Code of Federal Regulations Title 26. Internal Revenue § 26.156.5881–1 Imposition of excise tax on greenmail

(a) In general.Section 5881 of the Code imposes a tax equal to 50 percent of the gain or other income realized by any person on the receipt of greenmail, whether or not the gain or other income is recognized.

(b) Transactions occurring on or after March 31, 1988. For transactions occurring on or after March 31, 1988, greenmail is defined as any consideration transferred by a corporation (or any person acting in concert with the corporation) to directly or indirectly acquire stock of the corporation from any shareholder if:

(c) Transactions occurring before March 31, 1988. For transactions occurring before March 31, 1988, greenmail has the same meaning as in paragraph (b) of this section, except that it does not include any consideration transferred by any person acting in concert with the corporation described in that paragraph.

(d) Effective date. Generally, section 5881 of the Code applies to consideration received after December 22, 1987, in taxable years ending after that date. However, section 5881 does not apply to any acquisition of stock pursuant to a written binding contract in effect on December 15, 1987, and at all times thereafter before the acquisition.