Mark-to-market
The proposal would:
- Impose annual mark-to-market accounting for certain financial derivatives and certain straddles excluding business hedges
- Define the term “derivatives” broadly to include certain debt instruments with “embedded derivative components,” although it excludes certain real property interests
- Provide that income, gain, loss, and deduction regarding a derivative would be treated as ordinary income and as attributable to a taxpayer’s trade or business for section 172(d)(4)
- Coordinate the application of the mark-to-market and ordinary treatment rules with straddle positions and repeal certain superseded rules for determining capital gains and losses including rules in section 1256
Business hedging rules
The proposal provides rules that would simplify the business hedging rules and specifically certain identification rules.
Under the proposal, a business hedging transaction may meet the proposed identification rules if U.S. GAAP, as applicable to a taxpayer’s audited financial statements, would classify the transaction as a hedging transaction.
Debt modifications
The proposal would provide rules to prevent phantom cancellation-of-indebtedness income from debt restructurings involving certain significant modifications. The proposal would apply to specified debt modifications, and the rules would generally prevent an issuer from recognizing cancellation-of-indebtedness income if the principal amount of the debt instrument remained the same.
Market discount rules
The proposal would change the market discount rules to require a holder to recognize such discount over the remaining life of a bond instead of upon a sale or exchange. The proposed rules would apply to a holder of a market discount bond who acquires the bond after December 31, 2013.
Cost basis rules
The proposal includes rules that would determine a taxpayer’s cost basis in certain substantially identical securities on an average cost basis amount to increase the accuracy of determining gains and losses. The rules would apply to specified securities that are sold after January 1, 2014.
The rules would require taxpayers to determine basis under the average basis method that may be currently applied to the stock of a regulated investment company./p>
Wash sales rules
Finally, the proposal would expand the wash sales rules to include transactions involving certain related parties.
Related parties would include spouses, dependents, entities that the taxpayer or a spouse or dependent controls, IRAs, Archer MSAs, or health savings accounts, certain accounts under tuition or education programs, and other qualified retirement plans.