Cite as: 508 U. S. 152 (1993)
Stevens, J., dissenting
In holding that an employer's transfer of unencumbered property to a pension fund in satisfaction of a funding obligation is a "sale or exchange" barred by § 4975(c)(1)(A), the Court draws upon the well-established rule that for income tax purposes the transfer of property to satisfy an indebtedness is a "sale or exchange." Ante, at 158. It is equally well established, however, or at least was so at the time Congress enacted § 4975(c)(1)(A), that any contribution of property by an employer to an employee pension fund, whether done so voluntarily or pursuant to a funding obligation, is, for income tax purposes, a "sale or exchange" of that property. See Tasty Baking Co. v. United States, 393 F. 2d 992 (Ct. Cl. 1968); A. P. Smith Manufacturing Co. v. United States, 364 F. 2d 831 (Ct. Cl. 1966); United States v. General Shoe Corp., 282 F. 2d 9 (CA6 1960); see also Rev. Rul. 75-498, 1975-2 Cum. Bull. 29. If indeed our focus in answering the question presented in this case is to be congressional understanding of the term "sale or exchange" as it relates to the determination of gain or loss, it would seem to follow that Congress, in enacting § 4975(c)(1)(A), rejected the very distinction between voluntary and mandatory contributions that the Commissioner advocates and that the Court today embraces. The alternative, of course, is to recognize, as did the Tax Court and the Court of Appeals, that Congress did not intend to import into § 4975(c)(1)(A) the meaning of "sale or exchange" that has developed and been applied in the very different context of measuring a taxpayer's gain or loss upon the disposition of property. See 951 F. 2d, at 79; 60 TCM, at 1425, ¶ 90,628 P-H Memo TC, p. 90-3071. I would so hold.*
*In defense of his position, the Commissioner argues that there is no inconsistency in relying on the well-established meaning of "sale or exchange," and holding that a voluntary contribution to a pension plan is not barred by § 4975(c)(1)(A). The latter, the Commissioner argues, bars the "sale or exchange" of property "between a plan" and an employer, whereas the relevant provisions of the Internal Revenue Code refer more generally to the "sale or exchange" of property. See, e. g., 26 U. S. C. §§ 1001(c), 1222. By this reasoning, a voluntary transfer of property to a pension plan is a "sale or exchange" for purposes of determining gain or loss, but
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