§ 1.936-11. New lines of business prohibited.

X Corp. is a pharmaceutical corporation which manufactured bulk chemicals (a component product). In March 1997, X Corp. began to also manufacture pills (e.g., finished dosages or an integrated product). The new activity provides products very similar to the products provided by the pre-existing business. The new activity is of a type that is normally conducted in the same business location as the pre-existing business. The activity's economic success depends on the success of the pre-existing business. The manufacture of bulk chemicals is in NAICS code 325411, Medicinal and Botanical Manufacturing, while the manufacture of the pills is in NAICS code 325412, Pharmaceutical Preparation Manufacturing. Although the products have a different end-use, may be marketed to a different class of customers, and may not use similar operating assets, they are within the same five-digit NAICS code and the activity also satisfies paragraphs (b)(2)(i)(A), (C), and (E) of this section. The manufacture of the pills by X Corp. will be considered closely related to the manufacture of the bulk chemicals. Therefore, X Corp. will not be considered to have added a new line of business for purposes of paragraph (b) of this section because it falls within the safe harbor rule of (b)(2)(ii)(B).

X Corp. currently manufactures printed circuit boards in a possession. As a result of a technological breakthrough, X Corp. could produce the printed circuit boards more efficiently if it modified its existing production methods. Because demand for its products was high, X Corp. expanded when it modified its production methods. After these modifications to the facilities and production methods, the products produced through the new technology were in the same six-digit NAICS code as products produced previously by X Corp. See paragraph (b)(2)(ii)(A) of this section. Therefore, X Corp. will not be considered to have added a new line of business for purposes of paragraph (b) of this section because it falls within the safe harbor rule of (b)(2)(ii)(A).

X Corp. has manufactured Device A in Puerto Rico for a number of years and began to manufacture Device B in Puerto Rico in 1997. Device A and Device B are both used to conduct electrical current to the heart and are both sold to cardiologists. There is no significant change in the type of activity conducted in Puerto Rico after the transfer of the manufacturing of Device B to Puerto Rico. Similar manufacturing equipment, manufacturing processes and skills are used in the manufacture of both devices. Both are regulated and licensed by the Food and Drug Administration. The economic success of Device B is dependent upon the success of Device A only to the extent that the liability and manufacturing prowess with respect to one reflects favorably on the other. Depending upon the heart abnormality, the cardiologist may choose to use Device A, Device B or both on a patient. The manufacture of Device B is treated as a unit with the manufacture of Device A in X Corp.'s accounting records. The manufacture of Device A is in the six-digit NAICS code 339112, Surgical and Medical Instrument Manufacturing. The manufacture of Device B is in the six-digit NAICS code 334510, Electromedical and Electrotherapeutic Apparatus Manufacturing. (The manufacture of Device A is in the four-digit SIC code 3845, Electromedical and Electrotherapeutic Apparatus. The manufacture of Device B is in the four-digit SIC code 3841, Surgical and Medical Instruments and Apparatus.) The safe harbor of paragraph (b)(2)(ii)(B) of this section applies because the two activities are within the same three-digit SIC code and Corp. X satisfies paragraphs (b)(2)(i)(A), (B), (C), (D), (F), and (G) of this section.

X Corp. has been manufacturing house slippers in Puerto Rico since 1990. Y Corp. is a U.S. corporation that is not affiliated with X Corp. and is not an existing credit claimant. Y Corp. has been manufacturing snack food in the United States. In 1997, X Corp. purchased the assets of Y Corp. and began to manufacture snack food in Puerto Rico. House slipper manufacturing is in the six-digit NAICS code 316212 (Four-digit SIC code 3142, House Slippers). The manufacture of snack foods falls under the six-digit NAICS code 311919, Other Snack Food Manufacturing (four-digit SIC code 2052, Cookies and Crackers (pretzels)). Because these activities are not within the same five or six digit NAICS code (or the same three or four-digit SIC code), and because snack food is not an integrated product that contains house slippers, the safe harbor of paragraph (b)(2)(ii) of this section cannot apply. Considering all the facts and circumstances, including the seven factors of paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section, the snack food manufacturing activity is not closely related to the manufacture of house slippers, and is a new line of business, within the meaning of paragraph (b) of this section.

X Corp., a calendar year taxpayer, is an existing credit claimant that has elected the profit-split method for computing taxable income. P Corp. was not an existing credit claimant and manufactured a product in a different five-digit NAICS code than the product manufactured by X Corp. In 1997, X Corp. acquired the stock of P Corp. and liquidated P Corp. in a tax-free liquidation under section 332, but continued the business activity of P Corp. as a new business segment. Assume that this new business segment is a new line of business within the meaning of paragraph (c) of this section. In 1997, X Corp. has gross income from the active conduct of a trade or business in a possession computed under section 936(a)(2) of $500 million and the adjusted tax basis of its assets is $200 million. The new business segment had gross income of $60 million, or 12 percent of the X Corp. gross income, and the adjusted basis of the new segment's assets was $20 million, or 10 percent of the X Corp. total assets. In 1997, X Corp. does not derive more than 15 percent of its gross income, or directly use more that 15 percent of its total assets, from the new business segment. Thus, the new line of business acquired from P Corp. is not a substantial new line of business within the meaning of paragraph (c) of this section, and the new activity will not cause X Corp. to lose its status as an existing credit claimant during 1997. In 1998, however, the gross income of X Corp. grew to $750 million while the gross income of the new line of business grew to $150 million, or 20% of the X Corp. 1998 gross income. Thus, in 1998, the new line of business is substantial within the meaning of paragraph (c) of this section, and X Corp. loses its status as an existing credit claimant for 1998 and all years subsequent.