US debt-equity special focus

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2026

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

US debt-equity special focus

us-debt-equity-puff.gif

US taxpayers who seek to exploit the differences in the tax treatment of debt and equity will need to prepare for more aggressive enforcement by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The decisions in three recent court cases, all featured in this International Tax Review special focus, suggest how companies could deal with this approach from the tax authorities.

Download the special report as a PDF

The IRS's fight against hybrid financing instruments is an issue US tax directors cannot afford to ignore.

Tax-minimising opportunities arise for multinationals when financing cross-border transactions because treatment of hybrid debt-equity instruments across jurisdictions is not uniform. And the US Tax Court has shown in recent rulings that tax planning, to benefit from such opportunities, is perfectly acceptable.

But the IRS does not like it and is increasingly challenging multinationals on the issue. This report analyses the Hewlett Packard, Scottish Power and PepsiCo debt-equity cases, pulling out the practical lessons for taxpayers considering putting debt-equity structures in place.

It also examines how to defend a debt-equity position against an IRS challenge, with exclusive insight from the taxpayer and adviser team involved in guiding Scottish Power to its hard-fought Tax Court victory over the IRS.

Join your peers by engaging in the debate on LinkedIn and Twitter. The ITR Twitter handle is @Intltaxreview and you can share your views using #ITRdisputes

Tweet this         #ITRdisputes         LinkedIn group

Contents

us-debt-equity1-court.jpg

How to deal with debt-equity in the US

us-debt-equity2-pepsi.jpg

Has PepsiCo's US Tax Court win revealed "super factor" in deciding debt vs equity cases?

us-debt-equity3-scottishpower.jpg

How Scottish Power's US Tax Court victory could hamper IRS

us-debt-equity4-hp.jpg

Hewlett-Packard's court defeat is bad news for US banks

Download this special report as a PDF


Further reading on ITRPremium's Tax Disputes section

more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

Partners at both firms have voted in favour of the tie-up, which marks ‘the largest law firm merger in history’
The latest edition of Taxing Times with ITR covers all the controversy from a dramatic period for the carve-out deal, and also dissects the big four's AI strategies
Hany Elnaggar examines how the OECD’s global minimum tax is reshaping PE concepts across the GCC, shifting the focus from formal presence to substantive economic activity
The combination between Ashurst and Perkins Coie, which will create a $2.8 bn law firm, is expected to close in Q3
The ‘highly regarded’ Stephanie Pantelidaki, who has big four experience, will be based in the firm’s London office
A co-operative working relationship with the UK tax agency has helped 'unblock entrenched positions' to the benefit of clients, Kara Heggs tells ITR
New hires from rivals are reportedly being axed from the firm, following a steep decline in profits
Following Richard Houston’s switch to the newly formed Deloitte EMEA, Graves has the opportunity to bring Deloitte’s tax practice up to speed with its rivals
Firms announced tax hires and promotions across Europe and the US, while fresh figures from Ireland showed corporation tax receipts edging down in the first quarter
The country has overseen better audit procedures and demonstrated commitment to acting as a 'regional leader' on international tax matters, the OECD said
Gift this article