Final answer:
The company realizes a loss of $5,600 on the redemption of the bonds because the book value ($1,621,600) is greater than the redemption price ($1,616,000).
Step-by-step explanation:
The student asked about the gain or loss on the redemption of bonds by Bargain Company. The company has $1,600,000 of bonds outstanding with an unamortized premium of $21,600. If the bonds are redeemed at 101, that means they are being redeemed at 1% more than their face value. To calculate the gain or loss, we need to consider the redemption price and the book value of the bonds.
The redemption price of the bonds is 101% of the face value, which is 1.01 * $1,600,000 = $1,616,000. The book value of the bonds is the face value plus the unamortized premium, which is $1,600,000 + $21,600 = $1,621,600. To find the gain or loss, we subtract the redemption price from the book value: $1,621,600 - $1,616,000 = $5,600.
Since the book value is greater than the redemption price, the company realizes a loss of $5,600 on the redemption of the bonds.