“Relevant” Under the Economic Substance Doctrine – The Case of Patel v. Commissioner

One of the basic principles of tax law is the economic substance doctrine. As recognized for many years in case law, under the economic substance doctrine, courts would generally examine both whether a transaction had economic substance beyond tax benefits and whether there was a nontax business purpose for entering the transaction; transactions that could not meet the economic substance doctrine could be disregarded or disallowed for tax purposes. The Tax Court in the Patel case concluded that (1) the taxpayer’s captive insurance company transactions did not have economic substance under the two-part “economic substance doctrine” test.

The 2025 Tax Act – Key Business Tax Provisions

One key change for business taxpayers under the 2025 Tax Act concerns the tax treatment of “domestic research or experimental expenditures” (often also referred to as “U.S. R&D” costs). Also, the 2025 Tax Act permanently enacts into law the provision from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 that created the “qualified business income” deduction – generally allowing a 20% deduction with respect to the “qualified business income” from partnerships, S corporations, and sole proprietorships.

“Related Party” Transactions

This article focuses on “related party” transactions under Internal Revenue Code Section 267(a)(1) and Internal Revenue Code Section 1239(a). While there is some overlap, it should be noted that the specific scope of “related parties” for purposes of a “related party” transaction under Internal Revenue Code Section 1239(a) is different than the specific scope of “related parties” under Internal Revenue Code Section 267(a)(1).

The Wash Sale Rule

A less well-known rule that can affect the tax deduction of losses from the sale of stock is the wash sale rule, enacted under Internal Revenue Code Section 1091. This article discusses the application of the wash sale rule.