Groups Ask IRS to Leave Some Stocks Out of Buyback Regulations

Two groups are asking the IRS to exclude a certain tier of preferred stocks from regulations on the stock buyback excise tax the Treasury Department proposed in April.

CoBank, a Colorado-based lender to agribusiness and others in the rural economy, and the trade association Farm Credit Council asked the IRS and Treasury in letters last week to modify the definition of “stock” in the final regulations to exempt additional tier 1, or AT1, stock. Including them hinders an entity’s ability to manage risk through issuing and repurchasing their preferred stock, an instrument that is “highly regulated and restricted,” the ...