When Is Stock Worthless

When an S corporation's stock becomes shareholders are treated as having of their entire interest in the S corporation for passive activity loss purposes, allowing the shareholders to deduct suspended passive losses from the S corporation without regard to the passive activity loss rules. As demonstrated in Bilthouse, No. 05-c-4442 (N.D. Ill. 2007), aff'd, 553 F.3d 513 (7th Cir. 2009), taxpayers and the IRS frequently disagree on when the stock of a corporation becomes worthless. Alan Bilthouse was a 25% shareholder in an S corporation, S&E Contractors Inc., a heavy construction contractor in Florida that performed public works projects. The company suffered large losses in 1994 and 1995. In 1995, the company became insolvent and defaulted on its construction bonds, and its bonding companies began collecting any subsequent revenues the company generated. S&E filed a lawsuit later that year against the city of Jacksonville, Fla., to try to recoup some of its financial losses from one of its projects with the city. The suit was settled in 1997, but S&E was denied any financial restitution. In 2001, Bilthouse filed claims for refunds on personal amended returns for 1994 through 1999. Bilthouse contended that his S&E stock became worthless in 1997, resulting in a complete disposition of his interest in the stock per Sec. 165(g). By treating the disposition as occurring in 1997, under Sec 469(g), Bilthouse was able to deduct on the amended returns more than $5 million in accumulated disallowed passive losses that S&E had allocated to him over a number of years. The IRS argued that these claimed deductions were not allowable because Bilthouse's S&E stock became worthless in 1995, not in 1997. Bilthouse filed a refund suit, but the district court granted summary judgment for the IRS, and the Seventh Circuit affirmed. Regs. Sec. 1.165-1(b) allows a taxpayer to deduct a loss that is evidenced by a closed and completed transaction, fixed by an identifiable event, and actually sustained in the tax year deducted. If stock is deemed the loss is deductible as of the last day of the corporation's tax year (Sec. 165(g)), and any suspended losses from a passive activity are released, since the entity is considered disposed of' when its stock becomes worthless (Sec. 469(g)). Even though Sec. 165(g) does not define worthless, courts have determined when stock is worthless under various standards relating to the value of a company In Bilthouse, the Seventh Circuit stated that whether stock was worthless is a facts-and-circumstances inquiry and that most courts look at both the liquidating value and the potential value in making the determination. …