Title 26, Internal Revenue CodeRelease 119-110
§1382 Taxable Income of Cooperatives
Title 26 › Subtitle A — Income Taxes › CHAPTER 1 — NORMAL TAXES AND SURTAXES › Subchapter T — Cooperatives and Their Patrons › PART I — TAX TREATMENT OF COOPERATIVES › § 1382
Summary
Cooperatives must usually count all money they get as income before they give members their share. But money paid to members in certain ways during a specific payment period does not have to be counted as taxable income right away. That includes patronage dividends and per‑unit retain allocations paid in cash, certain approved written notices or certificates, or other property (but not unapproved notices or certificates). It also covers money used to redeem some of those unapproved notices or certificates if they were originally paid as patronage. Amounts excluded this way are later handled as income and then as deductions when the tax is worked out, depending on the type of payment. The payment period runs from the first day of the cooperative’s tax year through the 15th day of the ninth month after that year ends. A check written during that period counts as paid if it is cashed within 90 days after the period ends. For pooled product marketing, patronage is treated as happening when the pool closes, and marketing can be treated as happening in any year the pool is open. If earnings show up after the year the patronage happened, the patronage can be treated as happening in the year the earnings are included in income. A special “completed crop pool” method can be used for older pools opened before March 1, 1978, if the cooperative met a 10‑year use rule and made a written loan and repayment agreement with the United States or its agencies; under that method gains or losses for a pool are figured when the last products are sold or disposed of.
Full Legal Text
Title 26, §1382
Internal Revenue Code, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Gross income
Except as provided in subsection (b), the gross income of any organization to which this part applies shall be determined without any adjustment (as a reduction in gross receipts, an increase in cost of goods sold, or otherwise) by reason of any allocation or distribution to a patron out of the net earnings of such organization or by reason of any amount paid to a patron as a per-unit retain allocation (as defined in section 1388(f)).
(b)Patronage dividends and per-unit retain allocations
In determining the taxable income of an organization to which this part applies, there shall not be taken into account amounts paid during the payment period for the taxable year—
(1)as patronage dividends (as defined in section 1388(a)), to the extent paid in money, qualified written notices of allocation (as defined in section 1388(c)), or other property (except nonqualified written notices of allocation (as defined in section 1388(d))) with respect to patronage occurring during such taxable year;
(2)in money or other property (except written notices of allocation) in redemption of a nonqualified written notice of allocation which was paid as a patronage dividend during the payment period for the taxable year during which the patronage occurred;
(3)as per-unit retain allocations (as defined in section 1388(f)), to the extent paid in money, qualified per-unit retain certificates (as defined in section 1388(h)), or other property (except nonqualified per-unit retain certificates, as defined in section 1388(i)) with respect to marketing occurring during such taxable year; or
(4)in money or other property (except per-unit retain certificates) in redemption of a nonqualified per-unit retain certificate which was paid as a per-unit retain allocation during the payment period for the taxable year during which the marketing occurred.
For purposes of this title, any amount not taken into account under the preceding sentence shall, in the case of an amount described in paragraph (1) or (2), be treated in the same manner as an item of gross income and as a deduction therefrom, and in the case of an amount described in paragraph (3) or (4), be treated as a deduction in arriving at gross income.
(c)Deduction for nonpatronage distributions, etc.
In determining the taxable income of an organization described in section 1381(a)(1), there shall be allowed as a deduction (in addition to other deductions allowable under this chapter)—
(1)amounts paid during the taxable year as dividends on its capital stock; and
(2)amounts paid during the payment period for the taxable year—
(A)in money, qualified written notices of allocation, or other property (except nonqualified written notices of allocation) on a patronage basis to patrons with respect to its earnings during such taxable year which are derived from business done for the United States or any of its agencies or from sources other than patronage, or
(B)in money or other property (except written notices of allocation) in redemption of a nonqualified written notice of allocation which was paid, during the payment period for the taxable year during which the earnings were derived, on a patronage basis to a patron with respect to earnings derived from business or sources described in subparagraph (A).
(d)Payment period for each taxable year
For purposes of subsections (b) and (c)(2), the payment period for any taxable year is the period beginning with the first day of such taxable year and ending with the fifteenth day of the ninth month following the close of such year. For purposes of subsections (b)(1) and (c)(2)(A), a qualified check issued during the payment period shall be treated as an amount paid in money during such period if endorsed and cashed on or before the 90th day after the close of such period.
(e)Products marketed under pooling arrangements
For purposes of subsection (b), in the case of a pooling arrangement for the marketing of products—
(1)the patronage shall (to the extent provided in regulations prescribed by the Secretary) be treated as patronage occurring during the taxable year in which the pool closes, and
(2)the marketing of products shall be treated as occurring during any of the taxable years in which the pool is open.
(f)Treatment of earnings received after patronage occurred
If any portion of the earnings from business done with or for patrons is includible in the organization’s gross income for a taxable year after the taxable year during which the patronage occurred, then for purposes of applying paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (b) to such portion the patronage shall, to the extent provided in regulations prescribed by the Secretary, be considered to have occurred during the taxable year of the organization during which such earnings are includible in gross income.
(g)Use of completed crop pool method of accounting
(1)In general
An organization described in section 1381(a) which is engaged in pooling arrangements for the marketing of products may compute its taxable income with respect to any pool opened prior to March 1, 1978, under the completed crop pool method of accounting if—
(A)the organization has computed its taxable income under such method for the 10 taxable years ending with its first taxable year beginning after December 31, 1976, and
(B)with respect to the pool, the organization has entered into an agreement with the United States or any of its agencies which includes provisions to the effect that—
(i)the United States or such agency shall provide a loan to the organization with the products comprising the pool serving as collateral for such loan,
(ii)the organization shall use an amount equal to the proceeds of such loan to make price support advances to eligible producers (as determined by the United States or such agency), to defray costs of handling, processing, and storing such products, or to pay all or part of any administrative costs associated with the price support program,
(iii)an amount equal to the net proceeds (as determined under such agreement) from the sale or exchange of the products in the pool shall be used to repay such loan until such loan is repaid in full (or all the products in the pool are disposed of), and
(iv)the net gains (as determined under such agreement) from the sale or exchange of such products shall be distributed to eligible producers, except to the extent that the United States or such agency permits otherwise.
(2)Completed crop pool method of accounting defined
For purposes of this subsection, the term “completed crop pool method of accounting” means a method of accounting under which gain or loss is computed separately for each crop year pool in the year in which the last of the products in the pool are disposed of.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1978—Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 95–345 added subsec. (g). 1976—Pub. L. 94–455 struck out “or his delegate” after “Secretary” wherever appearing. 1969—Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 91–172 expanded the category of per-unit retain allocations that may not be taken into account in determining the taxable income of an organization, by including per-unit retain allocations paid for in money or other property (except nonqualified per-unit retain certificates as defined in section 1388(i) of this section). 1966—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 89–809, § 211(a)(1), inserted reference to amounts paid to patrons as a per-unit retain allocation as defined in section 1388(f). Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 89–809, § 211(a)(2), inserted “and per-unit retain allocations” in heading, added pars. (3) and (4), and, in text following par. (4), inserted provisions making existing text applicable only to amounts described in pars. (1) and (2) and inserted text covering the treatment of amounts described in pars. (3) and (4). Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 89–809, § 211(a)(3), inserted provision that the marketing of products shall be treated as occurring during any of the taxable years in which the pool is open. Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 89–809, § 211(a)(4), substituted “paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (b)” for “subsection (b)”.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1969 Amendment Pub. L. 91–172, title IX, § 911(c), Dec. 30, 1969, 83 Stat. 722, provided that: “The
Amendments
made by this section [amending this section and section 1388 of this title] shall apply to per-unit retain allocations made after October 9, 1969.”
Effective Date
of 1966 Amendment Pub. L. 89–809, title II, § 211(e), Nov. 13, 1966, 80 Stat. 1584, provided that: “(1) The
Amendments
made by subsections (a), (b), and (c) [amending this section and section 1383, 1385, and 1388 of this title] shall apply to per-unit retain allocations made during taxable years of an organization described in section 1381(a) (relating to organizations to which part I of subchapter T of chapter 1 applies) beginning after April 30, 1966, with respect to products delivered during such years. “(2) The
Amendments
made by subsection (d) [amending section 6044 of this title] shall apply with respect to calendar years after 1966.”
Effective Date
Section applicable, except as otherwise provided, to taxable years of organizations described in section 1381(a) of this title beginning after Dec. 31, 1962, see section 17(c) of Pub. L. 87–834, set out as a note under section 1381 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
26 U.S.C. § 1382
Title 26, Internal Revenue Code
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110