IN GENERAL.For purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, gain or loss from the sale or exchange of any applicable preferred stock by any applicable financial institution shall be treated as ordinary income or loss.
APPLICABLE PREFERRED STOCK.For purposes of this section, the term applicable preferred stock means any stock
which is preferred stock in
the Federal National Mortgage Association, established pursuant to the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act (12 U.S.C. 1716 et seq.), or
the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, established pursuant to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Act (12 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.), and
which
was held by the applicable financial institution on September 6, 2008, or
was sold or exchanged by the applicable financial institution on or after January 1, 2008, and before September 7, 2008.
APPLICABLE FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.For purposes of this section:
INGENERAL.Except as provided in paragraph (2), the term applicable financial institution means
a financial institution referred to in section 582(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or
a depository institution holding company (as defined in section 3(w)(1) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(w)(1))).
SPECIAL RULES FOR CERTAIN SALES.In the case of
a sale or exchange described in subsection (b)(2)(B), an entity shall be treated as an applicable financial institution only if it was an entity described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) at the time of the sale or exchange, and
a sale or exchange after September 6, 2008, of preferred stock described in subsection (b)(2)(A), an entity shall be treated as an applicable financial institution only if it was an entity described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) at all times during the period beginning on September 6, 2008, and ending on the date of the sale or exchange of the preferred stock.
SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN PROPERTY NOT HELD ON SEPTEMBER 6, 2008.The Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretarys delegate may extend the application of this section to all or a portion of the gain or loss from a sale or exchange in any case where
an applicable financial institution sells or exchanges applicable preferred stock after September 6, 2008, which the applicable financial institution did not hold on such date, but the basis of which in the hands of the applicable financial institution at the time of the sale or exchange is the same as the basis in the hands of the person which held such stock on such date, or
the applicable financial institution is a partner in a partnership which
held such stock on September 6, 2008, and later sold or exchanged such stock, or
sold or exchanged such stock during the period described in subsection (b)(2)(B).
REGULATORY AUTHORITY.The Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretarys delegate may prescribe such guidance, rules, or regulations as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.
EFFECTIVE DATE.This section shall apply to sales or exchanges occurring after December 31, 2007, in taxable years ending after such date.
The tax code is not my forté, but it looks like banks holding Fannie and Freddie preferred shares just got an immediate tax break if they suffered a loss.
posted by Ian in Chicago at October 3, 2008