Introduction

What happens when monies are loaned for a specific purpose but that purpose fails? Should those monies fall within the general assets of the recipient upon bankruptcy or insolvency?

Cancellation of debt a key element of most restructurings generally triggers taxable income. The German tax authorities had issued an administrative decree (the "Tax Restructuring Decree" - Sanierungserlass), however, declaring that, upon the satisfaction of certain requirements and conditioned on forfeiture of any loss carry forwards, the cancellation of debt income ("CODI") would not be taxed.