26 U.S.C. § 1242 (2024)

This is the official text of 26 U.S.C. § 1242 (2024), part of Federal (US Code)’s United States Code — the codified general and permanent federal statutes of the United States, organized into more than 50 numbered titles by subject.

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Losses on small business investment company stock

Official statutory text

If—

(1) a loss is on stock in a small business investment company operating under the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, and

(2) such loss would (but for this section) be a loss from the sale or exchange of a capital asset,

then such loss shall be treated as an ordinary loss. For purposes of section 172 (relating to the net operating loss deduction) any amount of loss treated by reason of this section as an ordinary loss shall be treated as attributable to a trade or business of the taxpayer.

(Added Pub. L. 85–866, title I, §57(a), Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1645; amended Pub. L. 94–455, title XIX, §1901(b)(3)(F), Oct. 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1793.)

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Small Business Investment Act of 1958, referred to in cl. (1), is Pub. L. 85–699, Aug. 21, 1958, 72 Stat. 689, which is classified principally to chapter 14B (§661 et seq.) of Title 15, Commerce and Trade. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 661 of Title 15 and Tables.

Amendments

1976—Pub. L. 94–455 substituted "an ordinary loss" for "a loss from the sale or exchange of property which is not a capital asset", each time appearing.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 1976 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 94–455 applicable with respect to taxable years beginning after Dec. 31, 1976, see section 1901(d) of Pub. L. 94–455, set out as a note under section 2 of this title.

Effective Date

Section applicable with respect to taxable years beginning after Sept. 2, 1958, see section 57(d) of Pub. L. 85–866, set out as an Effective Date of 1958 Amendment note under section 243 of this title.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.