Applicability—(1) Safe harbor. The safe harbor provided by paragraph (b) of this section applies only to installment payments of corporate estimated tax required to be made before July 1, 1987, for taxable years beginning in 1987.

Subsequent payment. The requirement that a corporation using the safe harbor provided by this section make a timely subsequent installment payment in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section applies with respect to the corporation's first installment payment (“the subsequent installment payment”) of estimated tax required to be made after the last payment computed under the safe harbor rule.

Section inapplicable to new corporation. This section shall not apply in the case of any corporation whose first taxable year began after December 31, 1986.

Safe harbor for use of annualization exception—(1) In general. A corporation computing an installment payment of estimated tax using the annualization exception provided in section 6655(d)(3) will not be subject to an addition to tax under section 6655 with respect to an installment payment of estimated tax that satisfies the requirements of this paragraph (b), except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section. For purposes of this paragraph (b)—

A corporation shall assume that its annualized taxable income for the current year equals or exceeds 120 percent of the taxable income shown on its return for the preceding taxable year, and

The term “tax” as used in section 6655(d)(3) shall be defined by reference to section 6655(f) without regard to section 6655(f)(1) (B) and (C) (that is, without regard to the alternative minimum tax imposed by section 55 or the environmental tax imposed by section 59A).

Special rules for determining taxable income for preceding year. For purposes of paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section, the taxable income shown on the return of the corporation for its preceding taxable year shall be—

Adjusted to eliminate any net operating loss deduction taken into account in that preceding year, and

Annualized, if that preceding year was of less than 12 months.

Credits taken into account—(i) In general. In computing the amount of an installment payment under paragraph (b)(1) of this section, the corporation may take into account any credits against tax that are permitted to be taken into account under section 6655(d)(3) for the current taxable year.

Foreign tax credit. For purposes of paragraph (b)(3)(i) of this section, the amount of foreign tax credit that is permitted to be taken into account for the current taxable year is equal to the foreign tax credit allowed for the preceding taxable year multiplied by the fraction specified in the following sentence. The numerator of the fraction is the highest tax rate applicable for the taxable year under section 11, as adjusted under section 15, and the denominator is 46 percent. This alternative computation of the foreign tax credit is applicable only for purposes of computing a safe harbor installment payment under paragraph (b) of this section and cannot be applied for other estimated tax purposes.

Net operating loss carryover. A corporation that has a net operating loss carryover as of the first day of the taxable year for which the estimated tax is being paid may use that carryover to reduce the annualized taxable income referred to in paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section. For example, if a corporation with a net operating loss carryover of $3,000 had taxable income of $10,000 in 1986, it may use the carryover to reduce its annualized taxable income to $9,000, (($10,000 × 120%) − 3,000).

Corporation must bring aggregate payments to required level through timely subsequent installment—(1) In general. A corporation using the safe harbor provided by paragraph (b) of this section shall make a timely subsequent installment payment of estimated tax in an amount sufficient to satisfy the requirements of either paragraph (c)(3) or paragraph (c)(4) of this section.

Applicable percentage. For purposes of this paragraph (c), the applicable percentage is—

45 percent (50 percent × 90 percent), if the subsequent installment payment is the second installment payment for the taxable year, or

67.5 percent (75 percent × 90 percent), if the subsequent installment payment is the third installment payment for the taxable year.

Annualization exception. The subsequent installment payment of a corporation satisfies the requirements of this paragraph (c)(3) if the amount of the payment is sufficient to satisfy the requirements of section 6655(d)(3) with respect to all applicable taxes specified in section 6655(f). Thus, the corporation must determine its annualized taxable income under section 6655(d)(3)(A) (ii) or (iii), whichever is applicable, and compute the resulting tax. The resulting tax shall include the alternative minimum tax under section 55 and the environmental tax under section 59A and may take credits into account to the extent permitted under section 6655(d)(3). The sum of this subsequent installment payment and the earlier installment payment or payments of the corporation must equal or exceed the applicable percentage of the tax so computed. In determining whether the corporation has satisfied the requirements of section 6655(d)(3)(A) (ii) or (iii) with respect to the subsequent installment, the safe harbor provided in paragraph (b)(1) of this section shall not apply.

Installment payments equal to applicable percentage of tax shown on return. The subsequent installment payment of a corporation satisfies the requirement of this paragraph (c)(4) if the sum of that payment and the earlier installment payment or payments of the corporation equals or exceeds the applicable percentage of the tax shown on the return of the corporation for the taxable year to which the installment payments relate. The tax shown on the return includes all taxes specified in section 6655(f).

Consequence of corporation's failure to satisfy requirements for subsequent installment—(i) In general. If a corporation fails to satisfy the requirements set out in this paragraph (c), the corporation shall lose the benefit of the safe harbor provided by paragraph (b)(1) of this section.

Limit on penalty. The aggregate underpayment penalty with respect to any installment payment or payments for which a corporation loses the benefit of the safe harbor under paragraph (c)(5)(i) of this section shall be limited to the “shortfall penalty amount.” The shortfall penalty amount is the penalty that would be imposed under section 6655(a) if there were an underpayment of the subsequent installment payment equal to the excess of—

The amount required to be paid, as determined under this paragraph (c), on or before the due date of the subsequent installment payment, over

The amount actually paid on or before such date with respect to the subsequent installment payment.

Example. The provisions of this paragraph (c)(5) may be illustrated by the following example:

Corporation M, which uses the calendar year as its taxable year, relies on the safe harbor provided by paragraph (b) of this section for its first two installment payments of estimated tax for 1987. M is required by this paragraph (c) to make a timely subsequent installment payment of $1,000,000 by September 15, 1987, but M's actual installment payment by that date is only $990,000. Because of this shortfall, M loses the benefit of the safe harbor and is subject to underpayment penalties with respect to the first two installments. The aggregate penalties with respect to those two installments, however, cannot exceed the amount of the underpayment penalty to which M would be subject if there were an underpayment of $10,000 with respect to the September 15, 1987, installment payment. Such penalties are independent of any penalty that may apply with respect to M's third installment payment under the normal rules of section 6655.

Example. The provisions of this section may be illustrated by the following example:

Corporation X (which is not a life insurance company) uses as its taxable year a fiscal year ending on January 31 and is required to pay an installment of estimated income tax by May 15, 1987, for its taxable year beginning on February 1, 1987. On its return for the taxable year ending January 31, 1987, which was a year of 12 months, X reported taxable income of $10,000,000 ($9,000,000 of which was ordinary income and $1,000,000 of which was net capital gain) and did not claim any net operating loss deduction. As of February 1, 1987, X has no net operating loss carryforwards and no credit carryforwards. X has no credits against tax that are permitted to be taken into account under section 6655(d)(3) for 1987. If X uses the safe harbor provided in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, X must make by May 15, 1987, an installment payment of estimated tax of at least $1,037,836, computed as follows:

To preclude imposition of an addition to tax under section 6655 with respect to its May 15, 1987, installment payment, X must make by July 15, 1987, a second installment payment of estimated tax sufficient to bring its aggregate payments to the minimum level required under paragraph (c) of this section.

X may satisfy the requirements of paragraph (c)(3) of this section by making a second installment payment sufficient to bring X within the exception provided in section 6655(d)(3). Thus, if X determines under that section that the aggregate of X's installment payments of estimated tax by July 15, 1987, must equal at least $3,000,000, X may obtain the benefit of the safe harbor provided in paragraph (b)(1) of this section with respect to the May 15, 1987, installment payment by making a timely second installment payment of $1,962,164 ($3,000,000—$1,037,836).

Even if X fails to satisfy the requirements of paragraph (c)(3) of this section, X may obtain the benefit of the safe harbor for the May 15, 1987, installment payment if X's second installment payment, when aggregated with the first payment, equals at least 45 percent of the tax (including the alternative minimum tax under section 55 and the environmental tax under section 59A) shown on X's return for X's taxable year beginning on February 1, 1987. Thus, if the tax shown on that return is $6,000,000, X's second installment payment under paragraph (c)(4) of this section must be at least $1,662,164, computed as follows: