Internal Revenue Code · 26 U.S.C.
§ 514. Unrelated debt-financed income
Official text, no changes From the Office of the Law Revision Counsel, release point 119-121 (current through Public Law 119-121 (October 9, 2026)). Compare it with the official text at uscode.house.gov (external site).
Cite as 26 U.S.C. § 514
At a glance
Read from the text, the source credit and the official notes. Not part of the law.
- Status
- In force
- Enacted
- July 14, 1960 by Pub. L. 86–667
- Last amended
- August 17, 2006 by Pub. L. 109–280
- Amendments
- 14 dated changes in the source credit
- Length
- 7 subsections · 4,485 words · about 20 min to read
- Defines
- 10 terms
- Cross-references
- cites 16; cited by 8 Code sections and 23 other regulations
- Regulations
- 9 issued under this section
There shall be included with respect to each debt-financed property as an item of gross income derived from an unrelated trade or business an amount which is the same percentage (but not in excess of 100 percent) of the total gross income derived during the taxable year from or on account of such property as (A) the average acquisition indebtedness (as defined in subsection (c)(7)) for the taxable year with respect to the property is of (B) the average amount (determined under regulations prescribed by the Secretary) of the adjusted basis of such property during the period it is held by the organization during such taxable year.
There shall be allowed as a deduction with respect to each debt-financed property an amount determined by applying (except as provided in the last sentence of this paragraph) the percentage derived under paragraph (1) to the sum determined under paragraph (3). The percentage derived under this paragraph shall not be applied with respect to the deduction of any capital loss resulting from the carryback or carryover of net capital losses under section 1212.
The sum referred to in paragraph (2) is the sum of the deductions under this chapter which are directly connected with the debt-financed property or the income therefrom, except that if the debt-financed property is of a character which is subject to the allowance for depreciation provided in section 167, the allowance shall be computed only by use of the straight-line method.
For purposes of applying paragraphs (1) (A), (C), and (D), the use of any property by an exempt organization which is related to an organization shall be treated as use by such organization.
If an organization acquires real property for the principal purpose of using the land (commencing within 10 years of the time of acquisition) in the manner described in paragraph (1)(A) and at the time of acquisition the property is in the neighborhood of other property owned by the organization which is used in such manner, the real property acquired for such future use shall not be treated as debt-financed property so long as the organization does not abandon its intent to so use the land within the 10-year period. The preceding sentence shall not apply for any period after the expiration of the 10-year period, and shall apply after the first 5 years of the 10-year period only if the organization establishes to the satisfaction of the Secretary that it is reasonably certain that the land will be used in the described manner before the expiration of the 10-year period.
If an organization for any taxable year has not used land in the manner to satisfy the actual use condition of subparagraph (B) before the time prescribed by law (including extensions thereof) for filing the return for such taxable year, the tax for such year shall be computed without regard to the application of subparagraph (B), but if and when such use condition is satisfied, the provisions of subparagraph (B) shall then be applied to such taxable year. If the actual use condition of subparagraph (B) is satisfied for any taxable year after such time for filing the return, and if credit or refund of any overpayment for the taxable year resulting from the satisfaction of such use condition is prevented at the close of the taxable year in which the use condition is satisfied, by the operation of any law or rule of law (other than chapter 74, relating to closing agreements and compromises), credit or refund of such overpayment may nevertheless be allowed or made if claim therefor is filed before the expiration of 1 year after the close of the taxable year in which the use condition is satisfied.
In applying this paragraph to a church or convention or association of churches, in lieu of the 10-year period referred to in subparagraphs (A) and (B) a 15-year period shall be applied, and subparagraphs (A) and (B)(ii) shall apply whether or not the acquired land meets the neighborhood test.
Where property (no matter how acquired) is acquired subject to a mortgage or other similar lien, the amount of the indebtedness secured by such mortgage or lien shall be considered as an indebtedness of the organization incurred in acquiring such property even though the organization did not assume or agree to pay such indebtedness.
Where property subject to a mortgage is acquired by an organization by bequest or devise, the indebtedness secured by the mortgage shall not be treated as acquisition indebtedness during a period of 10 years following the date of the acquisition. If an organization acquires property by gift subject to a mortgage which was placed on the property more than 5 years before the gift, which property was held by the donor more than 5 years before the gift, the indebtedness secured by such mortgage shall not be treated as acquisition indebtedness during a period of 10 years following the date of such gift. This subparagraph shall not apply if the organization, in order to acquire the equity in the property by bequest, devise, or gift, assumes and agrees to pay the indebtedness secured by the mortgage, or if the organization makes any payment for the equity in the property owned by the decedent or the donor.
For purposes of this section, an extension, renewal, or refinancing of an obligation evidencing a pre-existing indebtedness shall not be treated as the creation of a new indebtedness.
For purposes of this section, the term “acquisition indebtedness” does not include indebtedness the incurrence of which is inherent in the performance or exercise of the purpose or function constituting the basis of the organization’s exemption, such as the indebtedness incurred by a credit union described in section 501(c)(14) in accepting deposits from its members.
For purposes of this section, the term “average acquisition indebtedness” for any taxable year with respect to a debt-financed property means the average amount, determined under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the acquisition indebtedness during the period the property is held by the organization during the taxable year, except that for the purpose of computing the percentage of any gain or loss to be taken into account on a sale or other disposition of debt-financed property, such term means the highest amount of the acquisition indebtedness with respect to such property during the 12-month period ending with the date of the sale or other disposition.
Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the term “acquisition indebtedness” does not, for purposes of this section, include indebtedness incurred by a qualified organization in acquiring or improving any real property. For purposes of this paragraph, an interest in a mortgage shall in no event be treated as real property.
Rules similar to the rules of subparagraph (B)(vi) shall also apply in the case of any pass-thru entity other than a partnership and in the case of tiered partnerships and other entities.
Except as provided in regulations, a partnership may without violating the requirements of this subparagraph provide for chargebacks with respect to disproportionate losses previously allocated to qualified organizations and disproportionate income previously allocated to other partners. Any chargeback referred to in the preceding sentence shall not be at a ratio in excess of the ratio under which the loss or income (as the case may be) was allocated.
To the extent provided in regulations, a partnership may without violating the requirements of this subparagraph provide for reasonable preferred returns or reasonable guaranteed payments.
The Secretary shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this subparagraph, including regulations which may provide for exclusion or segregation of items.
For purposes of this subparagraph, the term “disqualified holder” means any shareholder (or beneficiary) which is not described in clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (C).
For purposes of clauses (iii) and (iv) of subparagraph (B), a lease to a person described in such clause (iii) or (iv) shall be disregarded if no more than 25 percent of the leasable floor space in a building (or complex of buildings) is covered by the lease and if the lease is on commercially reasonable terms.
Clause (v) of subparagraph (B) shall not apply if the financing is on commercially reasonable terms.
In the case of a qualifying sale by a financial institution, except as provided in regulations, clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (B) shall not apply with respect to financing provided by such institution for such sale.
For purposes of this subparagraph, the term “foreclosure property” means any real property acquired by the financial institution as the result of having bid on such property at foreclosure, or by operation of an agreement or process of law, after there was a default (or a default was imminent) on indebtedness which such property secured.
For purposes of this subtitle, if the property was acquired in a complete or partial liquidation of a corporation in exchange for its stock, the basis of the property shall be the same as it would be in the hands of the transferor corporation, increased by the amount of gain recognized to the transferor corporation upon such distribution and by the amount of any gain to the organization which was included, on account of such distribution, in unrelated business taxable income under subsection (a).
Where debt-financed property is held for purposes described in subsection (b)(1)(A), (B), (C), or (D) as well as for other purposes, proper allocation shall be made with respect to basis, indebtedness, and income and deductions. The allocations required by this section shall be made in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary to the extent proper to carry out the purposes of this section.
For purposes of this section, the term “real property” includes personal property of the lessor leased by it to a lessee of its real estate if the lease of such personal property is made under, or in connection with, the lease of such real estate.
The Secretary shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this section, including regulations to prevent the circumvention of any provision of this section through the use of segregated asset accounts.
(Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, 68A Stat. 172; Pub. L. 86–667, § 5, July 14, 1960, 74 Stat. 536; Pub. L. 91–172, title I, § 121(d)(1), (3)(A), (B), Dec. 30, 1969, 83 Stat. 543, 548; Pub. L. 93–625, § 7(b)(2), Jan. 3, 1975, 88 Stat. 2115; Pub. L. 94–455, title XIII, § 1308(a), title XIX, §§ 1901(a)(72), 1906(b)(13)(A), Oct. 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1729, 1776, 1834; Pub. L. 95–345, § 2(c), Aug. 15, 1978, 92 Stat. 482; Pub. L. 96–605, title I, § 110(a), Dec. 28, 1980, 94 Stat. 3525; Pub. L. 98–369, div. A, title I, § 174(b)(5)(B), title X, § 1034(a), (b), July 18, 1984, 98 Stat. 707, 1039, 1040; Pub. L. 99–514, title II, § 201(d)(9), title XVI, § 1603(b), title XVIII, § 1878(e), Oct. 22, 1986, 100 Stat. 2141, 2768, 2903; Pub. L. 100–203, title X, § 10214(a), (b), Dec. 22, 1987, 101 Stat. 1330–407; Pub. L. 100–647, title I, §§ 1016(a)(5)(A), (6), 1018(u)(13), title II, § 2004(h), Nov. 10, 1988, 102 Stat. 3574, 3575, 3590, 3603; Pub. L. 101–239, title VII, § 7811(l), Dec. 19, 1989, 103 Stat. 2412; Pub. L. 103–66, title XIII, § 13144(a), (b), Aug. 10, 1993, 107 Stat. 441, 442; Pub. L. 108–357, title II, § 247(a), title VII, § 702(b), Oct. 22, 2004, 118 Stat. 1449, 1546; Pub. L. 109–135, title IV, § 412(ee)(2), Dec. 21, 2005, 119 Stat. 2639; Pub. L. 109–280, title VIII, § 866(a), Aug. 17, 2006, 120 Stat. 1025.)
Terms defined here
Where the text says “the term … means”. Select a term to jump to its definition.
- acquisition indebtedness § 514(c)(1)
- acquisition indebtedness § 514(c)(4)
- acquisition indebtedness § 514(c)(5)
- acquisition indebtedness § 514(c)(6)(A)
- debt-financed property § 514(b)(1)
- disqualified holder § 514(c)(9)(F)(iii)
- financial institution § 514(c)(9)(H)(iv)
- foreclosure property § 514(c)(9)(H)(v)
- qualified organization § 514(c)(9)(C)
- real property § 514(f)
Regulations under this section
Treasury regulations (26 CFR) issued under § 514
- § 1.514(a)-1 Unrelated debt-financed income and deductions.
- § 1.514(a)-2 Business lease rents and deductions for taxable years beginning before January 1, 1970.
- § 1.514(b)-1 Definition of debt-financed property.
- § 1.514(c)-1 Acquisition indebtedness.
- § 1.514(c)-2 Permitted allocations under section 514(c)(9)(E).
- § 1.514(d)-1 Basis of debt-financed property acquired in corporate liquidation.
- § 1.514(e)-1 Allocation rules.
- § 1.514(f)-1 Definition of business lease.
- § 1.514(g)-1 Business lease indebtedness.
Cross-references
Computed from the citations in the text of Title 26 and 26 CFR.
This section cites 16 other sections
- § 512 Unrelated business taxable income
- § 1212 Capital loss carrybacks and carryovers
- § 167 Depreciation
- § 501 Exemption from tax on corporations, certain trusts, etc.
- § 511(a)(2)(B) Imposition of tax on unrelated business income of charitable, etc., organizations
- § 513(a) Unrelated trade or business
- § 267(b) Losses, expenses, and interest with respect to transactions between related taxpayers
- § 4975(e)(2) Tax on prohibited transactions
- § 168(h)(6) Accelerated cost recovery system
- § 170(b)(1)(A)(ii) Charitable, etc., contributions and gifts
- § 509(a)(3) Private foundation defined
- § 401 Qualified pension, profit-sharing, and stock bonus plans
- § 403(b)(9) Taxation of employee annuities
- § 704(b)(2) Partner’s distributive share
- § 1274(d) Determination of issue price in the case of certain debt instruments issued for property
- § 581 Definition of bank
Cited by 8 Code sections
- § 50(b)(3) Other special rules
- § 56A(c)(12)(B) Adjusted financial statement income
- § 168(h)(6)(D) Accelerated cost recovery system
- § 501(m)(5)(B) Exemption from tax on corporations, certain trusts, etc.
- § 512(b)(4) Unrelated business taxable income
- § 529(e)(4) Qualified tuition programs
- § 4942(e)(1)(B) Taxes on failure to distribute income
- § 9816(a)(3)(I) Preventing surprise medical bills
Cited in 23 regulations not issued under it
- § 1.48-1 Definition of section 38 property.
- § 1.168(j)-1T Questions and answers concerning tax-exempt entity leasing rules (temporary).
- § 1.168(k)-0 Table of contents.
- § 1.168(k)-1 Additional first year depreciation deduction.
- § 1.168(k)-2 Additional first year depreciation deduction for property acquired and placed in service after September 27, 2017.
- § 1.170A-4 Reduction in amount of charitable contributions of certain appreciated property.
- § 1.170A-9 Definition of section 170(b)(1)(A) organization.
- § 1.362-3 Basis of importation property acquired in loss importation transaction.
- § 1.446-3T Notional principal contracts (temporary).
- § 1.501(c)(2)-1 Corporations organized to hold title to property for exempt organizations.
- § 1.509(a)-4 Supporting organizations.
- § 1.512(a)-6 Special rule for organizations with more than one unrelated trade or business.
- § 1.512(b)-1 Modifications.
- § 1.643(a)-8 Certain distributions by charitable remainder trusts.
- § 1.664-1 Charitable remainder trusts.
- § 1.664-2 Charitable remainder annuity trust.
- § 1.664-3 Charitable remainder unitrust.
- § 1.1400L(b)-1 Additional first year depreciation deduction for qualified New York Liberty Zone property.
- § 1.1502-100 Corporations exempt from tax.
- § 53.4942(a)-2 Computation of undistributed income.
- § 301.6225-2 Modification of imputed underpayment.
- § 301.6621-1 Interest rate.
- § 301.7654-1 Coordination of U.S. and Guam individual income taxes.
Amendment history
From the source credit and the official notes, newest first.
- Amended by Pub. L. 109–280Parts changed in 2006: (c)(9)(C)(iv)
- Amended by Pub. L. 109–135Parts changed in 2005: (b)(1)(E)
- Amended by Pub. L. 108–357Parts changed in 2004: (b)(1)(E) (c)(6)
- Amended by Pub. L. 103–66Parts changed in 1993: (c)(9)(A) (c)(9)(B) (c)(9)(G)
- Amended by Pub. L. 101–239Parts changed in 1989: (c)(9)(E)
- Amended by Pub. L. 100–647Parts changed in 1988: (c)(9)(B) (c)(9)(E) (c)(9)(E)(i) (c)(9)(E)(iii)
- Amended by Pub. L. 100–203Parts changed in 1987: (c)(9)(B)(vi) (c)(9)(E)
- Amended by Pub. L. 99–514Parts changed in 1986: (c)(9)(B) (c)(9)(B)(vi) (c)(9)(B)(vi)(II) (c)(9)(C)(i) (c)(9)(C)(iii)
- Amended by Pub. L. 98–369Parts changed in 1984: (c)(9) (c)(9)(B)(iii) (g)
- Amended by Pub. L. 96–605Parts changed in 1980: (c)(9)
- Amended by Pub. L. 95–345Parts changed in 1978: (c)(8)
- Amended by Pub. L. 94–455Parts changed in 1976: (a)(1) (b)(3)(C)(iii) (c)(1) (c)(2)(C) (c)(7) (f) (g) (h)
- Amended by Pub. L. 93–625Parts changed in 1975: (b)(3)(D)
- Amended by Pub. L. 91–172Parts changed in 1969: (a) (b) (f) (g)
- Enacted by Pub. L. 86–667Parts changed in 1960: (c)(8)
Where it sits in the Code
- Subtitle A Income Taxes
- Chapter 1 NORMAL TAXES AND SURTAXES
- Subchapter F Exempt Organizations
- Part III TAXATION OF BUSINESS INCOME OF CERTAIN EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS
Nearby sections
Official notes
The Law Revision Counsel's notes for this section (amendments, effective dates and related laws) are long, so they have their own page.