Due to the absence of statutory, judicial or administrative authorities that directly address the treatment of the securities or instruments that are similar to the securities for U.S. federal income tax purposes, no assurance can be given that the IRS or a court will agree with the tax treatment described herein. We intend to treat a security for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a single financial contract that provides for a coupon that will be treated as gross income to you at the time received or accrued in accordance with your regular method of tax accounting. In the opinion of our counsel, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, this treatment of the securities is reasonable under current law; however, our counsel has advised us that it is unable to conclude affirmatively that this treatment is more likely than not to be upheld, and that alternative treatments are possible.
You should consult your tax adviser regarding all aspects of the U.S. federal tax consequences of an investment in the securities (including possible alternative treatments of the securities). Unless otherwise stated, the following discussion is based on the treatment of each security as described in the previous paragraph.
Tax Consequences to U.S. Holders
This section applies to you only if you are a U.S. Holder. As used herein, the term “U.S. Holder” means a beneficial owner of a security that is, for U.S. federal income tax purposes:
●a citizen or individual resident of the United States;
●a corporation, or other entity taxable as a corporation, created or organized in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia; or
●an estate or trust the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income taxation regardless of its source.
Tax Treatment of the Securities
Assuming the treatment of the securities as set forth above is respected, the following U.S. federal income tax consequences should result.
Tax Basis. A U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the securities should equal the amount paid by the U.S. Holder to acquire the securities.
Tax Treatment of Coupon Payments. Any coupon payment on the securities should be taxable as ordinary income to a U.S. Holder at the time received or accrued, in accordance with the U.S. Holder’s regular method of accounting for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Sale, Exchange or Settlement of the Securities. Upon a sale, exchange or settlement of the securities, a U.S. Holder should recognize gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized on the sale, exchange or settlement and the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the securities sold, exchanged or settled. For this purpose, the amount realized does not include any coupon paid at settlement and may not include sale proceeds attributable to an accrued coupon, which may be treated in the same manner as a coupon payment. Any such gain or loss recognized should be long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S. Holder has held the securities for more than one year at the time of the sale, exchange or settlement, and should be short-term capital gain or loss otherwise. The ordinary income treatment of the coupon payments, in conjunction with the capital loss treatment of any loss recognized upon the sale, exchange or settlement of the securities, could result in adverse tax consequences to holders of the securities because the deductibility of capital losses is subject to limitations.
Possible Alternative Tax Treatments of an Investment in the Securities
Due to the absence of authorities that directly address the proper tax treatment of the securities, no assurance can be given that the IRS will accept, or that a court will uphold, the treatment described above. In particular, the IRS could seek to analyze the U.S. federal income tax consequences of owning the securities under Treasury regulations governing contingent payment debt instruments (the “Contingent Debt Regulations”). If the IRS were successful in asserting that the Contingent Debt Regulations applied to the securities, the timing and character of income thereon would be significantly affected. Among other things, a U.S. Holder would be required to accrue into income original issue discount on the securities every year at a “comparable yield” determined at the time of their issuance, adjusted upward or downward to reflect the difference, if any, between the actual and the projected amount of any contingent payments on the securities. Furthermore, any gain realized by a U.S. Holder at maturity or upon a sale, exchange or other disposition of the securities would be treated as ordinary income, and any loss realized would be treated as ordinary loss to
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