United States taxes - basic rules governing

United States taxes

Most of the basic rules governing how loans are handled for tax purposes in the United States are uncodified by both Congress (the Internal Revenue Code) and the Treasury Department (Treasury Regulations — another set of rules that interpret the Internal Revenue Code).[2] Yet such rules are universally accepted.[3]

1. A loan is not gross income to the borrower.[4] Since the borrower has the obligation to repay the loan, the borrower has no accession to wealth.[5]

2. The lender may not deduct the amount of the loan.[6] The rationale here is that one asset (the cash) has been converted into a different asset (a promise of repayment).[7] Deductions are not typically available when an outlay serves to create a new or different asset.[8]

3. The amount paid to satisfy the loan obligation is not deductible by the borrower.[9]

4. Repayment of the loan is not gross income to the lender.[10] In effect, the promise of repayment is converted back to cash, with no accession to wealth by the lender.[11]

5. Interest paid to the lender is included in the lender’s gross income.[12] Interest paid represents compensation for the use of the lender’s money or property and thus represents profit or an accession to wealth to the lender.[13] Interest income can be attributed to lenders even if the lender doesn’t charge a minimum amount of interest.[14]

6. Interest paid to the lender may be deductible by the borrower.[15] In general, interest paid in connection with the borrower’s business activity is deductible, while interest paid on personal loans are not deductible.[16] The major exception here is interest paid on a home mortgage

finance (capital) lease is a lease ,Treatment in the United

Treatment in the United States

Under US accounting standards, a finance (capital) lease is a lease which meets at least one of the following criteria:

* ownership of the asset is transferred to the lessee at the end of the lease term;
* the lease contains a bargain purchase option to buy the equipment at less than fair market value;
* the lease term equals or exceeds 75% of the asset's estimated useful life;
* the present value of the lease payments equals or exceeds 90% of the total original cost of the equipment.

Following the GAAP accounting point of view, such a lease is classified as essentially equivalent to a purchase by the lessee and is capitalized on the lessee's balance sheet. See Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 13 (FAS 13) for more details of classification and accounting.