Treasury Regulations · 26 CFR

§ 1.817-2. Treatment of capital gains and losses.

In effect eCFR current as of October 15, 2026

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. § 817

Cite as 26 CFR § 1.817-2

At a glance

Read from the text and its source citation. Not part of the regulation.

Status: In the current eCFR
Issued: April 4, 1961 by T.D. 6558
Last amended: November 3, 1980 by T.D. 7728
Issued under: 26 U.S.C. § 817
Length: 1,475 words · about 6 min to read
Defines: 1 term
Cross-references: cites 7 Code sections and 1 regulation; cited by 1

¶(a) In general. For taxable years beginning after December 31, 1958, and before January 1, 1962, if the net long-term capital gain (as defined in section 1222(7)) of any life insurance company exceeds its net short-term capital loss (as defined in section 1222(6)), section 802(a)(2) prior to its amendment by section 3 of the Act of October 23, 1962 (76 Stat. 1134), imposes a separate tax equal to 25 percent of such excess. For taxable years beginning after December 31, 1961, if the net long-term capital gain of any life insurance company exceeds its net short-term capital loss, section 802(a)(2) imposes an alternative tax in lieu of the tax imposed by section 802(a)(1), if and only if such alternative tax is less than the tax imposed by section 802(a)(1). Except as modified by section 817 (rules relating to certain gains and losses), the general rules of the Code relating to gains and losses, such as subchapter O (relating to gain or loss on disposition of property), subchapter P (relating to capital gains and losses), etc., shall apply with respect to life insurance companies.

¶(b) Modification of section 1221 and 1231.

¶(1) In the case of a life insurance company, section 817(a)(1) provides that for purposes of applying section 1231(a) (relating to property used in the trade or business and involuntary conversions), the term property used in the trade or business shall be treated as including only:

¶(i) Property used in carrying on an insurance business, of a character subject to the allowance for depreciation under section 167 (even though fully depreciated), held for more than 1 year (6 months for taxable years beginning before 1977; 9 months taxable years beginning in 1977), and real property used in carrying on an insurance business, held for more than 1 year (6 months for taxable years beginning before 1977; 9 months taxable years beginning in 1977), and which is not:

(a) Property of a kind which would properly be includible in the inventory of the taxpayer if on hand at the close of the taxable year;

(b) Property held by the taxpayer primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business; or

(c) A copyright, a literary, musical, or artistic composition, a letter or memorandum, or similar property held by a taxpayer described in section 1221(3). In the case of a letter, memorandum, or property similar to a letter or memorandum, this subdivision (c) applies only to sales and other dispositions occurring after July 25, 1969.

¶(ii) The cutting or disposal of timber, or the disposal of coal or iron ore, to the extent considered arising from a sale or exchange by reason of the provisions of section 631 and the regulations thereunder.

¶(2) In the case of a life insurance company, section 817(a)(2) provides that for purposes of applying section 1221(2) (relating to the exclusion of certain property from the term capital asset), the reference to property used in trade or business shall be treated as including only property used in carrying on an insurance business.

¶(3) Section 1231(a), as modified by section 817(a)(1) and subparagraph (1) of this paragraph, shall apply to recognized gains and losses from the following:

¶(i) The sale, exchange, or involuntary conversion of the following property, if held for more than 1 year (6 months for taxable years beginning before 1977; 9 months taxable years beginning in 1977):

(a) The home office and branch office buildings (including land) owned and occupied by the life insurance company;

(b) Furniture and equipment owned by the life insurance company and used in the home office and branch office buildings occupied by the life insurance company; and

(c) Automobiles and other depreciable personal property used in connection with the operations conducted in the home office and branch office buildings occupied by the life insurance company.

¶(ii) The involuntary conversion of capital assets held for more than 1 year (6 months for taxable years beginning before 1977; 9 months taxable years beginning in 1977).

¶(iii) The cutting or disposal of timber, or the disposal of coal or iron ore, to the extent considered arising from a sale or exchange by reason of the provisions of section 631 and the regulations thereunder.

¶(4) Section 1221(2), as modified by section 817(a)(2) and subparagraph (2) of this paragraph, shall include only the following property;

¶(i) The home office and branch office buildings (including land) owned and occupied by the life insurance company;

¶(ii) Furniture and equipment owned by the life insurance company and used in the home office and branch office buildings occupied by the life insurance company; and

¶(iii) Automobiles and other depreciable personal property used in connection with the operations conducted in the home office and branch office buildings occupied by the life insurance company.

¶(5) If an asset described in subparagraph (3) (i)(a), (b), or (c) or subparagraph (4) of this paragraph, or any portion thereof, is also an “investment asset” (an asset from which gross investment income, as defined in section 804(b), is derived), such asset, or portion thereof, shall not be treated as an asset used in carrying on an insurance business. Accordingly, the gains or losses from the sale or exchange (or considered as from the sale or exchange) of depreciable assets attributable to any trade or business, other than the insurance trade or business, carried on by the life insurance company, such as operating a radio station, housing development, or a farm, or renting various pieces of real estate shall be treated as gains or losses from the sale or exchange of a capital asset unless such asset is involuntarily converted (within the meaning of paragraph (e) of § 1.123-1).

¶(c) Illustration of principles. The provisions of section 817(a) and this section may be illustrated by the following examples:

¶Example 1.

L, a life insurance company, has recognized gains and losses for the taxable year 1959 from the sale or involuntary conversion of the following items:

	Gains	Losses
Stocks, held for more than 6 months	$100,000
Bonds, held for more than 6 months		$5,000
Housing development, held for more than 6 months		400,000
Branch office building owned and occupied by L, held for more than 6 months		115,000
Furniture and equipment used in the investment department, held for more than 6 months	30,000
Radio station, held for more than 6 months	200,000
Involuntary conversion of apartment building, held for more than 6 months	7,000

The recognized gains and losses from the sale of the stocks, bonds, housing development, and radio station shall be treated as gains and losses from the sale of capital assets since such items are capital assets within the meaning of section 1221 (as modified by section 817(a)(2)). Accordingly, the provisions of section 1231 shall not apply to the sale of such capital assets. However, the provisions of section 1231 (as modified by section 817(a)(1)) shall apply to the sale of the branch office building and the furniture and equipment, and the apartment building involuntarily converted. Since the aggregate of the recognized losses ($115,000) exceeds the aggregate of the recognized gains ($37,000), the gains and losses are treated as ordinary gains and losses.

¶Example 2.

Y, a life insurance company, owns a twenty-story home office building, having an adjusted basis of $15,000,000, ten floors of which it rents to various tenants, one floor of which is utilized by it in operating its investment department, and the remaining nine floors of which are occupied by it in carrying on its insurance business. If in 1960, Y sells the building for $10,000,000, Y must first apportion its basis between that portion of the building (one-half) used in carrying on an insurance business, and that portion of the building (one-half) classified as an “investment asset”, before it can determine the character of the loss attributable to each portion of the building. For such purpose, the one floor utilized by Y in operating its investment department is treated as used in carrying on an insurance business. Assuming that each portion of the building bears an equal (one-half) relation to the basis of the entire building, Y (without regard to section 817(b)) would have a $2,500,000 ordinary loss on that portion used in carrying on an insurance business (assuming that Y had no gains subject to section 1231), and a $2,500,000 capital loss on that portion of the building classified as an investment asset.

[T.D. 6558, 26 FR 2782, Apr. 4, 1961, as amended by T.D. 6841, 30 FR 9308, July 27, 1965; T.D. 6886, 31 FR 8689, June 23, 1966; T.D. 7369, 40 FR 29840, July 16, 1975; T.D. 7728, 45 FR 72650, Nov. 3, 1980]

Terms defined here

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property used in the trade or business § 1.817-2(b)(1)

Cross-references

Computed from the citations in the text of 26 CFR.

Code sections it cites

Regulations it cites

§ 1.123-1 Exclusion of insurance proceeds for reimbursement of certain living expenses.

Cited by 1 other regulation

§ 1.817-1 Taxable years affected.

Amendment history

From the source citation at the end of the section, newest first. T.D. is a Treasury decision; FR is the Federal Register.

November 3, 1980Amended by T.D. 7728 (45 FR 72650)
July 16, 1975Amended by T.D. 7369 (40 FR 29840)
June 23, 1966Amended by T.D. 6886 (31 FR 8689)
July 27, 1965Amended by T.D. 6841 (30 FR 9308)
April 4, 1961Issued by T.D. 6558 (26 FR 2782)

Where it sits in 26 CFR

Nearby sections

§ 1.817-1 Taxable years affected.
§ 1.817-2 Treatment of capital gains and losses.
§ 1.817-3 Gain on property held on December 31, 1958, and certain substituted property acquired after 1958.
§ 1.817-4 Special rules.
§ 1.817-5 Diversification requirements for variable annuity, endowment, and life insurance contracts.
§ 1.817A-0 Table of contents.