4952 Investment Interest Expense Deduction

Form

4952

OMB No. 1545-0191

Investment Interest Expense Deduction

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service (99)

▶

2020

Go to www.irs.gov/Form4952 for the latest information.
▶ Attach to your tax return.

Attachment
Sequence No. 51
Identifying number

Name(s) shown on return

Part I
1
2
3

Total Investment Interest Expense

Investment interest expense paid or accrued in 2020 (see instructions)
Disallowed investment interest expense from 2019 Form 4952, line 7 .
Total investment interest expense. Add lines 1 and 2 . . . . . .

Part II

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1
2
3

Net Investment Income

4a

Gross income from property held for investment (excluding any net gain from
the disposition of property held for investment) . . . . . . . . . .
4a
b Qualified dividends included on line 4a . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4b
c Subtract line 4b from line 4a
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
d Net gain from the disposition of property held for investment . . . . . .
4d
e Enter the smaller of line 4d or your net capital gain from the disposition
of property held for investment. See instructions . . . . . . . . . .
4e
f Subtract line 4e from line 4d
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
g Enter the amount from lines 4b and 4e that you elect to include in investment income. See instructions
h Investment income. Add lines 4c, 4f, and 4g . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5
Investment expenses (see instructions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6
Net investment income. Subtract line 5 from line 4h. If zero or less, enter -0- . . . . . . . .

Part III
7
8

4c

4f
4g
4h
5
6

Investment Interest Expense Deduction

Disallowed investment interest expense to be carried forward to 2021. Subtract line 6 from
line 3. If zero or less, enter -0- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Investment interest expense deduction. Enter the smaller of line 3 or line 6. See instructions .

For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see page 4.

Cat. No. 13177Y

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Form 4952 (2020)

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Form 4952 (2020)

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Reporting on Schedule D Tax Worksheet. Use the Schedule D Tax
Worksheet in the instructions for Schedule D to figure the amount to
enter on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 16, if you have to file Form 4952.

includes property that produces gain or loss, not derived in the ordinary
course of a trade or business, from the disposition of property that
produces these types of income or is held for investment. However, it
doesn’t include an interest in a passive activity.
Exception. A working interest in an oil or gas property that you held
directly or through an entity that didn’t limit your liability is property held
for investment, but only if you didn’t materially participate in the activity.

Future Developments

Part II—Net Investment Income

Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless otherwise
noted.

What’s New

For the latest information about developments related to Form 4952 and
its instructions, such as legislation enacted after they were published,
go to www.irs.gov/Form4952.

General Instructions
Purpose of Form
Use Form 4952 to figure the amount of investment interest expense you
can deduct for 2020 and the amount you can carry forward to future
years. Your investment interest expense deduction is limited to your net
investment income.
For more information, see Pub. 550, Investment Income and
Expenses.

Who Must File
If you are an individual, estate, or a trust, you must file Form 4952 to
claim a deduction for your investment interest expense.
Exception. You don’t have to file Form 4952 if all of the following apply.
• Your investment income from interest and ordinary dividends minus
any qualified dividends is more than your investment interest expense.
• You don’t have any other deductible investment expenses.
• You don’t have any carryover of disallowed investment interest
expense from 2019.

Allocation of Interest Expense
If you paid or accrued interest on a loan and used the loan proceeds for
more than one purpose, you may have to allocate the interest. This is
necessary because different rules apply to investment interest, personal
interest, trade or business interest, home mortgage interest, and passive
activity interest. See Pub. 535, Business Expenses.

Specific Instructions
Part I—Total Investment Interest Expense
Line 1
Enter the investment interest expense paid or accrued during the tax
year, regardless of when you incurred the indebtedness. Investment
interest expense is interest paid or accrued on a loan or part of a loan
that is allocable to property held for investment (as defined later).
Include investment interest expense reported to you on Schedule K-1
from a partnership or an S corporation. Include amortization of bond
premium on taxable bonds purchased after October 22, 1986, but
before January 1, 1988, unless you elected to offset amortizable bond
premium against the interest payments on the bond. A taxable bond is a
bond on which the interest is includible in gross income.
Investment interest expense doesn’t include any of the following.
• Personal interest under section 163(h), including qualified residence
interest.
• Interest expense that is properly allocable to a passive activity.
Generally, a passive activity is any trade or business activity in which
you don’t materially participate and any rental activity. See the
Instructions for Form 8582, Passive Activity Loss Limitations, for details.
• Any interest expense that is capitalized, such as construction interest
subject to section 263A.
• Interest expense related to tax-exempt interest income under
section 265.
• Interest expense, disallowed under section 264, on indebtedness with
respect to life insurance, endowment, or annuity contracts issued after
June 8, 1997, even if the proceeds were used to purchase any property
held for investment.
Property held for investment. Property held for investment includes
property that produces income, not derived in the ordinary course of a
trade or business, from interest, dividends, annuities, or royalties. It also

Line 4a
Gross income from property held for investment includes income,
unless derived in the ordinary course of a trade or business, from
interest, ordinary dividends (except Alaska Permanent Fund dividends),
annuities, and royalties. Include investment income reported to you on
Schedule K-1 from a partnership or an S corporation. Also include net
investment income from an estate or a trust.
Also include on line 4a (or 4d, if applicable) net passive income from a
passive activity of a publicly traded partnership (as defined in section
469(k)(2)). See Regulations sections 1.469-10 and 1.7704-1 (including
the transition rule of section 1.7704-1(l)) for details.
Net income from certain passive activities, such as rental of
substantially nondepreciable property, may have to be recharacterized
and included on line 4a. For details, see Pub. 925, Passive Activity and
At-Risk Rules, or Regulations section 1.469-2(f)(10).
If you are filing Form 8814, Parents’ Election To Report Child’s
Interest and Dividends, part or all of your child’s income may be
included on line 4a. See the instructions for Form 8814 for details.
Don’t include on line 4a any net gain from the disposition of
property held for investment. Instead, enter it on line 4d.

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CAUTION

Line 4b
Enter the portion of ordinary dividends included on line 4a that are
qualified dividends. For the definition of qualified dividends, see the
instructions for Forms 1040 and 1040-SR, line 3a (or Form 1041,
line 2b).

Line 4d
Net gain from the disposition of property held for investment is the
excess, if any, of your total gains over your total losses from the
disposition of property held for investment. When figuring this amount,
include capital gain distributions from mutual funds and capital loss
carryovers.

Line 4e
Net capital gain from the disposition of property held for investment is
the excess, if any, of your net long-term capital gain over your net shortterm capital loss from the disposition of property held for investment.
Capital gain distributions from mutual funds are treated as long-term
capital gains.
Note: If line 4e is more than zero and you enter an amount on line 4g,
see the Note in the line 4g instructions next.

Line 4g
In general, qualified dividends and net capital gain from the disposition
of property held for investment are excluded from investment income.
But you can elect to include part or all of these amounts in investment
income.
The qualified dividends and net capital gain that you elect to
include in investment income on line 4g aren’t eligible to be
taxed at the qualified dividends or capital gains tax rates.
CAUTION You should consider the tax effect of using the qualified
dividends and capital gains tax rates before making this
election. Once made, the election can be revoked only with IRS consent.
To make the election, enter on line 4g the amount you elect to include
in investment income (don’t enter more than the sum of lines 4b and 4e).
Also enter this amount on whichever of the following applies.
• The Schedule D Tax Worksheet, line 3.
• Schedule D (Form 1041), line 25.
• The Qualified Dividends Tax Worksheet, line 3, in the Instructions for
Form 1041.

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Form 4952 (2020)

Don’t reduce the amount of qualified dividends on Form 1040 or
1040-SR, line 3a (or Form 1041, line 2b(2)), by any part of the amount on
line 4g.
Note: The amount on line 4g is generally treated as being attributable
first to net capital gain from property held for investment (line 4e), and
then to qualified dividends (line 4b). This treatment results in the least
tax being figured for Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 16 (or Form 1041,
Schedule G, line 1a). However, you can treat less of the amount on line
4e as attributable to line 4g and more to line 4b. You may want to do
this if you are filing Form 1116, Foreign Tax Credit, as your tax after
credits may be lower in certain cases. To do so, enter on the dotted line
next to line 4e “Elec.” and the part of line 4e that you elect to treat as
being attributable to line 4g (don’t enter less than the excess of line 4g
over line 4b). You will use this smaller amount instead of the amount on
line 4e when figuring your tax.
Generally, you must make this election on a timely filed return,
including extensions. However, if you timely filed your return without
making the election, you can make the election on an amended return
filed within 6 months of the due date of your return (excluding
extensions). Write “Filed pursuant to section 301.9100-2” on the
amended return and file it at the same place you filed the original return.

Line 5
Investment expenses are your allowed deductions, other than interest
expense, directly connected with the production of investment income.
For example, depreciation or depletion allowed on assets that produce
investment income is an investment expense.
Include investment expenses incurred directly by you or reported to
you on Schedule K-1 from a partnership, or by an S corporation, but
only if you are allowed a deduction on your return for the expense.
Investment expenses don’t include any deductions used in
determining your income or loss from a passive activity.
Don’t include any miscellaneous itemized deductions, which
aren’t allowed deductions in tax years beginning after
December 31, 2017, and before January 1, 2026.

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CAUTION

Part III—Investment Interest Expense Deduction
Line 8
Individuals. Generally, enter the amount from line 8 (excluding any
amount included on Form 6198, line 4—see later) on Schedule A (Form
1040 or 1040-SR), line 9, even if all or part of it is attributable to a
partnership or an S corporation. However, if any part of the interest

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expense is attributable to royalties, enter that part on Schedule E (Form
1040). Also, if any part of the interest is attributable to a trade or
business that isn’t a passive activity, enter that part on the schedule
where you report other expenses for that trade or business.
Estates and trusts. Enter the amount from line 8 (excluding any amount
included on Form 6198, line 4—see below) on Form 1041, line 10.
However, if any part of the interest is attributable to a trade or business
that isn’t a passive activity, enter that part on the schedule where you
report other expenses for that trade or business.
Form 6198. If any of your deductible investment interest expense is
attributable to an activity for which you aren’t at risk, you must also use
Form 6198, At-Risk Limitations, to figure your deductible investment
interest expense. Include the part attributable to the at-risk activity on
Form 6198, line 4.
Alternative minimum tax (AMT). Deductible interest expense may be
an adjustment for the AMT. For details, see Form 6251, Alternative
Minimum Tax—Individuals, or Schedule I (Form 1041).
Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask for the information on this
form to carry out the Internal Revenue laws of the United States. You
are required to give us the information. We need it to ensure that you are
complying with these laws and to allow us to figure and collect the right
amount of tax.
You aren’t required to provide the information requested on a form
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returns and return information are confidential, as required by section
6103.
The time needed to complete and file this form will vary depending on
individual circumstances. The estimated burden for individual taxpayers
filing this form is approved under OMB control number 1545-0074 and
is included in the estimates shown in the instructions for their individual
income tax return. The estimated burden for all other taxpayers who file
this form is: Recordkeeping, 39 min.; Learning about the law or the
form, 12 min.; Preparing the form, 24 min.; and Copying,
assembling, and sending the form to the IRS, 13 min.
If you have comments concerning the accuracy of these time
estimates or suggestions for making this form simpler, we would be
happy to hear from you. See the instructions for the tax return with
which this form is filed.