Stock Redemptions: The Standards for Qualifying as a Purchase under Section 302(b).

This Article discusses the requirements of section 302(b) for characterizing a stock redemption as a purchase rather than as a dividend equivalent. The focus is primarily on two issues: (1) whether the election authorized by section 302(c)(2) to waive family attribution rules should be available to an entity such as a trust or estate; and (2) the determination of the standards to be applied in resolving whether a redemption is not essentially equivalent to a dividend so that section 302(b)(1) is applicable