will be less than $2 million, in the aggregate, in any taxable year of the Partnership, and less than $4 million, in the aggregate, during the Partnership’s first six taxable years;
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| • | The Managing General Partner will attempt to eliminate or reduce any gain to a Partnership from a Farmout, if any. |
Scope of Our Review. We have considered the provisions of 31 CFR, Part 10, §10.35 (Treasury Department Circular No. 230) on tax law opinions. We believe that this tax opinion letter and, where appropriate, the Prospectus, fully and fairly address all material federal tax issues and any significant federal tax issues associated with an investment in a Partnership by a typical Participant. In this regard, the Managing General Partner has represented that a typical Participant in each Partnership will be a natural person who purchases Units in the Partnership in this offering and is a U.S. citizen. As set forth in Circular 230, and for purposes of this tax opinion letter:
| • | a federal tax issue is a question concerning the federal tax treatment of an item of income, gain, loss, deduction, or credit; the existence or absence of a taxable transfer of property; or the value of property for federal tax purposes; and |
| • | a federal tax issue is significant if the IRS has a reasonable basis for a successful challenge and the resolution of the tax issue could have a significant impact, whether beneficial or adverse and under any reasonably foreseeable circumstance, on the overall federal tax treatment of a Partnership or a Participant’s investment in a Partnership. We consider a federal tax issue to be material if its resolution: |
| • | could shelter from federal income taxes a significant portion of a Participant’s income from sources other than the Partnership in which he invests by providing him with: |
| • | deductions in excess of his share of his Partnership’s income in any taxable year; or |
| • | marginal well production credits in excess of his tentative regular federal income tax liability attributable to his interest in the Partnership in which he invests in any taxable year; or |
| • | could reasonably affect the potential applicability of federal tax penalties against the Participants in a Partnership. |
Also, in ascertaining that all material federal tax issues and any significant federal tax issues have been considered, evaluating the merits of those issues and evaluating whether the federal tax treatment set forth in our opinions is the proper tax treatment, we have not taken into account the possibility that a tax return will not be audited, that an issue will not be raised on audit, or that an issue will be settled.
Opinions. Although our opinions express what we believe a court would probably conclude if presented with the applicable federal tax issues, our opinions are only predictions, and are not guarantees, of the outcome of the particular federal tax issues being addressed. The intended federal tax consequences and federal tax benefits of a Participant’s investment in a Partnership are not contractually protected as described in greater detail in “Risk Factors – Tax Risks – Your Tax Benefits from an Investment in a Partnership Are Not Contractually Protected” in the Prospectus. The IRS could challenge our opinions, and the challenge could be sustained in the courts and cause adverse tax consequences to the Participants in each Partnership. Taxpayers bear the burden of proof to support claimed deductions and credits, and our opinions are not binding on the IRS or the courts.
Our opinions with respect to the proper federal tax treatment of each federal tax issue arising from an investment in a Partnership by a typical Participant (who is sometimes referred to as a Limited Partner or an Investor General Partner in our opinions) are set forth below and we express no other opinions.
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| (1) | Partnership Classification. Each Partnership will be classified as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, and not as a corporation. |
| (2) | Limitations on Passive Activity Losses and Credits. The passive activity limitations on losses and credits under §469 of the Code will apply to: |
| • | the initial Limited Partners in a Partnership; and |
| • | will not apply to the Investor General Partners in a Partnership until after their Investor General Partner Units are converted to Limited Partner Units. |
| (3) | Not a Publicly Traded Partnership. Neither Partnership will be treated as a publicly traded partnership under the Code. |
| (4) | Business Expenses. Business expenses, including payments for personal services actually rendered in the taxable year in which accrued by a Partnership, which are reasonable, ordinary and necessary and do not include amounts for items such as Lease acquisition costs, Tangible Costs, Organization and Offering Costs and other items that are required to be capitalized, are currently deductible. |
| • | Potential Limitations on Deductions. A Participant’s ability in any taxable year to use his share of these deductions of the Partnership in which he invests on his individual federal income tax returns may be reduced, eliminated or deferred by the following limitations: |
| • | the Participant’s personal tax situation, such as the amount of his regular taxable income, alternative minimum taxable income, losses, itemized deductions, personal exemptions, etc., which are not related to his investment in a Partnership; |
| • | the amount of the Participant’s adjusted basis in his Units at the end of the Partnership’s taxable year; |
| • | the amount of the Participant’s “at risk” amount in the Partnership in which he invests at the end of the Partnership’s taxable year; and |
| • | the passive activity limitations on losses and credits, if any, of the Partnership in which they invest in the case of Limited Partners (including Investor General Partners after their Investor General Partner Units are converted to Limited Partner Units) who are natural persons or are entities that also are subject to the passive activity limitations on losses and credits under §469 of the Code. |
| (5) | Intangible Drilling Costs. Although each Partnership will elect to deduct currently all of its Intangible Drilling Costs, each Participant in a Partnership may still elect to capitalize and deduct all or part of his share of the Partnership’s Intangible Drilling Costs (which do not include drilling and completion costs of a re-entry well that are not related to deepening the well, if any) ratably over a 60-month period. Subject to the foregoing, Intangible Drilling Costs paid by a Partnership under the terms of bona fide drilling contracts for the Partnership’s wells will be deductible by Participants in that Partnership who elect to currently deduct their share of their Partnership’s Intangible Drilling Costs in the taxable year in which the payments are made and the drilling services are rendered. |
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A Participant’s ability in any taxable year to use his share of these Partnership deductions on his personal federal income tax returns may be reduced, eliminated or deferred by the “Potential Limitations on Deductions” set forth in opinion (4) above.
| (6) | Prepaid Intangible Drilling Costs. Subject to each Participant’s election to capitalize and amortize a portion or all of his share of his Partnership’s Intangible Drilling Costs as set forth in opinion (5) above, any prepayments of Intangible Drilling Costs by a Partnership in 2007 for wells the drilling of which will begin after December 31, 2007, but on or before March 30, 2008, will be deductible by the Participants in 2007. |
A Participant’s ability in any taxable year to use his share of these Partnership deductions on his personal federal income tax returns may be reduced, eliminated or deferred by the “Potential Limitations on Deductions” set forth in opinion (4) above.
| (7) | Depletion Allowance. The greater of the cost depletion allowance or the percentage depletion allowance will be available to qualified Participants as a current deduction against their share of their Partnership’s gross income from the sale of natural gas and oil production in each taxable year, subject to the following limitations: |
| • | a Participant’s cost depletion allowance cannot exceed his adjusted tax basis in the natural gas or oil property to which it relates; and |
| • | a Participant’s percentage depletion allowance: |
| • | may not exceed 100% of his taxable income from each natural gas and oil property before his deduction for percentage depletion, however, this limitation is suspended for 2007; and |
| • | is limited to 65% of his taxable income for the year computed without regard to percentage depletion, net operating loss carry-backs and capital loss carry-backs and, in the case of a Participant that is a trust, any distributions to its beneficiaries. |
| (8) | MACRS. Each Partnership’s reasonable Tangible Costs for equipment placed in its productive wells that cannot be deducted immediately will be eligible for cost recovery deductions under the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (“MACRS”) over a seven year “cost recovery period” on a well-by-well basis, beginning in the taxable year each well is drilled, completed and made capable of production, i.e. placed in service. |
A Participant’s ability in any taxable year to use his share of these Partnership deductions on his personal federal income tax returns may be reduced, eliminated or deferred by the “Potential Limitations on Deductions” set forth in opinion (4), above.
| (9) | Tax Basis of Units. Each Participant’s initial adjusted tax basis in his Units will be the amount of money that he paid for his Units. |
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| (10) | At Risk Limitation on Losses. Each Participant’s initial “at risk” amount in the Partnership in which he invests will be the amount of money that he paid for his Units. |
| (11) | Allocations. The allocations of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit, or items thereof, and distributions set forth in the Partnership Agreement for each Partnership, including the allocations of basis and amount realized with respect to a Partnership’s natural gas and oil properties, will govern each Participant’s allocable share of those items to the extent the allocations do not cause or increase a deficit balance in his Capital Account in the Partnership in which he invests. |
| (12) | Subscription. No gain or loss will be recognized by the Participants on payment of their subscriptions to the Partnership in which they invest. |
| (13) | Profit Motive, IRS Anti-Abuse Rule and Potentially Relevant Judicial Doctrines. The Partnerships will possess the requisite profit motive under §183 of the Code. Also, the IRS anti-abuse rule in Treas. Reg. §1.701-2 and potentially relevant judicial doctrines will not have a material adverse effect on the tax consequences of an investment in a Partnership by a Participant as described in our opinions. |
| (14) | Reportable Transactions. Neither Partnership is, nor should be in the future, a reportable transaction under §6707A(c) of the Code. |
| (15) | Overall Conclusion. Our overall conclusion is that the federal tax treatment of a typical Participant’s investment in a Partnership as set forth in our opinions above is the proper federal tax treatment and will be upheld on the merits if challenged by the IRS and litigated. Our evaluation of the federal income tax laws and the expected activities of the Partnerships as represented to us by the Managing General Partner in this tax opinion letter and as described in the Prospectus causes us to believe that the deduction by a typical Participant of all, or substantially all, of his allocable share of his Partnership’s Intangible Drilling Costs in 2007 (even if the drilling of most or all of his Partnership’s wells begins after December 31, 2007, but on or before March 30, 2008, as set forth in opinions (5) and (6) above, is the principal tax benefit offered by each Partnership to its potential Participants and also is the proper federal tax treatment, subject to each Participant’s election to capitalize and amortize a portion or all of his share of his Partnership’s deduction for Intangible Drilling Costs. |
A Participant’s ability in any taxable year to use his share of these Partnership deductions on his personal federal income tax returns may be reduced, eliminated or deferred by the “Potential Limitations on Deductions” set forth in opinion (4), above.
The discussion in the Prospectus under the caption “FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES,” insofar as it contains statements of federal income tax law, is correct in all material respects.
We strongly urge each prospective Limited Partner to read the “Risk Factors – Tax Risks” and “Federal Income Tax Consequences” sections of the Prospectus, together with this tax opinion letter.
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January 16, 2007
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We consent to the use of this tax opinion letter as an exhibit to the Registration Statement, and all amendments to the Registration Statement, including post-effective amendments, and to all references to this firm in the Prospectus.
| Very truly yours, |
| |
| /s/ Kunzman & Bollinger, Inc. |
| |
| KUNZMAN & BOLLINGER, INC. |