- 13 - seeking an imputed dividend from the Petitioners." Petitioners misconstrue the manner in which the transaction is viewed under section 7872. As mentioned above, the statute treats a below- market loan as a transfer from the lender to the borrower of an amount equal to the forgone interest, and a retransfer of such amount from the borrower to the lender as interest. Sec. 7872(a)(1). Pursuant to that treatment, petitioners have received increased itemized deductions for interest to the extent allowed by rules governing such deductions, and forgone interest was included in income by RSI. It is integral to the statutory scheme that petitioners also recognize the amount of forgone interest as dividend income. Finally, it is true that, in 1990, KPMG determined the correct amount of interest that should have accrued on the debt in order to have avoided the application of section 7872. However, it is well established that a transaction is to be given effect in accordance with what actually occurred, not with what might have taken place under different circumstances. Commissioner v. National Alfalfa Dehydrating & Milling Co., 417 U.S. 134, 148 (1974). Taxpayers are bound by the form of the transaction they chose and must accept the tax consequences of their choice. Id. at 149; Bradley v. United States, 730 F.2d 718, 720 (11th Cir. 1984). Since petitioners structured the loans without stated interest during 1987 and 1988, they may notPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
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