GE Plan for Tax-Free Split Should Work, Barring a Few Obstacles

General Electric Co.’s plan to split itself into three companies will likely win the tax-free treatment for shareholders that it is seeking, once it clears a few obstacles, tax attorneys and practitioners said.

The company will separate via spinoffs in 2023 and 2024 that are intended to be free of U.S. federal income taxes, it announced Tuesday. Those plans appear to meet the basic requirements for tax-free treatment from the IRS, like having a legitimate reason for the spinoffs, said Gregory Kidder, a Steptoe & Johnson LLP tax attorney.

“This looks like a fairly vanilla spinoff to create ...