Title 26 › Subtitle Subtitle A— Income Taxes › Chapter 1— NORMAL TAXES AND SURTAXES › Subchapter T— Cooperatives and Their Patrons › Part II— TAX TREATMENT BY PATRONS OF PATRONAGE DIVIDENDS AND PER-UNIT RETAIN ALLOCATIONS › § 1385
You must include certain payments from a cooperative in your taxable income. That covers patronage dividends paid in cash, in a qualified written notice of allocation, or in other property (but not nonqualified written notices), certain nonpatronage distributions described in section 1382(c)(2)(A) when paid the same way, and per‑unit retain allocations paid as qualified per‑unit retain certificates. Under rules the Secretary sets, you do not include these amounts in income to the extent they properly increase the cost basis of property or are for personal, living, or family items. For nonqualified written notices or nonqualified per‑unit retain certificates, the patron’s tax basis is zero (or the decedent’s basis if inherited), and any gain on sale or redemption is ordinary income to the extent the stated dollar amount exceeds basis.
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Internal Revenue Code — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
26 U.S.C. § 1385
Title 26 — Internal Revenue Code
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60