(a) Carryover requirement. (1) If for any taxable year a distributor or transferor corporation has elected under section 615 or section 616 (or corresponding provisions of prior law) to defer and deduct on a ratable basis any exploration or development expenditures made in connection with any ore, mineral, mine, or other natural deposit transferred to the acquiring corporation in a transaction described in section 381(a), then under the provisions of section 381(c)(10) the acquiring corporation shall be entitled to deduct such expenditures on a ratable basis in the same manner, and to the same extent, as they would have been deductible by the distributor or transferor corporation in the absence of the distribution or transfer. For this purpose, the acquiring corporation shall be treated as though it were the distributor or transferor corporation. The principles set forth in paragraph (e) of § 1.615-3 and paragraph (f) of § 1.616-2 are applicable in computing the amount of the deduction allowable to the acquiring corporation in respect of expenditures deferred by a distributor or transferor corporation.
Example.X and Y Corporations are both organized on January 1, 1955, and both corporations compute their taxable income on the basis of the calendar year. During 1955, X Corporation purchases a mineral property which it begins to develop in 1956. During 1956, X Corporation incurs development expenditures of $500,000 in respect of such property which it elects to defer under section 616(b). On December 31, 1956, Y Corporation acquires all of the assets of X Corporation in a reorganization to which section 381(a) applies, no gain being recognized to X Corporation on the transfer. In 1957, Y Corporation sells 150,000 units of produced ore benefited by the development expenditures incurred and deferred by X Corporation, and the number of units remaining as of the end of 1957, plus the number of units sold during that year, is estimated to be 1,000,000. In addition to its deduction for depletion, Y Corporation is, in 1957, entitled to a deduction under sections 616(b) and 381(c)(10) of $75,000 of the development expenditures previously deferred by X Corporation, that is, $500,000 × 150,000/1,000,000.
(2) If a distributor or transferor corporation has elected under section 615 or section 616 (or corresponding provisions of prior law) to defer exploration or development expenditures in respect of a mine or other natural deposit which it subsequently disposes of except for a retained economic interest therein, such as the right to royalty income or in-ore payments, and such retained economic interest is transferred to the acquiring corporation in a transaction to which section 381(a) applies, then the acquiring corporation shall be entitled to deduct such deferred expenditures attributable to the economic interest retained on a ratable basis to the same extent they would have been deductible by the distributor or transferor corporation in the absence of the distribution or transfer. See paragraph (c) of § 1.615-3 and paragraph (c) of § 1.616-2.
(3) For purposes of this section, the terms exploration expenditures and development expenditures shall have the same meaning as that ascribed to them in the regulations under sections 615 and 616 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, or under sections 23(cc) and 23(ff) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939, whichever applies. See, for example, paragraph (a) of § 1.615-1 and paragraph (a) of § 1.616-1.
(b) Effect and identification of election previously made. (1) The election made by a distributor or transferor corporation under the provisions of section 615 or section 616 (or corresponding provisions of prior law) to defer exploration or development expenditures in respect of any taxable year may not be revoked by the acquiring corporation for any reason whatsoever.
(2) When filing its return for the first taxable year for which it deducts exploration or development expenditures which were deferred under section 615 or section 616 (or corresponding provisions of prior law) by a distributor or transferor corporation, the acquiring corporation shall attach thereto a statement properly identifying the taxable year for which the election to defer was made by the distributor or transferor corporation, the name of the corporation which made the election, and the district director with whom the election was filed.
(3) It is unnecessary for an acquiring corporation to renew an election to defer exploration or development expenditures which was made by a distributor or transferor corporation.
(c) Successive transactions to which section 381(a) applies. If, by virtue of section 381(c)(10), the acquiring corporation is entitled to deduct exploration or development expenditures deferred by a distributor or transferor corporation, then such acquiring corporation shall be deemed to have made the election to defer such expenditures for purposes of applying section 381(c)(10) to any subsequent transaction in which such acquiring corporation is a distributor or transferor corporation.
(d) Carryover of limitation requirements. (1) If a distributor or transferor corporation transfers any mineral property to the acquiring corporation in a transaction described in section 381(a) and the acquiring corporation pays or incurs exploration expenditures in a taxable year ending after the date of the distribution or transfer, then in applying the 4-year or $400,000 limitations described in section 615(c) and paragraphs (a) and (b) of § 1.615-4, whichever is applicable, the acquiring corporation shall be deemed to have been allowed any deduction which, for any taxable year ending on or before the date of distribution or transfer, was allowed to the distributor or transferor corporation under section 615(a), or under section 23(ff)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939, or to have made any election which, for any such preceding year, was made by the distributor or transferor corporation under section 615(b), or under section 23(ff)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939. Thus, in such instance, the acquiring corporation shall take into account the years in which the distributor or transferor corporation exercised the election to deduct or defer exploration expenditures and any amounts so deducted or deferred. For this purpose, it is immaterial whether the deduction has been allowed to, or the election has been made by, the distributor or transferor corporation with respect to the specific mineral property transferred by that corporation to the acquiring corporation.
(2) Generally, for purposes of applying the 4-year limitation described in paragraph (a) of § 1.615-4, if there are two or more distributor or transferor corporations that transfer any mineral property to the acquiring corporation, each taxable year of any such corporation ending on or before the date of distribution or transfer in which exploration expenditures were deducted or deferred shall be treated as a separate taxable year regardless of the fact that the taxable years of two or more such corporations normally end on the same date. However, if the date of distribution or transfer is the same with respect to more than one distributor or transferor corporation, then the taxable years of such corporations ending on the same date of distribution or transfer shall be considered as one taxable year for purposes of applying the 4-year limitation even though more than one such corporation deducted or deferred exploration expenditures for such taxable years.
(3) For purposes of applying the $400,000 limitation described in paragraph (b) of § 1.615-4, if there are two or more distributor or transferor corporations that transfer any mineral property to the acquiring corporation, any exploration expenditures which were deducted or treated as deferred expenses by such corporations for taxable years ending after December 31, 1950, shall be taken into account by the acquiring corporation.
(4) If a distributor or transferor corporation that transfers any mineral property to the acquiring corporation was required to take into account any taxable years or amounts of its transferor, as provided by paragraph (e) of § 1.615-4, for purposes of either the 4-year limitation described in paragraph (a) of § 1.615-4 or the $400,000 limitation described in paragraph (b) of § 1.615-4, then the acquiring corporation shall also take these taxable years and amounts into account in applying the same limitations.
(5) The provisions of this paragraph may be illustrated by the following examples:
Example 1.M and N Corporations were organized on January 1, 1956, and each corporation computes its taxable income on the basis of the calendar year. For each of its taxable years 1956 and 1957, M Corporation expended $60,000 for exploration expenditures and exercised the option to deduct such amounts under section 615(a). N Corporation made no exploration expenditures during its taxable years 1956 and 1957. On December 31, 1957, M Corporation transferred all of its assets to N Corporation in a transaction to which section 381(a) applies, no gain being recognized to the transferor corporation on the transfer. N Corporation made exploration expenditures of $100,000, $120,000, $110,000, and $100,000 for the years 1958, 1959, 1960, and 1961, respectively, which expenditures it desired to deduct under section 615(a) to the extent allowable. On the basis of these facts, N Corporation may deduct up to $100,000 for each of the years 1958 and 1959. No deduction or deferral is allowable for 1960 since the benefits of section 615(c) were previously availed of for 4 taxable years. However, N Corporation may deduct $80,000 for 1961 (the 4-year limitation not applying to such year) but, if such deduction is made, N Corporation will not be allowed any further deductions or deferrals since the $400,000 limitation of paragraph (b) of § 1.615-4 will have been reached.
Example 2.R and S Corporations were organized on January 1, 1955, and each corporation computes its income on the basis of the calendar year. For the 1955 taxable year neither corporation made any exploration expenditures under section 615(a). On June 30, 1956, R Corporation transferred all its assets to S Corporation in a transaction to which section 381(a) applies, no gain being recognized to the transferor corporation on the transfer. During its short taxable year ending June 30, 1956, R Corporation made exploration expenditures of $60,000 which it elected to deduct under section 615. For its taxable year ending December 31, 1956, S Corporation may deduct or defer exploration expenditures up to $100,000 since this is a separate election for purposes of utilizing section 615 and is not affected by the $60,000 previously deducted by R Corporation. Assuming S Corporation exercises an election under section 615 for its taxable year ending December 31, 1956, S Corporation may elect to apply the benefits of section 615 to exploration expenditures for two more taxable years. However, for taxable years beginning after July 6, 1960 (the 4-year limitation not applying), S Corporation is entitled under section 615 to deduct or defer exploration expenditures made in such years to the extent that the combined deductions and deferrals by R and S Corporations in prior years did not exceed $400,000.
Example 3.O and P Corporations were organized on January 1, 1955, and each corporation computes its taxable income on the basis of the calendar year. For their taxable years 1955, 1956, and 1957, each corporation deducted exploration expenditures made in such years under section 615(a). On June 30, 1958, O Corporation transferred all its assets to P Corporation in a transaction to which section 381(a) applies, no gain being recognized to the transferor corporation on the transfer. If, during its short taxable year ending June 30, 1958, O Corporation made additional exploration expenditures, it may deduct or defer such expenditures (up to $100,000) under section 615 since O Corporation has utilized section 615 in only three previous taxable years. For its taxable years ending after June 30, 1958, and beginning before July 7, 1960, P Corporation may not deduct or defer exploration expenditures under section 615, since the benefits of that section were utilized by O and P Corporations for 4 taxable years. However, for taxable years beginning after July 6, 1960 (the 4-year limitation not applying), P is entitled under section 615 to deduct or defer exploration expenditures made in such years to the extent that the combined deductions and deferrals by O and P Corporations in prior years do not exceed $400,000. See paragraph (b) of § 1.615-4.
Example 4.X, Y, and Z Corporations were organized on January 1, 1955, and each corporation computes its taxable income on the basis of the calendar year. For their taxable years ending December 31, 1955, X and Y Corporations each deferred $100,000 for exploration expenditures made in such taxable years under section 615(b). Z Corporation made no exploration expenditures during its taxable year ending December 31, 1955. On March 31, 1956, X and Y Corporations transferred all their assets to Z Corporation in a transaction to which section 381(a) applies, no gain being recognized to the transferor corporations on the transfer. X and Y Corporations each made exploration expenditures of $75,000 during their short taxable years ending March 31, 1956, which they deducted under section 615(a). For purposes of taxable years beginning before July 7, 1960, Z Corporation must take into account the taxable years in which X and Y Corporations deducted or deferred exploration expenditures. In so doing, each taxable year in which exploration expenditures were deducted or deferred must be taken into account except that the taxable years of X and Y Corporations ending on March 31, 1956, shall be considered as one taxable year. Therefore, Z Corporation may deduct or defer exploration expenditures in accordance with section 615 for any one taxable year ending after March 31, 1956, and beginning before July 7, 1960. However, for taxable years beginning after July 6, 1960 (the 4-year limitation not applying), Z Corporation must take into account for purposes of the $400,000 limitation all of the $350,000 of exploration expenditures deducted or deferred by X, Y, and Z Corporations during taxable years ending after December 31, 1950. Therefore, Z Corporation, assuming it has not deducted or deferred any exploration expenditures, is entitled under section 615 to deduct or defer in taxable years beginning after July 6, 1960, up to $50,000 for exploration expenditures made in such years.
Example 5.For purposes of this example, assume that each taxpayer computes taxable income on the basis of the calendar year. Taxpayer A, an individual who has deducted exploration expenditures of $75,000 under section 23(ff) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939 for each of his taxable years 1952 and 1953, transferred a mineral property to K Corporation on January 1, 1954, in a transaction in which the basis of the mineral property in the hands of K Corporation is determined under section 362(a). For its taxable year 1954 and pursuant to section 615(a)., K Corporation deducted exploration expenditures of $100,000 which it made in such year. K Corporation had made no exploration expenditures in any preceding taxable year. On December 31, 1954, K Corporation transferred all its assets to L Corporation in a reorganization to which section 381(a) applies, no gain being recognized to the transferor corporation on the transfer. Assuming that L Corporation has not deducted or deferred exploration expenditures in any preceding taxable year, L Corporation may deduct or defer exploration expenditures (up to $100,000) in accordance with section 615 for any one taxable year ending after December 31, 1954, and beginning before July 7, 1960, in view of the 4-year limitation. However, if L Corporation does not deduct or defer exploration expenditures in that period, then for taxable years beginning after July 6, 1960 (the 4-year limitation not applying), L Corporation is entitled to deduct or defer up to $150,000 (but not to exceed $100,000 per year) for exploration expenditures made in such years. See paragraph (b) of § 1.615-4.
[T.D. 6552, 26 FR 1988, Mar. 8, 1961, as amended by T.D. 6685, 28 FR 11406, Oct. 24, 1963]