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under title 11, U.S.C.
Under section 1398(g), the estate succeeds to certain of the
debtor’s income tax attributes, including the debtor’s NOL
carryovers (under section 172) and capital loss carryovers (under
section 1212) from tax periods prior to the commencement of the
bankruptcy. Sec. 1398(g)(1), (5). In a like manner, to the
extent the estate has not used those same tax attributes, the
debtor succeeds to them at the termination of the estate. Sec.
1398(i). Accordingly, upon the commencement of a bankruptcy, the
estate becomes a taxpayer with respect to the debtor’s property
in the bankruptcy proceeding. Upon termination of the estate,
the estate’s status as a separate parallel taxpayer ends and its
unused tax attributes transfer to the debtor. Id.
Although a debtor may succeed to the estate’s NOLs at the
termination of the estate, section 1398(j)(2)(B) places certain
limitations on a debtor’s ability to use NOLs. Section
1398(j)(2)(B) provides the following rules with respect to net
operating losses: “The debtor may not carry back to a taxable
year before the debtor’s taxable year in which the [bankruptcy]
case commences any carryback from a taxable year ending after the
case commences.” This section expressly prohibits a debtor from
carrying back the estate’s or the debtor’s postcommencement
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