Sec. 1.512(a)-6 Special rule for organizations with more than one unrelated trade or business.

(i) The identification of the separate unrelated trade or business in the previous taxable year;

(ii) The identification of the separate unrelated trade or business in the current taxable year; and

(iii) The reason for the change.

(i) Qualifying partnership interests (described in paragraph (c)(2) of this section);

(ii) Qualifying S corporation interests (described in paragraph (e)(2)(i) of this section); and

(iii) Debt-financed property or properties (within the meaning of section 514).

(i) Directly-held partnership interests. An interest in a partnership is a qualifying partnership interest (QPI) if the exempt organization holds a direct interest in the partnership (directly-held partnership interest) that meets the requirements of either the de minimis test (described in paragraph (c)(3) of this section) or the participation test (described in paragraph (c)(4) of this section).

(ii) Indirectly-held partnership interests.

(iii) Designation. An organization that has a partnership interest meeting the requirements of paragraph (c)(2)(i) or (ii) of this section in a taxable year may designate that partnership interest as a QPI by including its share of partnership gross income (and directly connected deductions) with the gross income (and directly connected deductions) from its other investment activities (see paragraph (c)(1) of this section) in accordance with forms and instructions. Any partnership interest that is designated as a QPI remains a QPI unless and until it no longer meets the requirements of paragraph (c)(2)(i) or (ii) of this section. For example, if an organization designates a directly-held partnership interest that meets the requirements of the de minimis rule as a QPI in one taxable year, the organization cannot, in the next taxable year, use NAICS 2-digit codes to describe the partnership trades or businesses that are unrelated trades or businesses with respect to the organization unless the directly-held partnership interest fails to meet the requirements of both the de minimis test and the participation test (after application of the grace period described in paragraph (c)(6) of this section, if appropriate).

(i) In general. A partnership interest is a QPI that meets the requirements of the participation test if the organization holds directly (within the meaning of paragraph (c)(2)(i) of this section) or indirectly (within the meaning of paragraph (c)(2)(ii) of this section) no more than 20 percent of the capital interest during the organization’s taxable year with which or in which the partnership’s taxable year ends and the organization does not significantly participate in the partnership within the meaning of paragraph (c)(4)(iii) of this section.

(ii) Combining related interests. When determining an organization’s percentage interest in a partnership for purposes of paragraph (c)(4)(i) of this section, the interests of a supporting organization (as defined in section 509(a)(3) and §1.509(a)-4), other than a Type III supporting organization (as defined in §1.509(a)-4(i)) that is not a parent of its supported organization, or of a controlled entity (as defined in section 512(b)(13)(D) and §1.512(b)-1(l)) in the same partnership will be taken into account. For example, if an organization owns 10 percent of the capital interests in a partnership, and its Type I supporting organization owns an additional 15 percent capital interest in that partnership, the organization would not meet the requirements of the participation test because its aggregate percentage interest exceeds 20 percent (10 percent + 15 percent = 25 percent).

(iii) Significant Participation. An organization significantly participates in a partnership if--

(i) Profits interest. For purposes of the de minimis test described in paragraph (c)(3) of this section, an organization’s profits interest in a partnership is determined in the same manner as its distributive share of partnership taxable income. See section 704(b) (relating to the determination of the distributive share by the income or loss ratio) and §§1.704-1 through 1.704-4.

(ii) Capital interest. For purposes of the de minimis test (described in paragraph (c)(3) of this section) and the participation test (described in paragraph (c)(4)(i) of this section), in the absence of a provision in the partnership agreement, an organization’s capital interest in a partnership is determined on the basis of its interest in the assets of the partnership which would be distributable to such organization upon its withdrawal from the partnership, or upon liquidation of the partnership, whichever is the greater.

(iii) Average percentage interest. For purposes of the de minimis test (described in paragraph (c)(3) of this section) and the participation test (described in paragraph (c)(4)(i) of this section), an organization determines its percentage interest by taking the average of the organization’s percentage interest at the beginning and the end of the partnership’s taxable year, or, in the case of a partnership interest held for less than a year, the percentage interest held at the beginning and end of the period of ownership within the partnership’s taxable year. For example, if an organization acquires an interest in a partnership that files on a calendar year basis in May and the partnership reports on Schedule K-1 (Form 1065) that the partner held a 3 percent profits interest at the date of acquisition but held a 1 percent profits interest at the end of the calendar year, the organization will be considered to have held 2 percent of the profits interest in that partnership for that year ((3 percent + 1 percent)/2).

(iv) Reliance on Schedule K-1 (Form 1065). When determining the organization’s average percentage interest (described in paragraph (c)(5)(iii) of this section) in a partnership for purposes of the de minimis test (described in paragraph (c)(3) of this section) and the participation test (described in paragraph (c)(4) of this section), an organization may rely on the Schedule K-1 (Form 1065) (or its successor) it receives from the partnership if the form lists the organization’s percentage profits interest or its percentage capital interest, or both, at the beginning and end of the year. However, the organization may not rely on the form to the extent that any information about the organization’s percentage interest is not specifically provided. For example, if the Schedule K-1 (Form 1065) an organization receives from a partnership lists the organization’s profits interest as "variable" but lists its percentage capital interest at the beginning and end of the year, the organization may rely on the form only with respect to its percentage capital interest.

(i) The partnership interest met the requirements of the de minimis test or participation test, respectively, in the organization’s prior taxable year without application of this paragraph (c)(6);

(ii) The increase in percentage interest is solely due to the actions of one or more partners other than the organization; and

(iii) In the case of a partnership interest that met the requirements of the participation test in the prior taxable year, the interest of the partner or partners that caused the increase in paragraph (c)(6)(ii) of this section was not combined for the prior taxable year and is not combined for the taxable year of the change with the organization’s partnership interest for purposes of paragraph (c)(4)(ii) of this section.

(i) Would be excluded from the calculation of UBTI under section 512(b)(1), (2), (3), or (5) if the organization were subject to section 512(a)(1);

(ii) Is attributable to income set aside (and not in excess of the set aside limit described in section 512(a)(3)(E)), but not used, for a purpose described in section 512(a)(3)(B)(i) or (ii); or

(iii) Is in excess of the set aside limit described in section 512(a)(3)(E).

(i) Social clubs. Paragraphs (c)(2) (regarding QPIs) and (c)(9) (transition rule for certain partnership interests) of this section do not apply to social clubs described in section 501(c)(7).

(ii) General partnership interests. Any partnership in which an organization, or an organization whose interest is combined with that organization’s interest for purposes of paragraph (c)(4)(ii) of this section, is a general partner under applicable state law is not a QPI within the meaning of paragraph (c)(2) of this section, regardless of the organization’s percentage interest. Such partnership interest cannot be a QPI for any organization or for any of the organizations whose interest is combined with that organization’s interest for purposes of paragraph (c)(4)(ii) of this section.

(iii) Application of other sections. This paragraph (c) does not otherwise impact application of section 512(c) and the fragmentation rule under section 513(c).

(i) In general. If a directly-held partnership interest acquired prior to August 21, 2018, is not a QPI, an organization may treat such partnership interest as a separate unrelated trade or business for purposes of section 512(a)(6) regardless of the number of unrelated trades or businesses directly or indirectly conducted by the partnership. For example, if an organization has a 35 percent capital interest in a partnership acquired prior to August 21, 2018, it can treat the partnership as a single trade or business even if the partnership’s investments generated UBTI from lower-tier partnerships that were engaged in multiple trades or businesses. A partnership interest acquired prior to August 21, 2018, will continue to meet the requirement of this rule even if the organization’s percentage interest in such partnership changes before the end of the transition period (see paragraph (c)(9)(iii) of this section).

(ii) Exclusivity. An organization may apply either the transition rule in paragraph (c)(9)(i) of this section or the look-through rule in paragraph (c)(2)(ii) of this section, but not both, to a partnership interest described in paragraph (c)(9)(i) of this section that also qualifies for application of the look-through rule described in paragraph (c)(2)(ii).

(iii) Transition period. An organization may rely on this transition rule until the first day of the organization’s first taxable year beginning after December 2, 2020.

(i) In general. For purposes of section 512(a)(6) and this section, a separate unrelated trade or business for which the appropriate identification (within the meaning of paragraph (a) of this section) changes is treated as if the originally identified separate unrelated trade or business is terminated and a new separate unrelated trade or business is commenced. None of the NOLs from the previously identified separate unrelated trade or business will be carried over to the newly identified separate unrelated trade or business. For example, if the nature of a separate unrelated trade or business changes such that it is more accurately described by another NAICS 2-digit code, the separate unrelated trade or business is treated as a new separate unrelated trade or business with no NOLs. The change in identification may apply to all or a part of the originally identified separate unrelated trade or business. If the change in identification applies to the originally identified separate trade or business in its entirety, any NOLs attributable to that separate unrelated trade or business are suspended in accordance with paragraph (h)(3) of this section. If the change in identification applies to the originally identified separate unrelated trade or business in part, the originally identified separate unrelated trade or business that is not changing retains the full NOLs attributable to the originally identified separate unrelated trade or business, without allocation to the portion that became a newly identified separate unrelated trade or business. This paragraph (h)(4) also applies to each QPI that becomes a non-QPI. In this case, any NOLs attributable to the QPI that became a non-QPI are retained with the organization’s investment activities described in paragraph (c) of this section.

(ii) Exception for non-material changes. In the case of a separate unrelated trade or business that is accidentally identified using the wrong NAICS 2-digit code or if an organization has determined that a separate unrelated trade or business that has not materially changed is more accurately identified by another NAICS 2-digit code, any NOL attributable to the originally identified separate unrelated trade or business becomes an NOL of the newly identified separate unrelated trade or business.

(iii) Effective date of change in identification. A change in identification described in this paragraph (h)(4) is effective on the first day of the taxable year in which the change in identification is made. Accordingly, the newly identified separate unrelated trade or business is treated as commencing on this date.

(iv) Examples.