La. Admin. Code tit. 61 § I-303

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section I-303 - Borrowed Capital

A. General

1. As used in this Chapter, borrowed capital means all indebtedness of a corporation, subject to the provisions of this Chapter, maturing more than one year from the date incurred, or which is not paid within one year from the date incurred regardless of maturity date.

2. All indebtedness of a corporation is construed to be capital employed by the corporation in the conduct of its business or pursuit of the purpose for which it was organized, and in the absence of a specific exclusion, qualification, or limitation contained in the statute, must be included in the total taxable base. No amount of indebtedness of a corporation may be excluded from borrowed capital except in those cases in which the corporation can demonstrate conclusively that a specific statutory provision permits exclusion of the indebtedness from borrowed capital.

3. In the case of amounts owed by a corporation to a creditor who does not meet the definition of an affiliated corporation contained in R.S. 47:603, all indebtedness of a corporation which has a maturity date of more than one year from the date on which the debt was incurred and all indebtedness which has not been paid within one year from the date the indebtedness was incurred, regardless of the maturity or due date of the indebtedness, shall be included in borrowed capital. Determination of the one-year controlling factor is with respect to the original date that the indebtedness was incurred and is not to be determined by any date the debt is renewed or refinanced. The entire amount of long-term debt not having a maturity date of less than one year, which was not paid within the one-year period, constitutes borrowed capital, even though it may constitute the current liability for payment on the long-term debt.

4. The fact that indebtedness which had a maturity date of more than one year from the date it was incurred, was actually liquidated within one year does not remove the indebtedness from the definition of borrowed capital.

5. For purposes of determining whether indebtedness has a maturity date in excess of one year from the date incurred or whether the indebtedness was paid within one year from the date incurred, the following shall apply: With respect to any indebtedness which was extended, renewed, or refinanced, the date the indebtedness was originally incurred shall be the date the extended, renewed, or refinanced indebtedness was incurred. All debt extended, renewed, or refinanced shall be included in borrowed capital if the extended maturity date is more than one year from, or if the debt has not been paid within one year from, that date. In instances of debts which are extended, renewed, or refinanced by initiating indebtedness with a creditor different from the original creditor, the indebtedness shall be construed to be new indebtedness and the one-year controlling factor will be measured from the date that the new debt is incurred.

6. For purposes of determining whether indebtedness has a maturity date in excess of one year from the date incurred or whether the indebtedness was paid within one year from the date incurred, with respect to the amount due on a mortgage on real estate purchased subject to the mortgage, the date the indebtedness was originally incurred shall be the date the property subject to the mortgage was acquired by the corporation.

7. In the case of amounts owed by a corporation to a creditor who meets the definition of an affiliated corporation contained in R.S. 47:603, the age or maturity date of the indebtedness is immaterial. An affiliated corporation is defined to be any corporation which through (a) stock ownership, (b) directorate control, or (c) any other means, substantially influences policy of some other corporation or is influenced through the same channels by some other corporation. It is not necessary that control exist between the corporations but only that policy be influenced substantially. Any indebtedness between such corporations constitutes borrowed capital to the extent it represents capital substantially used to finance or carry on the business of the debtor corporation, regardless of the age of the indebtedness. For this purpose, all funds, materials, products, or services furnished to a corporation for which indebtedness is incurred, except as provided in this Section with respect to normal trading accounts and offsetting indebtedness, are construed to be used by the corporation to finance or carry on the business of the corporation; in the absence of a conclusive showing by the taxpayer to the contrary, all such indebtedness shall be included in borrowed capital.

a. To illustrate this principle, assume:

i. Corporation A-Parent of B, C, D, and E;

ii. Corporation B-Nonoperating, funds flow conduit, owning no stock in C, D, or E;

iii. Corporation C-Other Corporation;

iv. Corporation D-Other Corporation;

v. Corporation E-Other Corporation;

vi. any funds furnished by the parent A to either B, C, D, or E constitute either a contribution to capital or an advance which must be included in the taxable base of the receiving corporation;

vii. any funds supplied by D or E to C, whether or not channeled through A or B, would constitute borrowed capital to C, and the indebtedness must be included in the taxable base. In the absence of a formal declaration of a dividend from D or E to A, the funds constitute an advance to A by D or E and borrowed capital to A. In all such financing arrangements, the multiple transfers of funds are held to constitute capital substantially used to carry on each taxpayer's business.

8. The amount that normal trading-account indebtedness bears to capitalization of a debtor determines to what extent said indebtedness constitutes borrowed capital substantially used to finance or carry on the business of the debtor. Due consideration should also be given to the debtor's ability to have incurred a similar amount of indebtedness, equally payable as to terms and periods of time.

9. In the case of equally demandable and payable indebtedness of the same type between two corporations, wherein each is indebted to the other, only the excess of the amount due by any such corporation over the amount of its receivable from the other corporation shall be deemed to be borrowed capital.

10. With respect to any amount due from which debt discount was paid upon inception of the debt, that portion of the unamortized debt discount applicable to the indebtedness which would otherwise constitute borrowed capital shall be eliminated in calculating the amount of the indebtedness to be included in taxable base.

B. Exclusions from Borrowed Capital

1. Federal, State and Local Taxes. R.S. 47:603 provides that an amount equivalent to certain indebtedness shall not be included in borrowed capital. With respect to accruals of federal, state, and local taxes, the only amounts which may be excluded are the tax accruals determined to be due to the taxing authority or taxes due and not delinquent for more than 30 days. In the case of reserves for taxes, only so much of the reserve as represents the additional liability due at the taxpayer's year-end for taxes incurred during the accrual period may be excluded. Any amount of the reserve balance in excess of the amount additionally due for the accrual period shall be included in the taxable base, since the excess does not constitute a reserve for a definitely fixed liability. This additional amount due is determined by subtracting the taxpayer's tax deposits during the year from the total liability for the period. All reserves for anticipated future liabilities due to accounting and tax timing differences shall be included in the taxable base. Any taxes which are due and are delinquent more than 30 days must be included in borrowed capital. For purposes of determining whether taxes are delinquent, extensions of time granted by the taxing authority for the filing of the tax return or for payment of the tax shall be considered as establishing the date from which delinquency is measured.

2. Voluntary Deposits

a. The liability of a taxpayer to a depositor created as the result of advances, credits, or sums of money having been voluntarily left on deposit shall not constitute borrowed capital if:

i. said moneys have been voluntarily left on deposit to facilitate the transaction of business between the parties; and

ii. said moneys have been segregated by the taxpayer and are not otherwise used in the conduct of its business.

b. Neither the relationship of the depositor to the taxpayer nor the length of time the deposits remain for the intended purpose has an effect on the amount of such liability which shall be excluded from borrowed capital.

3. Deposits with Trustees

a. The principal amount of cash or securities deposited with a trustee or other custodian or segregated into a separate or special account may be excluded from the indebtedness which would otherwise constitute borrowed capital if such segregation is fixed by a prior written commitment or court order for the payment of principal or interest on funded indebtedness or other fixed obligations. In the absence of a prior written commitment or court order fixing segregation of the funds or securities, no reduction of borrowed capital shall be made with respect to such deposits or segregated amounts.

b. Whenever a liability for the payment of dividends theretofore lawfully and formally authorized would constitute borrowed capital as defined in this Section, an amount equivalent to the amount of cash or securities deposited with a trustee or other custodian or segregated into a separate or special account for payment of the dividend liability may be excluded from borrowed capital.

4. Receiverships, Bankruptcies and Reorganizations. In the case of a corporation having indebtedness which could have been paid from cash and temporary investments on hand which were not currently needed for working capital and in which case the corporation has secured approval or allowance by the court of the petition for receivership, bankruptcy, or reorganization under the bankruptcy law, after such allowance or approval by the court of the taxpayer's petition, the taxpayer may then reduce the amount which would otherwise constitute borrowed capital by the amount of cash or temporary investment which it could have paid on the indebtedness prior to such approval, to the extent that they are permitted to make such payments under the terms of the receivership, bankruptcy, or reorganization proceedings.

La. Admin. Code tit. 61, § I-303

Promulgated by the Department of Revenue and Taxation, Income and Corporation Franchise Taxes Section, Office of Group III, LR 6:25 (January 1980), amended LR 11:108 (February 1985), repromulgated by the Department of Revenue, Policy Services Division, LR 30:450 (March 2004).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 47:603.