Federal · Title 26 — Internal Revenue Code

26 U.S.C. § 186: Recoveries of damages for antitrust violations, etc.

Civil

What this law says, in plain English

This statute defines tax treatment of damages recovered in civil lawsuits for antitrust violations, patent infringement, breach of contract, and fiduciary duty breaches, including calculation of compensatory amounts and net operating losses.

Read the full statutory text
the amount of such compensatory amount, or the amount of the unrecovered losses sustained as a result of such compensable injury. injuries sustained as a result of an infringement of a patent issued by the United States, injuries sustained as a result of a breach of contract or a breach of fiduciary duty or relationship, or injuries sustained in business, or to property, by reason of any conduct forbidden in the antitrust laws for which a civil action may be brought under section 4 of the Act entitled “An Act to supplement existing laws against unlawful restraints and monopolies, and for other purposes”, approved October 15, 1914 (commonly known as the Clayton Act). For purposes of this section, the term “compensatory amount” means the amount received or accrued during the taxable year as damages as a result of an award in, or in settlement of, a civil action for recovery for a compensable injury, reduced by any amounts paid or incurred in the taxable year in securing such award or settlement. the sum of the amount of the net operating losses (as determined under section 172) for each taxable year in whole or in part within the injury period, to the extent that such net operating losses are attributable to such compensable injury, reduced by the amount of the net operating losses described in subparagraph (A) which were allowed for any prior taxable year as a deduction under section 172 as a net operating loss carryback or carryover to such taxable year, and the amounts allowed as a deduction under subsection (a) for any prior taxable year for prior recoveries of compensatory amounts for such compensable injury. with respect to any infringement of a patent, the period in which such infringement occurred, with respect to a breach of contract or breach of fiduciary duty or relationship, the period during which amounts would have been received or accrued but for the breach of contract or breach of fiduciary duty or relationship, and with respect to injuries sustained by reason of any conduct forbidden in the antitrust laws, the period in which such injuries were sustained. a net operating loss for any taxable year shall be treated as attributable to a compensable injury to the extent of the compensable injury sustained during such taxable year, and if only a portion of a net operating loss for any taxable year is attributable to a compensable injury, such portion shall (in applying section 172 for purposes of this section) be considered to be a separate net operating loss for such year to be applied after the other portion of such net operating loss. the deduction allowed under subsection (a) with respect to such compensatory amount, reduced by any portion of the unrecovered losses sustained as a result of the compensable injury with respect to which the period for carryover under section 172 has expired.

Verify at the official source: Federal legislative text

Facing this? Know exactly what happens next.

MOFRD turns this code section into your situation: the deadlines that apply to you, the forms your county uses, and the resolution paths people in your position actually take. Free for 3 days — no card required.

This page is legal information, not legal advice. Code text is sourced from official publications and may lag amendments — always confirm at the official source linked above. Plain-English summaries and relationship data are AI-derived and reviewed on an ongoing basis; verify with a licensed attorney before acting.