in your income. Replacement housing payments used to buy new property are included in the property's basis as part of your cost.

Net condemnation award.   A net condemnation award is the total award you received, or are considered to have received, for the condemned property minus your expenses of obtaining the award. If only a part of your property was condemned, you also must reduce the award by any special assessment levied against the part of the property you retain. This is discussed later under Special assessment taken out of award.

Severance damages.   Severance damages are not part of the award paid for the property condemned. They are paid to you if part of your property is condemned and the value of the part you keep is decreased because of the condemnation.

For example, you may receive severance damages if your property is subject to flooding because you sell flowage easement rights (the condemned property) under threat of condemnation. Severance damages also may be given to you if, because part of your property is condemned for a highway, you must replace fences, dig new wells or ditches, or plant trees to restore your remaining property to the same usefulness it had before the condemnation.

The contracting parties should agree on the severance damages and put that in writing. If this is not done, all proceeds from the condemning authority are considered awarded for your condemned property.

You cannot make a completely new allocation of the total award after the transaction is completed. However, you can show how much of the award both parties intended for severance damages. The severance damages part of the award is determined from all the facts and circumstances.

Example.   You sold part of your property to the state under threat of condemnation. The contract you and the condemning authority signed showed only the total purchase price. It did not specify a fixed sum for severance damages. However, at settlement, the condemning authority gave you closing papers showing clearly the part of the purchase price that was for severance damages. You may treat this part as severance damages.

Treatment of severance damages.   Your net severance damages are treated as the amount realized from an involuntary conversion of the remaining part of your property. Use them to reduce the basis of the remaining property. If the amount of severance damages is based on damage to a specific part of the property you kept, reduce the basis of only that part by the net severance damages.

If your net severance damages are more than the basis of your retained property, you have a gain. You may be able to postpone reporting the gain. See Postponement of Gain, later.

You can use Part 1 of Table 1-3 to figure any gain from severance damages and to refigure the adjusted basis of the remaining part of your property.

Net severance damages.   To figure your net severance damages, you first must reduce your severance damages by your expenses in obtaining the damages. You then reduce them by any special assessment (described later) levied against the remaining part of the property and taken out of the award by the condemning authority. The balance is your net severance damages.

Expenses of obtaining a condemnation award and severance damages.   Subtract the expenses of obtaining a condemnation award, such as legal, engineering, and appraisal fees, from the total award. Also, subtract the expenses of obtaining severance damages, that may include similar expenses, from the severance damages paid to you. If you cannot determine which part of your expenses is for each part of the condemnation proceeds, you must make a proportionate allocation.

Example.   You receive a condemnation award and severance damages. One-fourth of the total was designated as severance damages in your agreement with the condemning authority. You had legal expenses for the entire condemnation proceeding. You cannot determine how much of your legal expenses is for each part of the condemnation proceeds. You must allocate one-fourth of your legal expenses to the severance damages and the other three-fourths to the condemnation award.

Special assessment taken out of award.   When only part of your property is condemned, a special assessment levied against the remaining property may be taken out of your condemnation award. An assessment may be levied if the remaining part of your property benefited by the improvement resulting from the condemnation. Examples of improvements that may cause a special assessment are widening a street and installing a sewer.

To figure your net condemnation award, you generally reduce the award by the assessment taken out of the award.

Example.   To widen the street in front of your home, the city condemned a 25-foot deep strip of your land. You were awarded $5,000 for this and spent $300 to get the award. Before paying the award, the city levied a special assessment of $700 for the street improvement against your remaining property. The city then paid you only $4,300. Your net award is $4,000 ($5,000 total award minus $300 expenses in obtaining the award and $700 for the special assessment taken out).

If the $700 special assessment were not taken out of the award and you were paid $5,000, your net award would be $4,700 ($5,000 - $300). The net award would not change, even if you later paid the assessment from the amount you received.

Severance damages received.   If severance damages are included in the condemnation proceeds, the special assessment taken out is first used to reduce the severance damages. Any balance of the special assessment is used to reduce the condemnation award.

Example.   You were awarded $4,000 for the condemnation of your property and $1,000 for severance damages. You spent $300 to obtain the severance damages. A special assessment of $800 was taken out of the award. The $1,000 severance damages are reduced to zero by first subtracting the $300 expenses and then $700 of the special assessment. Your $4,000 condemnation award is reduced by the $100 balance of the special assessment, leaving a $3,900 net condemnation award.

Part business or rental.   If you used part of your condemned property as your home and part as business or rental property, treat each part as a separate property. Figure your gain or loss separately because gain or loss on each part may be treated differently.

Some examples of this type of property are a building in which you live and operate a grocery, and a building in which you live on the first floor and rent out the second floor.

Example.   You sold your building for $24,000 under threat of condemnation to a public utility company that had the authority to condemn. You rented half the building and lived in the other half. You paid $25,000 for the building and spent an additional $1,000 for a new roof. You claimed allowable depreciation of $4,600 on the rental half. You spent $200 in legal expenses to obtain the condemnation award. Figure your gain or loss as follows.