(a) In general. (1) Section 75 requires certain adjustments to be made by dealers in securities with respect to premiums paid on municipal bonds which are held for sale to customers in the ordinary course of the trade or business. The adjustments depend upon the method of accounting used by the taxpayer in computing the gross income from the trade or business. See paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section.

(2) The term “municipal bond” under section 75 means any obligation issued by a government or political subdivision thereof if the interest on the obligation is excludable from gross income under section 103. However, such term does not include an obligation—

(i) If the earliest maturity or call date of the obligation is more than 5 years from the date of acquisition by the taxpayer or the obligation is sold or otherwise disposed of by the taxpayer within 30 days after the date of acquisition by him, and

(ii) If, in case of an obligation acquired after December 31, 1957, the amount realized upon its sale (or, in the case of any other disposition, its fair market value at the time of disposition) is higher than its adjusted basis.

(3) The term “cost of securities sold” means the amount ascertained by subtracting the inventory value of the closing inventory of a taxable year from the sum of the inventory value of the opening inventory for such year and the cost of securities and other property purchased during such year which would properly be included in the inventory of the taxpayer if on hand at the close of the taxable year.

(b) Inventories not valued at cost. (1) In the case of a dealer in securities who computes gross income from his trade or business by the use of inventories and values such inventories on any basis other than cost, the adjustment required by section 75 is, except as provided in subparagraph (2) of this paragraph, the reduction of “cost of securities sold” by the amount equal to the amortizable bond premium which would be disallowed as a deduction under section 171(a)(2) with respect to the municipal bond if the dealer were an ordinary investor holding such bond. Such amortizable bond premium is computed under section 171(b) by reference to the cost or other original basis of the bond on the date of acquisition (determined without regard to section 1013, relating to inventory value on a subsequent date).

(2) With respect to an obligation acquired after December 31, 1957, which has as its earliest maturity or call date a date more than five years from the date on which it was acquired by the taxpayer, the following rules shall apply:

(i) If the taxpayer holds the obligation at the end of the taxable year, he is not required by section 75 to reduce the “cost of securities sold” for such year with respect to the obligation.

(ii) If the taxpayer sells or otherwise disposes of the obligation during the taxable year, he shall reduce the “cost of securities sold” for the taxable year of the sale or disposition unless he sold the obligation for more than its adjusted basis or otherwise disposed of it when its fair market value was more than its adjusted basis. For purposes of determining whether or not the taxpayer sold the obligation for more than its adjusted basis, or otherwise disposed of it when its fair market value was more than its adjusted basis, the amount realized on the sale of the obligation, or the fair market value of the obligation, shall not include any amount attributable to interest, and the adjusted basis shall be computed without regard to any adjustment for amortization of bond premium required under sections 75 and 1016(a)(6). The amount of the reduction referred to in the first sentence of this subdivision is the total amount by which the adjusted basis of the obligation would be required to be reduced under section 1016(a)(5) were the obligation subject to the amortizable bond premium provisions of section 171; that is, the amount of the amortizable bond premium attributable to the period during which the obligation was held which would be disallowed as a deduction under section 171(a)(2) if the taxpayer were an ordinary investor.

(3) This paragraph may be illustrated by the following examples:

(c) Inventories not used or inventories valued at cost. (1) In the case of a dealer in securities who computes gross income from his trade or business without the use of inventories or by use of inventories valued at cost, the adjustment required by section 75 is a reduction of the adjusted basis of each municipal bond sold or otherwise disposed of during the taxable year. The amount of such reduction is the total amount by which the adjusted basis of the bond would be required to be reduced under section 1016(a)(5) were the bond subject to the amortizable bond premium provisions of section 171; that is, the amount of the amortizable bond premium attributable to the period during which the bond was held which would be disallowed as a deduction under section 171(a)(2) if the taxpayer were an ordinary investor.

(2) Subparagraph (1) of this paragraph may be illustrated by the following example:

(d) Bonds acquired before July 1, 1950. Under section 203(c) of the Revenue Act of 1950, adjustment is required for a municipal bond acquired before July 1, 1950, only with respect to taxable years beginning on or after that date. Accordingly, if the municipal bond was acquired before July 1, 1950, then for purposes of section 75 the amortizable bond premium under section 171 must be computed after adjusting the bond premium to the extent proper to reflect unamortized bond premium for so much of the holding period (as determined under section 1223) as precedes the taxable year of the dealer beginning on or after July 1, 1950. Thus, in example (1) of paragraph (b) and in the example in paragraph (c) of this section, the first taxable year beginning on or after July 1, 1950, is, for each dealer, the taxable year beginning January 1, 1951. If each dealer had purchased for $1,060 on April 1, 1950, a municipal bond having a face obligation of $1,000 and maturing April 1, 1955, and had sold such bond on February 28, 1955, the adjustment under section 75 would be computed as follows: