The best way to sell your limited partnership interest may lie in finding an experienced broker or advisor who can help you to identify potential buyers and guide you through any negotiations that may arise.
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.
As with an S corporation, the 3.8% net investment income tax generally does not apply to gain recognized on a sale of partnership interests, or gain allocable to a partner from a sale of the assets of the partnership, to the extent the relevant partner “materially participates” in the business of the partnership.
Generally, a partner selling his partnership interest recognizes capital gain or loss on the sale. The amount of the gain or loss recognized is the difference between the amount realized and the partner's adjusted tax basis in his partnership interest.
How to zero out partner capital accounts in a final year Go into the Input Return tab. From the left of the screen, select Balance Sheet, M-1, M-2 and choose Sch M-2 (Capital Account). Scroll down to the Distributions section. In the field Other decreases (-) (Ctrl+E), enter the appropriate amount.
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.
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.
This final capital account tabulation is a great indicator of what a partner's taxable gain would be if the interest were sold. From a tax standpoint, a negative capital account is treated as a capital gain upon sale. Conversely, a positive capital account is treated as a capital loss if the interest is sold.
But if his capital account is negative, all additional partnership losses are disallowed. He will need to keep track of his disallowed losses because he can use them to offset future income (once his capital account is positive again).