Williams Companies, Inc. (WMB) Message Board

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Non-Tech : Williams Companies, Inc. (WMB)

WMB 59.03

+2.0%

9:30 AM EST

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To: Scott Moore who wrote (172)	2/2/2000 4:13:00 PM
From: Bernard Levy	of 271

Hi Scott: The only aspect that worries me about the disparity would be the tax treatment of a possible WCG spinoff. The NT stock spinoff of BCE was treated as taxable for US investors. I guess the IRS views the NT stock received as a ``dividend' taxable as ordinary income at the face value of the NT stock. Of course, since BCE will drop accordingly, this also creates a long term capital loss which partially offsets this income. I am wondering if this is the only spinoff mechanism, since from a tax viewpoint, it was a killer (the NT spinoff by BCE was not taxable for Canadian investors-- only the US has such a murderous tax code). Key benchmarks to look at would be: a) Conoco spinoff by Dupont, b) upcoming spinoff of Palm by COMS. For the Conoco case, I seem to remember that Dupont shareholders were given the option of converting all their Dupont shares in a corresponding number of Conoco shares. Presumably, this did not ceate a taxable event. If any accountant is lurking around, we would be all ears. Best regards, Bernard Levy PS: The above discusson is moot for nontaxable accounts (IRAs, 401ks...).

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