[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 26, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 26CFR1.173-1]

[Page 196-197]
 
                       TITLE 26--INTERNAL REVENUE
 
    CHAPTER I--INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 
                               (CONTINUED)
 
PART 1_INCOME TAXES--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 1.173-1  Circulation expenditures.

    (a) Allowance of deduction. Section 173 provides for the deduction 
from gross income of all expenditures to establish, maintain, or 
increase the circulation of a newspaper, magazine, or other periodical, 
subject to the following limitations:
    (1) No deduction shall be allowed for expenditures for the purchase 
of land or depreciable property or for the acquisition of circulation 
through the purchase of any part of the business of another publisher of 
a newspaper, magazine, or other periodical;
    (2) The deduction shall be allowed only to the publisher making the 
circulation expenditures; and
    (3) The deduction shall be allowed only for the taxable year in 
which such expenditures are paid or incurred.

Subject to the provisions of paragraph (c) of this section, the 
deduction permitted under section 173 and this paragraph shall be 
allowed without regard to the method of accounting used by the taxpayer 
and notwithstanding the provisions of section 263 and the regulations 
thereunder, relating to capital expenditures.
    (b) Deferred expenditures. Notwithstanding the provisions of 
paragraph (a)(3) of this section, expenditures paid or incurred in a 
taxable year subject to the Internal Revenue Code of 1939 which are 
deferrable pursuant to I.T. 3369 (C.B. 1940-1, 46), as modified by Rev. 
Rul. 57-87 (C.B. 1957-1, 507) may be deducted in the taxable year 
subject to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to which so deferred.
    (c) Election to capitalize. (1) A taxpayer entitled to the deduction 
for circulation expenditures provided in section 173 and paragraph (a) 
of this section may, in lieu of taking such deduction, elect to 
capitalize the portion of such circulation expenditures which is 
properly chargeable to capital account. As a general rule, expenditures 
normally made from year to year in an effort to maintain circulation are 
not properly chargeable to capital account; conversely, expenditures 
made in an effort to establish or to increase circulation are properly 
chargeable to capital account. For example, if a newspaper normally 
employs five persons to obtain renewals of subscriptions by telephone, 
the expenditures in connection therewith would not be properly 
chargeable to capital account. However, if such newspaper, in a special 
effort to increase its circulation, hires for a limited period 20 
additional employees to obtain new subscriptions by means of telephone 
calls to the general public, the expenditures in connection therewith 
would be properly chargeable to capital account. If an election is made 
by a taxpayer to treat any portion of his circulation expenditures as 
chargeable to capital account, the election must apply to all such 
expenditures which are properly so chargeable. In such case, no 
deduction shall be allowed under section 173 for any such expenditures. 
In particular cases, the extent to which any deductions attributable to 
the amortization of capital expenditures are allowed may be determined 
under sections 162, 263, and 461.
    (2) A taxpayer may make the election referred to in subparagraph (1) 
of this paragraph by attaching a statement to his return for the first 
taxable year to which the election is applicable. Once

[[Page 197]]

an election is made, the taxpayer must continue in subsequent taxable 
years to charge to capital account all circulation expenditures properly 
so chargeable, unless the Commissioner, on application made to him in 
writing by the taxpayer, permits a revocation of such election for any 
subsequent taxable year or years. Permission to revoke such election may 
be granted subject to such conditions as the Commissioner deems 
necessary.
    (3) Elections filed under section 23(bb) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1939 shall be given the same effect as if they were filed under 
section 173. (See section 7807(b)(2).)