Related Terminal Income [Internal Revenue] Law and Legal Definition
Pursuant to 26 CFR 1.281-3 (b) [Title 26 Internal Revenue; Chapter I Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury; Subchapter A Income Tax; Part 1 Income Taxes; Normal Taxes and Surtaxes; Computation of Taxable Income; Terminal Railroad Corporations and their Shareholders], (1) the term Related Terminal Income means “the taxable income (computed without regard to sections 172, 277, or 281 [26 USCS §§ 172, 277, or 281]) which the terminal railroad corporation derives for the taxable year from the sources enumerated in paragraph (b)(2) of this section. Related terminal income must be derived from direct provision of the specified facilities or services by the terminal corporation itself. Thus, income consisting of rent from a lease of a terminal facility by a terminal corporation to a railroad user would qualify; but dividends from a corporation in which the terminal corporation owned stock and which provided such facilities or services to others would not qualify. The term does not include gain or loss derived from the sale, exchange, or other disposition of capital assets or section 1231 [26 USCS § 1231] assets, whether or not section 1245 [26 USCS § 1245] or section 1250 [26 USCS § 1250] applies to part or all of that gain. For example, the term does not apply to gain from the sale of a terminal building or terminal equipment. All direct and indirect expenses and other deductible items attributable to related terminal services or facilities shall be deducted in determining related terminal income. Attribution shall be determined in accordance with customary railroad accounting practices accepted by the Interstate Commerce Commission, except that interest paid with respect to the indebtedness of a terminal railroad corporation shall be deducted from related terminal income to the extent that the proceeds from the indebtedness were directly or indirectly applied to facilities or activities producing such income. The district director may either accept the use of the taxpayer's method of determining the application of the proceeds of all indebtedness of such corporation or prescribe the use of another method which, under all the facts and circumstances, appears to reflect more accurately the probable application of such proceeds.
(2) Sources of related terminal income. The term "related terminal income" includes only income derived from one or more of the following sources:
(i) From services or facilities of a character ordinarily and regularly provided by terminal railroad corporations for railroad corporations or for the employees, passengers, or shippers of railroad corporations. Whether the services or facilities are of a character ordinarily and regularly provided by terminal railroad corporations is to be determined by accepted industry practice. The fact that nonterminal businesses may also provide such services or facilities is immaterial. However, there must be a direct relationship between the service or facility provided and the operation of the terminal, including the operation of its trackage and switching facilities. Thus, the term "related terminal income" includes income derived from operating or leasing switching facilities and terminal facilities, such as income from charges to railroad corporations for the use of a union passenger or freight station. Also included for this purpose is income derived from charges to railroad shippers, including express companies and freight forwarders, for the use of sheds or warehouses, even though not directly intended for railroad use. The term includes income derived from leasing or operating restaurants, drugstores, barbershops, newsstands, ticket agencies, banking facilities, car rental facilities, or other similar facilities for passengers, in waiting rooms or along passenger concourses. Similarly, the term includes income derived from operating or leasing passenger parking facilities, and from renting taxicab space, located on or adjacent to the terminal premises. Although the term does include income derived from the operation of a small hotel operated primarily for and usually occupied primarily by the employees of the railroad corporations, it does not include income derived from the operation of a hotel for passengers or other persons.
(ii) From any railroad corporation for services or facilities provided by the terminal railroad corporation in connection with railroad operations. A service or a facility is provided in connection with railroad operations if it is of a character ordinarily and regularly availed of by railroad corporations. For purposes of this subdivision, the income must be derived from railroad corporations. Thus, in addition to the income derived from sources described in paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section, the term "related terminal income" includes income derived from switching facilities or leasing to any railroad corporation, or operating for the benefit of such corporation, a beltline or bypass railroad leading to or from the terminal premises. Also included are income derived from the rental of office space (whether or not services are provided to the occupants) in the terminal building to any railroad corporation for that corporation's administrative or operating divisions, and income derived from tolls charged to any railroad corporation for the use of a railroad bridge or ferry.
(iii) From the use by persons other than railroad corporations of a portion of a facility, or of a service, which is used primarily for railroad purposes. A facility or service is used primarily for railroad purposes if the predominant reason for its continued operation or provision is the furnishing of facilities or services described in either subdivision (i) or (ii) of this subparagraph. The determination required by this subdivision is to be made independently for each separate facility or service. Two substantial portions of a single structure may be considered separate facilities, depending upon the respective uses made of each. Moreover, any substantial addition, constructed after October 23, 1962, to a facility shall be considered a separate facility.
The term "related terminal income" includes income produced by operating a commuter service or by renting tracks and facilities for a commuter service to an independent operator. The term also includes the sale or rental of advertising space at a terminal facility. If the conditions described in this subdivision are satisfied, the term "related terminal income" may include income which has no connection with the operation of the terminal. Thus, if a terminal railroad corporation operates a railroad bridge primarily to provide railroad corporations a means of crossing a river and the lower level of the bridge contains a roadway for similar use by automobiles, the term includes income derived from the tolls charged to the automobiles for the use of the bridge roadway. However, upon the discontinuance of operations of the railroad level of the bridge, the term would cease to include the automobile tolls. If excess steam from a steam plant operated primarily to supply steam to the terminal is sold to another business in the neighborhood, the term would include the income derived from such sale. However, because an oil or gas well or a mine constitutes a separate facility, the term "related terminal income" does not include income derived in any form from a deposit of oil, natural gas, or any other mineral located on property owned or leased by the terminal railroad corporation.
Similarly, while the term includes income derived from the rental of a small number of offices located in the terminal building (whether or not the lessees are railroad corporations), it does not include income derived from the leasing or operation, for the use of the general public, of a large number of offices or a large number of rooms for lodging, whether or not the space is physically part of the same structure as the terminal. Moreover, the term does not include income derived from the rental of offices to the general public in an addition to the terminal building constructed after October 23, 1962, unless the addition is primarily used for railroad purposes and the offices rented to the general public do not constitute a separate facility in the addition. Whether or not income from the addition is determined to be related terminal income, the income from the small number of offices which were included in the terminal building before the addition was constructed shall continue to be related terminal income.
(iv) From the United States in payment for facilities or services in connection with mail handling. The income must be derived directly from the U.S. Government, or any agency thereof (including for this purpose the U.S. Postal Service), through the receipt of payments for mail-handling facilities or services. Thus, the term would include income derived from the rental of space for a post office for use by the general public on the terminal premises or from the sorting of mail in a railroad box car.”
