Rural telephone cooperative's gain on sale of a broadband partnership is patronage-sourced income

Plain-English summary

A rural telephone cooperative (now taxable, because it no longer meets the 85% member-income test for exemption under § 501(c)(12)) had invested through a subsidiary in a partnership that built and ran a regional fiber-optic broadband network. The cooperative used that network to serve its members. When the partnership was sold, the cooperative asked the IRS whether its share of the gain counts as "patronage-sourced" income. That matters because a nonexempt telephone cooperative can exclude patronage-sourced income from its taxable income when it allocates that income back to members as patronage dividends (capital credits). Applying the "directly related" test from cases like Farmland Industries, the IRS concluded that because the partnership provided telecommunications service to the cooperative's members, the portion of the gain allocable to members' use of the network is patronage-sourced income. That member portion may be excluded from the cooperative's consolidated gross income in the year of sale if properly allocated to members. The IRS expressed no view on any other aspect of the transaction.

Ruling snapshot

• Question: Is a nonexempt rural telephone cooperative's gain from selling a broadband-network partnership interest patronage-sourced income excludable when allocated to members?
• Outcome: Approved (favorable ruling as to the member portion)
• Key authorities: IRC §§ 1381(a)(2)(C), 1382, 1388; Treas. Reg. §§ 1.1382-3, 1.1388-1; Farmland Industries v. Commissioner; Puget Sound Plywood v. Commissioner

Full text (IRS public release)

Internal Revenue Service
Department of the Treasury
Washington, DC 20224

Number: 202214004
Third Party Communication: None
Release Date: 4/8/2022
Date of Communication: Not Applicable
Index Number: 1382.00-00, 1388.00-00
Person To Contact:
------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------, ID No. ----------------
------------------------------------------------------- Telephone Number:
-----------------------------
--------------------
----------------------------
Refer Reply To:
------------------------------
CC:PSI:B05
PLR-114958-21
Date:
January 13, 2022

Re: -------------------------------------------------------

Legend

Taxpayer = ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Consolidated Subsidiary = --------------------------------------------------------------

Partnership = ---------------------------------------

Limited Liability Company A = ----------------------------------------------------

Limited Liability Company B = ------------------------------------------

State A = --------

a = -------

b = -------

c = ---

d = -------

e = ---------------------
PLR-114958-21
2

Dear -----------------:

This is in response to a letter dated July 20, 2021, on behalf of Taxpayer by your authorized representative requesting a ruling on the transaction described below.

Taxpayer is a rural telephone cooperative that was incorporated in a, under State A statutes. Taxpayer operates on a cooperative basis and was formed to bring telephone service to rural regions of State A. Taxpayer's Bylaws require it to allocate patronage earnings among its patrons (members) on a patronage basis. Taxpayer's members are patrons that purchase retail telecommunications services from Taxpayer or a subsidiary of Taxpayer. Purchasers of Taxpayer's services at wholesale, or otherwise for resale, are not eligible for membership or patronage credits with respect to such wholesale services.

Taxpayer was previously granted exemption as a rural telephone cooperative under section 501(c)(12) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). At some point in its history, Taxpayer was no longer able to receive 85 percent or more of its income from members as required by the Code. As a result, Taxpayer now operates as a taxable cooperative corporation.

Taxpayer is the parent and agent of an affiliated group that files a consolidated federal income tax return using a December 31 year end and the accrual method of accounting. Taxpayer wholly owns Consolidated Subsidiary. To assist Taxpayer in complying with applicable federal, state, and local regulations for telecommunication service providers, Consolidated Subsidiary holds nonregulated telecommunication assets for the benefit of Taxpayer and in furtherance of Taxpayer's telecommunication services. Taxpayer provides a wide range of telecommunication services to its members and non-member customers, both directly and through Consolidated Subsidiary.

In b, Partnership was formed by c rural telephone companies (Founding Partners). Partnership was created to build and operate a fiber optic cable (broadband) network to transport data across the combined territories of Founding Partners. The pooling of resources in Partnership enabled the Founding Partners to leverage and combine their existing fiber optic networks into a broadband transport network they could use to connect their local exchange networks to major cities and deliver broadband telephone and internet services to customers in their respective service areas.

During Partnership's formation, Taxpayer acquired two separate equity interests in Partnership. First, Consolidated Subsidiary acquired a direct equity interest in Partnership. Second, Consolidated Subsidiary acquired an indirect equity interest in Partnership through its membership in Limited Liability Company A, whereby Limited Liability Company A acquired a direct equity interest in Partnership.
PLR-114958-21
3

Upon Partnership's formation, Partnership contracted with Limited Liability Company B to provide a full suite of broadband telecommunications network operating services for Partnership's business. Following Partnership's formation, Partnership developed and operated a regional broadband fiber optic network. Taxpayer used the regional network to connect its local exchange network to major cities and deliver high quality, cost affordable telecommunications services and products to its members and other customers in its service area. Partnership's fiber network also provided transport and internet services as a "carrier's carrier" to wholesale customers (i.e., other communications companies providing telephone, internet, and similar services). The day-to-day operations of Partnership were managed by Limited Liability Company B since Partnership's inception.

In d, Founding Partners entered an agreement to sell their respective equity interests to Limited Liability Company B for an all-cash purchase price. The sale was prompted by the change in ownership and control of Limited Liability Company B, whereby the interests and objectives of Limited Liability Company B and Founding Partners were no longer aligned. Following its change in ownership, Limited Liability Company B also became interested in acquiring Partnership's network and integrating it with Limited Liability Company B's network to offer current and potential customers a unified service across the two companies' territories.

The sale of Partnership to Limited Liability Company B consummated on e.
Following the sale, Consolidated Subsidiary received its share of sale proceeds in exchange for its two separate interests in Partnership.

Taxpayer plans to use the sale proceeds to build out its local exchange network, improve services to its members and other customers, and focus on its core mission of bringing state-of-the-art telecommunications services to homes and businesses in the rural communities it serves.

Based on the foregoing, Taxpayer requests a ruling that:

Consolidated Subsidiary's gain from the sale of its equity interest in Partnership, and Consolidated Subsidiary's distributive share of partnership income from Limited Liability Company A's sale of its equity interest in Partnership, the proportion of these gains that are allocable to Taxpayer's members use of Partnership's network constitutes patronage-sourced income and, if that proportion of gain is properly allocated to Taxpayer's members, is excludable from Taxpayer's consolidated gross income in the tax year of the sale.

In the event a rural telephone cooperative such as Taxpayer loses its tax-exempt status, section 501(c)(12) no longer applies until such time as the cooperative again satisfies the requirements for exemption. During any taxable period, the rules applicable to the telephone cooperative depend on the reasons why it failed its exemption test. If exemption was lost because the company failed to operate on a cooperative basis, then
PLR-114958-21
4

it will be taxed under the same rules applicable to for-profit corporations. Alternatively, if the cooperative becomes taxable because it failed the so-called 85-percent-income test imposed by section 501(c)(12), then the organization will be taxed as a cooperative.

While the requirements of subchapter C of the Code regarding corporate distributions and adjustments and other provisions are generally applicable to nonexempt cooperatives, these entities are distinguished from other types of corporations by a specific body of tax law. The scheme of taxation for nonexempt cooperatives was developed from the administrative pronouncements of the Service and decision of the judiciary over a fifty-year period. These rules for tax treatment of most nonexempt cooperatives and their patrons were finally codified with the enactment Subchapter T of the Code as part of the Revenue Act of 1962. Pub. L. No. 87-834 (H.R. 10650).

With passage of Subchapter T, the rules for deduction of patronage dividends and the treatment of patronage dividends in the hands of a cooperative's patrons were defined. However, section 1381(a)(2)(C) of the Code states that Subchapter T is not applicable to an organization engaged in furnishing electric energy, or providing telephone service to persons in rural areas. According to the Senate Finance Committee Report accompanying the 1962 Act, the intent of Congress was that nonexempt rural electric and telephone cooperatives would continue to be treated as under "present law."

In its report accompanying the legislation, the Senate Finance Committee described "present law" as follows:

"Under present law patronage dividends paid by taxable cooperatives result in a reduction in the cooperative's taxable income only if they are paid during the taxable year in which the patronage occurred or within the period in the next year elapsing before the prior year's income tax return is required to be filed (including any extensions of time granted)." S. Rep. No. 1881, 87th Cong., 1st Sess. 113 (1962).

Under this earlier body of tax law applicable to nonexempt telephone cooperatives, a cooperative may reduce its taxable income by any qualifying patronage dividends paid to their members/patrons. Further, under pre-1962 cooperative rules, the term "paid" means paid in cash or paid by notice of allocation. See also Rev. Rul. 83- 135, 1983-2 C.B. 149 (A taxable cooperative not subject to the provisions of subchapter T may exclude from gross income the patronage dividends paid or allocated to its patrons in accordance with its by-laws).

While Subchapter T does not control the taxation of nonexempt telephone cooperatives, its foundations rest upon pre-1962 cooperative tax law. As a result, there are certain basic parallels between the tax treatment of nonexempt utility cooperatives and treatment of other cooperative organizations under Subchapter T. Therefore, to
PLR-114958-21
5

extent that Subchapter T reflects cooperative taxation as it existed prior to 1962, it is in instructive resolving certain issues facing rural telephone cooperatives. This is because Congress stated that in enacting Subchapter T it was merely codifying the long common law history of cooperative taxation (with the exception of ensuring at least one annual level of tax at the cooperative or patron level. See S. Rep. No. 1881, 87 th Cong., 1st Sess. 113 (1962)) and, arguably, the case law post-enactment is merely a continuation and refinement of the pre-enactment common law. This is particularly true with respect to defining certain terms such as "operating on a cooperative basis" and "patronage income."

Perhaps the most succinct definition of the term "cooperative" for Federal income tax purposes was provided by the U.S. Tax Court in Puget Sound Plywood, Inc. v. Commissioner, 44 T.C. 305 (1965), acq. 1966-1 C.B. 3. The Tax Court said:

"Under the cooperative association form or organization, on the other hand, the worker-members of the association supply their own capital at their own risk; select their own management and supply their own direction for the enterprise, through worker meetings conducted on a democratic basis; and then themselves receive the fruits of their cooperative endeavors, through allocations of the same among themselves as coworkers, in proportion to the amounts of their active participation in the cooperative undertaking."

The Tax Court went on to describe three guiding principles at the core of economic cooperative theory as:

"(1) Subordination of capital, both as regards control over the cooperative undertaking, and as regards the ownership of the pecuniary benefits arising therefrom; (2) democratic control by the worker-members themselves; and, (3) the vesting in and allocation among the worker-members of all fruits and increases arising from their cooperative endeavor (i.e., the excess of operating revenues over the costs incurred in generating those revenues), in proportion to the worker-members active participation in the cooperative endeavor." 44 T.C. at 308.

The mechanism by which telephone cooperatives achieve operation at cost is the patronage dividend (or capital credit). Since the payment of patronage dividends (and operation at cost) is so critical to achieving cooperative status as defined by Puget Sound, it is important to analyze this issue.

Rural telephone cooperatives perform a final accounting at year-end to determine the net margin derived from their members' patronage during the course of the year. Then, the excess over cost collected from members is returned to them by a capital credit allocation based on each member's patronage. Those capital credits are typically "paid" by allocations of capital credit certificates or notices of allocation, rather than in
PLR-114958-21
6

cash. The capital credits retained form the foundation for the organization's equity capital.

A true patronage dividend that may be excluded from the income of a rural telephone cooperative must meet the three tests set forth in Farmers Cooperative Co. v. Birmingham, 86 F, Supp 201 (N.D. Ia. 1949), and Pomeroy Cooperative Grain Co. v. Commissioner, 31 T.C. 674 (1958), acq., AOD 1959-2 C.B. 6. Those tests are:

1. It must be made subject to a preexisting legal obligation;

2. the allocation must be made on the basis of patronage; and

3. the margins allocated must be derived from the profits generated from patrons' dealings with the cooperative.

Although the Code does not provide specific guidance as to what constitutes patronage-sourced income for a nonexempt telephone cooperative, regulations and rulings address the issues for cooperatives governed by Subchapter T. While not directly applicable to taxable utility cooperatives per se, arguably they reflect the correct analysis with respect patronage income of cooperatives subject to pre-1962 law.

The Senate Committee Report accompanying the cooperative provisions in the Revenue Act of 1951 indicated that the Congress intended to tax "ordinary" (i.e., non- farmer) cooperatives for:

"non-operating income…not derived from patronage, as for example in the case of interest or rental income, even if distributed to patrons on a pro rata basis." S. Rep. No. 781, 82d Cong. 1st Sess. (1951).

In response to that guidance of Congress, the Service promulgated regulations distinguishing nonpatronage income from that which is patronage derived.

Section 1388(a) of the Code defines the term "patronage dividend" as an amount paid to a patron (1) on the basis of quantity or value of business done with or for such patron, (2) under an obligation of such organization to pay such amount, which obligation existed before the organization received the amount so paid, and (3) which is determined by reference to the net earnings of the organization from business done with or for its patrons. Such term does not include any amount paid to a patron to the extent that (A) such amount is out of earnings other than from business done with or f or patrons, or (B) such amount is out of earnings from business done with or for other patrons to whom no amounts are paid, or to whom smaller amounts are paid, with respect to substantially identical transactions. The (B) exception is further explained under Section 1.1388-1(a)(2)(ii) of the Income Tax Regulations:
PLR-114958-21
7

"An amount paid to a patron by a cooperative organization to the extent that such amount is paid out of earnings from business done with or for other patrons to whom no amounts are paid, or to whom smaller amounts are paid, with respect to substantially identical transactions. Thus, if a cooperative organization does not pay any patronage dividends to nonmembers, any portion of the amounts paid to members which is out of net earnings from patronage with nonmembers, and which would have been paid to the nonmembers if all patrons were treated alike, is not a patronage dividend."

In Rev. Rul. 69-576, 1962-2 C.B. 166, the taxpayer (a nonexempt farmers' cooperative) borrowed money from a bank for cooperatives to finance the acquisition of agricultural supplies for resale to its members. At the close of the taxable year for the bank, the bank determined its net earnings, which it then allocated to its patrons, including the nonexempt farmers' cooperative, on a patronage basis. The patronage allocations were based on the proportion of the total interest paid to it by each cooperative during the taxable year. The nonexempt farmers' cooperative included the patronage allocations received by it from the bank for cooperatives in its gross income for the taxable year received under section 1385 of the Code. Under a preexisting obligation the nonexempt farmers' cooperative then allocated and paid the same amount it received from the bank for cooperatives to its own patrons. The Rev. Rul. held that the allocation and payment of the amount by the nonexempt farmer's cooperative to its own patrons qualified as a patronage dividend. The Rev. Rul. stated that: "The classification of an item as from either patronage or non-patronage sources is dependent on the relationship of the activity generating the income to the marketing, purchasing, or service activities of the cooperative. If the income is produced by a transaction which actually facilitates the accomplishment of the cooperative's marketing, purchasing, or servicing activities, the income is from patronage sources."

In Farmland Industries, Inc. v. Commissioner, 78 T.C.M. 846, 864 (1999), acq., AOD 2001-03, a cooperative organized for the purpose of providing petroleum products to its patrons, sought to have the proceeds from the disposition of its stock in three subsidiaries, along with the income from the sale of its gas and soybean facilities, and miscellaneous depreciable business assets classified as patronage source. In articulating the "directly related" test for making the determination, the Court provides that if the income at issue is produced by a transaction which is directly related to the cooperative enterprise, such that the transaction facilitates the cooperative's marketing, purchasing or service activities, then the income is deemed to be patronage income. On the other hand, if the income is derived from a transaction that has no integral and necessary linkage to the cooperative enterprise, such that it may fairly be said that the income is merely incidental to the cooperative enterprise and does nothing more than add to the overall profitability of the cooperative, then the income is deemed to be nonpatronage income. The determination of whether income derived from a transaction that is directly related to the cooperative enterprise, and, thus, is patronage income is a determination that is necessarily fact intensive. In considering the relatedness of the
PLR-114958-21
8

income-producing transaction to the cooperative enterprise, it is important to focus on the "totality of the circumstances" and to view the business environment to which the income-producing transaction is related and not to view the transaction so narrowly as to limit it only to its income-generating characteristic when such a characterization is not consistent with the actual activity. The Court ruled that the sale of cooperative's assets met the directly related test and therefore the resultant gains and losses were patronage sourced.

Section 1.1382-3(c)(3) of the Income Tax Regulations, provides that it is necessary that the amount sought to be deducted be paid on a patronage basis in proportion, insofar as is practicable, to the amount of business done by or for patrons during the period to which such income is attributable. For example, if capital gains are realized from the sale or exchange of capital assets acquired and disposed of during the taxable year, income realized from such gains must be paid to patrons of such year in proportion to the amount of business done by such patrons during the taxable year. Similarly, if capital gains are realized by the association from the sale or exchange of capital assets held for a period extending into more than one taxable year income realized from such gains must be paid, insofar as is practicable, to the persons who were patrons during the taxable years in which the asset was owned by the association in proportion to the amount of business done by such patrons during such taxable years.

Based on consideration of Taxpayer's representations, since the Partnership was used to provide telecommunication services to Taxpayer's members, the sale of these investments satisfies the directly related test and the portion of gain that is allocable to Taxpayer's members use of Partnership's network (member portion) of the gain is patronage sourced income.

Accordingly, the member portion of (1) gain from the sale of the equity interest in Partnership and (2) distributive share of partnership income from Limited Liability Company A's sale of its equity interest in Partnership constitutes patronage-sourced income, which may be excluded from Taxpayer's consolidated gross income in the taxable year of the sale if properly allocated to Taxpayer's members.

Except as expressly provided herein, no opinion is expressed or implied concerning the tax consequences of any aspect of any transaction or item discussed or referenced in this letter.

The rulings contained in this letter are based upon information and representations submitted by the Taxpayer and accompanied by a penalty of perjury statement executed by an appropriate party. While this office has not verified any of the material submitted in support of the request for rulings, it is subject to verification on examination.
PLR-114958-21
9

This ruling is directed only to the taxpayers that requested it. Section 6110(k)(3) provides that it may not be used or cited as precedent.

In accordance with the power of attorney submitted with the ruling request, a copy of this letter is being sent to your authorized representatives.

Sincerely yours,

Associate Chief Counsel
(Passthroughs & Special Industries)

By: James A. Holmes__
James A. Holmes
Senior Counsel, Branch 5
Office of Associate Chief Counsel
(Passthroughs & Special Industries)

Enclosure
Copy for §6110 Purposes

cc: