8003 / What are the “at risk” rules with respect to losses?

The “at risk” rules are a group of provisions in the IRC and regulations that limit the current deductibility of “losses” generated by certain tax shelters (and certain other activities) to the amount that the taxpayer actually has “at risk” (i.e., in the economic sense) in the tax shelter. The primary targets of the “at risk” rules are the limited partner and the nonrecourse financing of a limited partner’s investment in the shelter (which was once common in all tax shelters); however, the rule also applies to certain corporations and general partners in both limited and general partnerships and to non-leverage risk-limiting devices (e.g., guaranteed repurchase agreements) designed to generate tax deductions in excess of the amount for which the investor actually bears a risk of loss in a shelter.¹