N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 20, § 3-3.2
(1) The term investment capital means the taxpayer's investments in stocks, bonds and other securities issued by a corporation (except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subdivision) or by the United States, any state, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or any foreign country, or any political subdivision or governmental instrumentality of any of the foregoing (see subdivisions [c]-[g] of this section). At the election of the taxpayer, cash on hand and cash on deposit may be treated on any report as either investment capital or business capital (see section 3-3.3 of this Subpart). In making the election, a taxpayer that is a partner in a partnership and is using the aggregate method pursuant to section 3-13.3 of this Part or that is a foreign corporate limited partner that has made an election with respect to such partnership pursuant to the provisions of section 3-13.5 of this Part takes into account its proportionate part (see section 3-13.3[a][2] of this Part) of partnership items which constitute cash on hand and cash on deposit. Any debt instrument, including a certificate of deposit, which is described in paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (c) of this section and is not described in paragraph (2) of this subdivision and which is payable by its terms on demand or within six months and one day from the date on which the debt was incurred is deemed to be cash on hand or on deposit. Any such debt instrument which is payable by its terms more than six months and one day from the date on which the debt was incurred is deemed to be cash on hand or on deposit on any day which is not more than six months and one day prior to its date of maturity. Cash also includes shares in a money market mutual fund. A money market mutual fund is a no-load, open-end investment company registered under the Federal Investment Company Act of 1940 which attempts to maintain a constant net asset value per share and holds itself out to be a “money market” fund. A taxpayer may not elect to treat part of its cash as investment capital and part as business capital. No election to treat cash as investment capital may be made where the taxpayer has no other investment capital. Example 1:
Example 1:
On February 1, 1990, Corporation A, a calendar year taxpayer, purchased a certificate of deposit with a maturity date of January 31, 1991, which was a qualifying corporate debt instrument (as such term is defined in subdivision [d] of this section). On July 1, 1990, Corporation A purchased a four month qualifying corporate debt instrument on the day it was issued and renewed it, with the identical terms, on November 1, 1990. On August 1, 1990, Corporation A bought a qualifying corporate debt instrument, on the day it was issued, with a maturity of February 2, 1991. On September 1, 1990, the corporation bought a nine month qualifying corporate debt instrument which had been issued on January 1, 1990, and was due on October 1, 1990. For the taxable year ending December 31, 1990, the two four month debt instruments and the debt instrument due on February 2, 1991 are deemed to be cash. The renewal of the four month debt instrument purchased on July 1, 1990 is treated as the creation of a second, separate debt instrument, each of the two instruments being due within six months and one day of the date on which the debt was incurred. The debt instrument due on February 2, 1991 is deemed to be cash because it is due within six months and one day from the date on which it was purchased.
The nine-month debt instrument is deemed to be cash because each day on which the taxpayer owned it was a day not more than six months and one day prior to its maturity date.
The one year certificate of deposit is not deemed to be cash until July 30, 1990 (the first day not more than six months and one day prior to the maturity date of January 31, 1991) and thereafter.
(2) Investment capital does not include:
(c) For purposes of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of this section, the phrase stocks, bonds and other securities means:
(5) stock rights and stock warrants not in the possession of the issuer thereof. Provided, however, debt instruments described in paragraph (2) or (3) of this subdivision which are deemed to be cash pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of this section do not constitute stocks, bonds or other securities.
(d) Qualifying corporate debt instruments.
(1) The term qualifying corporate debt instruments means all debt instruments issued by a corporation other than the following:
(iv) instruments acquired for funds if:
(2) Terms used in this subdivision shall have the meanings prescribed as follows:
(e) For purposes of this section, the term instrument includes stock and debt which is held in book entry form.
(2) In a repurchase transaction the question of whether the purchaser/lender is the owner of the securities, rather than the owner of debt issued by the seller/borrower, turns on whether such purchaser/lender has acquired the economic benefits and burdens of ownership of the securities. The purchaser/lender is the owner of the securities if it: (A) has the right freely to dispose of or pledge the securities to a third party; and (B) has acquired the opportunity for profit and bears the risk of loss deriving from changes in the market value of the securities. These two factors must be simultaneously present in order for a transfer of ownership to be recognized. The absence of either of these factors would render the transaction a loan. In such event the purchaser/lender would be viewed as having acquired debt of the seller/borrower, collateralized by the securities. Where there is ambiguity as to the existence of either or both of the two factors, recourse may be had to an examination of various other features of the transaction. Features which are consistent with a characterization of the transaction as a loan, but which are not in and of themselves dispositive, are:
(vi) failure to treat the transaction as a sale or exchange for Federal income tax purposes; e.g., with respect to the reporting of gain or loss on each of the two purported sales, or the claim by the seller/borrower of the Internal Revenue Code section 103(a) exclusion with respect to exempt interest, if any, earned on the securities during the period between the initial “sale” and the “repurchase”.
(g) Repurchase agreements and securities lending agreements held by registered securities brokers or dealers.
(2) Securities lending agreements.
(ii) Securities lending agreement is a term used to describe a transaction in which, by its terms, one party (the securities lender) transfers stock or other securities in exchange for a promise by a second party (the securities borrower) to return substantially identical or equivalent securities at a later time. The securities borrower provides the securities lender with collateral, which may be cash or noncash collateral, such as a letter of credit or government securities. Securities lending agreements are generally characterized by the following:
(f) Repurchase agreements.
(h) The following example illustrates some of the provisions of this section.
Example 2:
Corporation A is a manufacturing corporation and a taxpayer. It owns 25 units of a publicly traded master limited partnership which falls within the definition of “corporation” contained in section 208.1 of the Tax Law, 10,000 shares of stock in Corporation B (Corporation B, a manufacturing firm, has 5,000,000 shares of stock issued and outstanding), a $1,000,000 Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA) pass-through certificate, a $1,000,000 Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) pass-through certificate and a $100,000 FNMA debenture. Corporation A's investment capital consists of the shares of stock in Corporation B, the units of the partnership, and the FNMA debenture. The units of the partnership constitute investment capital because they are issued by a partnership which because of its characteristics falls within the definition of “corporation” contained in section 208.1 of the Tax Law. The FNMA debenture constitutes investment capital because it is a qualifying corporate debt instrument issued by a corporation, FNMA. Although the FNMA and GNMA certificates are guaranteed by FNMA and GNMA, respectively, they do not constitute investment capital because they are issued by a trust and thus are not “corporate or governmental”.
Tax Law, §§ 5; 208(5), (7) and (8-A)(a); and 210(2)
(a)