A DRO requires a partner to restore any negative balance (deficit) in their capital account upon the liquidation of the partnership. The DRO demonstrates the partner's willingness to assume the economic risk of loss in the partnership.
A partner's capital account can't begin with a negative balance. However, a partner can have a negative capital account after accounting for the partner's distributive share of losses and distributions. A partner's outside basis should never have a negative balance.
A DRO requires a partner to restore any negative balance (deficit) in their capital account upon the liquidation of the partnership. The DRO demonstrates the partner's willingness to assume the economic risk of loss in the partnership.
A Deficit Restoration Obligation is an obligation by a partner in a partnership (or a member in an LLC taxed as a partnership) to restore the negative balance in its capital account when the partnership liquidates.
The partner with a deficit contributes enough assets to offset the deficit balance. The deficit balance is removed from the accounting records with only the remaining partners sharing in future gains and losses. The other partners file a legal suit against the partner with the deficit balance.
If a partnership holds IRC 751(a) property at the time of the sale, the partner recognizes gain or loss from its share of IRC 751(a) assets. The ordinary gain or loss is subtracted from the total gain or loss. The result is the partner's capital gain or loss from the sale.