Treasury Regulations · 26 CFR
§ 1.312-6. Earnings and profits.
Regulation text, no changes From the eCFR, current as of October 15, 2026. The eCFR is an authoritative but unofficial editorial compilation of the Code of Federal Regulations; the official text is the annual CFR on govinfo. Compare it with this section on ecfr.gov (external site) or the official annual CFR on govinfo (external site).
Regulation under 26 U.S.C. § 312
Cite as 26 CFR § 1.312-6
At a glance
Read from the text and its source citation. Not part of the regulation.
- Status
- In the current eCFR
- Source
- T.D. 6500, 25 FR 11402, Nov. 26, 1960; 25 FR 14021, Dec. 21, 1960; T.D. 9989, 89 FR 17606, Mar. 11, 2024, unless otherwise noted.
- Issued under
- 26 U.S.C. § 312
- Length
- 874 words · about 4 min to read
- Cross-references
- cites 5 Code sections and 0 regulations; cited by 5
¶(a) In determining the amount of earnings and profits (whether of the taxable year, or accumulated since February 28, 1913, or accumulated before March 1, 1913) due consideration must be given to the facts, and, while mere bookkeeping entries increasing or decreasing surplus will not be conclusive, the amount of the earnings and profits in any case will be dependent upon the method of accounting properly employed in computing taxable income (or net income, as the case may be). For instance, a corporation keeping its books and filing its income tax returns under subchapter E, chapter 1 of the Code, on the cash receipts and disbursements basis may not use the accrual basis in determining earnings and profits; a corporation computing income on the installment basis as provided in section 453 shall, with respect to the installment transactions, compute earnings and profits on such basis; and an insurance company subject to taxation under section 831 shall exclude from earnings and profits that portion of any premium which is unearned under the provisions of section 832(b)(4) and which is segregated accordingly in the unearned premium reserve.
¶(b) Among the items entering into the computation of corporate earnings and profits for a particular period are all income exempted by statute, income not taxable by the Federal Government under the Constitution, as well as all items includible in gross income under section 61 or corresponding provisions of prior revenue acts. Gains and losses within the purview of section 1002 or corresponding provisions of prior revenue acts are brought into the earnings and profits at the time and to the extent such gains and losses are recognized under that section. Interest on State bonds and certain other obligations, although not taxable when received by a corporation, is taxable to the same extent as other dividends when distributed to shareholders in the form of dividends.
¶(c)
¶(1) In the case of a corporation in which depletion or depreciation is a factor in the determination of income, the only depletion or depreciation deductions to be considered in the computation of the total earnings and profits are those based on cost or other basis without regard to March 1, 1913, value. In computing the earnings and profits for any period beginning after February 28, 1913, the only depletion or depreciation deductions to be considered are those based on (i) cost or other basis, if the depletable or depreciable asset was acquired subsequent to February 28, 1913, or (ii) adjusted cost or March 1, 1913, value, whichever is higher, if acquired before March 1, 1913. Thus, discovery or percentage depletion under all revenue acts for mines and oil and gas wells is not to be taken into consideration in computing the earnings and profits of a corporation. Similarly, where the basis of property in the hands of a corporation is a substituted basis, such basis, and not the fair market value of the property at the time of the acquisition by the corporation, is the basis for computing depletion and depreciation for the purpose of determining earnings and profits of the corporation.
¶(2) The application of subparagraph (1) of this paragraph may be illustrated by the following example:
¶Example.
Oil producing property which A had acquired in 1949 at a cost of $28,000 was transferred to Corporation Y in December 1951, in exchange for all of its capital stock. The fair market value of the stock and of the property as of the date of the transfer was $247,000. Corporation Y, after four years' operation, effected in 1955 a cash distribution to A in the amount of $165,000. In determining the extent to which the earnings and profits of Corporation Y available for dividend distributions have been increased as the result of production and sale of oil, the depletion to be taken into account is to be computed upon the basis of $28,000 established in the nontaxable exchange in 1951 regardless of the fair market value of the property or of the stock issued in exchange therefor.
¶(d) A loss sustained for a year before the taxable year does not affect the earnings and profits of the taxable year. However, in determining the earnings and profits accumulated since February 28, 1913, the excess of a loss sustained for a year subsequent to February 28, 1913, over the undistributed earnings and profits accumulated since February 28, 1913, and before the year for which the loss was sustained, reduces surplus as of March 1, 1913, to the extent of such excess. If the surplus as of March 1, 1913, was sufficient to absorb such excess, distributions to shareholders after the year of the loss are out of earnings and profits accumulated since the year of the loss to the extent of such earnings.
¶(e) With respect to the effect on the earnings and profits accumulated since February 28, 1913, of distributions made on or after January 1, 1916, and before August 6, 1917, out of earnings or profits accumulated before March 1, 1913, which distributions were specifically declared to be out of earnings and profits accumulated before March 1, 1913, see section 31(b) of the Revenue Act of 1916, as added by section 1211 of the Revenue Act of 1917 (40 Stat. 336).
Cross-references
Computed from the citations in the text of 26 CFR.
Code sections it cites
- § 453 Installment method
- § 831 Tax on insurance companies other than life insurance companies
- § 832 Insurance company taxable income
- § 61 Gross income defined
- § 1002 Repealed
Cited by 5 other regulations
- § 1.163-12 Deduction of original issue discount on instrument held by related foreign person.
- § 1.267(f)-1 Controlled groups.
- § 1.312-7 Effect on earnings and profits of gain or loss realized after February 28, 1913.
- § 1.611-4 Depletion as a factor in computing earnings and profits for dividend purposes.
- § 1.1400Z2(b)-1 Inclusion of gains that have been deferred under section 1400Z-2(a).
Where it sits in 26 CFR
- Subchapter A Income tax
- Part 1 Income taxes
- Effects on corporation
Nearby sections
- § 1.312-2 Distribution of inventory assets.
- § 1.312-3 Liabilities.
- § 1.312-4 Examples of adjustments provided in section 312(c).
- § 1.312-5 Special rule for partial liquidations and certain redemptions.
- § 1.312-6 Earnings and profits.
- § 1.312-7 Effect on earnings and profits of gain or loss realized after February 28, 1913.
- § 1.312-8 Effect on earnings and profits of receipt of tax-free distributions requiring adjustment or allocation of basis of stock.
- § 1.312-9 Adjustments to earnings and profits reflecting increase in value accrued before March 1, 1913.
- § 1.312-10 Allocation of earnings in certain corporate separations.