Browse Articles:   By Category   /   By Author
HIDE

Other Publications

Insights

Publications

Peeling the Onion to Allocate Subpart F Income – This Will Make You Cry!

/
Peeling the Onion to Allocate Subpart F Income – This Will Make You Cry!

When Congress expanded the definition of a “U.S. Shareholder” in the T.C.J.A. by requiring the measurement of value as an alternative to voting power, it opened a Pandora’s box of issues.  First, more U.S. Persons became U.S. Shareholders.  Second, it imposed a difficult task for shareholders and corporations to measure relative value of all classes of shares and all holdings of shareholders.  Finally, many plans based on the existence of direct or direct or indirect dividend rights of foreign shareholders were shut down. Proposed regulations will modify the way Subpart F Income is allocated to various classes of shares having discretionary dividend rights. Neha Rastogi and Stanley C. Ruchelman explain the broadened scope of income inclusions under Subpart F.

Read More

Coming to the U.S. After Tax Reform

/
Coming to the U.S. After Tax Reform

Now, more than six months after enactment of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, many tax advisers have achieved a level of comfort with the brave new world of Transition Tax, F.D.I.I., G.I.L.T.I., B.E.A.T., and incredibly low corporate tax rates. However, sleeper provisions in the new law can have drastic adverse tax consequences in the realm of cross-border transactions and investments: (i) the threshold for becoming a C.F.C. has been reduced significantly by several changes in U.S. tax law and (ii) the 10.5% tax rate for G.I.L.T.I. is limited to corporations so that individuals face ordinary income treatment for G.I.L.T.I. inclusions from foreign corporations that were not C.F.C’s. prior to the new law. Jeanne Goulet of Byrum River Consulting L.L.C., New York, addresses these problems and suggests several planning opportunities.

Read More

A New Tax Regime for C.F.C.’s: Who Is G.I.L.T.I.?

/
A New Tax Regime for C.F.C.’s: Who Is G.I.L.T.I.?

The T.C.J.A. introduces a new minimum tax regime applicable to controlled foreign corporations (“C.F.C.’s”).  It also provides tax benefits for incomefrom “intangibles” used to exploit foreign markets.  The former is known as G.I.L.T.I. and the latter is known as F.D.I.I.  Together, G.I.L.T.I. and F.D.I.I. change the dynamics of cross-border taxation and can be seen as an incentive to supply foreign markets with goods and services produced in the U.S.  Both provisions reflect a view that only two value drivers exist in business: (i) hard assets (such as property, plant, and equipment) and (ii) intangible property.  In a detailed set of Q&A’s, Elizabeth V. Zanet and Stanley C. Ruchelman look at the ins and outs of the new provisions.

Read More

When Does an Aged Account Receivable Give Rise to a Deemed Repatriation?

/
When Does an Aged Account Receivable Give Rise to a Deemed Repatriation?

One form of taxation under Subpart F is an “investment in U.S. Property.”  The law treats the investment as a form of taxable repatriation of earnings.  Under certain circumstances, aged accounts receivable may be seen as a form of taxable investment in U.S. property.  Most U.S. tax advisers look to a 60-day rule under which the account receivable is treated as a loan if not settled by the last day of the second month following a sale.  However, that is a safe harbor.  I.R.S. private letter rulings and Tax Court cases have addressed fact patterns in which the account receivable remains open for a much longer time.  Some taxpayers win and others lose.  Elizabeth V. Zanet and Stanley C. Ruchelman explain.

Read More

International Practice Unit: What the I.R.S. Looks for When Deciding if a U.S. Shareholder Has an Interest in a C.F.C.

/

Rusudan Shervashidze and Stanley C. Ruchelman explain the tests the I.R.S. applies to determine whether a foreign corporation is a C.F.C. and a U.S. person is a “U.S. Shareholder” potentially subject to tax under Subpart F. They explain the tax forms that examiners are encouraged to look for and the telltale signs of direct, indirect, and constructive ownership of shares by U.S. persons.

Read More

Taxpayers Take Note: I.R.S. Publishes Audit Guides for International Examiners

/

U.S.-based companies facing an I.R.S. examination of international operations may secretly wish to obtain an advance look at how I.R.S. examiners plan to carry out the examination. After all, what better way to prepare for a test than to get the questions in advance? Surprise – the Large Business & International (LB&I) Division of the I.R.S. has published its training guides for examiners.

LB&I is responsible for examining tax returns reporting international transactions, and it is in the process of revising the method by which returns are chosen for examination and the the process by which those examinations are conducted. Several aspects of the guidance will be addressed through out this edition of Insights. Stanley C. Ruchelman explains.

Read More