(a) In general. Section 1273(a)(1) defines OID as the excess of a debt instrument's stated redemption price at maturity over its issue price. Section 1.1273-2 defines issue price, and paragraph (b) of this section defines stated redemption price at maturity. Paragraph (d) of this section provides rules for de minimis amounts of OID. Although the total amount of OID for a debt instrument may be indeterminate, §1.1272-1(d) provides a rule to determine OID accruals on certain debt instruments that provide for a fixed yield. See Example 10 in §1.1272-1(j).

(b) Stated redemption price at maturity. A debt instrument's stated redemption price at maturity is the sum of all payments provided by the debt instrument other than qualified stated interest payments. If the payment schedule of a debt instrument is determined under §1.1272-1(c) (relating to certain debt instruments subject to contingencies), that payment schedule is used to determine the instrument's stated redemption price at maturity.

(c) Qualified stated interest—(1) Definition—(i) In general. Qualified stated interest is stated interest that is unconditionally payable in cash or in property (other than debt instruments of the issuer), or that will be constructively received under section 451, at least annually at a single fixed rate (within the meaning of paragraph (c)(1)(iii) of this section).

(ii) Unconditionally payable. Interest is unconditionally payable only if reasonable legal remedies exist to compel timely payment or the debt instrument otherwise provides terms and conditions that make the likelihood of late payment (other than a late payment that occurs within a reasonable grace period) or nonpayment a remote contingency (within the meaning of §1.1275-2(h)). For purposes of the preceding sentence, remedies or other terms and conditions are not taken into account if the lending transaction does not reflect arm's length dealing and the holder does not intend to enforce the remedies or other terms and conditions. For purposes of determining whether interest is unconditionally payable, the possibility of nonpayment due to default, insolvency, or similar circumstances, or due to the exercise of a conversion option described in §1.1272-1(e) is ignored. This paragraph (c)(1)(ii) applies to debt instruments issued on or after August 13, 1996.

(iii) Single fixed rate—(A) In general. Interest is payable at a single fixed rate only if the rate appropriately takes into account the length of the interval between payments. Thus, if the interval between payments varies during the term of the debt instrument, the value of the fixed rate on which a payment is based generally must be adjusted to reflect a compounding assumption that is consistent with the length of the interval preceding the payment. See Example 1 in paragraph (f) of this section.

(B) Special rule for certain first and final payment intervals. Notwithstanding paragraph (c)(1)(iii)(A) of this section, if a debt instrument provides for payment intervals that are equal in length throughout the term of the instrument, except that the first or final payment interval differs in length from the other payment intervals, the first or final interest payment is considered to be made at a fixed rate if the value of the rate on which the payment is based is adjusted in any reasonable manner to take into account the length of the interval. See Example 2 of paragraph (f) of this section. The rule in this paragraph (c)(1)(iii)(B) also applies if the lengths of both the first and final payment intervals differ from the length of the other payment intervals.

(2) Debt instruments subject to contingencies. The determination of whether a debt instrument described in §1.1272-1(c) (a debt instrument providing for an alternative payment schedule (or schedules) upon the occurrence of one or more contingencies) provides for qualified stated interest is made by analyzing each alternative payment schedule (including the stated payment schedule) as if it were the debt instrument's sole payment schedule. Under this analysis, the debt instrument provides for qualified stated interest to the extent of the lowest fixed rate at which qualified stated interest would be payable under any payment schedule. See Example (4) of paragraph (f) of this section.

(3) Variable rate debt instrument. In the case of a variable rate debt instrument, qualified stated interest is determined under §1.1275-5(e).

(4) Stated interest in excess of qualified stated interest. To the extent that stated interest payable under a debt instrument exceeds qualified stated interest, the excess is included in the debt instrument's stated redemption price at maturity.

(5) Short-term obligations. In the case of a debt instrument with a term that is not more than 1 year from the date of issue, no payments of interest are treated as qualified stated interest payments.

(6) Business day convention—(i) Rule. For purposes of this paragraph (c), if a scheduled payment date for stated interest falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal holiday (within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. 6103) but, under the terms of the debt instrument, the stated interest is payable on the first business day that immediately follows the scheduled payment date, the stated interest is treated as payable on the scheduled payment date, provided no additional interest is payable as a result of the deferral.

(ii) Effective/applicability date. Paragraph (c)(6)(i) of this section applies to a debt instrument issued on or after September 13, 2012. A taxpayer, however, may rely on paragraph (c)(6)(i) of this section for a debt instrument issued before that date.

(d) De minimis OID—(1) In general. If the amount of OID with respect to a debt instrument is less than the de minimis amount, the amount of OID is treated as zero, and all stated interest (including stated interest that would otherwise be characterized as OID) is treated as qualified stated interest.

(2) De minimis amount. The de minimis amount is an amount equal to 0.0025 multiplied by the product of the stated redemption price at maturity and the number of complete years to maturity from the issue date.

(3) Installment obligations. In the case of an installment obligation (as defined in paragraph (e)(1) of this section), paragraph (d)(2) of this section is applied by substituting for the number of complete years to maturity the weighted average maturity (as defined in paragraph (e)(3) of this section). Alternatively, in the case of a debt instrument that provides for payments of principal no more rapidly than a self-amortizing installment obligation (as defined in paragraph (e)(2) of this section), the de minimis amount defined in paragraph (d)(2) of this section may be calculated by substituting 0.00167 for 0.0025.

(4) Special rule for interest holidays, teaser rates, and other interest shortfalls—(i) In general. This paragraph (d)(4) provides a special rule to determine whether a debt instrument with a teaser rate (or rates), an interest holiday, or any other interest shortfall has de minimis OID. This rule applies if—

(A) The amount of OID on the debt instrument is more than the de minimis amount as otherwise determined under paragraph (d) of this section; and

(B) All stated interest provided for in the debt instrument would be qualified stated interest under paragraph (c) of this section except that for 1 or more accrual periods the interest rate is below the rate applicable for the remainder of the instrument's term (e.g., if as a result of an interest holiday, none of the stated interest is qualified stated interest).

(ii) Redetermination of OID for purposes of the de minimis test. For purposes of determining whether a debt instrument described in paragraph (d)(4)(i) of this section has de minimis OID, the instrument's stated redemption price at maturity is treated as equal to the instrument's issue price plus the greater of the amount of foregone interest or the excess (if any) of the instrument's stated principal amount over its issue price. The amount of foregone interest is the amount of additional stated interest that would be required to be payable on the debt instrument during the period of the teaser rate, holiday, or shortfall so that all stated interest would be qualified stated interest under paragraph (c) of this section. See Example 5 and Example 6 of paragraph (f) of this section. In addition, for purposes of computing the de minimis amount of OID, the weighted average maturity of the debt instrument is determined by treating all stated interest payments as qualified stated interest payments.

(5) Treatment of de minimis OID by holders—(i) Allocation of de minimis OID to principal payments. The holder of a debt instrument includes any de minimis OID (other than de minimis OID treated as qualified stated interest under paragraph (d)(1) of this section, such as de minimis OID attributable to a teaser rate or interest holiday) in income as stated principal payments are made. The amount includible in income with respect to each principal payment equals the product of the total amount of de minimis OID on the debt instrument and a fraction, the numerator of which is the amount of the principal payment made and the denominator of which is the stated principal amount of the instrument.

(ii) Character of de minimis OID—(A) De minimis OID treated as gain recognized on retirement. Any amount of de minimis OID includible in income under this paragraph (d)(5) is treated as gain recognized on retirement of the debt instrument. See section 1271 to determine whether a retirement is treated as an exchange of the debt instrument.

(B) Treatment of de minimis OID on sale or exchange. Any gain attributable to de minimis OID that is recognized on the sale or exchange of a debt instrument is capital gain if the debt instrument is a capital asset in the hands of the seller.

(iii) Treatment of subsequent holders. If a subsequent holder purchases a debt instrument issued with de minimis OID at a premium (as defined in §1.1272-2(b)(2)), the subsequent holder does not include the de minimis OID in income. Otherwise, a subsequent holder includes any discount in income under the market discount rules (sections 1276 through 1278) rather than under the rules of this paragraph (d)(5).

(iv) Cross-reference. See §1.1272-3 for an election by a holder to treat de minimis OID as OID.

(e) Definitions—(1) Installment obligation. An installment obligation is a debt instrument that provides for the payment of any amount other than qualified stated interest before maturity.

(2) Self-amortizing installment obligation. A self-amortizing installment obligation is an obligation that provides for equal payments composed of principal and qualified stated interest that are unconditionally payable at least annually during the entire term of the debt instrument with no significant additional payment required at maturity.

(3) Weighted average maturity. The weighted average maturity of a debt instrument is the sum of the following amounts determined for each payment under the instrument (other than a payment of qualified stated interest)—

(i) The number of complete years from the issue date until the payment is made; multiplied by

(ii) A fraction, the numerator of which is the amount of the payment and the denominator of which is the debt instrument's stated redemption price at maturity.

(f) Examples. The following examples illustrate the rules of this section.

[T.D. 8517, 59 FR 4815, Feb. 2, 1994, as amended by T.D. 8674, 61 FR 30141, June 14, 1996; T.D. 9599, 77 FR 56536, Sept. 13, 2012]