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Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-06 10:51:44 -04:00

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LegalText 26 U.S.C. § 446 General rule for methods of accounting us united_states_code code_section 26 INTERNAL REVENUE CODE 1 NORMAL TAXES AND SURTAXES 446 26 U.S.C. § 446 current 119-100 2026-06-26 official https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc26@119-100.zip /us/usc/t26/s446 data/legal/raw/us/code/title-26/usc26.xml e948d48ee417a838bbafb11f736ac36eeada3f14da443b332a558eedf44fd838 a261f094809116f42a96648a3d5eee80fa010379d67412551c21dd5c900b27f4 7f1c8027776b4343027f1e082f37dd6fb74d283dda85846b12ea5ca977472c9b 2026-07-04 official
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26 U.S.C. § 446 - General rule for methods of accounting

Text

(a) General rule Taxable income shall be computed under the method of accounting on the basis of which the taxpayer regularly computes his income in keeping his books.

(b) Exceptions If no method of accounting has been regularly used by the taxpayer, or if the method used does not clearly reflect income, the computation of taxable income shall be made under such method as, in the opinion of the Secretary, does clearly reflect income.

(c) Permissible methods Subject to the provisions of subsections (a) and (b), a taxpayer may compute taxable income under any of the following methods of accounting—

(1) the cash receipts and disbursements method;

(2) an accrual method;

(3) any other method permitted by this chapter; or

(4) any combination of the foregoing methods permitted under regulations prescribed by the Secretary.

(d) Taxpayer engaged in more than one business A taxpayer engaged in more than one trade or business may, in computing taxable income, use a different method of accounting for each trade or business.

(e) Requirement respecting change of accounting method Except as otherwise expressly provided in this chapter, a taxpayer who changes the method of accounting on the basis of which he regularly computes his income in keeping his books shall, before computing his taxable income under the new method, secure the consent of the Secretary.

(f) Failure to request change of method of accounting If the taxpayer does not file with the Secretary a request to change the method of accounting, the absence of the consent of the Secretary to a change in the method of accounting shall not be taken into account—

(1) to prevent the imposition of any penalty, or the addition of any amount to tax, under this title, or

(2) to diminish the amount of such penalty or addition to tax.

(Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, 68A Stat. 151; Pub. L. 94455, title XIX, § 1906 (b)(13)(A), Oct. 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1834; Pub. L. 98369, div. A, title I, § 161(a), July 18, 1984, 98 Stat. 696.)

Notes

Editorial Notes

Amendments1984—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 98369 added subsec. (f). 1976—Subsecs. (b), (c), (e). Pub. L. 94455 struck out “or his delegate” after “Secretary”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 1984 AmendmentPub. L. 98369, div. A, title I, § 161(b), July 18, 1984, 98 Stat. 697, provided that: “The amendment made by this section [amending this section] shall apply to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act [July 18, 1984].”