Common use of Application of Section 6 Clause in Contracts

Application of Section 6. 2. In light of the fact that the receipt of certain amounts of parachute payments could put the recipient in a worse after-tax economic position, Section 6.2 provides that the amount of parachute payments an executive will receive will be "capped" or limited to the amount of the executive's safe harbor. In the example above, Section 6.2 would provide that the executive is not entitled to the additional payment of $1, which payment would otherwise result in an additional $40,000 in excise taxes. This "cap" will not apply, however, if the executive is better off on an after-tax economic basis receiving the full amount of parachute payments otherwise provided for in the Agreement and taking into account the imposition of the excise tax. Using the example above, if the executive with the $299,999 safe harbor was otherwise entitled under the Agreement to parachute payments of $400,000 (rather than $300,000 as in the prior example), under the Agreement the payments would not be capped. In such a circumstance, the payments would exceed the executive's base amount by $300,000, resulting in an excise tax of $60,000 and aggregate income tax of $140,000 (assuming a 35% federal income tax rate and disregarding state taxes). In such a case, the executive's after tax benefit of $200,000 would exceed the after-tax benefit he would have received if his payment were reduced to the safe harbor amount ($299,999 x 65% = $195,000), meaning that he would be better off on an after tax basis receiving all of his parachute payments, even after the imposition of the excise tax.