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

The big four firm is rightfully prioritising transparency and accountability as it seeks to rebuild from its scandal, but a glaring structural issue remains
A recent hiring flurry has taken the firm’s number of partner appointments this year to 121 and put it on track to hit 160 partner target early
The move brings specialist tax and litigation capability to EY as it seeks to close the gap on Baker McKenzie and Venezuela’s leading local firms
The industry’s response to AI requires an unfamiliar ingredient as firms battle to shape their futures
The ambitious big four challenger firm has also appointed ex-RSM partner Brad Ashton to build out its customs and global trade practice
The big four firm allegedly reviewed backdated documents and signed off on accounts that removed hundreds of millions of dollars of Abramovich’s assets
New Tier 1 entrants and an expanding cohort of established players indicate that law firms are becoming increasingly credible challengers in Europe's TP market
Awards
Leading firms and individuals gathered in Dubai to celebrate standout legal, dealmaking and tax work across the region
Tax authorities want more revenue, have better tools to find it and are increasingly willing to fight for it
Audifina, the sixth-largest firm of its kind in Lithuania, will bring a 90-strong team with offices in Vilnius and Kaunas to RSM’s international platform
Gift this article