Deduction for Foreign-Derived Intangible Income and Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income, 43042-43117 [2020-14649]
Download as PDF
43042
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
10, 2019. The Treasury Department and
the IRS also received written comments
with respect to the proposed
regulations.
All written comments received in
response to the proposed regulations are
available at https://www.regulations.gov
or upon request. Terms used but not
defined in this preamble have the
meaning provided in these final
regulations.
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Internal Revenue Service
26 CFR Part 1
[TD 9901]
RIN 1545–BO55
Deduction for Foreign-Derived
Intangible Income and Global
Intangible Low-Taxed Income
Internal Revenue Service (IRS),
Treasury.
ACTION: Final regulations.
AGENCY:
This document contains final
regulations that provide guidance
regarding the deduction for foreignderived intangible income (FDII) and
global intangible low-taxed income
(GILTI). This document also contains
final regulations coordinating the
deduction for FDII and GILTI with other
provisions in the Internal Revenue
Code. These regulations generally affect
domestic corporations and individuals
who elect to be subject to tax at
corporate rates for purposes of
inclusions under subpart F and GILTI.
DATES:
Effective Date: These regulations are
effective on September 14, 2020.
Applicability Dates: For dates of
applicability, see §§ 1.250–1(b), 1.962–
1(d), 1.1502–50(g), 1.6038–2(m)(4),
1.6038–3(l), and 1.6038A–2(g).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Concerning §§ 1.250–1 through
1.250(b)–6, 1.6038–2, 1.6038–3, and
1.6038A–2, Brad McCormack at (202)
317–6911 and Lorraine Rodriguez at
(202) 317–6726; concerning § 1.962–1,
Edward Tracy at (202) 317–6934;
concerning §§ 1.1502–12, 1.1502–13 and
1.1502–50, Michelle A. Monroy at (202)
317–5363 (not toll free numbers).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Background
Section 250 was added to the Internal
Revenue Code (‘‘Code’’) by the Tax Cuts
and Jobs Act, Public Law 115–97, 131
Stat. 2054, 2208 (2017) (the ‘‘Act’’),
which was enacted on December 22,
2017. On March 6, 2019, the Department
of the Treasury (‘‘Treasury
Department’’) and the IRS published
proposed regulations (REG–104464–18)
under sections 250, 962, 1502, 6038,
and 6038A in the Federal Register (84
FR 8188) (the ‘‘proposed regulations’’).
Corrections to the proposed regulations
were published on April 11, 2019, and
April 12, 2019, in the Federal Register
(84 FR 14634 and 84 FR 14901,
respectively). A public hearing on the
proposed regulations was held on July
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
Summary of Comments and
Explanation of Revisions
I. Overview
The final regulations retain the basic
approach and structure of the proposed
regulations, with certain revisions. This
Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section discusses those
revisions as well as comments received
in response to the solicitation of
comments in the notice of proposed
rulemaking. Comments outside the
scope of this rulemaking are generally
not addressed but may be considered in
connection with future guidance
projects.
II. Comments on and Revisions to
Documentation Requirements and
Applicability Dates
A. Documentation Requirements for
Foreign Persons, Foreign Use, and
Location Outside the United States
As described in parts VII.B, C.1, and
D.1 and VIII.B.1 and B.2.c of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section, the proposed
regulations provided that to establish
that a recipient is a foreign person,
property is for a foreign use (within the
meaning of proposed § 1.250(b)–4(d)
and (e)), or a recipient of a general
service is located outside the United
States (within the meaning of proposed
§ 1.250(b)–5(d)(2)), the taxpayer must
obtain specific types of documentation
described in proposed §§ 1.250(b)–
4(c)(2), (d)(3), and (e)(3) and 1.250(b)–
5(d)(3) and (e)(3). The proposed
regulations also provided a transition
rule whereby for taxable years beginning
on or before March 4, 2019, taxpayers
could use any reasonable
documentation maintained in the
ordinary course of the taxpayer’s
business that establishes that a recipient
is a foreign person, property is for a
foreign use, or a recipient of a general
service is located outside the United
States, as applicable, in lieu of the
specific documentation described in the
regulations, provided that such
documentation meets certain reliability
requirements described in proposed
§ 1.250(b)–3(d). See proposed § 1.250–
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
1(b). The preamble requested comments
on this special transition rule.
Several comments recommended
either making this transition rule
permanent or extending it for a certain
period after the regulations are
finalized. The comments recommending
that the transition rule be made
permanent indicated that the
documentation described in the
proposed regulations may be difficult, if
not impossible, to obtain in the ordinary
course of business. The comments noted
that customers are highly reluctant to
provide some of the types of documents
that the proposed regulations described.
A comment noted that the
documentation rules in the proposed
regulations could require taxpayers to
renegotiate contracts or make inquiries
of their customers that could interfere
with the customer relationship. Several
comments were concerned with how the
documentation rules and, in particular,
the reliability requirements would apply
to business models with longer-term
contracts, especially those entered into
during the 2019 tax year.
The comments that requested
extending the transition rule suggested
that this would allow adequate time for
the IRS to gain experience with the
types of documentation taxpayers
collect in the ordinary course of
business, and for taxpayers to gain
experience complying with such rules
by developing or improving internal
compliance systems. Alternatively,
some comments suggested that the next
issuance of regulations should be in
temporary form to allow additional time
to consider the reasonableness of the
documentation requirements before
final regulations are issued and to allow
taxpayers more time to identify
distortive results.
Other comments recommended
changes to the documentation rules if
the final regulations do not make the
transition rule permanent. Several
comments suggested that any list of
suitable documents (for either property
sales or services) should be nonexclusive and include more documents
obtained in the ordinary course of
business. Some comments
recommended allowing the use of
documentation methods similar to those
for sales of fungible mass property
under proposed § 1.250(b)–4(d)(3)(iii)
such as market research, statistical
sampling, economic modeling or other
similar methods to show foreign person
status or foreign use.
The final regulations address these
comments in several ways. First, the
final regulations eliminate the
requirement in the proposed regulations
to obtain specific types of documents to
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
establish foreign person status, foreign
use with respect to sales of certain
general property that are made directly
to end users, and the location of general
services provided to consumers. The
Treasury Department and the IRS have
determined that requiring specific
documentation with respect to these
requirements is difficult given the
variations in industry practices and is
not necessary to achieve the purpose of
the statute. Accordingly, the final
regulations remove the specific
documentation requirements to
establish foreign person status and
foreign use with respect to certain sales
of general property and the location of
a consumer of a general service.
However, as explained in more detail in
part II.D of this Summary of Comments
and Explanation of Revisions section, as
with any deduction, taxpayers claiming
a deduction under section 250 bear the
burden of demonstrating that they are
entitled to the deduction. Therefore, the
general requirement for taxpayers to
substantiate their deductions will apply
without any additional specific
requirements as to the content of
information or documents.
Second, the final regulations adopt a
more flexible approach regarding the
types of substantiation required for
foreign use with respect to sales of
general property to non-end users,
foreign use with respect to sales of
intangible property, and with respect to
determining whether services are
performed for business recipients
located outside the United States.
Although the substantiation
requirements in the final regulations are
more specific as to the nature of the
information required, they are not
limited to a narrow set of documents.
The requirements also do not contain
the specific reliability requirement set
out in the proposed regulations because
the reliability of documents or
information can differ depending on the
circumstances. For example, documents
created in advance of a sales date (such
as a long-term sales contract) may be as
reliable as documents created at the
time of the sale, depending on the facts
and circumstances. Further, the final
regulations continue to require that the
substantiating documents be supported
by credible evidence. See part II.C of
this Summary of Comments and
Explanation of Revisions section.
Finally, the applicability dates of the
regulations have been revised, and
taxpayers are permitted to rely on the
proposed regulations for taxable years
before the final regulations are
applicable, including relying on the
transition rules during the entirety of
such period. See part II.F and XII of this
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section.
B. Specific Substantiation for Certain
Transactions
In lieu of the documentation
requirements in the proposed
regulations, with respect to sales of
general property to recipients other than
end users, sales of intangible property,
and general services provided to
business recipients, the final regulations
provide substantiation rules that are
more flexible with respect to the types
of corroborating evidence that may be
used. See § 1.250(b)–3(f). For these
transactions, specific substantiation
requirements are needed to ensure that
taxpayers make sufficient efforts to
determine whether the regulatory
requirement is met. Therefore, with
respect to these transactions, the final
regulations describe the type of
information necessary to meet the
substantiation requirements. The
specific ways a taxpayer must
substantiate these elements are
described in parts VII.C.9, VII.D.2, and
VIII.B.2.d of this Summary of Comments
and Explanation of Revisions section.
The substantiation requirements are
modeled after substantiation rules under
section 170 (requiring substantiation
through receipts for certain charitable
deductions) and section 274(d)
(requiring substantiation by adequate
records or a taxpayer statement with
corroborating evidence). The Treasury
Department and the IRS have
determined that requiring a taxpayer to
specifically substantiate certain
transactions—in particular transactions
where the relevant facts needed to
satisfy the rules are generally in the
hands of a third party with a business
relationship with the taxpayer—is
necessary and appropriate for
establishing ‘‘to the satisfaction of the
Secretary’’ that property is sold for a
foreign use or that services are provided
to persons located outside the United
States. See section 250(b)(4) and
(b)(5)(C).
C. Timing To Obtain, Maintain, and
Provide Specific Substantiation
In general, the substantiation rules
require that the substantiating
documents with respect to certain
transactions that give rise to foreignderived deduction eligible income (a
‘‘FDDEI transaction’’) be in existence by
the time the taxpayer files its return
(including extensions) with respect to
the FDDEI transaction (the ‘‘FDII filing
date’’). See § 1.250(b)–3(f)(1). The final
regulations do not impose additional
requirements relating to when
substantiating documents must be in
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43043
existence. However, the timing of when
substantiating documents are created
may affect the credibility of the
substantiating documents. For example,
substantiating documents created at or
near the time of the transaction
generally have a higher degree of
credibility as compared to
substantiating documents created later
in time. With respect to long-term
contracts, substantiating documents
created when the transaction was
entered into will be more credible in
later years if the taxpayer periodically
confirms that the terms of the long-term
contract are being adhered to.
The final regulations provide that
substantiating documents must be
provided to the IRS upon request,
generally within 30 days or some other
period agreed upon by the IRS and the
taxpayer. See § 1.250(b)–3(f)(1). This is
necessary to allow the substantiation
requirements to serve their purpose,
including to allow the IRS to timely
examine the taxpayer’s qualification for
the FDII deduction.
D. Substantiation in All Other Cases
For the rules in the final regulations
for which there are no specific
substantiation requirements, taxpayers
are already required under section 6001
to make returns, render statements, and
keep the necessary records to show
whether such person is liable for tax
under the Code. Therefore, a taxpayer
claiming a deduction under section 250
will still be required to substantiate that
it is entitled to the deduction even if it
is not subject to the specific
substantiation requirements contained
in the final regulations. See § 1.6001–
1(a); INDOPCO v. Commissioner, 503
U.S. 79, 84 (1992) (‘‘an income tax
deduction is a matter of legislative grace
and . . . the burden of clearly showing
the right to the claimed deduction is on
the taxpayer’’ (internal citations
omitted)).
The Treasury Department and the IRS
expect that taxpayers may use a broader
range of evidence to substantiate a
section 250 deduction under the new
substantiation requirements (and
section 6001 where no specific
substantiation requirements are
provided) than they would have been
able to use under the more specific
documentation requirements detailed in
the proposed regulations. Based on
comments received, in many cases a
taxpayer will be able to determine
whether it meets the requirements in the
final regulations using documents
maintained in the ordinary course of its
business, as provided in the transition
rule. In some circumstances, however, it
may be necessary for taxpayers to gather
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
43044
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
additional information to establish that
a requirement is met. The Treasury
Department and the IRS are also
considering issuing additional
administrative guidance on acceptable
documentation to substantiate the
deduction.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
E. Small Business Exception
The final regulations include an
exception for small businesses similar to
the exceptions from the documentation
requirements for small businesses that
are in the proposed regulations. See
proposed §§ 1.250(b)–4(c)(2)(ii)(A) and
(d)(3)(ii)(A), and 1.250(b)–5(d)(3)(ii)(A)
and (e)(3)(ii)(A). The exception provides
that the substantiation requirements
described generally in part II.B of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section do not apply if the
taxpayer and all related parties of the
taxpayer, in the aggregate, receive less
than $25,000,000 in gross receipts
during the prior taxable year. See
§ 1.250(b)–3(f)(2). In response to
comments that the final regulations
should allow for broader application of
the small business exception, the final
regulations modify the threshold
amount to qualify for that exception
from $10,000,000 of gross receipts
received by the seller of general
property or renderer of services in the
prior taxable year (the standard used in
the proposed regulations) to
$25,000,000 in gross receipts received
by the taxpayer and all related parties.
As a result of this exception, a small
business will not need to satisfy the
specific substantiation requirements in
the regulations, although it must
continue to comply with the general
substantiation rules under section 6001.
For example, small businesses may be
able to substantiate that a sale of general
property is for a foreign use by having
evidence of a foreign shipping address
and memorializing conversations with
the recipients explaining where the
property will be resold, if sufficiently
reliable, or having a copy of an export
bill of lading.
F. Transition Rules
The final regulations modify the
applicability dates of the regulations to
give taxpayers additional time to
develop systems for complying with the
regulations. Generally, the final
regulations are applicable for taxable
years beginning on or after January 1,
2021. See § 1.250–1(b). This
applicability date ensures that all
taxpayers, regardless of whether they
are fiscal- or calendar-year taxpayers,
have at least three full taxable years
after the Act was enacted before the
final regulations become applicable.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
However, for taxable years beginning
before January 1, 2021, taxpayers may
apply the final regulations or rely on the
proposed regulations, except that
taxpayers that choose to rely on the
proposed regulations may rely on the
transition rule for documentation for all
taxable years beginning before January
1, 2021 (rather than only for taxable
years beginning on or before March 4,
2019, which was the limitation
contained in the proposed regulations).
III. Comments on and Revisions to
Proposed § 1.250(a)–1—Deduction for
Foreign-Derived Intangible Income and
Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income
Proposed § 1.250(a)–1 provided
general rules to determine the amount of
a taxpayer’s section 250 deduction and
associated definitions that apply for
purposes of the proposed regulations.
A. Pre-Act NOLs
Several Code sections, including
section 250, include limitations based
on a taxpayer’s taxable income or a
percentage of taxable income. The
proposed regulations provided an
ordering rule for applying sections
163(j) and 172 in conjunction with
section 250 that provided that a
taxpayer’s taxable income for purposes
of applying the taxable income
limitation of section 250(a)(2) is
determined after all of the corporation’s
other deductions are taken into account,
without distinguishing between pre-Act
and post-Act net operating losses
(‘‘NOLs’’). See proposed § 1.250(a)–
1(c)(4).
Several comments noted that the
proposed regulations did not explicitly
address the impact of pre-Act NOLs on
the deduction under section 250 and
recommended that pre-Act NOLs not be
taken into account for purposes of
determining the deduction limit under
section 250(a)(2). This would allow
taxpayers to take a deduction under
section 250 for FDII in lieu of utilizing
available pre-Act NOLs.
Section 250(a)(2) limits the FDII
deduction based on ‘‘taxable income,’’
which is defined in section 63 to
include gross income minus deductions,
including NOL deductions under
section 172. Section 250(a)(2) contains
no language that would support
ignoring pre-Act NOLs for purposes of
determining the amount of taxable
income for purposes of section
250(a)(2). Cf. section 965(n) (providing
an election to forgo usage of a portion
of pre-Act NOLs against a taxpayer’s
inclusion under section 965). Therefore,
the comment is not adopted.
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
B. Ordering Rule
As discussed in the previous section,
the deduction under section 250 is
subject to a taxable income limitation
under section 250(a)(2). Proposed
§ 1.250(a)–1(c)(4) provided that the
corporation’s taxable income is
determined with regard to all items of
income, deduction, or loss, except for
the deduction allowed under section
250. Example 2 in proposed § 1.250(a)–
1(f)(2) applied the ordering rule with
respect to sections 163(j), 172, and 250.
Some comments recommended that
the regulations eliminate the ordering
rule in favor of an approach that used
simultaneous equations to compute
taxable income for each Code provision
that referred to taxable income, whereas
other comments expressed concern with
the complexity of performing
simultaneous equations. One comment
recommended that the regulations not
consider section 163(j) and 172(b)
carryforwards or carrybacks.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
have determined that further study is
required to determine the appropriate
rule for coordinating section 250(a)(2),
163(j), 172, and other Code provisions
(including, for example, sections
170(b)(2), 246(b), 613A(d), and 1503(d))
that limit the availability of deductions
based, directly or indirectly, upon a
taxpayer’s taxable income. Therefore,
the final regulations remove Example 2
in proposed § 1.250(a)–1(f)(2) and
reserve a paragraph in § 1.250(a)–
1(c)(5)(ii) for coordinating section
250(a)(2) with other provisions
calculated based on taxable income. The
Treasury Department and the IRS are
considering a separate guidance project
to address the interaction of sections
163(j), 172, 250(a)(2), and other Code
sections that refer to taxable income;
this guidance may include an option to
use simultaneous equations in lieu of an
ordering rule.1 Comments are requested
in this regard.
Before further guidance is issued
regarding how allowed deductions are
taken into account in determining the
taxable income limitation in section
250(a)(2), taxpayers may choose any
reasonable method (which could
include the ordering rule described in
the proposed regulations or the use of
simultaneous equations) if the method
1 Any separate guidance would take into account
the recent addition of section 172(a)(2)(B)(ii)(I) by
the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security
Act, Public Law 116–136, 134 Stat. 281 (2020). That
provision provides in relevant part that, for taxable
years beginning after December 31, 2020, the
taxable income limitation for purposes of deducting
net operating loss carrybacks and carryovers is
determined without regard to the deductions under
sections 172, 199A, and 250.
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
is applied consistently for all taxable
years beginning on or after January 1,
2021.
C. Carryovers of Excess FDII
Consistent with the statute, the
proposed regulations did not contain
any provision allowing the carryforward
or carryback of a tax year’s FDII
deduction in excess of the taxpayer’s
taxable income limitation under section
250(b)(2) and proposed § 1.250(a)–
1(b)(2). One comment argued that a
provision allowing the carryforward or
carryback should be added because the
taxable income limitation frustrates the
policy goal of the FDII regime of
reducing the tax incentive to locate
intellectual property outside the United
States. A different comment
recommended that where the taxable
income limitation of the proposed
regulations applies to a given tax year,
the final regulations should allow for
the creation of a FDII recapture account
by which taxpayers can carry forward
previously unused section 250
deductions to future tax years when
they have enough taxable income to use
these deductions. In contrast, another
comment recommended that, consistent
with the statute, the final regulations
should not allow for carrybacks or
carryforwards in order to limit the
potential for abuse by taxpayers.
The section 250 deduction is an
annual calculation, and nothing in the
statute or legislative history
contemplates the creation of
carryforwards or carrybacks or a
recapture account. Cf. section 163(j)(2)
(providing for the carryforward of
disallowed business interest). As a
result, the final regulations do not adopt
these recommendations.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
D. Definition of GILTI
The final regulations under section
250 revise the definition of GILTI
consistent with the final regulations
under section 951A (‘‘section 951A final
regulations’’). The term ‘‘GILTI’’ means,
with respect to a domestic corporation
for a taxable year, the corporation’s
GILTI inclusion amount under
§ 1.951A–1(c) for the taxable year. See
§ 1.250(a)–1(c)(3).
IV. Comments on and Revisions to
Proposed § 1.250(b)–1—Computation of
Foreign-Derived Intangible Income
The proposed regulations provided
that a taxpayer’s FDII is the taxpayer’s
deemed intangible income (‘‘DII’’)
multiplied by the corporation’s foreignderived ratio. See proposed § 1.250(b)–
1(b). A taxpayer’s DII is the excess (if
any) of the corporation’s deduction
eligible income (‘‘DEI’’) over its deemed
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
tangible income return (‘‘DTIR’’). See
proposed § 1.250(b)–1(c)(3). A
taxpayer’s DTIR is 10 percent of the
taxpayer’s qualified business asset
investment (‘‘QBAI’’). See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–1(c)(4). The foreign-derived
ratio is the taxpayer’s ratio of foreignderived deduction eligible income
(‘‘FDDEI’’) to DEI. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–1(c)(13).
A. Financial Services Income
Section 250(b)(3)(A)(i)(III) excludes
from DEI financial services income as
defined in section 904(d)(2)(D). One
comment requested a clarification that
income that falls outside of the
definition of section 904(d)(2)(D) should
be eligible for inclusion in DEI, such as
leasing or financing activities outside of
the active conduct of a banking,
financing, or similar business.
Section 250(b)(3)(A)(i)(III) excludes
only financial services income as
defined in section 904(d)(2)(D). Any
leasing or financing activities that are
not described in section 904(d)(2)(D)
will not fall within this exclusion.
Therefore, no changes are necessary.
Another comment suggested that the
proposed regulations do not provide
enough general guidance on non-active
financial services income from financial
instruments (such as derivatives and
hedges), and, in particular, how to
characterize such income (or losses) as
a FDDEI transaction. Absent such
guidance, the comment asserts that
taxpayers could take inconsistent
positions in characterizing a derivative
or hedge and characterizing the
underlying transaction as FDDEI
transactions. This comment
recommended adding a general rule that
associates the income, loss, and
expenses of a derivative or hedge with
the underlying transaction.
Alternatively, the comment suggested
that the final regulations treat the
derivative or hedge transaction as a
separate transaction and test it for
FDDEI under the rules regarding sales of
intangible property.
Consistent with the proposed
regulations, the final regulations
provide that, in general, financial
instruments are neither general property
nor intangible property, and therefore
their sales cannot give rise to FDDEI.
See § 1.250(b)–3(b)(10) (excluding from
the definition of general property a
security defined under section 475(c)(2))
and § 1.250(b)–3(b)(11) (intangible
property has the meaning set forth in
section 367(d)(4)). However, the final
regulations adopt the suggestion to
provide a special rule for hedges to
associate the income or loss from such
hedges with the underlying transaction.
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43045
See § 1.250(b)–4(f) and part VII.E of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section.
B. Definition of Foreign Branch Income
Section 250(b)(3) excludes from DEI
foreign branch income as defined in
section 904(d)(2)(J), which provides that
foreign branch income is business
profits attributable to one or more
qualified business units. Proposed
§ 1.250(b)–1(c)(11) defined foreign
branch income by cross-reference to
§ 1.904–4(f)(2), which provides that
gross income is attributable to a foreign
branch if the gross income is reflected
on the separate set of books and records
of the foreign branch. Proposed
§ 1.250(b)–1(c)(11), however, modified
this definition to also include any
income from the sale, directly or
indirectly, of any asset (other than
stock) that produces gross income
attributable to a foreign branch,
including by reason of the sale of a
disregarded entity or partnership
interest.
Several comments requested that the
final regulations remove the
modification to the definition in
proposed § 1.904–4(f)(2). Several
comments noted that the definition, as
proposed, would impermissibly create a
class of income that is neither DEI nor
foreign branch income for section 904
foreign tax credit purposes, and
therefore, asserted that the definitions
must be aligned consistently. Another
comment argued that the proposed
regulations under section 904 already
contain rules that address the types of
transactions that were described in
proposed § 1.250(b)–1(c)(11). Multiple
comments also noted that section
250(b)(3)(A)(i)(VI) cross references to
section 904(d)(2)(J) without any
modification to that latter provision and
argued that modifying the definition in
regulations exceeded the Treasury
Department and IRS’s regulatory
authority. One comment argued that the
expansion contravenes the
Congressional purpose behind FDII of
encouraging the repatriation of
intangible property. Another comment
noted that if the definition with the
modification is applied retroactively, it
could adversely affect taxpayers that
undertook transactions to repatriate
intellectual property before the
proposed regulations were issued, a
problem that the comment asserted is
exacerbated by the differing effective
dates of the proposed foreign tax credit
regulations and the FDII proposed
regulations.
If the final regulations were to retain
the expanded definition, one comment
requested that the definition also be
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
43046
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
used for purposes of the foreign branch
category definition in § 1.904–4(f).
Another comment requested that the
final regulations provide further
clarification of the treatment of the
disregarded transactions, particularly
with respect to the disposition of a
partnership interest, and provide
relevant examples of other types of
transactions that the expanded
definition is intended to capture.
Moreover, the comment requested that
the definition of foreign branch income
should be modified such that it would
not include any adjustments that would
increase the gross income attributable to
the foreign branch as a result of the
transfer of intangible property from the
foreign branch to the foreign branch
owner.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
agree that there should be one
consistent definition of foreign branch
income in both §§ 1.250(b)–1(c)(11) and
1.904–4(f)(2) to avoid the various results
suggested by comments. Accordingly,
the final regulations define foreign
branch income by cross reference to
§ 1.904–4(f)(2) and remove the
modification to that definition in the
proposed regulations that would have
included as foreign branch income any
income from the sale, directly or
indirectly, of any asset (other than
stock) that produces gross income
attributable to a foreign branch,
including by reason of the sale of a
disregarded entity or partnership
interest. See § 1.250(b)–1(c)(11).2
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
C. Cost of Goods Sold Allocation
The proposed regulations provided
that for purposes of determining the
gross income included in gross DEI and
gross FDDEI, cost of goods sold is
attributed to gross receipts with respect
to gross DEI or gross FDDEI under any
reasonable method. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–1(d)(1). The final regulations
clarify that the method chosen by the
taxpayer must be consistently applied.
For purposes of this rule, any cost of
goods sold associated with activities
undertaken in an earlier taxable year
cannot be segregated into component
costs and attributed disproportionately
to amounts excluded from gross FDDEI
or to amounts excluded from gross DEI,
similar to the rules in proposed § 1.199–
4(b)(2)(iii)(A). The preamble to the
proposed regulations requested
comments on whether there are
alternative approaches for dealing with
timing issues, and whether additional
2 Under § 1.904–4(f)(2), a disposition of an
interest in a disregarded entity could still result in
foreign branch income. See § 1.904–4(f)(4)(ii)
Example 2.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
rules should be provided for attributing
cost of goods sold in determining gross
DEI and gross FDDEI.
One comment recommended that the
final regulations continue to allow cost
of goods sold to be allocated under any
reasonable method to provide flexibility
to different taxpayers. Another comment
agreed with the proposed regulations
that cost of goods sold should be
allocated between gross FDDEI and
gross non-FDDEI 3 regardless of whether
any component of the costs was
associated with activities undertaken in
a prior tax year. That comment,
however, recommended that for future
periods taxpayers that recognized
revenue under section 451 for advance
payments should be permitted an
election to create an imputed cost of
goods sold deduction based upon the
taxpayer’s gross profit percentage for
that particular product or service. The
comment argued this election is needed
because recognition of an advance
payment as income without associated
cost of goods sold might be required
under section 451 based upon certain
facts and circumstances and the election
would allow the taxpayer to avoid this
distortive impact.
Sections 451 and 461 provide the
general rules on the timing of income
recognition and taking a deduction into
account, respectively. Nothing in
section 250 suggests that Congress
intended to change the scope of
generally applicable income recognition
rules. Therefore, the final regulations do
not adopt the comment to permit an
election to create an imputed cost of
goods sold deduction in the context of
advance payments with respect to
section 250.
D. Expense Allocation
1. In General
In calculating DEI under section
250(b)(3), a taxpayer must determine the
deductions that are ‘‘properly allocable’’
to gross DEI. Proposed § 1.250(b)–
1(d)(2)(i) further provided that, for
purposes of calculating FDDEI, a
taxpayer must determine the deductions
that are ‘‘properly allocable’’ to gross
FDDEI. Consistent with the rules for
determining the foreign tax credit
limitation under section 904 or qualified
production activities income under
former section 199, the proposed
regulations provided that §§ 1.861–8
through 1.861–14T and 1.861–17 apply
3 The final regulations rename ‘‘gross non-FDDEI’’
as ‘‘gross RDEI’’ to clarify that the term includes
only the residual of gross DEI that is not gross
FDDEI, rather than all gross income (including
income that is not gross DEI) that is not gross
FDDEI. See § 1.250(b)–1(c)(14).
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
for purposes of allocating deductions to
gross DEI and gross FDDEI. Id. Several
comments supported using these
general apportionment rules.
2. Research and Experimentation
Expenditures
Under § 1.861–17(b), an exclusive
apportionment of research and
experimentation (‘‘R&E’’) expenditures
is made if activities representing more
than 50 percent of the R&E expenditures
were performed in a particular
geographic location, such as the United
States. After this initial exclusive
apportionment, the remainder of the
taxpayer’s R&E expenditures are
apportioned under either the sales or
gross income methods under § 1.861–
17(c) and (d). Section 1.861–17(e)
provides rules for making a binding
election to use either the sales or gross
income method.
a. Exclusive Apportionment and Direct
Apportionment
The proposed regulations under
section 250 specified that the exclusive
apportionment rules in § 1.861–17(b)
did not apply for purposes of
apportioning R&E expenses to gross DEI
and gross FDDEI. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–1(d)(2)(i). Several comments
requested that the final regulations
allow taxpayers to use exclusive
apportionment for purposes of
determining FDII. One comment noted
that the preamble to the proposed
regulations does not justify the
proposed regulations omitting the
exclusive apportionment method in the
FDII context. Another comment asserted
that allowing exclusive apportionment
would mitigate a significant
disincentive for taxpayers to onshore
intangible property into the United
States. Other comments argued that
allocating R&E expenses to FDDEI may
discourage taxpayers from performing
R&E activities in the United States.
Several comments recommended
allocating R&E expenditures based on
an optional books and records method
that could be used when there is a clear
factual relationship between the R&E
expenditures and a particular amount of
income. These comments noted that
some taxpayers are subject to regulatory
oversight with respect to their contract
pricing and costs, and therefore such
taxpayers’ books and records could be
an accurate way of showing the
relationship between R&E expenses and
gross income.
Several comments also requested that
the final regulations adopt special rules
for expenses that are market-restricted
or market-required (for example,
expenses required only by the U.S. Food
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
and Drug Administration concerning the
U.S. market), including where the
legally mandated rule in § 1.861–
17(a)(4) would not apply. One comment
noted that this rule could apply in
situations where U.S. law limits the
realization from certain research
activities to the market in which the
research is performed (such as export
controls) and therefore the R&E
expenditures would not be expected to
generate gross income outside the
United States.
Several comments requested that if
none of these recommendations for
allocating R&E expenses are adopted,
the final regulations should reserve on
this provision pending the broader
ongoing review of § 1.861–17 by the
Treasury Department.
In light of the issuance of proposed
rules under § 1.861–17 on December 17,
2019 (84 FR 69124) (the ‘‘2019 FTC
proposed regulations’’), the final
regulations remove the provision stating
that the exclusive apportionment rules
in § 1.861–17(b) do not apply for
purposes of apportioning R&E expenses
to gross DEI and gross FDDEI, and
generally do not provide special rules
for applying § 1.861–17 for purposes of
section 250. Proposed § 1.861–17 in the
2019 FTC proposed regulations provides
that the exclusive apportionment rule
applies only to section 904 as the
operative section, and also proposes
eliminating the special rule for legally
mandated R&E. As recommended by
comments to the proposed regulations
under section 250, the Treasury
Department and the IRS will consider
the issues raised regarding the
application of exclusive apportionment
for purposes of section 250 as part of
finalizing the 2019 FTC proposed
regulations.
proposed regulations, the Treasury
Department and the IRS are concerned
that the gross income method could in
some cases produce inappropriate
results. See 84 FR 69124, 69129. As a
result, the 2019 FTC proposed
regulations proposed to eliminate the
optional gross income method described
in § 1.861–17(d) and require R&E
expenditures in excess of the amount
exclusively apportioned under § 1.861–
17(b) to be apportioned based on gross
receipts. See proposed § 1.861–17(d).
Comments addressing the applicability
of the gross income method will be
addressed as part of finalizing the 2019
FTC proposed regulations.
Proposed § 1.861–17(e)(3), published
December 7, 2018 (83 FR 63200),
permitted taxpayers a one-time
exception to what would otherwise be a
five-year binding election period under
§ 1.861–17(e)(1) to use either the sales or
the gross income method, in light of the
many changes to the foreign tax credit
rules made by the Act. Under proposed
§ 1.861–17(e)(3), even if a taxpayer is
subject to the binding election period,
for the taxpayer’s first taxable year
beginning after December 31, 2017, the
taxpayer may change its apportionment
method without obtaining the
Commissioner’s consent. Comments to
the proposed regulations under section
250 requested that this one-time
exception be extended to at least a
second tax year beginning after
December 31, 2017, potentially at the
election of the taxpayer, pending the
Treasury Department’s ongoing review
of § 1.861–17. The final regulations
under § 1.861–17 issued on December
17, 2019, provide an additional year for
taxpayers to change their election of the
sales or gross income method. See
§ 1.861–17(e)(3).
b. Use of Sales or Gross Income Method
Several comments requested that the
final regulations include an election to
allocate R&E expenses under either the
sales or gross income method.
Comments also requested that taxpayers
should be permitted to make this
election annually to give taxpayers a
longer period to assess the various new
regimes that rely on § 1.861–17 such as
section 250, and pending the
finalization of the FDII regulations.
Another comment suggested that the
final regulations should provide that the
provisions of § 1.861–17(c)(3) (requiring
sales to third parties by controlled
foreign affiliates to be included) should
not apply as it might artificially
apportion more R&E expense against
FDDEI.
As described in the preamble to
proposed § 1.861–17 in the 2019 FTC
3. Carryovers
Comments requested additional
clarification regarding whether
taxpayers are required to apportion
expenses incurred before the effective
date of the proposed regulations.
Multiple comments specifically asked
for a clarification that taxpayers are not
required to apportion NOLs incurred
before the effective date of the proposed
regulations or, in some cases, before the
effective date of the Act, recommending
that a clarification could be along the
lines of § 1.199–4(c)(2)(ii) (providing
that a deduction under section 172 for
a net operating loss is not allocated or
apportioned to domestic production
gross receipts or gross income
attributable to domestic production
gross receipts).
The final regulations address this
comment by providing that the
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43047
following provisions (which limit
certain deductions and provide for the
carryover of the amounts not currently
allowed) do not apply when allocating
and apportioning deductions to gross
DEI or gross FDDEI of a taxpayer for a
taxable year: Sections 163(j), 170(b)(2),
172, 246(b), and 250. See § 1.250(b)–
1(d)(2)(ii). The Treasury Department
and the IRS considered a rule that
would require expenses incurred in
prior years, including in years before the
effective date of the proposed
regulations, to be allocated to gross DEI
and gross FDDEI, but determined that
the benefit of the theoretical precision of
this approach would be outweighed by
the burden on taxpayers and the IRS
that would be associated with making
retroactive determinations. Further, the
approach taken in the final regulations
is consistent with the premise that the
section 250 deduction is calculated
based on annual income and expenses.
E. Foreign-Derived Ratio
The proposed regulations provided
rules for determining a taxpayer’s
foreign-derived ratio, which is the ratio
of FDDEI to DEI. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–1(c)(13). The preamble to the
proposed regulations observed that as a
result of expense apportionment or
attribution of cost of goods sold to gross
receipts, a taxpayer’s FDDEI could
exceed its DEI, thereby resulting in a
foreign-derived ratio greater than one.
The preamble noted that this result
would be inconsistent with section
250(b)(4), which defines FDDEI as a
subset of DEI, as it would lead to having
FDII in excess of DII. Therefore, the
proposed regulations clarified that the
foreign-derived ratio cannot exceed one.
Several comments requested that the
final regulations allow the foreignderived ratio to exceed one. The
comments asserted that the foreignderived ratio can in fact exceed one
under the statute where the taxpayer has
losses that cause its FDDEI to exceed its
DEI, and that there is no evidence
Congress intended to limit the foreignderived ratio to no greater than one. One
of the comments asserted that FDDEI
and DEI are defined by the statute and
that the Treasury Department and the
IRS do not have the authority to define
FDDEI more narrowly than the statute
does. Another comment argued that
section 250(a)(2) provides a separate
taxable income limitation that limits the
FDII deduction based on domestic
losses. This comment further asserted
that the foreign-derived ratio rule of the
proposed regulations reduces a
taxpayer’s incentive for repatriating
intangible property when the foreign
income from these intangibles cannot be
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
43048
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
used to offset domestic losses for
purposes of applying section 250.
One comment further suggested that
the final regulations allow a taxpayer to
elect to determine its FDII deduction,
including the various elements of the
determination such as DII, QBAI, and
DTIR, based on specific product lines or
business lines, as determined by the
taxpayer. The comment asserted that
such an approach would be analogous
to other provisions that calculate taxable
income separately for different subsets
of income such as former section 199,
the foreign tax credit limitation under
section 904(d), separate limitation loss
recapture rules in sections 904(f) and
(g), and §§ 1.994–1(c) and 1.994–2(b).
The comment argued that such an
approach to determining FDII is more
consistent with the policy goal of
reducing the tax incentive to locate
intellectual property outside the United
States, which the comment asserted
would be frustrated if domestic losses
reduce FDII-eligible income.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
do not agree that limiting the foreignderived ratio to no greater than one is
inconsistent with the plain meaning of
section 250. Specifically, the approach
recommended by the comments would
be inconsistent with the statutory
language of section 250(b)(4), which
defines FDDEI as a subset of DEI, that
is, ‘‘any deduction eligible income of
such taxpayer which is derived in
connection with’’ certain transactions.
Allowing the foreign-derived ratio to
exceed one could also lead to
anomalous results. For example, a cliff
effect would arise whereby a taxpayer
with significant FDDEI but only $1 of
DEI would have a significant FDII
deduction, whereas if it has $0 or less
of DEI, then no FDII deduction would be
allowed. This would also create further
anomalous results and incentives with
respect to section 163(j), which is
determined taking into account the
section 250 deduction.
In addition, nothing in section 250
provides for FDII to be calculated based
on specific product lines or business
lines, which would entail significant
complexity for taxpayers and
administrative burdens for the IRS.
Instead, the statute is clear that the FDII
deduction is calculated as an aggregate
of all FDDEI transactions. Therefore, the
final regulations do not adopt this
comment.
F. Partnership Reporting Requirements
The proposed regulations required
partnership information reporting in
order to administer section 250. See
proposed §§ 1.250(b)–1(e)(2) and
1.6038–3(g)(4). One comment asserted
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
that the partnership information
reporting requirements of proposed
§ 1.250(b)–1(e)(2) impose unnecessary
administrative burdens on a partnership
that reasonably believes it has no (direct
or indirect) domestic corporate partners,
even after the partnership has
performed reasonable due diligence as
to the identity of its partners and
reasonably relied on information
provided by the partners. The comment
requested that the Treasury Department
and IRS consider some form of relief
from this reporting; the comment
expressed the view that this limited
reporting requirement would not
prejudice the government’s interest
because the use of partnership items can
only reduce the partner’s tax liability.
The comment further requested the
addition of a reasonable cause exception
(consistent with the penalty defenses
available for the Form 8865 penalties).
The final regulations do not include a
more limited reporting requirement
because the Treasury Department and
IRS are concerned that this might
undermine accurate reporting at the
partner level. In addition, the Treasury
Department and IRS disagree with the
comment’s observation that reporting by
the partnership of items under section
250 could only reduce a partner’s tax
liability—for example, a domestic
corporate partner might reduce its tax
liability by failing to include
partnership QBAI. As to the comment’s
request for a reasonable cause
exception, generally applicable penalty
exceptions already apply to the extent
information relevant to FDII is not
reported on the applicable form. See
section 6698(a) for filing Form 1065,
section 6038(c)(4)(B) for filing Form
8865, and section 6724(a) for filing
Schedule K–1 (Form 1065). For
example, under § 301.6724–1(a)(2)(ii)
and (c)(6), a partnership may establish
reasonable cause because a payee failed
to provide information necessary for the
partnership to comply (or because of
incorrect information provided by the
payee or any other person that the
partnership relied on in good faith).
However, the final regulations clarify
the reporting rules for tiered-partnership
situations as well as provide guidance
on certain computational aspects. See
§ 1.250(b)–1(e)(2). Similar additions are
made to the reporting rules with respect
to controlled foreign partnerships. See
§ 1.6038–3(g)(3).
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
V. Comments on and Revisions to
Proposed § 1.250(b)–2—Qualified
Business Asset Investment
A. In General
The proposed regulations provided
general rules for determining the QBAI
of a taxpayer for purposes of
determining its DTIR, including
defining QBAI, tangible property, and
specified tangible property; rules
regarding dual-use property; rules for
determining adjusted basis; rules
regarding short tax years; rules
regarding property owned through a
partnership; and an anti-avoidance rule.
See proposed § 1.250(b)–2. Section
250(b)(2)(B) provides that QBAI, for
purposes of section 250, is defined
under section 951A(d), and is
determined by substituting ‘‘deduction
eligible income’’ for ‘‘tested income’’
and without regard to whether the
corporation is a controlled foreign
corporation (‘‘CFC’’). While the rules
provided in § 1.951A–3 for determining
QBAI of a CFC for purposes of section
951A do not apply in determining QBAI
for purposes of computing the
deduction of a taxpayer under section
250 for its FDII, the proposed
regulations under section 250 provided
a similar, but not identical,
determination of QBAI for purposes of
FDII.
The section 951A final regulations
made certain revisions and clarifications
to the proposed regulations under that
section (‘‘section 951A proposed
regulations’’). See § 1.951A–3. The
preamble to the section 951A final
regulations noted that, except as
indicated with respect to the election to
use a depreciation method other than
the alternative depreciation system
(‘‘ADS’’) for determining the adjusted
basis in specified tangible property for
assets placed in service before the
enactment of section 951A (see part V.B
of this Summary of Comments and
Explanation of Revisions section),
modifications similar to the revisions to
proposed § 1.951A–3 will be made to
proposed § 1.250(b)–2. These
modifications generally clarify the QBAI
computation with respect to dual-use
property (§ 1.250(b)–2(d)) and
partnerships (§ 1.250(b)–2(g)).
Accordingly, the final regulations make
conforming changes to QBAI for
purposes of FDII similar to the changes
made to proposed § 1.951A–3 in the
section 951A final regulations. See
§ 1.250(b)–(2).
B. Determination of Basis Under ADS
The proposed regulations provided
that, for purposes of determining QBAI,
the adjusted basis in specified tangible
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
property is determined by using ADS
under section 168(g), and by allocating
the depreciation deduction with respect
to such property for the taxpayer’s
taxable year ratably to each day during
the period in the taxable year to which
such depreciation relates. See section
951A(d)(3) 4 and proposed § 1.250(b)–
2(e)(1). ADS applies to determine the
adjusted basis in property for purposes
of determining QBAI regardless of
whether the property was placed in
service before the enactment of section
250 or section 951A, or whether the
basis in the property is determined
under another depreciation method for
other purposes of the Code. See section
951A(d)(3) and proposed § 1.250(b)–
2(e).
A comment recommended that the
final regulations for FDII should permit
taxpayers the opportunity to follow U.S.
GAAP for purposes of determining
QBAI where the difference between U.S.
GAAP and ADS is immaterial. The final
regulations do not adopt this
recommendation. Section 951A(d)(3)
(and, by reference, section 250(b)(2)(B))
is clear that the adjusted basis in
specified tangible property is
determined using ADS under section
168(g). In addition, permitting taxpayers
to elect to follow U.S. GAAP in the
context of FDII will impose significant
administrative burdens on the IRS to
determine what would be immaterial
and account for different depreciation
methods to compute QBAI.
C. QBAI Anti-Avoidance Rule
In order to prevent artificial decreases
to the DTIR amount, the proposed
regulations disregarded certain transfers
of specified tangible property by a
domestic corporation to a related party
where the corporation continues to use
the property in production of gross DEI.
In particular, proposed § 1.250(b)–
2(h)(1) disregarded a transfer of
specified tangible property by the
taxpayer to a related party if, within a
two-year period beginning one year
before the transfer, the taxpayer leases
the same or substantially similar
property from a related party and such
transfer and lease occur with a principal
purpose of reducing the taxpayer’s
DTIR. In addition, a transfer or
leaseback transaction was treated as per
se undertaken for a principal purpose of
reducing the transferor’s DTIR if the
transfer and leaseback each occur
4 As enacted, section 951A(d) contains two
paragraphs designated as paragraph (3). The section
951A(d)(3) discussed in this part V.B of the
Summary of Comments and Explanation of
Revisions section relates to the determination of the
adjusted basis in property for purposes of
calculating QBAI.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
within a six-month span. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–2(h)(3). Comments
recommended that the final regulations
contain a transition period for the QBAI
anti-avoidance rule in proposed
§ 1.250(b)–2(h)(3) for transactions
entered into before the date that the
proposed regulations were issued. The
final regulations adopt this comment.
See § 1.250(b)–2(h)(5).
Another comment recommended that
a taxpayer be able to rebut the
presumption that a transfer or leaseback
transaction was undertaken for a
principal purpose of reducing the
transferor’s DTIR if the transfer and
leaseback each occurred within a sixmonth span. The final regulations do
not adopt this recommendation because
a transfer and lease of the same or
similar property that occurs between
related parties within six months does
not materially change the economic risk
of the parties and is unlikely to be
motivated by non-tax reasons. In
addition, permitting taxpayers to rebut
the presumption that such a transaction
was undertaken for a principal purpose
of reducing the transferor’s DTIR creates
significant administrative burdens.
VI. Comments on and Revisions to
Proposed § 1.250(b)–3—FDDEI
Transactions
The proposed regulations provided
that FDDEI is the excess of gross FDDEI
over deductions properly allocable to
gross FDDEI. See proposed § 1.250(b)–
1(c)(12). The proposed regulations
defined gross FDDEI as the portion of a
corporation’s gross DEI that is derived
from all of its ‘‘FDDEI sales’’ and
‘‘FDDEI services.’’ See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–1(c)(15). The proposed
regulations defined ‘‘sale’’ to include a
lease, license, exchange, or other
disposition of property, including a
transfer of property resulting in gain or
an income inclusion under section 367.
See proposed § 1.250(b)–3(b)(7).
A. Definition of ‘‘General Property’’
1. Treatment of Commodities
For purposes of determining what is
a FDDEI sale (and relatedly, whether a
sale is for a foreign use), the proposed
regulations distinguished between
‘‘general property’’ and certain other
types of property. The proposed
regulations excluded any commodity (as
defined in section 475(e)(2)(B) through
(D)) from the definition of general
property. See proposed § 1.250(b)–
3(b)(3). The proposed regulations did
not exclude from the definition of
general property a commodity described
in section 475(e)(2)(A), and therefore,
the sale of such a commodity may
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43049
qualify as a FDDEI sale. A comment
raised a concern that the sale of a
physical commodity effected through
certain derivative contracts (described
in section 475(e)(2)(B) through (D))
might not be treated as a sale of general
property under the proposed
regulations. The comment
recommended clarifying that the sale of
a physical commodity in satisfaction of
a forward contract is not excluded from
the definition of general property.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
generally agree that a sale of a
commodity such as an agricultural
commodity or a natural resource should
be a sale of general property whether it
is sold pursuant to a spot contract or
sold pursuant to a forward or option
contract, other than a section 1256
contract or similar contract that is
traded and cleared like a section 1256
contract. The sale of such a commodity
through a futures or option contract that
is a section 1256 contract or similar
contract is not treated as a sale of
general property because the
interposition of a clearing organization
as the counterparty to such contracts
severs the connection between the
original selling and buying parties to the
contract such that no meaningful
determination can be made whether the
sale through such a contract is for a
foreign use. The definition of ‘‘general
property’’ in § 1.250(b)–3(b)(10) is
modified accordingly. The final
regulations also clarify that financial
instruments or similar assets traded
through futures or similar contracts do
not qualify as general property.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
are concerned, however, that a taxpayer
could manipulate its FDDEI by
selectively physically settling only its
commodities forward or option
contracts in which it has a gain. To
prevent this manipulation, the final
regulations provide that the sale of a
commodity pursuant to a forward or
option contract is treated as a sale of
general property only to the extent that
a taxpayer physically settled the
contract pursuant to a consistent
practice adopted for business purposes
of determining whether to cash or
physically settle such contracts under
similar circumstances. See § 1.250(b)–
3(b)(10).
The proposed regulations further
provided that a sale of a security (as
defined in section 475(c)(2)) or a
commodity (as defined in section
475(e)(2)(B) through (D)) is not a FDDEI
sale. See proposed § 1.250(b)–4(f). This
rule is no longer necessary because the
final regulations exclude such property
from the definition of general property.
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
43050
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
2. Treatment of Interests in Partnerships
The proposed regulations did not
address the conditions under which the
sale of a partnership interest that is not
described in section 475(c)(2) will
satisfy the foreign use requirement. One
comment suggested that when a
taxpayer sells a partnership interest, a
look-through approach should apply
such that the sale of a partnership
interest would be considered a sale of
the partner’s proportionate share in the
partnership’s assets. As such, the sale of
the partnership interest could be
considered a sale of general property
and would qualify as a FDDEI sale so
long as the other relevant requirements
of the regulations were met. The same
comment noted an alternative approach
that would preclude looking through to
the underlying assets and instead would
require the foreign purchaser to
determine if the acquisition of the
partnership interest is for a foreign use.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
have determined that, like an interest in
a corporation (which is a security under
section 475(c)(2)(A) and therefore not
general property under § 1.250(b)–
3(b)(10)), interests in a partnership are
not the type of property that can be
subject to ‘‘any use, consumption, or
disposition’’ outside the United States.
Furthermore, a look-through approach
would be inconsistent with the fact that
title to the partnership’s property does
not change upon the sale of an interest
in a partnership and also would be
difficult to administer given that the
underlying property that would be
tested for foreign use is not actually
being transferred. Accordingly, the final
regulations provide that an interest in a
partnership, as well as an interest in a
trust or estate, is not general property.
See § 1.250(b)–3(b)(10).
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
3. Exclusion of Intangible Property
Under the proposed regulations, the
rules applicable to the determination of
whether a sale of property is for a
foreign use depends on whether the
property sold is ‘‘general property’’ or
‘‘intangible property.’’ See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–4(d) and (e). The proposed
regulations defined general property as
property other than intangible property,
a security (as defined in section
475(c)(2)), or a commodity (as defined
in section 475(e)(2)(B) through (D)). See
proposed § 1.250(b)–3(b)(3). The
proposed regulations defined intangible
property by cross-reference to section
367(d)(4). See proposed § 1.250(b)–
3(b)(4).
Two examples in the proposed
regulations suggested that a limited use
license of a copyrighted article is
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
analyzed under the rules for sales of
intangible property. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–4(e)(4)(ii)(D) and (E)
(Example 4 and 5). One comment
recommended that if the distinction
between sales of tangible and intangible
property is maintained, then the final
regulations should provide that software
transactions involving the sale or lease
of copyrighted articles are governed by
the general property rules and not the
intangible property rules.
The final regulations make several
changes in response to this comment.
Consistent with the request in the
comment, the definition of ‘‘intangible
property’’ for purposes of section 250 is
clarified to not include a copyrighted
article as defined in § 1.861–18(c)(3).
See § 1.250(b)–3(b)(11). However, the
rules for determining foreign use that
apply to general property are not
suitable for sales of digital content,
including copyrighted articles, that are
transferred electronically, because those
rules focus on the physical transfer of
property to end users. Therefore, the
final regulations provide an additional
rule for sales of general property that
primarily contain digital content. See
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(1)(ii)(D). Under the final
regulations, ‘‘digital content’’ is defined
as a computer program or any other
content in digital format. See § 1.250(b)–
3(b)(1). The determination of how a
transfer of a copyrighted article is
characterized (for example, as a sale or
a service) for purposes of applying the
final regulations is based on general
U.S. tax principles, taking into account
the regulations issued under section
861.5
Notwithstanding the final regulations’
treatment of sales of copyrighted articles
for purposes of determining foreign use,
no inference is intended with respect to
the treatment of sales of copyrighted
articles under other sections of the
Code. For example, the fact that a sale
of a copyrighted article (or other
property) is treated as a FDDEI sale does
not necessarily mean that the income
from the sale is foreign source under
section 861.
B. Foreign Military Sales and Services
The proposed regulations provided
that for purposes of section 250 a sale
of property or a provision of service to
the U.S. government that is governed by
the Arms Export Control Act of 1976, as
amended (22 U.S.C. 2751 et. seq.), is
treated as a sale of property or provision
of a service to a foreign government, and
therefore may qualify as a FDDEI
5 See proposed § 1.861–18(a) (84 FR 40317)
(adding section 250 to the list of provisions to
which § 1.861–18 applies).
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
transaction if the other requirements
under proposed §§ 1.250(b)–3 through
1.250(b)–6 are satisfied. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–3(c). The proposed
regulations requested comments on
identifying readily available
documentation sufficient to demonstrate
that a particular sale or service was
made pursuant to the Arms Export
Control Act.
Several comments requested removal
of the requirement in proposed
§ 1.250(b)–3(c) that the resale or onservice to a foreign government or
agency or instrumentality thereof must
be ‘‘on commercial terms.’’ The
comments asserted that this requirement
was ambiguous and observed that the
taxpayer would not necessarily have
access to the contract between the U.S.
government and the foreign
counterparty and therefore could not
necessarily evaluate the commerciality
of such contract. The comments also
objected to the requirement that the
contract between the taxpayer and the
U.S. government specifically refer to the
resale or on-service to the foreign
government, stating that the contract
may not always specify this information
but that the resale or on-service could be
evidenced by the taxpayer’s generally
available records.
In response to the preamble’s request
for comments on suitable
documentation to demonstrate that a
foreign military sale qualifies under this
special rule, several comments noted
that no one particular document will
suffice to demonstrate that a given sale
or service qualifies. Nevertheless,
comments stated that ordinary course
documentation should suffice to show
that the sale or service qualifies. If the
final regulations were to retain a list of
particular documents required to
demonstrate that a particular sale or
service was made pursuant to the Arms
Export Control Act, the comments
suggested various types of documents
that might be available but also stated
that any list of these documents should
be non-exclusive since any one
document may not exist for a particular
sale or service, and, in any event, the
Department of Defense and the State
Department modify their forms
frequently. One comment asked for
transitional relief for any pre-existing
contracts, if the final regulations were to
provide an exclusive list of required
documentation. Another comment
requested a presumption of foreign use
in the context of foreign military sales
based on the high likelihood that
defense articles would satisfy foreign
use—sales made pursuant to the Arms
Export Control Act are limited to foreign
strategic partners who intend to use
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
articles in a certain manner, such as,
self-defense and internal security—and
the low likelihood that a foreign person
could use a defense article within the
United States.
In general, the final regulations adopt
the comments. Section 1.250(b)–3(c)
does not include a requirement that the
foreign military sale or service be ‘‘on
commercial terms’’ or that the contract
specifically refer to the resale or onservice to the foreign government.
Instead, if a sale of property or a
provision of a service is made pursuant
to the Arms Export Control Act, then the
sale of property or provision of a service
is treated as a FDDEI sale or FDDEI
service without needing to apply the
general rules in § 1.250(b)–4 or
§ 1.250(b)–5. See § 1.250(b)–3(c). The
final regulations also do not require any
particular documentation to substantiate
that a transaction qualifies under the
rule in § 1.250(b)–3(c). Taxpayers will
continue to be required to substantiate
under section 6001 that any foreign
military sale or service qualifies for a
section 250 deduction.
C. Reliability of Documentation and
Reason To Know Standard
The proposed regulations provided
that to establish that a recipient is a
foreign person, property is for a foreign
use, or a recipient of a general service
is located outside the United States, the
taxpayer must obtain specific types of
documentation described in proposed
§§ 1.250(b)–4(c)(2), (d)(3), and (e)(3) and
1.250(b)–5(d)(3) and (e)(3). The
proposed regulations also provided that
the seller or renderer must not know or
have reason to know that the
documentation is incorrect or
unreliable. Proposed § 1.250(b)–3(d)(1).
One comment requested that the final
regulations provide more guidance and
relevant examples regarding the scope
of this rule, in particular what
knowledge should be imputed across a
large organization and how the standard
should apply when relevant information
is legally protected by data privacy
laws.
As described in part II of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section, the final
regulations replace the documentation
requirements with substantiation rules
that are more flexible with respect to the
types of corroborating evidence that
may be used. The knowledge or reason
to know standard is retained in
§§ 1.250(b)–3(f)(3) (treatment of certain
loss transactions), 1.250(b)–4(c)(1)
(foreign person requirement),
(d)(1)(iii)(C) (general property
incorporated into a product as a
component) and (d)(2)(ii)(C)(2) (sale of
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
intangible property consisting of a
manufacturing method or process to a
foreign unrelated party), and 1.250(b)–
5(d)(1) (general services provided to
consumers). In response to comments,
the final regulations provide additional
detail regarding the application of the
reason to know standard in these
sections. The final regulations generally
provide that a taxpayer has reason to
know that a transaction fails to satisfy
a substantive requirement if the
information that the taxpayer receives as
part of the sales process contains
information that indicates that the
substantive requirement is not met and,
after making reasonable efforts, the
taxpayer cannot establish that the
substantive requirement is met. See
§§ 1.250(b)–3(f)(3), 1.250(b)–4(c)(1),
(d)(1)(iii)(C) and (d)(2)(ii)(C)(2), and
§ 1.250(b)–5(d)(1).
D. Sales or Services to a Partnership
For purposes of determining a
taxpayer’s FDII attributable to sales of
property or services to a partnership, the
proposed regulations adopted an entity
approach to partnerships. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–3(g)(1). One comment
suggested that if a seller of a good has
a greater than 10 percent ownership
interest in the recipient domestic
partnership, the final regulations should
also permit aggregate treatment of the
partnership for this limited purpose.
The comment observed that the
proposed regulations do not permit
sales to a domestic partnership to
qualify as a FDDEI sale because a
domestic partnership is not a foreign
person under proposed § 1.250(b)–
3(b)(2). According to the comment, in
certain industries, customers request
‘‘teaming arrangements’’ that require
bidders to form a single domestic
bidding entity that will govern the
relationship between the members of
the team, but most of the work is
performed by the partners, under
subcontract from the partnership. The
comment recommended that the
practice of joint bidding should not
disqualify the activity for FDII purposes.
With respect to a taxpayer’s sales of
property to a partnership, one comment
suggested that the final regulations
consider alternatives to a pure entity
approach. The comment outlined two
other approaches to determine if a sale
to a partnership qualifies as a FDDEI
sale based on whether the partnership is
predominantly engaged in foreign
business or a pure aggregate approach to
treat the partnership as a foreign person
to the extent of its ownership by direct
or indirect foreign partners. With
respect to a partnership engaged in
multiple lines of business, each
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43051
business could be viewed as a separate
person for FDII purposes. While the
comment did not support an aggregate
approach or advocate a specific
approach, the comment noted that the
Treasury Department and the IRS
should balance legislative intent,
administrative burden, and precision.
The final regulations do not adopt
these comments. The statute is clear that
in the case of sales of property, the sale
must be to a person that is not a United
States person, and a domestic
partnership is a United States person.
See part VII.B of this Summary of
Comments and Explanation of Revisions
section. In addition, requiring taxpayers
to trace the ownership, potentially
through multiple tiers, of third-party
partnership recipients presents
significant administrative hurdles. If,
alternatively, this regime were elective,
it would create the potential for abuse
or uneven results for similarly situated
taxpayers.
E. Treatment of Certain Loss
Transactions
The proposed regulations provided
that if a seller or renderer knows or has
reason to know that property is sold to
a foreign person for a foreign use or a
general service is provided to a person
located outside the United States, but
the seller or renderer does not satisfy
the documentation requirements
applicable to such sale or service, the
sale of property or provision of a service
is nonetheless deemed a FDDEI
transaction if treating the sale or service
as a FDDEI transaction would reduce a
taxpayer’s FDDEI. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–3(f). One comment requested
a clarification that taking the FDII
deduction should be considered an
elective action and that this rule does
not impact such an election.
As described in part II of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section, in response to
comments, the final regulations adopt a
more flexible approach to the FDIIspecific documentation rules and
instead provide specific substantiation
requirements for certain elements of the
regulations. Accordingly, the rule with
respect to loss transactions is revised so
that it only applies to transactions for
which there is a specific substantiation
requirement. See § 1.250(b)–3(f)(3)(i).
However, the fact that § 1.250(b)–3(f)(3)
has been narrowed in the final
regulations does not mean that the
allowed FDII deduction can be
determined on a transaction-bytransaction basis. As provided in the
final regulations, FDII is determined on
a single aggregate basis, not on a
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
43052
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
transaction-by-transaction basis. See
§ 1.250(b)–1.
The final regulations also clarify that
for purposes of the loss transaction rule,
whether a taxpayer has reason to know
that a sale of property is to a foreign
person for a foreign use, or that a
general service is provided to a business
recipient located outside the United
States, depends on the information
received as part of the sales process. If
the information received as part of the
sales process contains information that
indicates that a sale is to a foreign
person for a foreign use or that a general
service is to a business recipient located
outside the United States, the requisite
reason to know is present unless the
taxpayer can prove otherwise. See
§ 1.250(b)–3(f)(3)(ii). With respect to
sales, the final regulations provide a
non-exhaustive list of information that
indicates that a recipient is a foreign
person or that the sale is for a foreign
use, such as a foreign address or phone
number. While not all sales to a foreign
person are for a foreign use (nor are all
sales for a foreign use made to foreign
persons), the final regulations use the
same indicia for both requirements
because a foreign person is more likely
to make a purchase for a foreign use
compared to a U.S. person. With respect
to general services, information that
indicates that a recipient is a business
recipient include indicia of a business
status, such as ‘‘LLC’’ or ‘‘Company,’’ or
similar indicia under applicable law, in
its name. Information that indicates that
a business recipient is located outside
the United States includes, but is not
limited to, a foreign phone number,
billing address, and evidence that the
business was formed or is managed
outside the United States. These rules
can also apply in the case of sales made
by related parties where the foreign
related party is treated as the seller and
the unrelated party transaction is being
analyzed. See § 1.250(b)–6(c)(2).
The final regulations do not include a
rule specifying that a taxpayer may
choose not to claim a FDII deduction.
Whether an allowable deduction must
be claimed is governed by general tax
principles and rules on whether such
deduction can be elective is beyond the
scope of these regulations.
F. Predominant Character Rule
The proposed regulations provided
that if a transaction includes both a sale
component and a service component,
the transaction is classified according to
the overall predominant character of the
transaction for purposes of determining
whether the transaction is subject to the
FDDEI sales rules of proposed
§ 1.250(b)–4 or the FDDEI services rules
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
of proposed § 1.250(b)–5. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–3(e). A comment expressed
support for the predominant character
rule for transactions that contain both
sale and service components in general
but also suggested that the final
regulations allow taxpayers to elect to
follow U.S. GAAP accounting, which
may in certain circumstances require
the disaggregation of the sale and
service components of a single
transaction.
For purposes of simplicity and to
avoid the need for complex
apportionment rules, § 1.250(b)–3(d)
provides a rule to determine the
predominant character of the
transaction when a transaction has
multiple elements, such as a sale of
general property and a service or sale of
general property and sale of intangible
property. The Treasury Department and
the IRS have determined that an elective
rule that allows for disaggregation
would create significant complexity for
taxpayers and be difficult for the IRS to
administer, and could lead to whipsaw
for the IRS as taxpayers elect to
disaggregate when it increases the FDII
deduction but not otherwise.
Accordingly, the final regulations do not
adopt the comment to include an
election to follow U.S. GAAP to
disaggregate a single transaction.
VII. Comments on and Revisions to
Proposed § 1.250(b)–4—FDDEI Sales
Section 250(b)(4)(A) provides that
FDDEI includes income from property
the taxpayer sells to any person who is
not a U.S. person and that the taxpayer
establishes to the satisfaction of the
Secretary is for a foreign use.
Accordingly, the proposed regulations
defined a FDDEI sale as a sale of
property to a foreign person for a foreign
use. See proposed § 1.250(b)–4(b).
A. End User Requirement
The proposed regulations provided
that a sale of intangible property is for
a foreign use to the extent the intangible
property generates revenue from
exploitation outside the United States,
which is generally determined based on
the location of end users purchasing
products for which the intangible
property was used in development,
manufacture, sale, or distribution. See
proposed § 1.250(b)–4(e)(2)(i).
Several comments requested that the
final regulations clarify the definition of
an ‘‘end user.’’ One comment
recommended that an ‘‘end user’’ be
defined as any consumer or business
recipient that purchases a finished good
for its own use or consumption (not for
resale or further manufacture, assembly,
or other processing). Another
PO 00000
Frm 00012
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
recommended that the finished good
manufacturer or original equipment
manufacturer, rather than the ultimate
customer of the manufacturer, be treated
as the end user.
The final regulations generally adopt
the comment that the end user should
be the consumer that purchases the
property for its own consumption. See
§ 1.250(b)–3(b)(2). Further, as discussed
in part VII.C.1 of this Summary of
Comments and Explanation of Revisions
section, the concept of an end user is
also incorporated into the rules for
determining whether a sale of general
property, in addition to intangible
property, is for a foreign use. See
§ 1.250–4(d). In this way, to the extent
possible, the final regulations
harmonize the rules for sales of general
property and intangible property.
Section 1.250(b)–3(b)(2) defines the
‘‘end user’’ as the person that ultimately
uses the property, and that a person
who acquires property for resale or
otherwise as an intermediary is not an
end user. The definition of end user is
modified for intangible property used in
connection with the sale of general
property, provision of services, sale of a
manufacturing method or process
intangible property, and for research
and development as provided in
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(2)(ii).
The final regulations do not adopt the
comments that in all cases a finished
goods manufacturer may be an end user.
However, as described in part VII.C.7 of
this Summary of Comments and
Explanation of Revisions section, the
final regulations continue to provide
that sales of general property for
manufacturing, assembly, or other
processing outside the United States are
sales for a foreign use. See § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(1)(iii). In addition, as described in
part VII.D.4 of this Summary of
Comments and Explanation of Revisions
section, an unrelated manufacturer
(such as an original equipment
manufacturer) that uses intangible
property that consists of a
manufacturing method or process, as
provided in § 1.250(b)–4(d)(2)(ii)(C), is
treated as the end user if it has
purchased (or licensed) the
manufacturing method or process
intangible property from an unrelated
party.
B. Foreign Person
The proposed regulations provided
that a recipient is treated as a foreign
person only if the seller obtains
documentation of the recipient’s foreign
status and does not know or have reason
to know that the recipient is not a
foreign person. See proposed § 1.250(b)–
4(c)(1). The proposed regulations
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
provided several types of permissible
documentation for this purpose, such as
a written statement by the recipient
indicating that the recipient is a foreign
person. See proposed § 1.250(b)–
4(c)(2)(i).
As explained in part II of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section, in response to
comments, the final regulations remove
the specific documentation
requirements with respect to certain
requirements, including the foreign
person requirement, and further identify
the substantive standards by which
taxpayers must meet the requirements of
the FDII regime. To address situations in
which taxpayers may not be able to
determine whether the recipient is a
foreign person within the meaning of
section 7701(a)(1), the final regulations
provide that the sale of property is
presumed made to a recipient that is a
foreign person if the sale is as described
in one of four categories: (1) Foreign
retail sales; (2) sales of general property
that are delivered to an address outside
the United States; (3) in the case of
general property that is not sold in a
foreign retail sale or delivered overseas,
the billing address of the recipient is
outside the United States; or (4) in the
case of sales of intangible property, the
billing address of the recipient is
outside the United States. See
§ 1.250(b)–4(c)(2)(i) through (iv). The
presumption does not apply if the seller
knows or has reason to know that the
sale is to a recipient other than a foreign
person. See § 1.250(b)–4(c)(1). The final
regulations also specify that a seller has
reason to know that a sale is to a
recipient other than a foreign person if
the information received as part of the
sales process contains information that
indicates that the recipient is not a
foreign person and the seller fails to
obtain evidence establishing that the
recipient is in fact a foreign person. See
§ 1.250(b)–4(c)(1). Information that
indicates that a recipient is not a foreign
person includes, but is not limited to, a
United States phone number, billing
address, shipping address, or place of
residence; and, with respect to an entity,
evidence that the entity is incorporated,
formed, or managed in the United
States. Id.
One comment requested that the final
regulations include exceptions similar
to the foreign military sales rule in the
proposed regulations for other sales or
licenses of property through an
intermediate domestic person. The
comment asserted that, for various
business reasons including historic
relationships with unrelated parties and
efficiencies from entering into global
deals to sell property to unrelated
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
parties, certain U.S. manufacturers sell
products to another U.S. entity, even
though that intermediary never actually
takes possession, and the product is
immediately resold to a foreign person
and used outside the United States. In
the licensing context, a U.S. taxpayer
may enter a global licensing deal with
another U.S. entity whereby this
intermediary is granted the authority to
sub-license the intangible property to its
foreign affiliates. While in both cases
the transactions could potentially be
restructured so that the taxpayer enters
into the transactions with a foreign
person that is related to the U.S.
intermediary, the comment suggested
that unrelated counterparties could
demand compensation for any
restructuring. The comment also noted
that the title to section 250(b)(5)(B)
references rules for ‘‘[p]roperty or
services provided to domestic
intermediaries,’’ suggesting that
Congress contemplated situations where
sales to a U.S. intermediary could be
treated as a sale to a non-U.S. person,
although the rule itself does not
reference domestic intermediaries.
As explained in the preamble to the
proposed regulations, section
250(b)(4)(A)(i) requires that a sale of
property (which includes licenses of
intangible property) be made to a person
who is not a United States person. This
requirement ensures that only the
domestic corporation that makes the
final sale to a foreign person can claim
a section 250 deduction for a FDDEI sale
(rather than allowing the benefit to
multiple unrelated domestic
corporations that all participate in a
sale). Furthermore, the Treasury
Department and the IRS do not agree
that the heading to section 250(b)(5)(B)
implies an exception to the requirement
in section 250(b)(4)(A)(i) that the sale be
to a foreign person. The rule in section
250(b)(5)(B)(i) refers only to other
‘‘persons’’ and is not limited to
domestic persons. In contrast, the
Treasury Department and the IRS have
determined that it is necessary and
appropriate to provide a special rule for
military sales in recognition that sales
pursuant to the Arms Export Control
Act are required to be made to the U.S.
government, but are in effect sales to a
foreign government. Therefore, the
comment is not adopted.
C. Foreign Use of General Property
1. Determination of Foreign Use in
General
The proposed regulations provided
that the sale of general property is for a
foreign use if either the property is not
subject to domestic use within three
PO 00000
Frm 00013
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43053
years of delivery of the property or the
property is subject to manufacture,
assembly, or other processing outside
the United States before any domestic
use of the property. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(2)(i). Domestic use was
defined in the proposed regulations as
the use, consumption, or disposition of
property within the United States,
including manufacture, assembly, or
other processing within the United
States. See proposed § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(2)(ii). In order to establish that
general property is for a foreign use, the
seller must generally obtain certain
documentation with respect to the sale,
such as proof of shipment of the
property to a foreign address, and the
seller cannot know or have reason to
know that the property is not for a
foreign use. See proposed § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(1) and (3).
Several comments noted that the
definition of foreign use combined with
the narrow documentation requirements
make it difficult for taxpayers to satisfy
the foreign use requirement. Several
comments interpreted the proposed
regulations as requiring taxpayers to
determine whether general property that
was sold would actually be subject to a
domestic use within three years of the
date of delivery. Other comments
similarly expressed confusion regarding
the obligation imposed on taxpayers to
determine whether there was a reason to
know that property would be subject to
a domestic use. One comment requested
that the Treasury Department and the
IRS treat certain types of sales, such as
foreign retail sales at a physical store
even where the consumer might
ultimately use the property within the
United States, as sales for foreign use.
As explained in part II of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section, in response to
comments on documentation, the final
regulations take a more flexible
approach to documentation and provide
specific substantiation requirements for
certain transactions (described in part
VII.C.9 of this Summary of Comments
and Explanation of Revisions section).
In addition, with respect to the
requirement of ‘‘foreign use’’ for sales of
general property, the final regulations
clarify the meaning of that term to
provide that it generally means the sale
(or eventual sale) of the property to end
users outside the United States or the
sale of the property to a person that
subjects the property to manufacture,
assembly, or other processing outside
the United States. See § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(1)(ii) and (iii). Consistent with the
recommendations from comments, the
Treasury Department and the IRS have
determined that a more flexible
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
43054
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
definition of foreign use of general
property that accounts for the
possibility of some limited domestic use
is more reasonable for taxpayers to
apply and for the IRS to administer.
Accordingly, the final regulations
eliminate the requirement that the
taxpayer have no ‘‘reason to know’’ of
some domestic use for sales of general
property. As described in part VII.C.2
through 8 of this Summary of Comments
and Explanation of Revisions section,
the final regulations generally provide
that the sale of general property is for a
foreign use if the seller determines that
such sale is to an end user described in
one of five categories. See § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(1)(ii)(A)–(F).
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
2. Delivery of Property Outside the
United States
The first category of sales that are for
a foreign use is sales to a recipient that
are delivered by a freight forwarder or
carrier to an end user if the end user
receives delivery of the general property
outside the United States. See
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(1)(ii)(A). The Treasury
Department and the IRS have
determined that, in general, if an end
user receives delivery of general
property outside the United States, the
general property will be ‘‘for a foreign
use’’ as contemplated by section
250(b)(4)(A)(ii) and additional detail
regarding the actual use of the property
is unnecessary. However, it would be
inappropriate to treat these sales as
FDDEI sales if the seller and buyer
arrange for general property to be
delivered to a location outside the
United States only to be redelivered for
use or consumption into the United
States with a principal purpose of
causing what would otherwise not be a
FDDEI sale to be treated as a FDDEI sale.
Therefore, § 1.250–4(b)(1)(ii)(A)
provides an anti-abuse rule to address
these concerns.
3. Location of Property Outside the
United States
The second category of sales that are
for a foreign use is sales of general
property to an end user where the
property is already located outside the
United States, and includes foreign
retail sales. See § 1.250(b)–4(d)(1)(ii)(B).
In general, sales of general property
from a foreign retail sale will be used
outside the United States. While it may
be possible that some end users will
purchase property in a foreign retail
store and use it solely within the United
States, the Treasury Department and the
IRS have determined that requiring a
determination of the actual use of these
sales would be unnecessarily
burdensome.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
4. Resale of Property Outside the United
States
The third category of sales for a
foreign use is sales to a recipient such
as a distributor or retailer that will resell
the general property, if the seller
determines that the general property
will ultimately be sold to end users
outside the United States. See
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(1)(ii)(C). This category is
intended to apply to sales to distributors
and retailers, but may also apply to
other sales to foreign persons for resale.
In addition, the final regulations
provide that for purposes of this rule,
the seller must substantiate the portion
of sales to end users outside the United
States under the rules described in parts
II and VII.C.9 of this Summary of
Comments and Explanation of Revisions
section.
The proposed regulations contained
alternative documentation requirements
for a sale of multiple items of general
property that because of their fungible
nature are difficult to specifically trace
to a location of use (fungible mass). See
proposed § 1.250(b)–4(d)(3)(iii). Under
the proposed regulations, a seller
establishes foreign use of a fungible
mass through market research,
including statistical sampling, economic
modeling and other similar methods. Id.
The proposed regulations also provided
that if a seller establishes that 90
percent or more of a fungible mass is for
a foreign use, the entire fungible mass
is treated as for a foreign use and if the
seller cannot establish that 10 percent or
more of the sale of a fungible mass is for
a foreign use, then no part of the
fungible mass is treated as for a foreign
use. Id.
One comment stated that the fungible
mass rules created overly stringent
documentation requirements that were
unnecessary, impractical, and unreliable
because a U.S. seller would need to
perform market research in order to
meet the 90 percent threshold to qualify
for foreign use. Conversely, the
comment noted that a U.S. seller that
could not meet the 10 percent threshold
through market research could see their
deduction eliminated in its entirety. The
comment suggested instead a rebuttable
presumption that fungible mass
property sold outside the United States
is for a foreign use unless a taxpayer
knows or has reason to know that a
material amount will be used within the
United States.
In response to the comment, the final
regulations eliminate the 10 percent and
90 percent thresholds and apply a
proportionate rule. See § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(1)(ii)(C). Under this rule, in the
case of a sale of a fungible mass of
PO 00000
Frm 00014
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
general property, if a portion of the
property sold is not for a foreign use, the
seller may rely on the proportion of the
recipient’s resales of fungible mass to
end users outside the United States to
determine its proportion of ultimate
sales to end users outside the United
States. Id. In addition, the Treasury
Department and the IRS have
determined that prescribing specific
methods such as market research,
statistical sampling, economic
modeling, and other similar methods to
determine foreign use from the sale of
a fungible mass of general property (or
a sale of any general property) is
unnecessary given the more flexible
approach to documentation. It should be
noted that market research or
information from public data, such as
general internet searches of secondary
sources, is generally not a source of
reliable information. In contrast,
statistical sampling, economic
modeling, or market research based on
the taxpayer’s own data will be more
reliable.
5. Electronic Transfer of Digital Content
Outside the United States
The fourth category of sales for a
foreign use is for sales of digital content
that are transferred electronically. Sales
of digital content transferred in a
physical medium are for a foreign use if
described in one of the first three
categories. The final regulations provide
that digital content that is transferred
electronically is for a foreign use if it is
sold to a recipient that is an end user
that downloads, installs, receives, or
accesses the digital content on the end
user’s device outside the United States.
See § 1.250(b)–4(d)(1)(ii)(D). However, if
this information is unavailable, such as
where the device’s internet Protocol
address (‘‘IP address’’) is not available
or does not serve as a reliable proxy for
the end user’s location (for example,
using a business headquarters’ IP
address when it has employees located
both within and outside the United
States who use the digital content), then
the sale is for a foreign use if made to
an end user with a foreign billing
address, but only if the gross receipts
from all sales with respect to the end
user (which may be a business) are in
the aggregate less than $50,000.
6. International Transportation Property
The fifth category of sales for a foreign
use is sales of international
transportation property. The proposed
regulations provided a special rule for
determining whether transportation
property like aircraft, railroad rolling
stock, vessels, motor vehicles or similar
property that travels internationally is
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
sold for foreign use and therefore
constitutes a FDDEI sale. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(2)(iv). Under this rule,
such transportation property is sold for
foreign use only if during the three-year
period from the date of delivery of the
property the property is located outside
the United States more than 50 percent
of the time and more than 50 percent of
the miles traversed in the use of such
property will be traversed outside the
United States. The seller can establish
that these criteria are satisfied by
obtaining a written statement from the
recipient that the property is anticipated
to satisfy these tests over the requisite
three-year period. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(3)(i)(A). With respect to
air transportation, the proposed
regulations provided that, for purposes
of the above tests, international
transportation property is deemed to be
within the United States at all times
during which it is engaged in transport
between any two points within the
United States, except where the
transport constitutes uninterrupted
international air transportation within
the meaning of section 4262(c)(3) and
the regulations under that section. See
proposed § 1.250(b)–4(d)(2)(iv).
One comment suggested
supplementing these tests with a
rebuttable presumption that any foreignregistered aircraft sold to a foreign
person is for foreign use. The comment
observes that ‘‘cabotage rules’’
significantly restrict the use of foreign
registered aircraft within the United
States such that a foreign registered
aircraft cannot travel between two
points in the United States unless the
route is part of a through trip on the way
to, or coming from, a foreign
destination. The comment further noted
that the ability of foreign persons to
register aircraft in the United States is
restricted. Therefore, the comment
proposed that a document evidencing
foreign registration of an aircraft to a
foreign person should suffice to
establish foreign use.
Other comments suggested changes to
the thresholds in the foreign use tests in
the proposed regulations. Several
comments suggested reducing the
thresholds from 50 percent to 20 percent
and making these tests disjunctive.
Another comment would retain the 50
percent threshold but eliminate the
three-year period so that the foreign use
test would only have to be satisfied as
of the filing date of the FDII return, and
that the taxpayer be permitted to elect
annually to bifurcate income from
foreign and domestic use based on the
percentage of actual time spent or miles
traversed outside and inside the United
States. A different comment suggested
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
reducing the three-year period to one
year after the date of delivery.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
generally agree with the comment that
place of registration is appropriate as
evidence of ‘‘use.’’ Therefore, the final
regulations provide that international
transportation property used for
compensation or hire is considered for
a foreign use if it is sold to an end user
that registers the property with a foreign
jurisdiction. See § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(1)(ii)(E). The final regulations
provide that other international
transportation property is considered for
a foreign use if sold to an end user that
registers the property with a foreign
jurisdiction and the property is
hangared or primarily stored outside the
United States. See § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(1)(ii)(F). This rule reflects the fact
that many recipients of international
transportation property will not be
further using the property for the
provision of international transportation
services. As a result, the property will
be primarily used in the place it is
registered or otherwise hangared or
stored. Even if such property enters the
United States, because it originated in a
different country, the use should not be
considered domestic use because the
international transportation property
will generally be located outside the
United States. As a result, the Treasury
Department and the IRS have
determined that there is no need to
determine the amount of time or miles
that such property is inside or outside
the United States.
Finally, one comment suggested
expanding the definition of
transportation property to include parts
of transportation property like engines,
tires, electronic equipment and spare
parts, even if such parts would not
otherwise satisfy the foreign use tests for
general property. The comment
expressed concern that the sale of parts
that were included within international
transportation property could fail the
foreign use test for general property
because the parts may enter the United
States as part of the transportation
property. At the same time, such parts
would be ineligible for the special rules
for international transportation
property. The comment suggested
expanding the definition of
transportation property to include
additional parts, even if such parts
would not otherwise satisfy the foreign
use tests for general property.
This comment is not adopted. Such a
rule would be administratively
burdensome and could lead to
inconsistency through the application of
two sets of rules to the same transaction
and property. Furthermore, the Treasury
PO 00000
Frm 00015
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43055
Department and the IRS have
determined that the concerns that were
the basis for the comment are generally
addressed through the adoption of the
new general rules with respect to
general property and international
transportation property. In particular,
parts that are used outside the United
States by an end user, including when
incorporated into transportation
property through manufacturing,
assembly or other processing, would
generally be considered for a foreign use
under the general test for general
property. As described in part VII.C.1 of
this Summary of Comments and
Explanation of Revisions section, this is
the case even if there is the possibility
of some domestic use of the property.
7. Manufacturing, Assembly, or Other
Processing Outside the United States
As described in part VII.C.1 of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section, the proposed
regulations provided that the sale of
general property is for a foreign use if
either the property is not subject to
domestic use within three years of
delivery of the property or the property
is subject to manufacture, assembly, or
other processing outside the United
States before any domestic use of the
property. See proposed § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(2)(i). Under the proposed
regulations, general property is subject
to manufacturing, assembly, or other
processing only if it meets either of the
following two tests: (1) There is a
physical and material change to the
property, or (2) the property is
incorporated as a component into a
second product. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(2)(iii)(A).
The proposed regulations clarified
that a physical and material change does
not include ‘‘minor assembly,
packaging, or labeling.’’ See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(2)(iii)(B). Whether
property has undergone a physical and
material change (as opposed to minor
assembly, packaging, or labeling) is
determined based on all the relevant
facts and circumstances. The proposed
regulations provided that general
property is incorporated as a component
into a second product only if the fair
market value of the property when it is
delivered to the recipient constitutes no
more than 20 percent of the fair market
value of the second product, determined
when the second product is completed.
See proposed § 1.250(b)–4(d)(2)(iii)(C).
For purposes of this rule, the proposed
regulations included an aggregation rule
providing that if the seller sells multiple
items of property that are incorporated
into the second product, all of the
property sold by the seller that is
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
43056
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
incorporated into the second product is
treated as a single item of property.
Several comments recommended that
the final regulations provide more
flexibility in satisfying the
manufacturing, assembly, or other
processing rule, especially in the
context of sales to foreign unrelated
parties where information to establish
the two distinct tests may not be readily
available. Several comments suggested
that the ‘‘physical and material change’’
test should be satisfied where general
property is subject to processing or
manufacturing activities that are
substantial in nature and that are
generally considered to constitute
manufacturing or production of a
substantially different product. Other
comments suggested that the final
regulations could provide for such a
‘‘substantial in nature’’ rule as a third
test in addition to the ‘‘physical and
material change’’ and component tests.
Comments also recommended a
rebuttable presumption where a
taxpayer could show that the physical
and material change test had been met
through reasonable documentation
created in the ordinary course of its
business. In addition, these comments
suggested that general property sold to
an unrelated party can be presumed to
be sold for use, consumption, or
disposition in the country of destination
of the property sold, unless the taxpayer
knows, or has reason to know otherwise.
With respect to the component test,
comments suggested the 20 percent
threshold should function as a safe
harbor similar to the safe harbor under
the subpart F components
manufacturing rule in § 1.954–
3(a)(4)(iii). Another comment suggested
the addition of a facts and
circumstances test. Citing concerns with
lack of readily available information,
comments further suggested allowing
taxpayers to satisfy the 20 percent
threshold through market research or
other methods similar to the fungible
mass rule. Another comment suggested
the 20 percent threshold was too low
and should be increased to 50 percent.
In the case of sales of multiple
components by the same seller,
comments suggested that the sales
should not be integrated unless actual
knowledge exists as to where the
products will be incorporated (such as
knowledge that the product will be
included in the same second product or
the nature of the component compels
inclusion into the second product).
Comments also noted similarities and
differences with the manufacturing,
assembly, or other processing
requirement under FDII and the
manufacturing rules under subpart F. In
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
particular, comments pointed out that in
the subpart F context, the rules address
parties under common control where
information is more readily available,
while in the FDII context, information
may not be available. A CFC’s foreign
base company sales income does not
include income of a CFC derived in
connection with the sale of personal
property manufactured, produced, or
constructed by such corporation.
Notably, Treasury regulations provide
two special manufacturing rules, often
referred to as, the ‘‘substantial
transformation’’ test and the
‘‘component parts’’ test. See § 1.954–
3(a)(4)(ii) and (iii). Under the first test,
if property is ‘‘substantially
transformed’’ by the CFC before sale, the
property sold is considered
manufactured, produced, or constructed
by the selling corporation. Under the
second test, a sale of property is treated
as the sale of a manufactured product,
rather than the sale of component parts,
if the assembly or conversion of the
component parts into the final product
by the selling corporation involves
activities that are substantial in nature
and generally considered to constitute
the manufacture, production, or
construction of property. A CFC is
deemed to have manufactured the
product if its conversion costs represent
20 percent or more of the total cost of
goods sold.
In response to comments, the final
regulations make several changes to the
rule for manufacturing, assembly, and
other processing. The final regulations
clarify that general property is subject to
a physical and material change if it is
substantially transformed and is
distinguishable from and cannot be
readily returned to its original state. See
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(1)(iii)(B). The final
regulations also provide a separate
substantive rule for the component test
and retain the 20 percent threshold as
a safe harbor. See § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(1)(iii)(C). Under this substantive
rule, general property is a component
incorporated into another product if the
incorporation of the general property
into another product involves activities
that are substantial in nature and
generally considered to constitute the
manufacture, assembly, or other
processing of property based on all the
relevant facts and circumstances. Id.
The final regulations also clarify that
general property is not considered a
component incorporated into another
product if it is subject only to
packaging, repackaging, labeling, or
minor assembly operations. See id.
While the structure and some of the
mechanics of the rule share similarities
PO 00000
Frm 00016
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
with the subpart F manufacturing
component parts test, the rule is
different in terms of purpose and
substance.
Finally, in response to comments, the
final regulations revise the safe harbor
in the component test by specifying that
the comparison should be between the
fair market value of the property sold by
the taxpayer and the fair market value
of the final finished goods sold to
consumers. See § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(1)(iii)(C). Because some general
property could be incorporated into
several different finished goods, the
final regulations provide that a reliable
estimate of the fair market value of the
finished good could include the average
fair market value of a representative
range of the finished goods that could
incorporate the component. An example
of this is provided in § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(1)(v)(B)(1) (Example 1). The final
regulations also modify the aggregation
rule so that it applies only if the seller
sells the property to the buyer and
knows or has reason to know that the
components will be incorporated into a
single item of property (for example,
where multiple components are sold as
a kit). The final regulations specify that
a seller has reason to know that the
components will be incorporated into a
single item of property if the
information received as part of the sales
process contains information that
indicates that the components will be
included in the same second product or
the nature of the components compels
inclusion into the second product. See
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(1)(iii)(C).
8. Manufacturing, Assembly, or Other
Processing in the United States
Section 250(b)(5)(B)(i) provides that if
a seller sells property to another person
(other than a related party) for further
manufacture or other modification
within the United States, the property is
not treated as sold for a foreign use even
if such other person subsequently uses
such property for a foreign use. Section
250(b)(5)(B)(i) could apply in the case of
a sale directly to a person that is a
foreign person if the property is subject
to further manufacture or other
modification in the United States after
the sale but before the property is
delivered to the end user.
As described in the preamble to the
proposed regulations, the proposed
regulations did not contain specific
rules corresponding to section
250(b)(5)(B)(i) because that rule is
encompassed within the general rules
relating to FDDEI sales in the proposed
regulations. The proposed regulations
generally provided that general property
is not for a foreign use if the property
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
is subject to a domestic use, which
includes manufacture, assembly, or
other processing within the United
States. See proposed § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(2)(i) and (ii)(B).
Because the final regulations no
longer define ‘‘foreign use’’ by reference
to whether the property is subject to a
domestic use, the rule in section
250(b)(5)(B)(i) is no longer encompassed
within the general rules in the
regulations relating to FDDEI sales.
Accordingly, the final regulations
include a rule that provides that if the
seller sells general property to a
recipient (other than a related party, for
which separate rules apply) for
manufacturing, assembly, or other
processing within the United States,
such property is not sold for a foreign
use even if the requirements for foreign
use are subsequently satisfied. See
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(1)(iv). For consistency,
the final regulations cross reference the
rules described in part VII.C.7 of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section for the meaning of
‘‘manufacturing, assembly, or other
processing.’’
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
9. Specific Substantiation for Foreign
Use of General Property
The final regulations specifically
require a taxpayer to substantiate
foreign use for general property for sales
of general property to resellers and
manufacturers. See § 1.250(b)–4(d)(3)(ii)
and (iii). In the case of sales to resellers,
a taxpayer must maintain and provide
credible evidence upon request that the
general property will ultimately be sold
to end users located outside the United
States. See part VII.C.4 of this Summary
of Comments and Explanation of
Revisions section. This requirement is
satisfied if the taxpayer maintains
evidence of foreign use such as the
following: a binding contract that limits
sales to outside of the United States,
proof that the general property is suited
only for a foreign market, or proof that
the shipping costs would be
prohibitively expensive if sold back to
the United States. See § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(3)(ii)(A)–(C). Certain information
from the recipient or a taxpayer with
corroborating evidence that credibly
supports the information will also
suffice. See § 1.250(b)–4(d)(3)(ii)(D)–(E).
With respect to manufacturing outside
the United States, the substantiation
requirements are met if a taxpayer
maintains proof that the property is
typically not sold to end users without
being subject to manufacture, assembly
or other processing, obtains credible
information from a recipient, or,
provides a statement containing certain
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
information with corroborating
evidence. See § 1.250(b)–4(d)(3)(iii).
D. Foreign Use of Intangible Property
1. In General
The proposed regulations provided
that a sale of intangible property (which
includes a license or any transfer of
such property in which gain or income
is recognized under section 367) is for
a foreign use to the extent revenue is
earned from exploiting the intangible
property outside the United States. See
proposed § 1.250(b)–4(e)(1). Where the
revenue is considered earned is
generally determined based on the
location of the end user. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–4(e)(2). The seller of the
intangible property must satisfy certain
documentation requirements showing
foreign use and have no knowledge, or
reason to know, that the portion of the
sale of the intangible property for which
the seller establishes foreign use is not
for foreign use. The proposed
regulations also provided rules to
determine foreign use for the sale of
intangible property to a foreign person
in exchange for periodic payments or a
lump sum payment. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–4(e)(2).
2. Substantiating Foreign Use of
Intangible Property
Several comments recommended
changes to the documentation rules. In
response to those comments, and as
explained in part II of this Summary of
Comments and Explanation of Revisions
section, the final regulations adopt a
more flexible approach to
documentation, but require a taxpayer
to specifically substantiate foreign use
for sales of intangible property. See
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(3)(iv). A taxpayer must
maintain and provide credible evidence
upon request that a sale of intangible
property will be used to earn revenue
from end users located outside the
United States. A taxpayer may satisfy
the substantiation requirement by
maintaining certain items as specified in
the final regulations. See § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(3)(iv). For example, a binding
contract providing that the intangible
property can be exploited solely outside
the United States would generally
satisfy the substantiation requirements
demonstrating foreign use of the
intangible property. See § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(3)(iv)(A). Certain information from
the recipient obtained or created in the
ordinary course of business or
corroborating evidence maintained by
the taxpayer that credibly supports the
information may also suffice. See
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(3)(iv)(B)–(C).
PO 00000
Frm 00017
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43057
3. Determining Foreign Use of Intangible
Property
Comments suggested that sales with
respect to intangible property be
divided into several subcategories. One
comment suggested dividing intangibles
into production and marketing
categories, with income from sales of
production intangibles used in the
development or manufacture of
products outside the United States being
FDDEI sales regardless of the location of
the end user, and income from sales of
marketing intangibles analyzed based on
the location of the end user. Another
comment suggested three subcategories
of intangible sales: (i) Sales of
manufacturing intangibles to foreign
unrelated parties, which would be
considered for a foreign use if
manufacturing occurs outside the
United States; (ii) sales of
manufacturing intangibles to related
parties, which would be considered for
a foreign use if the end product is sold
to a foreign person for foreign use; and
(iii) sales of marketing intangibles,
which would be considered for a foreign
use if the end user purchases the
resulting product outside the United
States.
Consistent with the proposed
regulations, the final regulations
provide that foreign use of intangible
property is determined based on
revenue earned from end users located
within versus outside the United States.
See § 1.250(b)–4(d)(2)(i). The focus on
the location of end users is derived from
the requirement in section 250(b)(5)(A)
that sales for a foreign use require ‘‘use’’
or ‘‘consumption’’ outside the United
States and the end user is the person
that ultimately consumes or uses the
intangible property. In the case of
legally protected intangible property
(such as patents or trademarks), the
location in which legal rights to the
intangible property are granted and
exploited generally determines the
location of the end users. Therefore, for
example, in the case of intangible
property such as patents that provide
rights only for markets outside the
United States, the end users will
generally be located solely outside the
United States. In the case of intangible
property that allows for worldwide
exploitation (or intangible property that
is not legally protected), a more specific
determination of end users will
generally be necessary to determine the
portion of intangible property income
that is for a foreign use versus not for
a foreign use.
In response to the comments received,
the final regulations provide more
detailed guidance on determining where
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
43058
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
revenue is earned from end users of the
intangible property, including rules for
intangible property embedded in
general property or used in connection
with the sale of general property,
intangible property used to provide
services, and intangible property used
in research and development. See
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(2)(ii). The final
regulations also include rules for
determining revenue earned from sales
of a manufacturing method or process,
which is similar to the separate rule for
‘‘production intangibles’’ or
‘‘manufacturing intangibles’’ that was
suggested by comments.
Revenue is generally earned from
intangible property used to manufacture
products or provide services through
sales of such products or services, or
from limited use licenses of the
intangible property, whether those sales,
services, or limited use licenses are
executed by an owner, licensee, or sublicensee of the intangible property. Until
revenue is earned from sales, services,
or limited-use licenses to the end user
that ultimately consumes the property
or receives the service, the intangible
property is generally not ‘‘exploited.’’
Consistent with this view, the final
regulations generally place the location
of use of the intangible property with
the location of the end user, which is
generally the person who ultimately
uses the general property in which the
intangible property is embedded or
associated with, or, if the intangible
property is used to provide a service,
the service recipient. See § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(2)(ii)(A) and (B). These rules
provide the same determination of
location of end user for sales or licenses
of intangible property used in research
and development. See § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(2)(ii)(D).
4. Intangible Property Used in
Manufacturing
The preamble to the proposed
regulations requested comments
regarding whether to adopt a rule for
intangible property similar to proposed
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(2)(i)(B) (treating a sale of
general property as for a foreign use if
the property is subject to manufacturing,
assembly, or other processing outside
the United States). Several comments
supported a rule that treats the sale of
intangible property as for a foreign use
where intangibles are used in
manufacturing that takes place outside
the United States. Some of the
comments also suggested that footnote
1522 of the Conference Report to the Act
supported this position because that
footnote did not specify that its
application is limited to only tangible
property that is subject to
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
manufacturing, assembling, or other
processing outside the United States.6
Based on comments received, the
final regulations provide a special rule
for sales to a foreign unrelated party of
a manufacturing method or process or
for know-how used to put the
manufacturing method or process to use
in manufacturing (the ‘‘manufacturing
method or process rule’’). See
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(2)(ii)(C). The final
regulations provide that when this rule
applies, then the foreign unrelated party
is treated as an end user located outside
the United States, unless the seller
knows or has reason to know that the
manufacturing method or process will
be used in the United States, in which
case the foreign unrelated party is
treated as an end user located within the
United States. For purposes of this rule,
reason to know is determined based on
the information received from the
recipient during the sales process. See
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(2)(ii)(C)(1).
The manufacturing method or process
rule does not apply to sales or licenses
of a manufacturing method or process to
an unrelated foreign party for purposes
of manufacturing products for or on
behalf of the seller of the manufacturing
method or process or any of the seller’s
affiliates. See § 1.250(b)–4(d)(2)(ii)(C)(2).
Applying the manufacturing method or
process rule to determine the end user
with respect to such an arrangement,
such as a contract or toll manufacturing
arrangement, is not appropriate because
the seller or related party to the seller
is using the manufacturing method or
process in manufacturing for itself. Such
use by the seller is effectively a circular
transfer of the intangible property back
to the seller. However, the sale of the
manufactured products by the seller of
the manufacturing method or process or
the seller’s affiliates can still qualify as
a FDDEI sale under other provisions
such as § 1.250(b)–4(d)(1)(ii).
The manufacturing method or process
rule applies only to certain types of
intangibles that are used in the
manufacturing process. The distinction
between the types of intangibles that
qualify for this rule and other types of
intangibles that may be used by
manufacturers is based on a distinction
between use of a patented method or
process and use of other types of
patented items. In all other cases, the
6 See H. Rept. 115–466, at 625, fn. 1522 (2017)
(Conf. Rept.) (‘‘If property is sold by a taxpayer to
a person who is not a U.S. person, and after such
sale the property is subject to manufacture,
assembly, or other processing (including the
incorporation of such property, as a component,
into a second product by means of production,
manufacture, or assembly) outside the United States
by such person, then the property is for a foreign
use.’’).
PO 00000
Frm 00018
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
foreign use of intangible property is
determined based on revenue earned
from end users located within versus
outside the United States.
The manufacturing method or process
rule applies only to sales to unrelated
parties (including sales made through
related parties that ultimately result in
a sale of the manufacturing method or
process to an unrelated party). Section
250(b)(5)(C) provides that sales to
related parties are treated as for a
foreign use only if the property is
ultimately sold or used in connection
with property that is sold to an
unrelated party who is not a United
States person. While § 1.250(b)–6(c)
gives effect to this rule by providing
special rules for sales of general
property to related parties (which apply
in the case of sales of property to related
parties for further manufacturing), those
rules do not apply to sales of intangible
property. Under the proposed
regulations, a related party rule was not
needed for sales of intangible property,
including property consisting of a
manufacturing method or process,
because the proposed regulations
generally provided that intangible
property used in the manufacture of a
product is treated as exploited at the
location of the end user when the
product is sold to the end user.
Proposed § 1.250(b)–4(e)(2)(i). Under the
final regulations, limiting the
manufacturing method or process rule
to unrelated party sales serves the
purpose of ensuring that such sales are
FDDEI sales only to the extent
contemplated by section 250(b)(5)(C).
For example, if the taxpayer sells to a
foreign related party a manufacturing
method used to produce general
property, then the sale of the
manufacturing method is for a foreign
use to the extent that the foreign related
party’s sales of the general property are
for a foreign use under the rules
applicable to sales of general property.
See § 1.250(b)–4(d)(2)(ii)(A). This result
is generally consistent with the result if
the related party sale had instead been
of general property that was used in
manufacturing.
5. Bundled Intangible Property
One comment requested that where a
taxpayer licenses a bundle of
intangibles, it should be allowed to elect
the application of the potentially
applicable rules based either on the
predominant feature of the bundle or
using any reasonable method. The
Treasury Department and the IRS
recognize that intangible property is
sometimes sold or licensed as a bundle,
such as the license of patents,
copyrights, trademarks, tradenames, and
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
know-how in a single transaction,
without specifying the amount of
payment required for each item of
intangible property. The final
regulations provide for a predominant
character determination when a
transaction has multiple elements, such
as a service and sale or a sale of general
property and intangible property, to
determine whether to apply the
provisions for sales of general property,
sales of intangible property, or the
provision of services. See § 1.250(b)–
3(d).
In the case of a sale or license of
bundled intangible property, the final
regulations will generally base the
location of exploitation on the location
of the end user who ultimately uses the
general property in which the intangible
property is embedded or associated
with, or, if the intangible property is
used to provide a service, the location
of the service recipient. See § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(2)(ii)(A)–(B), (D). Only in an
unrelated party transaction involving
the manufacturing method or process
rule will the end user location be
determined differently than a
transaction involving intangible
property used with general property,
services, or research and development.
However, the manufacturing method or
process rule does not determine the
location of the end user of other
intangible property bundled with the
manufacturing method or process. As a
result, the final regulations do not
provide for an election to treat or
characterize the sale or license of
bundled intangible property that
includes manufacturing method or
process intangibles as well as other
intangible property as falling entirely
within one of the categories of
intangible property specified in
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(2).
6. Treatment of Product Intangibles as
Components
One comment suggested that the final
regulations include a rule that would
treat certain ‘‘product intangibles’’ as a
component of the finished product and
provide a rule that is analogous to the
rule for sales of general property that is
incorporated as a component of another
product outside the United States. See
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(1)(iii)(A) and (C). The
final regulations do not adopt this
comment. Intangible property has no
physical properties, and therefore
cannot be incorporated into a finished
good or otherwise be a ‘‘component’’ of
the finished good in the same way as
items of general property that are
considered to be components. See
section 367(d)(4) (defining intangible
property). For example, a patent on an
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
article of manufacture is not a
component of the finished product
protected by the patent. Similarly, while
a trademark design may be placed on a
component of a finished product, the
trademark itself is not a component of
the finished product. Therefore, the
final regulations do not provide a
component rule for the sale or license of
intangible property. Instead, the general
rule that use is determined based on
where the intangible property is
exploited applies to these types of sales.
7. Intangible Property Used To Enhance
Other Intangible Property
One comment discussed intangibles
that are sold to an unrelated foreign
person who enhances the intangible (for
example, by adapting it to local markets)
or uses the intangible property to
develop other intangible property and
subsequently sells such enhanced or
newly created intangible property
outside the United States. In these
situations, the comment recommended
that the sale of the original intangible
property should be presumed to be for
foreign use if the location of the
research and development is outside the
United States and the recipient is
unrelated to the original seller, and
suggested that footnote 1522 of the
Conference Report supports such a rule.
The final regulations do not adopt the
comment. As discussed in part VII.D.3
of this Summary of Comments and
Explanation of Revisions section,
revenue is generally earned from
intangible property used to manufacture
products or provide services through
sales of such products or services, or
from limited use licenses of the
intangible property, whether those sales,
services, or limited use licenses are
executed by an owner, licensee, or sublicensee of the intangible property. Until
revenue is earned from sales, services,
or limited-use licenses to the end user
that ultimately consumes the property
or receives the service, the intangible
property is generally not ‘‘exploited.’’
Although the final regulations provide a
limited exception from this end user
requirement for intangible property that
consists of a manufacturing method or
process (see part VII.D.4 of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section), no exception is
included for intangible property used to
enhance or create other intangible
property. The Treasury Department and
the IRS have determined that the
activities described in the comment do
not constitute ‘‘use’’ by end users but
rather are intermediate steps in the
development of the intangible property
before being exploited and used. In
addition, nothing in the text of section
PO 00000
Frm 00019
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43059
250 or footnote 1522 of the Conference
Report suggests that a different
definition of foreign use should apply in
the case of research and development.
However, in response to comments,
the final regulations clarify the rule for
sales of intangible property used to
develop other intangible property or to
modify existing intangible property. See
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(2)(ii)(D). In such a case,
the end user of the intangible property
(primary IP) used to develop other
intangible property or to modify existing
intangible property (secondary IP) is the
end user of the property in which the
secondary IP is embedded. If the
secondary IP is used to provide a
service, the end user is the unrelated
party recipient. If the secondary IP
qualifies as a manufacturing method or
process (as described in part VII.D.4 of
this Summary of Comments and
Explanation of Revisions section), then
the rules applicable to sales of a
manufacturing method or process apply
to determine if the sale of the secondary
IP is for a foreign use. See § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(2)(ii)(C).
8. Intangible Property Used To Provide
Services
One comment noted that intangible
property may be sold to recipients that
provide services, rather than solely to
recipients that manufacture and sell
goods, and that the proposed regulations
did not specifically address the sale of
intangible property used to provide
services. For such sales, the comment
recommended that the intangible
property be treated as exploited in the
locations in which the recipient receives
legal rights to the intangible property
under the terms of the contract or other
applicable law. Another comment
recommended that for sales of
intangible property to unrelated persons
for use in the provision of services, the
sales should be presumed to be for
foreign use if the services will be
performed outside the United States
without regard to the location of the
person or persons receiving such
services.
Revenue may be earned from
intangible property through the
provision of services, but until that
revenue is earned, the intangible
property is generally not used or
‘‘exploited.’’ Consistent with this view,
the final regulations generally place the
location of use of the intangible
property with the location of the end
user, which in the case of intangible
property used to provide a service, is
the service recipient. See § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(2). These rules are generally
consistent with the location in which
legal rights to the intangible property
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
43060
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
are granted and exploited, with
exploitation generally being located
where the end user ultimately consumes
the property or the services the
intangible property is used to provide.
See § 1.250(b)–4(d)(2)(i). The rules in
§ 1.250(b)–5 for FDDEI services
generally apply for purposes of
determining the location of the end
user. Therefore, for example, the
location of the end user of intangible
property that is used to provide
advertising services is determined based
on the location of the individuals
viewing the advertisements. See
§ 1.250(b)–5(e)(2)(ii).
However, the regulations do not
provide a presumption that a sale to a
foreign unrelated party that uses that
intangible property to provide services
outside the United States is presumed to
be for foreign use. Such a presumption
could produce results that would be
inconsistent with the general approach
for determining the location of use of
intangible property by reference to the
location of exploitation (which, in the
case of intangible property used to
provide services, is generally the
location of the person or persons
receiving such services), and the
Treasury Department and the IRS have
determined that a departure is not
warranted in this case.
9. Determination of Revenue
The proposed regulations provided
that when intangible property is sold in
exchange for periodic payments, the
extent to which the sale qualifies for a
foreign use is made annually based on
actual revenue earned by the recipient.
Proposed § 1.250(b)–4(e)(2)(ii). In the
case of a sale of intangible property in
exchange for a lump sum payment, the
extent to which the sale qualifies for
foreign use is determined based on the
ratio of total net present value the seller
would have reasonably expected to earn
from exploiting the intangible property
outside the United States to total net
present value the seller reasonably
expected to earn from exploiting the
intangible property worldwide.
Proposed § 1.250(b)–4(e)(2)(iii).
However, for purposes of satisfying the
documentation requirements, the
proposed regulations provided that in
the case of sales in exchange for
periodic payments that are not
contingent on the revenue or profit of a
foreign unrelated party, a taxpayer may
establish the extent to which a sale of
intangible property is for a foreign use
using the principles applicable to sales
in exchange for a lump sum payment,
except that the taxpayer must make
projections on an annual basis. See
proposed § 1.250(b)–4(d)(3)(ii). This rule
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
recognized that if the recipient of the
intangible property makes periodic
payments that are not contingent on the
recipient’s sales or revenue, the
recipient may not be willing to provide
information about the end users of the
intangible property.
a. Periodic Payments
Like the proposed regulations, the
final regulations provide that for
periodic payments (such as annual
royalty payments or fixed installment
payments) in exchange for rights to
intangible property, other than
intangible property consisting of a
manufacturing method or process that is
sold to a foreign unrelated party,
taxpayers may estimate revenue earned
by unrelated party recipients from any
use of the intangible property based on
the principles for determining revenue
from lump sum sales, if actual revenue
earned by the foreign party cannot be
obtained after reasonable efforts. See
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(2)(iii)(A). While the
proposed regulations required estimated
revenue to be determined on an annual
basis when a taxpayer relies on this
rule, the final regulations eliminate this
requirement. The Treasury Department
and the IRS have determined that when
estimated revenue earned by unrelated
party recipients must be used,
information available at the time of the
sale will be more reliable than
information available subsequently. In
addition, eliminating the requirement to
determine estimated revenue annually
reduces the administrative burden on
the taxpayer. See § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(2)(iii)(A).
b. Lump Sum Payments
One comment recommended that the
seller be allowed to use revenue the
recipient (rather than the seller) earns or
expects to earn from use of the
intangible property to determine the
extent to which a sale of intangible
property in exchange for a lump sum
payment qualifies for foreign use
because using the recipient’s expected
or actual revenue is more accurate for
determining foreign use. The comment
acknowledges the administrative
difficulty inherent in determining
foreign use in the case of sales of
intangible property for a lump sum
payment and in obtaining actual or
expected revenue data from the
recipient.
In response to the comment, the final
regulations allow taxpayers to use net
present values using reliable inputs,
which may include net present values of
revenue that the recipient expected to
earn from the exploitation of the
intangible property within and outside
PO 00000
Frm 00020
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
the United States if the seller obtained
such revenue data from the recipient
near the time of the sale and such
revenue data was used to negotiate the
lump sum price paid for the intangible
property. See § 1.250(b)–4(d)(2)(iii)(B).
In determining whether such inputs are
reliable, the extent to which the inputs
are used by the parties to determine the
sales price agreed to between the seller
and a foreign unrelated party
purchasing the intangible property will
be a factor. The final regulations do not
allow for use of actual revenue earned
by the recipient from the use of the
intangible property in a lump sum sale
because actual revenue earned by the
recipient for all the years the recipient
uses the intangible property will not be
known when the seller files its tax
return for the tax year in which the sale
of the intangible property occurred.
c. Payments for Manufacturing Method
or Process
With respect to sales to a foreign
unrelated party of intangible property
consisting of a manufacturing method or
process, the final regulations provide
that the revenue earned from the end
user is equal to the amount received
from the recipient in exchange for the
manufacturing method or process. See
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(2)(iii)(C). In the case of a
bundled sale of intangible property
consisting of a manufacturing method or
process and other intangible property,
the value of the manufacturing method
or process relative to the total value of
the intangible property must be
determined using the principles of
section 482.
E. Treatment of Certain Hedging
Transactions
Several comments recommended that
gain or loss from certain hedging
transactions with respect to
commodities be considered gain or loss
from sales of general property. In
support, the comments noted that the
Federal income tax treatment of certain
hedging transactions (for example,
character and timing) corresponds to the
treatment of the underlying physical
transaction. Comments noted that these
rules exist, in part, because the
combined value of the hedging
transaction and the underlying physical
transaction generally reflects a
taxpayer’s true economic exposure to
the underlying physical commodity.
Consistent with that approach and
rationale, these comments
recommended a similar approach for
purposes of determining FDDEI sales
income.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
agree that certain hedging transactions
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
should be treated in a manner that is
similar to the treatment of the
commodities hedged by those
transactions. Furthermore, the Treasury
Department and the IRS have
determined that the adjustment for
qualified hedging transactions should
apply to all general property, rather than
only commodities. Hedges of property
other than commodities have the same
economic effect as hedges of
commodities, such that the rationale for
determining FDDEI sales income from
hedges by reference to hedges of
commodities applies equally to other
types of property. Accordingly, the final
regulations generally provide that a
corporation’s or partnership’s gross
income resulting from FDDEI sales of
general property is adjusted by reference
to certain hedging transactions. See
§ 1.250(b)–4(f). The hedging transaction
must meet the requirements of § 1.1221–
2, including the identification
requirement under § 1.1221–2(f), the
transaction must hedge price risk or
currency fluctuation with respect to
ordinary property, and the property
being hedged must be general property
that is sold in a FDDEI sale. The
Treasury Department and the IRS are
considering issuing more detailed
guidance on hedging transactions in the
form of future proposed regulations.
Comments are requested on this topic.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
VIII. Comments on and Revisions to
Proposed § 1.250(b)–5—FDDEI Services
Section 250(b)(4)(B) provides that
FDDEI includes income from services
provided by a domestic corporation to
any person, or with respect to property,
not located within the United States.
Section 250 does not prescribe rules for
determining whether a person or
property is ‘‘not located within the
United States.’’ Accordingly, proposed
§ 1.250(b)–5 provided rules for
determining whether a service is
provided to a person, or with respect to
property, located outside the United
States.
A. Categories of Services
The proposed regulations separated
all services into five mutually exclusive
and comprehensive categories: general
services provided to consumers, general
services provided to business recipients,
proximate services, property services,
and transportation services. See
proposed § 1.250(b)–5(b). Whether a
service is a FDDEI service is determined
under the rules relevant to the
applicable category.
One comment requested that the final
regulations address how ‘‘digital
services’’ are treated and classified
under the FDDEI services regulations,
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
although no recommendation was
provided. Another comment requested
more guidance on the application of the
rules for general services to business
recipients in the software-as-a-service
context.
In response to these comments, the
final regulations provide additional
guidance, as described in parts VIII.B.1
and VIII.B.2.c of this Summary of
Comments and Explanation of Revisions
section, with respect to services that are
‘‘electronically supplied.’’ Services that
are provided electronically typically
will be categorized as general services
because they will not meet the
definitions of proximate services,
property services, or transportation
services. To provide additional
guidance for determining the location of
the recipients of services that are
electronically supplied, the final
regulations create a new category of
general services defined as
‘‘electronically supplied services,’’
which includes general services (other
than advertising services, described in
the following sentence) that are
delivered over the internet or an
electronic network. See § 1.250(b)–
5(c)(5). In addition, the final regulations
create a new subcategory of general
services for advertising services,
including advertising services to display
content via the internet, and provide
additional guidance with respect to
these services as described in part
VIII.B.2.c of this Summary of Comments
and Explanation of Revisions section.
See § 1.250(b)–5(c)(1).
B. General Services
1. General Services Provided to
Consumers
The proposed regulations provided
that a consumer is located where the
consumer resides when the service is
provided and required documentation
to establish the place of residence. See
proposed § 1.250(b)–5(d)(2) and (3).
Special rules for small transactions or
small taxpayers allowed the taxpayer to
establish the consumer’s location using
the taxpayer’s billing address for the
consumer. See proposed § 1.250(b)–
5(d)(3)(ii).
Comments suggested that rather than
limiting taxpayers to a finite list of
documentation, the rules should allow
taxpayers to support the status of the
consumer as a person located outside
the United States using documentation
that is collected in the ordinary course
of the taxpayer’s trade or business.
As discussed in part II of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section, the final
regulations adopt a more flexible
PO 00000
Frm 00021
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43061
approach to documentation
requirements compared to the proposed
regulations. While the final regulations
include specific substantiation
requirements for certain elements of the
regulations, no such rules are provided
for general services to consumers.
Furthermore, to minimize the burden
associated with determining the
residence of consumers, the final
regulations provide that if the renderer
does not have (or cannot after
reasonable efforts obtain) the
consumer’s location of residence when
the service is provided, the consumer of
a general service is treated as residing
outside the United States if the
consumer’s billing address is outside of
the United States. See § 1.250(b)–5(d)(1).
However, this rule does not apply if the
renderer knows or has reason to know
that the consumer does not reside
outside the United States. The final
regulations clarify that ‘‘reason to
know’’ is determined based only on
whether the information received as
part of the provision of the service
contains information that indicates that
the consumer resides in the United
States. Because this rule applies to all
services provided to consumers (with
the modification for electronically
supplied services described in the next
paragraph), the final regulations do not
provide a special rule for small
transactions or small taxpayers.
With respect to electronically
supplied services that are provided to
consumers, the final regulations provide
that the consumer is deemed to reside
at the location of the device used to
receive the service, which may be an IP
address, if available. However, if the
renderer cannot determine the location
of that device after reasonable efforts,
the general rule based on billing address
applies, subject to the renderer not
knowing or having reason to know that
the consumer does not reside outside
the United States.
2. General Services Provided to
Business Recipients
The proposed regulations determined
the location of a business recipient
based on the location of its operations,
and the operations of any related party
of the recipient, that receive a benefit (as
defined in § 1.482–9(l)(3)) from such
service. See proposed § 1.250(b)–5(e)(2)
and (4). The proposed regulations
provided that a service is generally
provided to a business recipient located
outside the United States to the extent
that the renderer’s gross income from
providing the service is allocated to the
business recipient’s operations outside
the United States. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–5(e)(2)(i). Where the service
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
43062
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
confers a benefit on the operations of
the business recipient in specific
locations, the proposed regulations
provided that gross income of the
renderer is allocated based on the
location of the operations in specific
locations that receive the benefit. See
proposed § 1.250(b)–5(e)(2)(i)(A). Where
a service confers a benefit on the
recipient’s business as a whole, or
where reliable information about the
particular portion of the operations that
specifically receive a benefit from the
service is unavailable, the proposed
regulations provided that the service is
deemed to confer a benefit on all of the
business recipient’s operations. See
proposed § 1.250(b)–5(e)(2)(i)(A). For
purposes of this rule, a business
recipient is treated as having operations
in any location where it maintains an
office or other fixed place of business.
See proposed § 1.250(b)–5(e)(2)(ii). The
proposed regulations also required a
taxpayer to obtain documentation
sufficient to establish the location of a
business recipient’s operations that
benefit from the service. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–5(e)(1) and (3). Under the
proposed regulations, special rules for
small transactions or small taxpayers
allowed the taxpayer to establish the
consumer’s location using the taxpayer’s
billing address for the consumer. See
proposed § 1.250(b)–5(e)(3)(ii).
a. Operations of a Business Recipient of
General Services
Several comments requested
clarification regarding the definition of
a business recipient’s operations. Some
comments requested that the rule be
expanded to include operations
performed outside of the locations
where the business recipient maintains
an office or other fixed place of
business. For example, where business
recipients operate satellites or vessels,
the comment suggested that business
recipients should be treated as having
operations at the location of the satellite
or vessel.
The location of a business recipient’s
operations that benefit from a general
service is based on the geographical
location where the business recipient’s
activities are regular and continuous
and is not based on the current location
of mobile property such as satellites or
vessels. Moreover, as noted in the next
paragraph, the final regulations clarify
that an office or other fixed place of
business is a fixed facility through
which the business recipient engages in
a trade or business. See § 1.250(b)–
5(e)(3)(i). In the case of services
performed with respect to a satellite, the
location of the business recipient that
receives services with respect to the
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
satellite is based on where the business
recipient remotely performs activities
with respect to the satellite (which
could be within the United States or in
a foreign country), rather than in space.
In addition, services performed with
respect to a vessel owned by a business
recipient may qualify as proximate
services or property services, depending
on the nature of the services. Therefore,
no further changes to the regulations are
necessary to respond to the comment.
One comment requested further
clarification of the term ‘‘fixed place of
business,’’ such as whether it has the
same meaning as it does for section
864(c) purposes. The comment did not
specify whether using the meaning that
the term has for section 864(c) purposes
would be appropriate. However, the
Treasury Department and the IRS have
determined that it would not be
appropriate to adopt the definition that
applies for purposes of section 864(c).
Because the final regulations define a
business recipient as including all
related parties of the recipient, whereas
section 864(c) applies on a taxpayer-bytaxpayer basis, adopting the definition
of an office or other fixed place of
business that is in § 1.864–7 would
cause confusion. However, the final
regulations clarify that an office or other
fixed place of business is a fixed facility,
that is, a place, site, structure, or other
similar facility, through which the
business recipient engages in a trade or
business. See § 1.250(b)–5(e)(3)(i). In
addition, the final regulations provide
that for purposes of determining the
location of the business recipient, the
renderer may make reasonable
assumptions based on the information
available to it. The Treasury Department
and the IRS recognize that taxpayers
may not be able to obtain precise
information about unrelated business
recipients; therefore, the final
regulations allow taxpayers to make
reliable assumptions based on the
information available to them. See id.
One comment requested guidance on
how to determine the location of
operations of a business recipient that
does not have an office or fixed place of
business. As an example, this could
occur when the business recipient is a
partnership that does not itself have any
offices or employees but is managed by
one or more of its partners. The
comment suggested that in these
circumstances, the final regulations
presume that the business recipient has
operations where it is formed or
incorporated.
To address this comment, the final
regulations provide that if the business
recipient does not have an identifiable
office or fixed place of business
PO 00000
Frm 00022
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
(including the office of a principal
manager or managing owner), the
business recipient is deemed to be
located at its primary billing address.
See § 1.250(b)–5(e)(3)(iii). The Treasury
Department and the IRS considered
using place of formation or place of
incorporation, but determined that a
business recipient’s billing address is
generally available to the renderer and
often bears a closer connection to the
business recipient’s location of actual
operations.
Finally, for the sake of concision, the
final regulations expand the definition
of a ‘‘business recipient’’ to include all
related parties (as defined in § 1.250(b)–
1(c)(19)) of the recipient. Compare
§ 1.250(b)–5(c)(3) with proposed
§ 1.250(b)–5(e)(4) (the latter providing,
in a separate paragraph, that a reference
to a business recipient includes a
reference to any related party of the
business recipient). However, to avoid
circularity in circumstances where the
business recipient is a related party of
the taxpayer, in these circumstances, the
term ‘‘business recipient’’ does not
include the taxpayer. See § 1.250(b)–
5(c)(3).
b. The Meaning of ‘‘Benefit’’
One comment expressed concern that
the proposed regulations’ reliance on
the principles of § 1.482–9(l)(3), which
explains when an activity is considered
to provide a ‘‘benefit’’ to a recipient,
would be difficult to apply outside the
related party context because the
renderer may not have the information
necessary to perform a detailed analysis
of the recipient’s operations. The
comment suggests that transfer pricing
standards should not be applied to
evaluate transactions for purposes of
section 250. The comment suggested
that the term ‘‘benefit’’ should retain the
reference to § 1.482–9(l)(3), but that the
regulations should include a
presumption that a general service
provided to a foreign person benefits
operations located outside the United
States.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
do not intend that the reference to
§ 1.482–9(l)(3) in the definition of
‘‘benefit’’ be interpreted as suggesting
that taxpayers are required to perform a
transfer pricing-like analysis of the
recipient’s operations. Rather, the
reference is intended to clarify, using a
concept that is based on existing tax
principles, that a service confers a
benefit on operations of a recipient only
if an uncontrolled party with similar
operations would pay for the service
under comparable circumstances. For
example, if a service benefits particular
operations of a business recipient so
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
indirectly or remotely that an unrelated
party with similar operations would not
pay for the service, the service does not
confer a benefit on those operations. See
§ 1.482–9(l)(3)(ii). Accordingly, the final
regulations retain the reference to
§ 1.482–9(l)(3) in defining ‘‘benefit.’’
One comment also requested
clarification regarding the types of
benefits that must be considered in
determining the location of the business
recipient of a general service. The
comment gives the example of a U.S.
financial advisor providing advice to a
foreign parent that is expected to
increase the value of the foreign parent’s
publicly traded stock, which would also
benefit any U.S. subsidiaries by making
their equity-based compensation more
valuable. The implication of the
comment is that it is unclear whether
the U.S. subsidiaries receive a
compensable benefit from the service
provided because their employees are
also shareholders of the foreign parent.
As noted, the reference to § 1.482–
9(l)(3) in the definition of ‘‘benefit’’ is
intended to provide clarity on the
meaning of ‘‘benefit’’ using a concept
that is based on existing tax principles.
As described in the previous paragraph,
under § 1.482–9(l)(3)(ii), an activity is
not considered to provide a ‘‘benefit’’
within the meaning of § 1.482–9(l)(3) if
the benefit to the recipient is ‘‘so
indirect or remote’’ that the recipient
would not be willing to pay an
uncontrolled party to perform a similar
activity. Accordingly, in fact patterns
such as the one described in the
comment (where the service potentially
confers a benefit on a related party of
the recipient if the employees of the
related party are also shareholders of the
recipient), taxpayers must determine
whether a related party with employees
that are shareholders of a company
would generally pay a financial advisor
to provide advice to the company or
whether the benefit to the related party
is too indirect or remote. Section 1.482–
9(l) provides comprehensive guidance,
including twenty-one examples, to
assist taxpayers in understanding when
an activity is considered to confer a
benefit on a party other than the direct
recipient. Accordingly, the comment is
not adopted.
c. Determining the Locations of the
Business Recipient’s Operations That
Benefit From General Services
Several comments addressed the
proposed regulations’ rule for
determining the location of the recipient
of general services that benefits from the
service. See proposed § 1.250(b)–5(e)(2).
One comment suggested that the final
regulations include language included
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
in the preamble to the proposed
regulations stating that for purposes of
this rule, ‘‘the location of residence,
incorporation, or formation of a
business recipient is not relevant.’’ The
final regulations adopt this comment.
See § 1.250(b)–5(e)(1).
Several comments indicated that it
would be difficult, if not impossible, for
taxpayers to obtain information
regarding which of a business
recipient’s locations benefits from a
service. While the proposed regulations
allowed taxpayers in these
circumstances to assume that the
services will benefit all of the business
recipient’s operations ratably, several
comments suggested that this
simplification was not sufficient.
Several comments stated that these
difficulties could be alleviated by
making the transition rule in proposed
§ 1.250–1(b) permanent or by making
the rules applicable to small businesses
and small transactions available to all
taxpayers. Several comments requested
that the final regulations incorporate
certain presumptions to simplify the
rule, such as a presumption that any
operations of the service recipient that
are not known to be (or identifiable as)
within the United States are presumed
foreign or that services provided to a
foreign person are presumed to benefit
operations located outside the United
States.
The final regulations retain the same
general approach as the proposed
regulations for determining the location
of the business recipient, with some
revisions for concision, by providing
that a service is provided to a business
recipient located outside the United
States to the extent that the service
confers a benefit on operations of the
business recipient that are located
outside the United States. See
§ 1.250(b)–5(e)(1). Like the proposed
regulations, the final regulations
provide that the determination of which
operations of the business recipient
benefit from a general service is made
under the principles of § 1.482–9.
Further, the final regulations clarify that
in applying these principles, (1) the
taxpayer, (2) the portions of the business
recipient’s operations within the United
States (if any) that may benefit from the
general service, and (3) the portions of
the business recipient’s operations
outside the United States that may
benefit from the general service, are
treated as if they are each one or more
controlled taxpayers.
For purposes of applying the
principles of § 1.482–9, the final
regulations provide taxpayers with
flexibility to determine the extent to
which a business recipient’s operations
PO 00000
Frm 00023
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43063
within or outside of the United States
are treated as one or more separate
controlled taxpayers, given that
taxpayers generally will not have
complete information regarding the
operations of the business recipient.
Any reasonable method can be used for
determining the set and scope of
business recipient operations that are
treated as separate controlled taxpayers,
for example, by segregating the
operations on a per entity or per country
basis, or by aggregating all of the
business recipient’s operations outside
the United States as one controlled
taxpayer. For example, if a business
recipient has operations in the United
States, Country X, and Country Y, all of
which may benefit from the taxpayer’s
services, the business recipient’s
operations in the United States, Country
X, and Country Y may each be treated
as separate controlled taxpayers.
Alternatively, the business recipient’s
operations in the United States, and the
business recipient’s combined
operations in Country X and Country Y,
could be treated as two separate
controlled taxpayers. The amount of the
benefit conferred on each of the
business recipient’s operations is
determined under the principles of
§ 1.482–9(k).
To simplify the rule, the final
regulations remove the provision stating
that if a service benefits all of the
business recipient’s operations, gross
income of the renderer is allocated
ratably to all of the business locations of
the recipient, as that provision was
redundant of the general rule. The final
regulations also remove the provision
that gross income of the renderer is
allocated ratably to all of the business
locations of the recipient if the renderer
is unable to obtain reliable information
regarding the specific locations of the
operations of the business recipient to
which a benefit is conferred. The
Treasury Department and the IRS have
determined that it would be
inappropriate to allow a deduction that
is not based on reliable information.
Comments also suggested that the
final regulations should define foreign
operations by negation such that a
service is considered provided to a
business recipient outside the United
States if that service is not provided to
a business recipient inside the United
States. These comments asserted that
this would allow mobile activity
performed in outer space, international
airspace, or international water to
qualify as FDDEI services. The Treasury
Department and the IRS have
determined that evidence that services
do not benefit a business recipient’s
operations within the United States is
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
43064
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
equivalent to demonstrating that the
service benefits operations outside the
United States. Therefore, no changes to
the regulations are necessary. However,
as explained in part VIII.B.2.a of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section, the location of a
business recipient’s operations is
determined based on whether its
activities are regular and continuous in
a particular geographical location,
which generally would not include
activities in outer space or international
space, but may include international
water (for example, in the case of a
drilling rig).
Several comments requested clarity
on how to determine the location of
operations that benefit from general
services in the case of services that are
electronically supplied. In response, the
final regulations modify the general rule
for determining the location of the
business recipient of electronically
supplied services and advertising
services so that location will be
determined based on information that
will generally be available to renderers
of those types of services. See
§ 1.250(b)–5(e)(2)(ii) and (iii).
Advertising services are different from
other general services: The renderer will
generally be able to determine where the
advertisements are viewed because the
renderer controls where the
advertisements are displayed. The
Treasury Department and the IRS have
determined that where the
advertisement is viewed serves as a
reliable proxy for the locations of the
business recipient that benefit from the
service. Generally, it will be in the
business recipient’s best interest to
advertise its products or services in the
locations where it does business.
Therefore, the final regulations provide
that with respect to advertising services,
the operations of the business recipient
that benefit from the advertising service
are deemed to be located where the
advertisements are viewed by
individuals. See § 1.250(b)–5(e)(2)(ii).
The final regulations further provide
that if advertising services are displayed
via the internet, the advertising services
are viewed at the location of the device
on which the advertisements are
viewed. See id. For this purpose, the IP
address may be used to establish the
location of that device. See id. The final
regulations also include a new example
for advertising services. See § 1.250(b)–
5(e)(5)(ii)(C) (Example 3).
Electronically supplied services are
also different from other general
services because the renderer will
generally be able to determine where the
service is accessed by using the
recipient’s IP address or through other
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
means. The Treasury Department and
the IRS have determined that the point
of access serves as a reliable proxy for
where the business recipient receives
the benefit of the service. Therefore, the
final regulations provide that with
respect to electronically supplied
services provided to a business
recipient, the operations of the business
recipient that benefit from the general
service are deemed to be located where
the general service is accessed. See
§ 1.250(b)–5(e)(2)(iii). The final
regulations also provide that if the
location where the business recipient
accesses the electronically supplied
service is unavailable (such as where
the location of access cannot be reliably
determined using the location of the IP
address of the device used to receive the
service), and the gross receipts from all
services with respect to the business
recipient (or any related party to the
business recipient) are in the aggregate
less than $50,000, the operations of the
business recipient that benefit from the
general service provided by the renderer
are deemed to be located at the
recipient’s billing address. Id. The final
regulations also include new examples
for electronically supplied services. See
§ 1.250(b)–5(e)(5)(ii)(E) and (F)
(Example 5 and 6).
d. Substantiating General Services
Provided to Business Recipients
As discussed in part II of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section, the final
regulations replace the documentation
requirements with new substantiation
requirements for certain transactions,
including general services provided to
business recipients. The final
regulations provide that a general
service provided to a business recipient
is a FDDEI service only if the taxpayer
maintains sufficient substantiation to
support its determination of the extent
to which the service benefits a business
recipient’s operations outside the
United States. See § 1.250(b)–5(e)(4). A
taxpayer satisfies this requirement by
either obtaining credible evidence
establishing the extent to which
operations of the business recipient
benefit from the service or preparing a
statement that supports its
determination with corroborating
evidence. See § 1.250(b)–5(e)(4). The
final regulations explain that the
determination of the portion of the
service that will benefit the business
recipient’s operations located outside
the United States may be based on
evidence obtained from the business
recipient, such as statements made by
the recipient regarding the need for the
service or data on the sales of the
PO 00000
Frm 00024
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
business recipient’s operations, or the
taxpayer’s own records, such as time
spent working with the business
recipient’s different offices. See
§ 1.250(b)–5(e)(4)(ii).
As explained in part VII.C.4 of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section, the Treasury
Department and the IRS have
determined that it is unnecessary to
delineate which specific methods satisfy
substantiation. If the taxpayer
substantiates its determination with
evidence provided by the business
recipient, the final regulations do not
specify what information must be
included in the statement beyond
requiring that it must establish the
extent to which the service benefits
operations located outside the United
States. See § 1.250(b)–5(e)(4)(i). The
Treasury Department and the IRS
understand that service recipients may
not be willing to provide information
about their business to taxpayers.
Accordingly, the final regulations do not
require the evidence to specify which of
a business recipient’s locations benefit
from a service (for example, the
business recipient’s European
operations rather than its Asian
operations), just the portion of the
service that benefits operations outside
the United States generally.
C. Proximate Services
The proposed regulations provided
that the provision of a proximate service
to a recipient located outside the United
States is a FDDEI service. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–5(f). The proposed
regulations defined a proximate service
as a service, other than a property
service or transportation service,
substantially all of which is performed
in the physical presence of the recipient
or, in the case of a business recipient,
its employees. See proposed § 1.250(b)–
5(c)(6).
Comments requested that the final
regulations expand the definition of a
proximate service in proposed
§ 1.250(b)–5(c)(6) to include services
performed in the physical presence of
additional persons working for a
business recipient, including that
business’s own employees, the
employees of a related party of the
recipient, or the recipient’s contract
workers or agents. In response to these
comments, the final regulations expand
the definition of a proximate service to
provide that it means a service, other
than a property service or a
transportation service, provided to a
recipient, but only if substantially all of
the service is performed in the physical
presence of the recipient or persons
working for the recipient such as
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
employees, contractors, or agents. See
§ 1.250(b)–5(c)(8).
Comments also recommended that the
final regulations provide that income
received for the provision of proximate
services, which must be performed
outside the United States to qualify as
a FDDEI service, is not treated as foreign
branch income for purposes of section
250. The comments explained that
taxpayers providing such services may
potentially be deemed to operate a
branch in the country in which the
service occurs. The comments asserted
that it is contrary to the purpose of
section 250 for income from a FDDEI
service (a proximate service provided
outside the United States) to be
excluded from FDDEI because the
income is also foreign branch income.
The comments made similar arguments
with respect to property services, and
one comment suggested that this
concern applies to all services.
As explained in part IV.B of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section, in response to
comments, the final regulations confirm
that there is one consistent definition of
foreign branch income in both
§§ 1.250(b)–1(c)(11) and 1.904–4(f)(2).
The fact that the regulations under
section 250 otherwise would treat
certain income as eligible for FDII is
irrelevant for purposes of determining
whether the income is foreign branch
income under section 904(d)(2)(J).
Further, as acknowledged by the
comments, providing a proximate
service (or any other service) outside the
United States does not necessarily
create a foreign branch; therefore, not all
income from proximate services
performed outside the United States
will be foreign branch income.
Accordingly, the final regulations do not
adopt these comments.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
D. Property Services
The proposed regulations provided
that a property service is a FDDEI
service if it is provided with respect to
tangible property located outside the
United States, but only if the property
is located outside the United States for
the duration of the period the service is
performed. See proposed § 1.250(b)–
5(g).
1. Qualification of Property Services as
FDDEI Services
Several comments recommended that
the final regulations remove the
mutually exclusive categories of
services in proposed § 1.250(b)–5(b)
because, according to the comments,
they are inconsistent with section
250(b)(4)(B), which treats as FDDEI
services those provided to any person,
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
or with respect to property, not located
within the United States. Comments
asserted that the statute is disjunctive
and requires that a service with respect
to property gives rise to FDDEI if the
service is provided to a person located
outside the United States, regardless of
the location of the serviced property.
The final regulations do not adopt
these comments. Section 250(b)(4)(B)
refers to persons and property
disjunctively, which indicates that
Congress intended for there to be a
category of services provided with
respect to persons located outside the
United States that would be FDDEI
services and a separate category of
services provided with respect to
property located outside the United
States that would be FDDEI services.
The proposed regulations gave effect to
this intent. The statute and legislative
history are ambiguous, however, as to
whether Congress intended for all
services provided with respect to
persons located outside the United
States and all services provided with
respect to property located outside the
United States to be included within the
scope of the statute.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
have determined that property services
must be provided with respect to
property located outside the United
States in order to qualify as FDDEI
services. The purpose of the section 250
deduction is to help neutralize the role
that tax considerations play when a
taxpayer chooses the location of
intangible income attributable to
foreign-market activity, that is, whether
to earn such income through its U.S.based operations or through its CFCs.
See Senate Committee on the Budget,
115th Cong., ‘‘Reconciliation
Recommendations Pursuant to H. Con.
Res. 71,’’ at 375 (Comm. Print 2017).
Providing a FDII deduction for all
property services performed in the
United States with respect to property
with owners located outside the United
States, regardless of the property’s
connection to foreign markets, would
not further that purpose. Furthermore,
even if the statute required that property
services provided to any person located
outside the United States could qualify
as FDDEI services, the statute does not
specify how to determine the location of
such person. In the case of property
services, the Treasury Department and
the IRS have determined that basing the
location of such person on the location
of the property that the person owns is
most consistent with the nature of a
property service and the location of the
benefit that is being provided.
Therefore, even under the comment’s
alternative reading of section
PO 00000
Frm 00025
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43065
250(b)(4)(B), the Treasury Department
and the IRS have determined that
property services should be limited to
those services provided to property
located outside the United States.
However, in recognition of the fact
that some property services performed
within the United States may
nonetheless be connected to foreign
markets, as discussed in part VIII.D.2 of
this Summary of Comments and
Explanation of Revisions section, the
final regulations expand the
circumstances under which property
services may qualify as FDDEI services
notwithstanding the fact that the
services are performed in the United
States.
Several comments suggested that the
final regulations clarify that the
property services rules apply only to
services that the taxpayer provides with
respect to completed property that is in
use by the property’s owner, and thus,
that manufacturing-related services
(such as toll manufacturing) are not
property services, but rather general
services. The comments suggested that
if manufacturing services are treated as
property services, manufacturing
services performed in the United States
will never give rise to FDDEI even if the
sale of the same property to a foreign
person for a foreign use would have
been a FDDEI sale. In response to the
comments, the final regulations specify
that manufacturing services are property
services but allow property services
performed in the United States to
qualify as FDDEI services under some
circumstances. See § 1.250(b)–5(c)(7)
and (g)(2). These changes are described
in part VIII.D.2 of this Summary of
Comments and Explanation of Revisions
section. Taken together, these changes
allow manufacturing services performed
in the United States to be FDDEI
services in some circumstances.
In addition, one comment suggested
that the definition of ‘‘property service’’
should be modified to remove the
condition that only tangible property
can be the subject of a property service.
The comment states that services can be
provided with respect to intangible
property located outside the United
States, and notes that the statute does
not distinguish between services
provided with respect to tangible and
intangible property. The final
regulations do not adopt this
recommendation. Intangible property
cannot be ‘‘located’’ outside the United
States given that intangible property, by
definition, does not have physical
properties. Accordingly, the Treasury
Department and the IRS determined that
the general services rules, which look to
the location of the recipient, are a more
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
43066
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
appropriate framework for analyzing
these types of services.
2. Services Provided With Respect to
Property Temporarily Located in the
United States
The proposed regulations provided
that a property service is a FDDEI
service only if the tangible property
with respect to which the service is
performed is located outside the United
States for the duration of the period of
performance, but requested comments
regarding the treatment of property that
is located in the United States only
temporarily.
Comments requested that the final
regulations provide that a property
service is still a FDDEI service in part
(or in full) if the property enters the
United States temporarily while the
services are performed, and included
various recommendations for a safe
harbor, including treating a property
service as a FDDEI service if the
property is present in the United States
for a particular period while the
property is out of commercial service.
Some comments also requested that the
types of property services that are
FDDEI services should be expanded to
include toll manufacturing
arrangements for foreign persons. The
comments pointed out that section
250(b)(4)(B) does not specify when
property must be located outside the
United States. The comments suggested
that a special rule for property
temporarily in the United States would
be consistent with Congress’s objective
in enacting section 250, which they
assert was to incentivize taxpayers to
serve the foreign market. In addition,
one comment asserted that the proposed
regulations penalize a seller for entering
into a services arrangement (such as toll
manufacturing) instead of a sales
arrangement.
The final regulations generally adopt
the comments. The Treasury
Department and the IRS agree that in
certain circumstances, treating property
services as FDDEI services is
appropriate even if the service is
provided within the United States.
Accordingly, the final regulations
include an exception for property
services performed with respect to
property that is temporarily located in
the United States and treats those
services as being provided with respect
to tangible property located outside the
United States if several conditions are
satisfied. See § 1.250(b)–5(g)(2). Those
conditions are that the property must be
temporarily located in the United States
for the purpose of receiving the property
service; after the completion of the
service, the property will be primarily
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
hangared, docked, stored, or used
outside the United States; the property
is not used to generate revenue in the
United States at any point during the
duration of the service; and the property
is owned by a foreign person that
resides or primarily operates outside the
United States.
E. Transportation Services
The proposed regulations provided
that the provision of a transportation
service is a FDDEI service if both the
origin and the destination of the service
are outside the United States. See
proposed § 1.250(b)–5(h). Where either
the origin or destination (but not both)
are outside the United States, then 50
percent of the transportation service is
considered a FDDEI service. The
proposed regulations defined a
transportation service as a service to
transport a person or property using
aircraft, railroad rolling stock, vessel,
motor vehicle, or any similar mode of
transportation. See proposed § 1.250(b)–
5(c)(7).
Comments requested that the final
regulations include elections with
respect to cross-border transportation
services, including an election for
taxpayers to choose either (i) the 50percent FDDEI treatment provided in
the proposed regulations, or (ii) a
bifurcation method under which the
FDDEI treatment of income from the
service is based on actual time or
mileage, or (iii) a predominant location
method in which all of the income from
the service is FDDEI if the taxpayer can
demonstrate that more than 50-percent
of the services were provided to a
person or with respect to property
outside the United States on a mileage
basis. A comment also requested
clarification on whether intermediate
domestic stops can be disregarded for
purposes of determining the origin and
destination of a transportation service.
The final regulations retain the rule in
the proposed regulations. See
§ 1.250(b)–5(h). The Treasury
Department and the IRS have
determined that the primary benefit of
the service relates to servicing the origin
or destination market. A 50/50
allocation rule thus provides a simpler
and more administrable rule for
reflecting the value of each market when
the origin or destination is in the United
States. In addition, the Treasury
Department and the IRS have
determined that an elective rule that
allows different taxpayers to choose the
rule most favorable to their business
models would result in inconsistent
treatment of similarly situated taxpayers
and lead to whipsaw for the IRS. In
addition, the rule in the proposed
PO 00000
Frm 00026
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
regulations is clear that only the
locations of the origin and destination,
and not intermediate stops, are relevant
to the determination. Accordingly, the
final regulations do not adopt these
comments. However, the final
regulations clarify that freight
forwarding and similar services are
included within the definition of
‘‘transportation services.’’ See
§ 1.250(b)–5(c)(9).
IX. Comments on and Revisions to
Proposed § 1.250(b)–6—Related Party
Transactions
In the case of a sale of general
property or a provision of a general
service to a related party, proposed
§ 1.250(b)–6 provided additional
requirements that must be satisfied for
the transaction to qualify as a FDDEI
sale or FDDEI service. These
requirements must be satisfied in
addition to the general requirements
that apply to such sales and services as
provided in proposed §§ 1.250(b)–3
through 1.250(b)–5.
A. Related Party Sales
1. Amended Return Requirement
The proposed regulations provided
two distinct rules for determining
whether a sale of property to a related
party (related party sale) is a FDDEI
transaction. One rule applied when the
related party resells the purchased
property in an unrelated party
transaction, either without modification
or where the related party incorporates
the purchased property as a component
of property that is then resold in an
unrelated transaction. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–6(c)(1)(i). A different rule
applied when the related party uses the
property in an unrelated transaction,
either in connection with the sale of
altogether different property or to
provide a service. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–6(c)(1)(ii).
The rule for resales in proposed
§ 1.250(b)–6(c)(1)(i) required that an
unrelated party transaction actually
occur before the taxpayer can treat the
original sale to the related party as a
FDDEI transaction. If an unrelated party
transaction has not occurred by the
filing date of the return that includes the
original sale (FDII filing date), the
taxpayer cannot immediately treat the
sale to the related party as a FDDEI
transaction. Instead, in the subsequent
year when the unrelated party
transaction occurs, the taxpayer can file
an amended return for the tax year of
the original related party sale treating
that sale as a FDDEI transaction and
determine its modified FDII benefit
accordingly, assuming the period of
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
limitations provided by section 6511
remains open when the unrelated party
transaction occurs.
In contrast to the resale rule of
proposed § 1.250(b)–6(c)(1)(i), where a
related party uses the property in an
unrelated party transaction (rather than
resells that property), the taxpayer was
permitted under proposed § 1.250(b)–
6(c)(1)(ii) to treat that related party sale
as a FDDEI transaction so long as the
taxpayer reasonably expected, as of the
FDII filing date, that one or more
unrelated party transactions will occur
with respect to the property sold to the
related party and that more than 80
percent of the revenue earned by the
foreign related party will be earned from
such unrelated party transaction or
transactions.
Several comments noted
administrative difficulties with the
amended return requirement for resale
transactions in proposed § 1.250(b)–
6(c)(1)(i). Many comments questioned
the requirement of filing an amended
return, arguing that it was
administratively burdensome (for
taxpayers, the IRS, and even state tax
authorities) to file or process multiple
amended returns. Some comments
noted that because of long production or
sales cycles, an unrelated party
transaction will often not occur by the
FDII filing date and might not occur
until after the period of limitations
under section 6511 has closed so
taxpayers would no longer have the
ability to treat the related party sale as
a FDDEI transaction. Other comments
observed that a taxpayer cannot always
trace whether any particular sale to a
related party leads to a particular
unrelated party transaction given that
taxpayers often sell products of a
fungible nature or rely on accounting
systems that track inventory flows
broadly rather than specifically
identifying transactions item by item.
For such taxpayers, it would be
impractical to require tracing, whether
at the FDII filing date or any other time.
The preamble to the proposed
regulations invited comments on the
procedure for amending returns or
suggestions for other alternatives for
accounting for information relating to
foreign use acquired only after the filing
of a corporation’s original return. In
response, several comments suggested
allowing taxpayers to treat the sale to a
related party as a FDDEI transaction in
the year the related party sale occurred
and, if an unrelated party transaction
did not in fact occur in a later year, the
taxpayer could adjust its FDDEI in that
later year to recapture the FDII benefit
it should not have claimed. Other
comments responded with a range of
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
other alternatives to the amended return
requirement such as an election to defer
the FDII benefit until the tax year of the
unrelated party transaction or a
carryforward mechanism for the amount
of the original FDII benefit to the later
year when the unrelated party
transaction occurs (which would be
based on the FDII that would have been
available in the year of the related party
sale and could either take the form of a
deduction or a credit in the year of the
unrelated transaction).
Some comments pointed out the
different treatment of related party sales
and the related party use rules of
proposed § 1.250(b)–6(c)(1)(ii). Under
the related party use rules, a taxpayer
could treat a sale to a related party as
a FDDEI transaction so long as the
taxpayer reasonably expected that an
unrelated party transaction would later
occur, which would alleviate the
administrative burdens of the amended
return requirement. Under this
approach, a taxpayer need not wait until
the subsequent unrelated party
transaction actually occurred to claim a
FDII benefit in the year of the original
sale. One comment noted that because
the U.S. parent controls the process and
all the sellers are related, the taxpayers
would generally be in a position to
know what products would be sold to
foreign unrelated buyers for foreign use.
Comments suggested similar treatment
for both related party sales and related
party use.
Comments further provided
suggestions for how a taxpayer could
demonstrate it had a reasonable
expectation as of the FDII filing date
that an unrelated party transaction
would occur. Several comments
requested the ability to use market
research such as inventory turnover,
statistical sampling, economic
modelling or other similar methods,
with one comment suggesting that the
fungible mass rule in proposed
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(3)(iii) also be adopted in
this context. One comment suggested
that an unrelated party transaction
exists whenever the product sold is
specifically designed for a foreign
market or can only be used outside of
the United States. Another noted that in
some cases the related party buyer is
contractually obligated to sell products
only to unrelated foreign parties.
Comments also noted that past practice
could inform the reasonable expectation
of unrelated party transactions.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
agree with the concerns expressed by
the comments about the administrative
burdens that the amended return
requirement can cause for both
taxpayers and tax administrators.
PO 00000
Frm 00027
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43067
Therefore, the final regulations modify
the resale rule in proposed § 1.250(b)–
6(c)(1)(i) to allow a taxpayer to treat a
sale to a related party as a FDDEI
transaction in the tax year of the related
party sale provided that an unrelated
party transaction has occurred or will
occur in the ordinary course of business
with respect to the property sold to the
related party, whether the property is a
completed product or a component of a
different product. The unrelated party
sale can occur at any time in the future
so that taxpayers with long production
or sales cycles are not unduly prevented
from claiming FDII benefits based on the
period of limitations for filing an
amended return under section 6511.
The condition that the unrelated party
transaction must be in the ordinary
course of business is intended to
exclude situations in which the resale is
tangential to the business of the
taxpayer and related party (for example,
if the taxpayer sells a machine to a
related party for the related party’s
consumption, and the machine is later
sold by the related party for scrap or
recycling).
The final regulations also remove the
requirement that the FDII filing date is
determinative with respect to related
party sales and use of property in an
unrelated party transaction. Taxpayers
that engage in related party transactions
should generally be able to obtain
information after the FDII filing date
that will confirm whether a related
party sale is in fact a FDDEI sale or
service. A rule that depends on the FDII
filing date would create uncertainty
during examinations if the FDII filing
date is inconsistent with actual postFDII filing date transactions. Therefore,
if in fact, an unrelated party transaction
does not actually occur in a future year,
the related party sale would not be a
FDDEI sale. This could also apply to
related party services where a
substantially similar service that occurs
in a future year should be taken into
account. See part IX.B.1. of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section.
The final regulations also include
guidance on how a taxpayer can
demonstrate that an unrelated party sale
will later occur. Taxpayers can rely on
contractual restrictions or historical
practices indicating that the related
party only sells products to unrelated
foreign customers. Moreover, if the
design of a product indicates that it is
destined only for foreign customers,
taxpayers can establish that an
unrelated party sale will occur with
respect to that product.
In light of the more flexible approach
to demonstrate that an unrelated party
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
43068
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
transaction will occur, the final
regulations do not include a de minimis
rule such as treating the entire fungible
mass of sales as for a foreign use if a
seller obtains documentation
establishing that 90 percent or more of
the fungible mass is for a foreign use (or
conversely, no portion of the fungible
mass is treated as for a foreign use if the
seller does not obtain documentation
establishing that 10 percent or more of
the fungible mass is for a foreign use) as
explained in part VII.C.4 of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section.
2. Intermediate Sales to a U.S. Related
Party Before Eventual Sale to an
Unrelated Party
The proposed regulations provided
that for purposes of determining
whether a related party sale is for a
foreign use, all foreign related parties of
the seller are treated as if they were a
single foreign related party. Proposed
§ 1.250(b)–6(c)(3). This rule gave effect
to section 250(b)(5)(C)(i)(I) (providing
that a sale to a foreign related party may
be for a foreign use if the property is
ultimately sold by ‘‘a’’ foreign party to
a foreign unrelated party) and allowed
a sale to a foreign related party to be a
FDDEI sale even if the property is resold
to one or more other foreign related
parties before the sale to an unrelated
foreign person.
One comment requested that the final
regulations clarify how the related party
resale rule operates when the foreign
related party buyer purchases a semifinished product from the U.S. parent
(or another domestic related party),
finishes that product, and resells it to
the U.S. parent (or another domestic
related party) for ultimate sale to an
unrelated person for a foreign use. The
comment requested that the related
party sale rule should apply
notwithstanding the intermediate sale
so long as the taxpayer can substantiate
the ultimate sale of property to the
unrelated foreign party. The comment
argued that such a clarification would
eliminate unwarranted disparate
treatment for U.S. companies that
engage in multiple related-party sales as
compared to those that engage in just
one step.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
generally agree with this comment and
have modified § 1.250(b)–6(c)(3) to
provide that a U.S. person (either the
seller itself or another U.S. person that
is a related party of the seller) is treated
as part of a single foreign related party.
This rule only applies for purposes of
determining whether the related party
sale is for a foreign use; it does not
modify or eliminate the requirement
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
that a seller must sell property to a
foreign person for the sale to be a FDDEI
sale. However, the Treasury Department
and the IRS are concerned that U.S.
persons that are members of the same
modified affiliated group, but not
members of a consolidated group, could
use this rule to avoid the requirement
that a sale be made to a foreign person
by inserting a foreign person, such as a
foreign partnership, as an intermediary
in the sale from one U.S. person to
another U.S. person. The Treasury
Department and the IRS have
determined that it would be
inappropriate to use the related party
sales rules to expand the types of sales
that are eligible to be treated as FDDEI
sales in this way. Therefore, the rule
does not treat a U.S. person as related
to the seller if the U.S. person is not
related to the seller under the 80 percent
or more standard for vote or value in
section 1504(a). See § 1.250(b)–6(c)(3).
3. Rule for Use of Property in an
Unrelated Party Transaction
For transactions other than the resale
of purchased property, such as where
the foreign related party uses the
purchased property to produce other
property that is sold in unrelated party
transactions, or where the foreign
related party uses the property in the
provision of a service in an unrelated
party transaction, the proposed
regulations provided that the sale of
property does not qualify as a FDDEI
sale unless, as of the FDII filing date, the
seller reasonably expects that more than
80 percent of the revenue earned by the
foreign related party from the use of the
property in all transactions will be
earned from unrelated party
transactions that are FDDEI transactions
(determined without regard to the
documentation requirements in
§ 1.250(b)–4 or § 1.250(b)–5). See
proposed § 1.250(b)–6(c)(1)(ii). One
comment expressed concern with the 80
percent rule of the proposed regulations
creating a cliff effect whereby a taxpayer
would derive no FDII benefit if its
revenues fell below this threshold. That
comment suggested either lowering the
threshold or replacing it with a sliding
scale upon a certain minimum level of
revenues. It also noted that it is unclear
how revenue should be measured for
purposes of this 80 percent rule, such as
whether it should be based on the price
of all sales to end user customers and
whether it should just include sales to
unrelated customers or also related
party sales.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
agree with the comment that the related
party sale and related party use rules
should have similar standards. To make
PO 00000
Frm 00028
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
this rule consistent with the standard in
§ 1.250(b)–6(c)(1)(i), the final
regulations modify the rule to require
that one or more unrelated party
transactions occurs with respect to the
property. The Treasury Department and
the IRS expect that taxpayers have
sufficient control over the supply chain
involving controlled transactions to
make this determination. In addition, to
eliminate the potential cliff effect
described in the comment, the final
regulations remove the 80 percent rule
and instead require the seller in the
related party transaction to allocate the
buyer’s revenues ratably between
related and unrelated party transactions
based on revenues reasonably expected
to be earned as of the FDII filing date.
The final regulations also adopt the
suggested clarification that revenue
should be measured for this purpose
based on the price of all transactions
with unrelated parties.
Other comments requested
clarifications and relevant examples
concerning the definition of a
component under proposed § 1.250(b)–
6(b)(5)(ii) and how a component can be
distinguished from a sale of property for
use in connection with property sold to
an unrelated party under proposed
§ 1.250(b)–6(b)(5)(iii). Several comments
noted that the preamble to the proposed
regulations stated that the component
rule of proposed § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(2)(iii)(C) did not apply for purposes
of determining what is a component for
purposes of proposed § 1.250(b)–
6(b)(5)(ii) and requested that this
clarification be included in the text of
the final regulations. In response to the
comments, the final regulations remove
the reference to ‘‘component’’ in
§ 1.250(b)–6(b)(5)(ii) and replace it with
‘‘constituent part’’ to avoid any
implication that the component rule of
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(1)(iii)(C) may apply.
Further, the final regulations modify the
rule for a related party use transaction
in § 1.250(b)–6(b)(3)(iii) to clarify that it
does not include transactions in which
the purchased property is a constituent
part of the product sold, to eliminate
any potential overlap with § 1.250(b)–
6(b)(5)(ii). Lastly, the final regulations
modify the example in § 1.250(b)–6(c)(4)
to clarify that property that is used in
connection with a sale to an unrelated
party means property that is not a
constituent part of the product that is
ultimately sold.
B. Related Party Services
1. In General
The proposed regulations generally
provided that a provision of a general
service to a business recipient that is a
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
related party qualifies as a FDDEI
service only if the service is not
substantially similar to a service
provided by the related party to persons
located within the United States. See
proposed § 1.250(b)–6(d)(1). One
comment noted that, unlike the related
party sales rule, the related party
services rules of proposed § 1.250(b)–
6(d) did not specify whether the
substantially similar service needs to be
provided before the FDII filing date for
the rule to apply. The comment
recommended a rule that is consistent
with the related party sales rules. It
suggested that the final regulations
provide that the service to the related
party is treated as a FDDEI transaction
in the year provided to the related party
if the substantially similar service test
was not implicated in that year, but that
taxpayers should be required to amend
that return to reverse the FDII benefit if
a substantially similar service occurs in
a later year.
As discussed in part IX.A.1. of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section, the final
regulations eliminate the amended
return requirement for related party
sales and allow such sales to be FDDEI
sales as long as an unrelated party
transaction will occur. Accordingly, the
final regulations do not adopt the
suggestion to treat a service as not being
subject to the substantially similar
service test as long as there is no
substantially similar service in the year
of the related party transaction.
However, the Treasury Department and
the IRS agree with the recommendation
that the related party sales and services
rules should be made consistent with
respect to the timing element of the
unrelated transaction. Therefore, the
final regulations provide that a related
party service is a FDDEI service only if
the related party service is not
substantially similar to a service that
has been or will be provided by the
related party to a person located within
the United States. The fact that a
substantially similar service will occur
in a future year does not prevent that
substantially similar service from being
considered in the determination of
whether a related party service is a
FDDEI service.
2. Clarifications Related to Benefit and
Price Tests
Under the proposed regulations, a
service provided by a renderer to a
related party is ‘‘substantially similar’’
to a service provided by the related
party to a person located within the
United States if the renderer’s service
(or ‘‘related party service’’) is used by
the related party to provide a service to
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
a person located within the United
States and either the ‘‘benefit test’’ of
proposed § 1.250(b)–6(d)(2)(i) or the
‘‘price test’’ of proposed § 1.250(b)–
6(d)(2)(ii) is satisfied. The benefit test is
satisfied if 60 percent or more of the
benefits conferred by the related party
service are to persons located within the
United States. See proposed § 1.250(b)–
6(d)(2)(i). Under the price test, a service
provided by a renderer to a related party
is ‘‘substantially similar’’ to a service
provided by the related party to a
person located within the United States
if the renderer’s service is used by the
related party to provide a service to a
person located within the United States
and 60 percent or more of the price that
persons located within the United States
pay for the service provided by the
related party is attributable to the
renderer’s service. See proposed
§ 1.250(b)–6(d)(2)(ii).
One comment supported these bright
line tests for substantially similar
services as practicable but asserted it
would be burdensome for taxpayers to
have to apply both tests, and therefore
requested that the final regulations only
retain the price test, or alternatively
should apply the tests conjunctively so
that only if both tests are met is a
service considered substantially similar
to a service provided by a related party
to a person in the United States.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
have determined that these two tests
consider distinct factors, both of which
are relevant, and therefore the final
regulations do not adopt the suggestion
that the benefit test be eliminated or that
the tests be made conjunctive. Both tests
address concerns with ‘‘round tripping’’
arrangements where the provision of
services primarily benefits persons
within the United States, but a related
party located outside the United States
is interposed in order to qualify the
initial transaction as a FDDEI
transaction. While the two tests may
overlap, they also serve different
purposes and address different
concerns. One example that implicates
the benefit test is when a related party
bundles its own services that provide
minimal benefit to persons located
outside the United States with other
services that primarily benefit persons
located within the United States. The
price test addresses situations such as
when a taxpayer provides a broad range
of services to a related party located
outside the United States but one
component of the service is provided
unchanged to persons located within
the United States and this is reflected in
the price charged to the U.S. customer
compared to the price charged to the
related party. Consequently, in the
PO 00000
Frm 00029
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43069
absence of the price test, a related party
service that satisfies the benefit test
could qualify as a FDDEI transaction
even if the related party service
accounts for 60 percent or more of the
total price charged to customers located
within the United States. However, the
final regulations clarify that the benefit
test is met only if 60 percent or more of
the benefits conferred by the related
party service are directly used by the
related party to confer benefits on
consumers or business recipients within
the United States. See § 1.250(b)–
6(d)(2)(i). For example, if a business
recipient located in the United States
hires the related party to provide a
consulting service, and the related party
hires the taxpayer to perform research
that is used by the related party in
performing the consulting service, the
related party will have directly used the
taxpayer’s research in performing the
consulting service for the business
recipient located within the United
States. Services provided to the related
party that will only indirectly benefit
the related party’s service recipients
(generally, when the related party’s
service recipients would not be willing
to pay for the related party service) are
not ‘‘substantially similar’’ to the
services provided by the related party.
See § 1.482–9(l)(3)(ii) for an explanation
of indirect or remote benefits.
Proposed § 1.250(b)–6(d)(3) provided
that for purposes of applying the price
and benefit tests, the location of a
consumer or business recipient with
respect to a related party service is
determined under the principles that
apply to FDDEI services. One comment
requested the addition of a clarifying
sentence to proposed § 1.250(b)–6(d)(3)
indicating that the benefits conferred
and price paid for the related party
service that is provided to persons
located in the United States must be
allocated based on the locations of the
business recipients that benefit from
these services provided by the related
party. In response to this comment, the
final regulations clarify that if the
related party provides a service to a
business recipient, the business
recipient is treated as a person located
within the United States to the extent
that the service confers a benefit on the
business recipient’s operations located
within the United States. The price paid
to the related party is allocated
proportionally based on the locations of
the business recipient that benefit from
the services provided by the related
party. See § 1.250(b)–6(d)(3)(i). The final
regulations also clarify that for purposes
of applying the price test, if the benefits
conferred by the related party service
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
43070
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
are to persons located in the United
States and outside the United States, the
price paid by the related party for the
related party service is allocated
proportionally based on the locations of
the business recipient that benefit from
the services provided by the related
party. See § 1.250(b)–6(d)(3)(ii). In
addition, the examples have been
revised to clarify the application of the
rules. See § 1.250(b)–6(d)(4).
X. Comments on and Revisions to
Proposed § 1.962–1
Proposed § 1.962–1(b)(1)(i) allowed
individuals making an election under
section 962 to take into account the
deduction for GILTI under section 250.
Specifically, proposed § 1.962–
1(b)(1)(i)(A)(2) provided that ‘‘taxable
income’’ for purposes of section 962
includes GILTI inclusions, and
proposed § 1.962–1(b)(1)(i)(B)(3)
specified that the section 250 deduction
for GILTI is permitted as a deduction to
arrive at ‘‘taxable income.’’ The final
regulations retain these rules without
change.
One comment noted that the reference
to section 960(a)(1) in § 1.962–1(b)(2)
was obsolete after the revisions to
section 960 made by the Act, and that
the regulations lacked any reference to
foreign tax credits with respect to GILTI
inclusions. The Treasury Department
and the IRS agree with this comment.
Accordingly, § 1.962–1(a)(2), (b)(2), and
(c) have been updated to replace
obsolete cross-references to section
960(a)(1) with cross-references to
section 960(a); § 1.962–1(b)(2) has been
updated to clarify that foreign tax
credits with respect to GILTI inclusions
under section 960(d) are available to
individuals making section 962
elections (subject to the limitations of
section 904(c) and 904(d)(1)(A)); and
§ 1.962–1(c) has been updated to
provide a revised example illustrating
the application of § 1.962–1. The
limitation on the section 11(c) surtax
exemption (repealed in 1978 7) provided
in § 1.962–1(b)(1)(ii) has also been
struck from § 1.962–1.
Finally, the Treasury Department and
the IRS understand that there is
uncertainty regarding the situations in
which individuals may make a section
962 election on an amended return. The
Treasury Department and the IRS are
considering issuing further guidance
under section 962. Until further
guidance on this issue is published,
individuals may make an otherwise
valid section 962 election on an
amended return for the 2018 tax year
and subsequent years, regardless of
7 Public
Law 95–600, 92 Stat. 2763 (1978).
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
circumstance, provided the interests of
the government are not prejudiced by
the delay, as described in § 301.9100–
3(c). For example, the interests of the
government could be prejudiced when a
section 962 election is made on an
amended return resulting in an
overpayment in a year for which the
period to file a claim for refund is open
under section 6511 and simultaneously
increasing the amount of U.S. tax due in
years for which the assessment period
under section 6501 has expired.
XI. Comments on and Revisions to
Proposed §§ 1.1502–12, 1.1502–13, and
1.1502–50—Consolidated Section 250
Proposed § 1.1502–50 provided that
the section 250 deduction of a member
of a consolidated group (member) is
determined by reference to the relevant
items of all members of the same
consolidated group (single-entity
treatment). Single-entity treatment
ensures that the aggregate amount of
section 250 deductions allowed to
members appropriately reflects the
income, expenses, gains, losses, and
property of the consolidated group as a
whole. To effectuate single-entity
treatment, proposed § 1.1502–50
aggregated the DEI, FDDEI, DTIR, and
GILTI of all members, the amounts of
which are used to calculate an overall
deduction amount for the consolidated
group. See proposed § 1.1502–50(e)
(providing definitions). The aggregate
deduction amount for the consolidated
group is then allocated among the
members on the basis of their respective
contributions to consolidated FDDEI
and consolidated GILTI. See proposed
§ 1.1502–50(b).
A. Single-Entity Treatment
Two comments addressed the
computation of a member’s section 250
deduction. The comments generally
supported single-entity treatment.
However, one comment recommended
permitting a taxpayer to elect out of
single-entity treatment with respect to
the section 250 deduction attributable to
GILTI. The comment expressed concern
about applying the taxable income
limitation in section 250(a)(2) to
companies with pre-Act NOLs while
also arguing that the NOLs of a
consolidated group should not affect the
section 250 deduction attributable to
GILTI of a member that has not
contributed to the NOLs. The Treasury
Department and the IRS decline to
adopt this recommendation because
single-entity treatment ensures that a
consolidated group’s income tax
liability is clearly reflected, as required
by section 1502. Permitting taxpayers to
elect out of single-entity treatment
PO 00000
Frm 00030
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
would incentivize inappropriate
planning with respect to the location of
CFCs within the consolidated group and
undermine the policy behind the
enactment of section 250.
B. Life-Nonlife Consolidated Groups
The second comment raised concerns
that the proposed regulations may be
incompatible with the rules and
framework of § 1.1502–47 for lifenonlife consolidated groups. The
comment asserted that single-entity
treatment could result in an
inappropriate permanent disallowance
of the section 250 deduction in a lifenonlife consolidated group if the
allocation of the section 250 deduction
among members is made on a subgroup
basis. The comment recommended
applying the section 250 deduction
based on the life-nonlife consolidated
group’s consolidated taxable income,
rather than taking the deduction into
account at the subgroup-level. Under
the comment’s recommended approach,
the section 250 deduction would be
treated as a consolidated deduction to
determine whether it can be used
against consolidated taxable income
before being allocated to a member. The
Treasury Department and the IRS are
studying these concerns and request
comments on this topic.
C. Qualified Business Asset Investment
Proposed § 1.1502–50(c)(1) provided
that, for purposes of determining a
member’s QBAI, the basis of specified
tangible property does not include an
amount equal to any gain or loss
realized with respect to such property
by another member in an intercompany
transaction, whether or not such gain or
loss is deferred. This rule was intended
to negate the impact (whether positive
or negative) of an intercompany sale of
property on the computation of DII, in
accordance with single-entity treatment.
However, in most relevant cases, once
an intercompany item has been
included in income, there are real,
external consequences to the group. For
example, if gain has been included in
consolidated taxable income (and in the
tax system), the group should take the
associated increase in tax basis into
account. Therefore, these final
regulations limit the application of the
rule negating the impact of
intercompany sales of property to the
period during which the intercompany
gain or loss remains deferred under
§ 1.1502–13. See § 1.1502–50(c)(1)(i).
The Treasury Department and the IRS
are also concerned that single-entity
treatment is not achieved in certain
intercompany transactions involving the
transfer of a partnership interest if such
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
transfers result in an increase or
decrease in the basis of specified
tangible property under section 743(b)
and thus impact the computation of DII.
The final regulations therefore provide
that a member’s partner-specific QBAI
basis includes a basis adjustment under
section 743(b) resulting from an
intercompany transaction only when,
and to the extent, gain or loss, if any, is
recognized in the transaction and no
longer deferred under § 1.1502–13. See
§ 1.1502–50(c)(1)(ii).
XII. Applicability Dates
As proposed, proposed §§ 1.250(a)–1
through 1.250(b)–6 would apply to
taxable years ending on or after March
4, 2019. However, the proposed
regulations also provided that, for
taxable years beginning on or before
March 4, 2019, taxpayers may use any
reasonable documentation maintained
in the ordinary course of the taxpayer’s
business that establishes that a recipient
is a foreign person, property is for a
foreign use (within the meaning of
proposed § 1.250(b)–4(d) and (e)), or a
recipient of a general service is located
outside the United States (within the
meaning of proposed § 1.250(b)–5(d)(2)
and (e)(2)), as applicable, in lieu of the
documentation required in proposed
§§ 1.250(b)–4(c)(2), (d)(3), and (e)(3) and
1.250(b)–5(d)(3) and (e)(3), provided
that such documentation meets the
reliability requirements described in
proposed § 1.250(b)–3(d). The proposed
regulations also provided that taxpayers
may rely on proposed §§ 1.250(a)–1
through 1.250(b)–6 for taxable years
ending before March 4, 2019.
The final regulations modify the
applicability dates in proposed
§§ 1.250(a)–1 through 1.250(b)–6 as
follows. Except for § 1.250(b)–2(h), the
rules in §§ 1.250(a)–1 through 1.250(b)–
6 apply to taxable years beginning on or
after January 1, 2021. Section 1.250(b)–
2(h), which contains an anti-abuse rule
for certain transfers of property, applies
to taxable years ending on or after
March 4, 2019, consistent with the
applicability date in the proposed
regulations. See, however, part V.C of
this Summary of Comments and
Explanation of Revisions section for a
transition rule relating to transfers that
occur before March 4, 2019.
However, taxpayers may choose to
apply the final regulations to taxable
years beginning before January 1, 2021,
provided that they apply the final
regulations in their entirety (other than
the special substantiation requirements
in § 1.250(b)–3(f) and the applicable
provisions in § 1.250(b)–4(d)(3) or
§ 1.250(b)–5(e)(4)). See section
7805(b)(7). Taxpayers will be required
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
to substantiate under section 6001 that
any sale or service qualifies for a section
250 deduction. Alternatively, taxpayers
may rely on proposed §§ 1.250(a)–1
through 1.250(b)–6 in their entirety for
taxable years beginning before January
1, 2021, except that taxpayers relying on
the proposed regulations may rely on
the transition rule for documentation for
all taxable years beginning before
January 1, 2021 (rather than only for
taxable years beginning on or before
March 4, 2019). See also part II of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section.
Section 1.962–1(b)(1)(i)(B)(3), which
allows individuals making an election
under section 962 to take into account
the section 250 deduction, applies to
taxable years of a foreign corporation
ending on or after March 4, 2019, and
with respect to a U.S. person, for the
taxable year in which or with which
such taxable year of the foreign
corporation ends.
Proposed § 1.962–1(b)(1)(i)(A)(2),
which updated the regulations to
conform to the enactment of section
951A by providing that ‘‘taxable
income’’ for purposes of section 962
includes GILTI inclusions, is proposed
to apply beginning with the last taxable
year of a foreign corporation beginning
before January 1, 2018, and with respect
to a U.S. person, for the taxable year in
which or with which such taxable year
of the foreign corporation ends. The
final regulations provide that § 1.962–
1(b)(1)(i)(A)(2) applies to taxable years
of a foreign corporation ending on or
after March 4, 2019, and with respect to
a U.S. person, for the taxable year in
which or with which such taxable year
of the foreign corporation ends. Under
section 951A(f)(1)(A), GILTI inclusions
are treated in the same manner as
amounts included under section
951(a)(1)(A) for purposes of section 962.
Accordingly, individuals making an
election under section 962 were
required to include GILTI in ‘‘taxable
income’’ for purposes of section 962
irrespective of this update to the
regulations.
Section 1.962–1(a)(2), (b)(1)(ii),
(b)(2)(i) through (iii), and (c), which
update obsolete cross-references to
former section 960(a)(1), strike the
section 11(c) surtax exemption
limitation, update rules on the
allowance of foreign tax credits to
individuals making an election under
section 962 (including with respect to
the carryback and carryover of such
credits), and provide an updated
example illustrating the application of
§ 1.962–1, apply to taxable years of a
foreign corporation ending on or after
July 15, 2020, and with respect to a U.S.
PO 00000
Frm 00031
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43071
person, for the taxable year in which or
with which such taxable year of the
foreign corporation ends. With respect
to foreign tax credits, section 960(d)
provides domestic corporations (which
includes individuals making an election
under section 962) a credit for taxes
attributable to tested income, and
section 904(c) and 904(d)(1)(A) prohibit
taxpayers from carrying back or carrying
over any excess foreign taxes
attributable to tested income as a credit
in their first preceding taxable years and
in any of their first 10 succeeding
taxable years. Accordingly, individuals
making an election under section 962
that claimed foreign tax credits
attributable to tested income were
subject to the limitations of sections
960(d), 904(c), and 904(d)(1)(A)
irrespective of the updates to the
regulations.
One comment requested clarification
that proposed § 1.962–1 can be applied
for taxable years beginning in 2018.
With respect to taxable years before the
relevant final regulations are applicable,
the final regulations provide that
taxpayers may choose to apply the
provisions of § 1.962–1(a)(2),
(b)(1)(i)(A)(2), (b)(1)(i)(B)(3), (b)(1)(ii),
(b)(2)(i) through (iii), and (c) for taxable
years of a foreign corporation beginning
on or after January 1, 2018, and with
respect to a U.S. person, for the taxable
year in which or with which such
taxable year of the foreign corporation
ends.
Proposed § 1.1502–50 was proposed
to apply to consolidated return years
ending on or after July 15, 2020. The
final regulations provide that § 1.1502–
50 applies to consolidated return years
beginning on or after January 1, 2021.
Taxpayers that choose to apply the final
regulations under §§ 1.250(a)–1 through
1.250(b)–6 to taxable years beginning
before January 1, 2021, must also apply
the provisions in § 1.1502–50 to such
years. Similarly, taxpayers that rely on
proposed §§ 1.250(a)–1 through
1.250(b)–6 for taxable years beginning
before January 1, 2021, must also follow
proposed § 1.1502–50.
Proposed §§ 1.6038–2(f)(15) and
1.6038A–2(b)(5)(iv) are proposed to
apply with respect to information for
annual accounting periods beginning on
or after March 4, 2019. See sections
6038(a)(3) and 7805(b)(1)(B). Proposed
§ 1.6038–3(g)(4) is proposed to apply to
taxable years of a foreign partnership
beginning on or after March 4, 2019. See
section 7805(b)(1)(B). No changes were
made to the proposed applicability date
in the final regulations.
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
43072
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
XIII. Comment Regarding Special
Analyses
One comment asserted that in issuing
the proposed regulations, the Treasury
Department and the IRS did not comply
with Executive Orders 12866 and 13563
because the costs and benefits analysis
required under the executive orders did
not quantify the burden imposed by the
documentation requirements for larger
business entities that were ineligible for
the small business and small transaction
exceptions.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
complied with the applicable
requirements under Executive Orders
12866 and 13563 when issuing the
proposed regulations. See 84 FR 8188,
Special Analyses section. In addition,
an economic analysis of the impact of
the substantiation requirements of the
final regulations is contained in part
I.C.1.a.i of the Special Analyses section.
As required by the Regulatory
Flexibility Act, an analysis of the impact
of the final regulations on small
businesses is contained in part III of the
Special Analyses section.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Special Analyses
I. Regulatory Planning and Review—
Economic Analysis
Executive Orders 13771, 13563, and
12866 direct agencies to assess costs and
benefits of available regulatory
alternatives and, if regulation is
necessary, to select regulatory
approaches that maximize net benefits
(including potential economic,
environmental, public health and safety
effects, distributive impacts, and
equity). Executive Order 13563
emphasizes the importance of
quantifying both costs and benefits, of
reducing costs, of harmonizing rules,
and of promoting flexibility. For
purposes of Executive Order 13771, this
final rule is regulatory.
These final regulations have been
designated as subject to review under
Executive Order 12866 pursuant to the
Memorandum of Agreement (April 11,
2018) between the Treasury Department
and the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) regarding review of tax
regulations. The Office of Information
and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has
designated the final rulemaking as
significant under section 1(c) of the
Memorandum of Agreement.
Accordingly, OMB has reviewed the
final regulations.
A. Background
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the ‘‘Act’’)
introduced new section 250 of the
Internal Revenue Code, which provides
a deduction for (1) a portion of profits
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
attributable to U.S. activities that serve
foreign markets and (2) a portion of
profits of controlled foreign
corporations (‘‘CFCs’’). The deduction
has the effect of reducing the role that
U.S. tax considerations play in a
domestic corporation’s decision about
whether to service foreign markets
directly or through a CFC, and also of
protecting the U.S. tax base against base
erosion incentives created by the new
participation exemption system
established under section 245A.8
At the most basic level, the section
250 deduction is available to domestic
corporations with respect to their
‘‘excess return’’ (that is, their return in
excess of a fixed return on tangible
assets) derived from serving foreign
markets. This deduction results in a
lower effective rate of U.S. tax on the
corporations’ foreign-derived intangible
income (‘‘FDII’’) and global intangible
low-taxed income (‘‘GILTI’’). FDII is the
portion of the ‘‘excess return’’ derived
from serving foreign markets directly
from the United States, while GILTI is
the portion of the ‘‘excess return’’
derived through foreign affiliates. FDII
and GILTI are calculated based on
formulas set out in sections 250 and
951A, respectively. For taxable years
between 2018 and 2025, section 250
generally allows a deduction equal to
the sum of 37.5 percent of the
corporation’s FDII plus 50 percent of its
GILTI (thereafter, these deductions are
reduced to 21.875 percent and 37.5
percent, respectively). These deduction
rates are intended to produce
comparable tax rates on income earned
from serving foreign markets, regardless
of whether such income is earned
directly by a domestic corporation or by
its CFCs.9
On March 6, 2019, the Treasury
Department and the IRS published
proposed regulations relating to section
250 (‘‘proposed regulations’’).
B. Need for Final Regulations
Regulations are needed to aid
taxpayers in determining the amount of
their section 250 deduction. The final
regulations are also needed to respond
to comments received on the proposed
regulations.
C. Baseline
The economic analysis that follows
compares the final regulations to a no8 See Senate Explanation, at 370 (‘‘[O]ffering
similar . . . rates for intangible income derived
from markets, whether through U.S.-based
operations or through CFCs, reduces or eliminates
the tax incentive to locate or move intangible
income abroad, thereby limiting one margin where
the Code distorts business investment decisions.’’).
9 See Joint Comm. on Taxation, General
Explanation of Public Law 115–97, at 377–383.
PO 00000
Frm 00032
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
action baseline reflecting anticipated
Federal income tax-related behavior in
the absence of the final regulations. This
no-action baseline reflects the current
environment including the existing
international tax regulations pursuant to
the Act, prior to any amendment by the
final regulations.
D. Economic Analysis
The final regulations provide
certainty and clarity to taxpayers
regarding the section 250 deduction. In
the absence of such guidance, the
chance that different taxpayers would
interpret the statute differently would
be exacerbated. Similarly situated
taxpayers might interpret the statutory
rules pertaining to the treatment of
particular sales or services differently,
with one taxpayer pursuing a sale that
another taxpayer might decline to make
because of different interpretations of
how the income would be treated under
section 250. If this second taxpayer’s
activity were more profitable, an
economic loss is generated. Such
situations are more likely to arise in the
absence of guidance. While no guidance
can curtail all differential or inaccurate
interpretations of the statute, the final
regulations significantly mitigate the
chance for differential or inaccurate
interpretations and thereby increase
economic efficiency.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
expect that in the absence of this
guidance taxpayers would undertake
fewer eligible sales and services. Thus,
the final regulations will generally
enhance sales and services across
certain eligible activities relative to the
no-action baseline. Because of the scale
of U.S. economic activity generally
associated with foreign use
(independent of any specific definition
of foreign use) and because of the
general responsiveness of economic
activity to effective tax rates, which may
be affected by the section 250
deduction, we project that the final
regulations will have annual economic
effects greater than $100 million (2020
dollars) relative to the no-action
baseline.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
have not made quantitative estimates of
the effects of these final regulations on
the volume of eligible sales and services
or on the overall size or composition of
U.S. economic activity relative to the
no-action baseline or regulatory
alternatives. The Treasury Department
and the IRS have not undertaken these
estimates because we do not have
sufficiently detailed data or models for:
(i) The costs to taxpayers of establishing
that particular transactions are eligible
for the section 250 deduction
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
(‘‘substantiation requirements’’) under
various standards of substantiation; (ii)
the effect of differences in
substantiation requirements on
economic activity, including both
activities that are eligible for the section
250 deduction and activities not eligible
for the section 250 deduction under the
final regulations versus regulatory
alternatives; and (iii) the economic
effects of other clarifications in the final
regulations, including the treatment of
military sales, relative to the no-action
baseline and regulatory alternatives.
Each of these items would be needed to
provide sufficiently precise estimates of
the effects of these final regulations.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
project that as many as 350,000
taxpayers may be potentially affected by
the final regulations. This estimate is
based on International Trade
Administration (‘‘ITA’’) statistics of the
number of companies engaged in export
activities.10 No data derived from tax
forms were available to provide an
estimate of potentially affected
taxpayers because the section 250
deduction is new and the transactions
that would now give rise to a section
250 deduction were not previously
separately reported on tax forms. No
comments were received on estimates of
the number of affected taxpayers
provided in the proposed regulations.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
plan to include estimates of the number
of affected taxpayers in analysis of any
future regulatory guidance when
possible.
The economic effects of major
provisions of these final regulations are
discussed qualitatively in Part I.C and
are separately categorized depending on
whether the provisions have been
significantly revised from the proposed
regulations or are largely unchanged
from the proposed regulations.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
solicit comments on the economic
effects of the regulations.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
1. Economic Effects of Provisions
Substantially Revised From the 2019
Section 250 Proposed Regulations
a. Documentation Requirements
The statute provides a section 250
deduction for certain income derived by
the taxpayer from serving foreign
markets but it does not provide detail
regarding what it means to ‘‘serve
foreign markets’’ or how to document
that fact. Many of the calculations
needed for the section 250 deduction
are based on Foreign Derived Deduction
10 ITA data was accessed at https://tse.export.gov/
EDB/SelectReports.aspx?DATA=ExporterDB in
December, 2018.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
Eligible Income (FDDEI), which is
certain income derived from sales of
property to foreign persons for ‘‘foreign
use’’ and from the provision of services
to persons, or with respect to property,
located outside the United States. The
statute is likewise silent on the meaning
of ‘‘foreign use.’’
The proposed regulations defined
terms and prescribed specific
documents that taxpayers were required
to hold to establish that such income
was derived from serving foreign
markets. Comments to the proposed
regulations, however, noted that the
documentation requirements were
prohibitively burdensome because,
contrary to the original understanding of
the Treasury Department and the IRS,
taxpayers frequently do not have ready
access to those types of documentation.
Therefore, comments argued, the
proposed regulations frequently created
compliance costs that were high relative
to the value of the deduction. In
addition, comments explained that for
taxpayers that enter into long term
contracts, it was difficult to
simultaneously satisfy the proposed
regulations’ requirements that the
documentation be obtained by the FDII
filing date and also that it be obtained
no earlier than one year before the date
of the sale or the service. Commenters
also noted that the Regulatory
Flexibility Act analysis for the proposed
regulations provide an estimate of the
compliance burden for small entities but
did not provide a comparable estimate
for larger entities, which could have had
a considerably higher burden.
Because of these difficulties, the
Treasury Department and the IRS adopt
a different approach in the final
regulations for the substantiation of
foreign use for purposes of the section
250 deduction. This approach is
described in sections 3.a.i–3.a.iii. For
each of the items in 3.a.i–3.a.iii, the
approach in the final regulations is
significantly more flexible than the
specific documentation requirements in
the proposed regulations.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
have determined that the substantiation
requirements in the final regulations
provide a reasonable balance of
compliance costs and the administrative
burden of ensuring that the transactions
are consistent with the intent and
purpose of the statute.
i. General Substantiation Versus
Specific Substantiation
The statute generally provides a
section 250 deduction for income that is
for foreign use and specifies that the
Secretary should issue regulations to
specify how foreign use should be
PO 00000
Frm 00033
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43073
substantiated for purposes of tax
administration. To address the
substantiation issue, the Treasury
Department and the IRS considered: (i)
Which types of transactions should be
subject (only) to the general
substantiation rules that apply to all
deductions, versus requiring specific
substantiation, and (ii) for those
transactions for which more specific
substantiation will be required, what
forms specific substantiation should
take.
The final regulations specify that for
many types of sales and services,
eligibility for the section 250 deduction
is subject only to the general
requirement under the Code that
eligibility for deductions must be
supported by sufficient substantiation,
including through the use of available
business records. The final regulations
provide substantiation requirements
that are generally similar to the
substantiation requirements for other
types of deductions, which helps
standardize deduction-related benefits
in the Code and thereby minimizes the
risk of unintended complications across
provisions of the Code.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
considered allowing general
substantiation for all types of
transactions. However, the Treasury
Department and the IRS determined that
certain types of transactions pose a
higher risk of being treated as eligible
transactions (FDDEI transactions)
without the taxpayer having generated
revenue from serving foreign markets.
For these certain transactions, the final
regulations provide specific
substantiation requirements. These
requirements involve either (i) a specific
document, (ii) information from the
recipient obtained or created in the
ordinary course of business, or (iii) a
taxpayer statement with corroborating
evidence (where the taxpayer chooses
the form of corroborating evidence). In
general, these requirements are
substantially more flexible than the
documentation requirements set forth in
the proposed regulations because they
allow taxpayers to choose the method of
substantiation among a set of options
and because this set includes options
that are less onerous than in the
proposed regulations. In addition, to
further reduce compliance burdens
relative to the proposed regulations, and
in response to comments, the final
regulations remove the requirement in
the proposed regulations that the
substantiating documents must be
obtained no earlier than one year before
the date of the sale or service.
The main categories of transactions
for which specific substantiation is
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
43074
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
required are: (i) Sales of intangible
property; (ii) sales of general property to
resellers and manufacturers; and (iii) the
provision of general services to business
recipients. These types of transactions
generally have a higher potential for
mischaracterization than other
transactions for which general
substantiation is required; for example,
intangible property is often used both
within and without of the United States,
and without some specific
substantiation documenting its use, the
foreign portion could easily be
overstated. Similarly, if a U.S. person
sells a finished good to a foreign
reseller, the final regulations require the
taxpayer to provide evidence that the
reseller will not immediately sell the
property back into the United States;
otherwise, the taxpayer could claim the
section 250 deduction for what is
effectively a sale for domestic use. The
Treasury Department and the IRS have
determined that this latter activity
would not be consistent with the intent
and purpose of the statute. In addition,
in the case of general services (such as
consulting or accounting services)
provided to a business recipient that is
an integrated multinational company
with operations within and outside the
United States, without substantiation
the IRS would have difficulty verifying
the extent to which the business
recipient’s operations outside the
United States benefited from the service.
Thus, the Treasury final regulations
impose more thorough substantiation
requirements for such types of
transactions.
The specific substantiation
requirements provide that a taxpayer
may substantiate that a sale of general
property to a distributor is for a foreign
use by maintaining proof that property
is specifically designed, labeled, or
adapted for a foreign market or proof
that the cost of shipping the property
back to the United States relative to the
value of the property makes it
impractical that the property will be
resold in the United States.
Furthermore, in recognition of the fact
that some taxpayers may not be able to
substantiate their deductions with
information already available to them,
the specific substantiation requirements
do not apply to taxpayer years
beginning before January 1, 2021. In
addition, the specific substantiation
requirements do not apply to businesses
with less than $25 million in gross
receipts.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
do not have readily available data or
models to provide sufficiently precise
estimates of the difference in
compliance costs for these provisions
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
between the final regulations and
regulatory alternatives such as the
proposed regulations.
ii. Removal of Specific References to
Market Research
The proposed regulations contained
specific rules regarding appropriate
methods of documenting foreign use for:
(i) Fungible mass property and (ii)
general services provided to a business
recipient located outside the United
States. In particular, the proposed
regulations provided that a seller could
establish certain foreign use through
market research, including statistical
sampling, economic modeling and other
similar methods. In light of the more
flexible and less prescriptive approach
to documentation generally taken by the
final regulations relative to the proposed
regulations, the Treasury Department
and the IRS have determined that
prescribing specific methods (such as
market research) for determining the use
of these types of property is not
necessary and have further determined
that general market research based on
secondary sources could be misleading
in this circumstance.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
do not have readily available data or
models to provide sufficiently precise
estimates of the difference in
compliance costs for these items
between the final regulations and
regulatory alternatives such as the
proposed regulations.
iii. Digital Content, Electronically
Supplied Services, and Advertising
Services
The final regulations also clarify how
to establish foreign use for sales of
digital content and how to establish a
recipient’s location outside of the
United States with respect to
electronically supplied services and
advertising services. As noted in
comments, the proposed regulations did
not clearly explain how foreign use
should be established for transfers of
copyrighted articles that are delivered
electronically rather than on a physical
medium. To clarify the treatment of
these sales, the final regulations specify
that a sale of a copyrighted article is
evaluated under the general property
rules rather than the rules for foreign
use of intangible property regardless of
how the copyrighted article is
transferred. In addition, the final
regulations provide new rules for
establishing whether a sale of digital
content, which may include a sale of a
copyrighted article, is for a foreign use.
The final regulations define ‘‘digital
content’’ as a computer program or any
other content in digital format. A sale of
PO 00000
Frm 00034
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
general property that primarily contains
digital content is generally a FDDEI sale
if the end user downloads or accesses
the content on a device located outside
the United States.
In response to comments, the final
regulations provide two new
subcategories of general services and
provide more detailed guidance
regarding how to establish the location
of recipients of these services. First, the
final regulations also provide a new
subcategory of general services for
electronically supplied services. An
electronically supplied service is a
general service (other than an
advertising service) that is delivered
primarily over the internet or an
electronic network. As in the case of a
digital content sale, an electronically
supplied service qualifies for the section
250 deduction if the recipient accesses
the service from a location outside the
United States. Thus, under the final
regulations, the structure of otherwise
similar transactions (the sale of digital
content and the provision of an
electronically supplied service) should
generally not affect whether the
transaction qualifies for the section 250
deduction. Second, the final regulations
provide a new subcategory of general
services for advertising services. The
final regulations assign the location of
the recipient of advertising services at
the location where the advertisements
are viewed, since that location serves as
a reliable proxy for the location of the
business recipient that benefits from the
service.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
project that because taxpayers typically
know where digital content,
electronically supplied services, and
advertising services are accessed or
viewed, these provisions will reduce
taxpayer compliance costs relative to
the proposed regulations.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
do not have readily available data or
models to provide sufficiently precise
estimates of the difference in
compliance costs for these items,
between the final regulations and
regulatory alternatives such as the
proposed regulations.
b. Foreign Military Sales
Section 250 conditions eligibility on
sales being made to a foreign person and
services being provided to a person
located outside the United States but
does not include specific rules
applicable to foreign military sales or
services. This silence may lead to
inefficient decisions by taxpayers
because many sales of military
equipment and services by U.S. defense
contractors to foreign governments are
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
structured (pursuant to the Arms Export
Control Act) as sales and services
provided to the U.S. government. The
equipment or services are then sold or
provided by the U.S. government to the
foreign government; in effect, the
contractor is selling goods and services
to a foreign person but the sale is
technically made to the U.S.
government. The Treasury Department
and the IRS recognize that the statute is
unclear as to whether such sales and
services can qualify for the section 250
deduction.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
considered several options for treating
these sales and services. One option was
not addressing this issue in the final
regulations. This option was rejected
because the Treasury Department and
the IRS determined that it would
perpetuate uncertainty about the
application of section 250 to foreign
military sales and services made
through the U.S. government and could
thus result in inefficient economic
activity if some taxpayers took the
position that these sales and services
qualify for a section 250 deduction but
other similarly-situated taxpayers took
the position that they do not qualify.
Furthermore, to the extent that some
taxpayers took the position that these
sales and services do not qualify, their
economic decisions would be inefficient
when evaluated under the intent and
purpose of the statute.
A second option was to clarify that a
foreign military sale or service through
the U.S. government does not qualify for
a section 250 deduction. This option
was rejected because the Treasury
Department and the IRS determined that
this treatment would be inconsistent
with the intent and purpose of the
statute, and thus economic activity
would be inefficient when evaluated
under this standard.11
A third option was to allow any sale
or service to a U.S. person that acts as
an intermediary and does not take on
the benefits and burdens of ownership
to generally qualify for a section 250
deduction if there is an ultimate foreign
recipient. This option was rejected
because the Treasury Department and
the IRS determined that such a broad
exception could allow multiple section
250 deductions for the same transaction
if both the seller and the intermediary
buyer were U.S. taxpayers. Furthermore,
determining whether a party is an
‘‘intermediary’’ for this purpose would
require a complex facts-andcircumstances analysis of whether the
11 See Joint Comm. on Taxation, General
Explanation of Public Law 115–97, at, at 380 n.
1740.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
party had the benefits and burdens of
ownership.
A fourth option was the approach
adopted in the proposed regulations,
which provided that sales of property or
the provision of a service to the U.S.
government under the Arms Export
Control Act is treated as a sale of
property or provision of a service to a
foreign government and thus generally
eligible for the section 250 deduction.
The final regulations adopt the
approach provided in the proposed
regulations but relax the proposed
regulations’ documentation
requirements. Instead, under the final
regulations only the general
substantiation requirements apply to
these transactions. Thus, the final
regulations provide that foreign military
sales or services to the U.S. government
under the Arms Export Control Act are
treated as an eligible sale or service.
This rule provides uniform tax
treatment between the defense sector
and other sectors of the U.S. economy
with respect to sales and services that
are clearly meant for a foreign use. The
final rule also results in lower
compliance costs than the proposed
regulations because it requires no
further substantiation beyond
compliance with the Arms Export
Control Act rules.
The Treasury Department projects
that this reduction in compliance costs
will increase foreign military sales and
services. The Treasury Department and
the IRS have not estimated either the
reduction in compliance costs under the
final regulations relative to the noaction baseline or regulatory alternatives
including the proposed regulations or
the change in foreign military sales and
services that would result from this
reduction. They have not undertaken
this estimation because they do not have
sufficiently detailed data or models of
the costs to taxpayers of establishing
that particular transactions are eligible
for the section 250 deduction, or the
responsiveness of such transactions to
compliance costs.
c. Additional Issues and Changes
The final regulations contain several
additional changes that will generally
expand the situations in which a
transaction will be a FDDEI transaction
relative to the proposed regulations.
The final regulations add an
exception to the rule in the proposed
regulations that a property service is a
FDDEI service only if the property is
located outside the United States for the
duration of the period the service is
performed. The exception provides that
a property service may be a FDDEI
service if it is provided with respect to
PO 00000
Frm 00035
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43075
property that is temporarily located in
the United States. This will increase the
number of property services that
constitute FDDEI services relative to the
proposed regulations. The final
regulations also clarify that the toll
manufacturing services are treated as
property services. Because of the new
exception for property services with
respect to property temporarily in the
United States, this clarification should
increase the number of toll
manufacturing and repair, maintenance,
and overhaul services that will
constitute FDDEI services relative to the
proposed regulations. This rule will also
mitigate incentives to restructure service
contracts into sale contracts (for
example by having the property owner
sell and buy back the property that
requires service) in order to qualify for
FDII benefits despite the lack of any
economic efficiency gains from doing
so. The Treasury Department and the
IRS have not estimated the effect of
these changes on compliance costs or on
the volume of property services or
specifically toll manufacturing services
that U.S. businesses may undertake
relative to the proposed regulations.
The final regulations revise the
definition of transportation services to
include freight forwarding services
because such services are economically
similar to the types of shipping services
that are already described in the
definition of transportation services;
this will provide greater certainty to
taxpayers that provide these services
because the test for determining
whether a transportation service is a
FDDEI service (based on the origin and
destination of the service) will generally
be clearer than the test for general
services (based on the location of the
recipient). The Treasury Department
and the IRS have not estimated the
effect of this clarification on compliance
costs or on the volume of freight
forwarding services that U.S. businesses
may undertake relative to the proposed
regulations.
The final regulations add an
exception to the general rule in the
proposed regulations that intangible
property used in manufacturing is
treated as for a foreign use outside the
United States only to the extent that the
end users of the manufactured property
are located outside the United States.
The exception allows that a sale of a
manufacturing method or process
intangible to a foreign unrelated party is
for foreign use based on the location of
manufacture rather than the location of
the ultimate end user. This provides a
meaningful reduction in compliance
burden relative to the proposed
regulations because it does not require
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
43076
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
the seller to track the product to its end
user and instead relies on information
immediately knowable to the seller. The
Treasury Department and the IRS have
not estimated the effect of this exception
on compliance costs or more generally
on U.S. economic activity relative to the
proposed regulations because we do not
have sufficiently precise data on the
number of potentially affected taxpayers
or the volume of affected activity.
The final regulations eliminate the
requirement in the proposed regulations
that for sales of international
transportation property to be eligible for
the section 250 deduction, the property
must be located outside the country
more than 50 percent of the time and
used outside the country for more than
50 percent of the miles for the three-year
period after delivery. In the final
regulations, the sale of international
transportation property is defined to be
for a foreign use depending on where it
is registered (and in the case of
international transportation property
not used for compensation or hire, also
taking into account where it is primarily
hangared or stored). This change in the
definition eases the burden of
compliance relative to the proposed
regulations. The Treasury Department
and the IRS have not undertaken
quantitative estimates of the effect of
this change on compliance costs or on
sales of transportation property relative
to the proposed regulations.
In response to comments, the final
regulations clarify that the definition of
general property includes physical
commodities that are sold pursuant to
derivative contracts. This revision
addresses a concern raised in comments
that some physical commodities may be
sold pursuant to a forward or option
contract that itself would not be general
property. Also in response to comments,
the final regulations provide that the
amount of a taxpayer’s income from a
transaction that is eligible for the
section 250 deduction is increased by
any gain, or decreased by any loss, taken
into account with respect to certain
hedging transactions related to the sales.
This treatment more accurately reflects
the overall economic gain or loss
realized with respect to the hedged
transactions, and will ensure that
similarly-situated taxpayers take
consistent positions with respect to
these types of transactions. The
Treasury Department and the IRS have
not estimated the effects of these
clarifications relative to the proposed
regulations.
Finally, the final regulations remove a
special rule from the proposed
regulations that a sale of an interest in
a foreign branch is treated as giving rise
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
to foreign branch income, which would
preclude any income from these sales
from giving rise to FDDEI. This change
respects the functional difference
between income derived by a branch
(which generally reflects business
activity of the branch) versus income
derived by the branch owner from
selling the branch (which generally
reflects the owner’s gain from
appreciation in value of the branch),
and will allow more transactions to
qualify as FDDEI transactions. The
Treasury Department and the IRS have
not estimated the effects of this change
relative to the proposed regulations.
d. Ordering Rule
The Act introduced multiple Code
provisions that simultaneously limit the
availability of a deduction based,
directly or indirectly, upon a taxpayer’s
taxable income. Because the deductions
themselves affect taxable income, the
order in which taxpayers calculate
deduction limitations matters. The
proposed regulations contained an
example outlining a possible approach
to an ordering rule for these Code
provisions. Several comments suggested
alternative ordering rules. The Treasury
Department and the IRS have decided to
further study the most appropriate
ordering rule for computations across
various provisions that are based upon
a taxpayer’s taxable income. Therefore,
the example from the proposed
regulations has been removed and the
Treasury Department and the IRS
reserve on a final determination of the
ordering rule at this time. For now,
taxpayers can generally use any
reasonable method to determine the
ordering of rules that limit deductions
based upon taxable income. Because we
have decided to study this issue further,
we have not yet estimated the economic
effects of different potential ordering
rules.
2. Economic Effects of Provisions Not
Substantially Revised From the 2019
Section 250 Proposed Regulations
a. Computation of the Ratio of FDDEI to
DEI
The Act defines a corporation’s FDII
based on a set of calculations that
includes the ratio of its FDDEI to its
Deduction Eligible Income (‘‘foreignderived ratio’’). The final regulations
specify that, for purposes of determining
the numerator of the foreign-derived
ratio, the domestic corporation must
allocate expenses to its gross FDDEI.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
deemed this approach the most
consistent with the statute by providing
what the Treasury Department and the
PO 00000
Frm 00036
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
IRS have determined to be the most
accurate measure of the corporation’s
income that is ‘‘foreign-derived,’’
through matching of expenses to gross
income. In addition, the use of existing
expense allocation rules potentially
reduces the burden on taxpayers and the
IRS relative to adopting a new set of
expense allocation rules.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
considered two other approaches; one,
in which the foreign-derived ratio
would be computed as the ratio of
foreign versus U.S. gross receipts and
another in which the ratio would be
computed as foreign versus U.S. gross
income. The Treasury Department and
the IRS have determined that both of
these approaches would result in a less
accurate measure of foreign-derived net
income. The Treasury Department and
the IRS have determined that these
alternative approaches could also
reward low margin (or even lossleading) sales or services to foreign
markets by allowing a section 250
deduction due to positive gross receipts
or income from foreign sources, even if
the net income from foreign sources
after allocated expenses is zero or
negative.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
have determined that the chosen
alternative generally provides the most
accurate computation of FDII. We have
not estimated the economic effects of
including these alternative, less accurate
computations of FDII in the calculation
of taxpayers’ foreign-derived ratios.
b. Section 962
The section 250 deduction for FDII
and GILTI is available only to domestic
corporations. However, Congress
enacted section 962 in Public Law 89–
834 (1962) to ensure that individuals’
tax burdens with respect to
undistributed foreign earnings of their
CFCs are comparable with their tax
burdens if they had held their CFCs
through a domestic corporation. See S.
Rept. 1881, 87th Cong., 2d Sess. 92
(1962).
To address this divergence, the
Treasury Department and the IRS
considered two options with respect to
extending the section 250 deduction to
individuals (which include, for this
purpose, individual partners in
partnerships and individual
shareholders in S corporations) that
make an election under section 962. The
first option was to not allow the
deduction for individuals. Not allowing
the section 250 deduction would require
that individuals that currently own their
CFCs directly (or indirectly through a
partnership or S corporation) transfer
the stock of their CFCs to new U.S.
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
corporations in order to obtain the
benefit of the section 250 deduction.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
determined that such reorganization
would be economically costly, both in
terms of legal fees and substantive
economic costs related to organizing
and operating new corporate entities
with no general economic benefit
relative to the second option.
The second option was to allow
individuals to claim a section 250
deduction with respect to their GILTI if
they make the section 962 election. The
Treasury Department and the IRS
determined that allowing individuals
the section 250 deduction would
improve economic efficiency by
preventing the need for costly legal
restructuring solely for the purpose of
tax savings. Allowing a section 250
deduction with respect to GILTI of an
individual (including an individual that
is a shareholder of an S corporation or
a partner in a partnership) that makes an
election under section 962 provides
comparable treatment for this income.
This is the option adopted by the
Treasury Department and the IRS in the
final regulations.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
have not estimated the difference in
economic effects between these two
regulatory alternatives.
II. Paperwork Reduction Act
The regulations provide the authority
for the IRS to require taxpayers to file
certain forms with the IRS to obtain the
benefit of the section 250 deduction.
Pursuant to the regulations, all
taxpayers with a section 250 deduction
are required to file one new form (Form
8993). The regulations also authorize
the IRS to request additional
information on several existing forms
(Forms 1065 (Schedule K–1), 5471,
5472, 8865, and other forms as needed)
if the filer of the form has a deduction
under section 250. In 2018, the IRS
released and invited comments on drafts
of these forms in order to give members
43077
of the public advance notice and an
opportunity to submit comments. The
IRS received no comments on the
portions of the forms that relate to
section 250 during the comment period.
Consequently, the IRS made the forms
available in late 2018 for use by the
public.
The information collection burdens
under the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq. (‘‘PRA’’) from these
final regulations are in §§ 1.250(a)–1(d),
1.250(b)–1(e)(2), 1.6038–2(f)(15),
1.6038–3(g)(4), and 1.6038A–2(b)(5)(iv).
For purposes of the PRA, the reporting
burden associated with these collections
of information will be reflected in the
PRA submission for Form 8993, Form
1065, Form 5471, Form 8865, and Form
5472 (see chart at the end of this part
II for OMB control numbers).
The tax forms that were created or
revised as a result of the information
collections in these final regulations, as
well as the estimated number of
respondents, are as follows:
RELATED NEW OR REVISED TAX FORMS
Form
Form
Form
Form
Form
8993
1065,
5471
8865
5472
.............................................................................................................................
Schedule K–1 (for corporate partners only, revision starting TY2021) .............
.............................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................
New
Revision of
existing form
✓
........................
........................
........................
........................
........................
✓
✓
✓
✓
Number of
respondents
(estimated)
75,000–350,000
15,000–45,000
10,000–20,000
<10,000
50,000–80,000
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Source: RAAS:CDW and ITA.
The numbers of respondents in the
Related New or Revised Tax Forms table
were estimated by the Research,
Applied Analytics and Statistics
Division (‘‘RAAS’’) of the IRS from the
Compliance Data Warehouse (‘‘CDW’’),
using tax years 2014 through 2017; as
well as based on export data from the
International Trade Administration
(‘‘ITA’’) for 2015 and 2016. Tax data for
2018 are not yet available due to
extended filing dates. Data for Form
8993 represent preliminary estimates of
the total number of taxpayers that may
be required to file the new Form 8993.
Data for each of the Forms 1065, 5471,
5472, and 8865 represent preliminary
estimates of the total number of
taxpayers that are expected to file these
revised forms regardless of whether that
taxpayer must also file Form 8993.
The current status of the PRA
submissions related to the tax forms that
will be revised as a result of the
information collections in the section
250 regulations is provided in the
accompanying table. The reporting
burdens associated with the information
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
collections in the regulations are
included in the aggregated burden
estimates for OMB control numbers
1545–0123 (which represents a total
estimated burden time for all forms and
schedules for corporations of 3.344
billion hours and total estimated
monetized costs of $61.558 billion
($2019)), 1545–0074 (which represents a
total estimated burden time, including
all other related forms and schedules for
individuals, of 1.717 billion hours and
total estimated monetized costs of
$33.267 billion ($2019)), and 1545–1668
(which represents a total estimated
burden time for all related forms and
schedules for other filers, in particular
trusts and estates, of 281,974 hours and
total estimated monetized costs of
$25.107 million ($2018)). The overall
burden estimates provided for the OMB
control numbers below are aggregate
amounts that relate to the entire package
of forms associated with the applicable
OMB control number and will in the
future include, but not isolate, the
estimated burden of the tax forms that
will be created or revised as a result of
PO 00000
Frm 00037
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
the information collections in the
regulations. These numbers are
therefore unrelated to the calculations
needed to assess the burden imposed by
the regulations. These burdens have
been reported for other regulations
related to the taxation of cross-border
income and the Treasury Department
and the IRS urge readers to recognize
that these numbers are duplicates and to
guard against overestimating the burden
of the international tax provisions. No
burden estimates specific to the forms
affected by the regulations are currently
available. The Treasury Department and
the IRS have not estimated the burden,
including that of any new information
collections, related to the requirements
under the regulations. The Treasury
Department and the IRS estimate PRA
burdens on a taxpayer-type basis rather
than a provision-specific basis. Those
estimates would capture both changes
made by the Act and those that arise out
of discretionary authority exercised in
the final regulations.
The Treasury Department and the IRS
request comments on all aspects of
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
43078
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
information collection burdens related
to the final regulations, including
estimates for how much time it would
take to comply with the paperwork
burdens described above for each
relevant form and ways for the IRS to
minimize the paperwork burden.
Proposed revisions (if any) to these
forms that reflect the information
collections contained in these final
regulations will be made available for
public comment at https://www.irs.gov/
draftforms and will not be finalized
until after these forms have been
approved by OMB under the PRA.
OMB
No(s)
Form
Type of filer
Form 8993 (NEW) ......................
Business (NEW Model) ............
1545–
0123.
Status
Published in the Federal Register Notice (FRN) on 9/30/19.
Public Comment period closed on 11/29/19. Approved by
OMB through 12/31/20.
Link: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/09/30/2019-21068/proposed-collection-comment-request-for-forms-1065-1066-1120-1120-c-1120-f-1120-h-1120-nd-1120-s.
Individual (NEW Model) ............
1545–
0074.
Published in the Federal Register on 9/30/19. Public Comment
period closed on 11/29/19. Approved by OMB through 12/31/
20.
Link: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/09/30/2019-21066/proposed-collection-comment-request-for-form-1040-form-1040nr-form-1040nr-ez-form-1040x-1040-sr-and-u.
Form 1065, Schedule K–1 .........
Business (NEW Model) ............
1545–
0123.
Published in the Federal Register on 9/30/19. Public Comment
period closed on 11/29/19. Approved by OMB through 12/31/
20.
Link: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/09/30/2019-21068/proposed-collection-comment-request-for-forms-1065-1066-1120-1120-c-1120-f-1120-h-1120-nd-1120-s.
Form 5471 ..................................
Business (NEW Model) ............
1545–
0123.
Published in the Federal Register on 9/30/19. Public Comment
period closed on 11/29/19. Approved by OMB through 12/31/
20.
Link: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/09/30/2019-21068/proposed-collection-comment-request-for-forms-1065-1066-1120-1120-c-1120-f-1120-h-1120-nd-1120-s.
Form 8865 ..................................
All other filers (mainly trusts 1545–
and estates) (Legacy system).
1668.
Published in the Federal Register on 10/01/18. Public Comment period closed on 11/30/18. Approved by OMB through
12/31/21.
Link: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/10/01/2018-21288/proposed-collection-comment-request-for-regulation-project.
Form 5472 ..................................
Business (NEW Model) ............
1545–
0123.
Published in the Federal Register on 9/30/19. Public Comment
period closed on 11/29/19. Approved by OMB through 12/31/
20.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Link: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/09/30/2019-21068/proposed-collection-comment-request-for-forms-1065-1066-1120-1120-c-1120-f-1120-h-1120-nd-1120-s.
III. Regulatory Flexibility Act
It is hereby certified that this final
regulation will not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities within the
meaning of section 601(6) of the
Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C.
chapter 6). The Treasury Department
and the IRS have determined that the
regulations may affect a substantial
number of small entities, but have also
concluded that the economic impact on
small entities as a result of the
collections of information in this
regulation is not expected to be
significant.
The small business entities that are
subject to section 250 and these final
regulations are small domestic
corporations claiming a deduction
under section 250 based on their FDII
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
and GILTI. Pursuant to § 1.250(a)–1(d),
taxpayers are required to file new Form
8993 to compute the amount of the
eligible deduction for FDII and GILTI
under section 250. The Treasury
Department and the IRS estimate that
there are between 75,000 and 350,000
respondents of all sizes that are likely to
file Form 8993. Additionally, under
§ 1.250(b)–1(e), a partnership that has
one or more direct or indirect partners
that are domestic corporations and that
is required to file a return under section
6031 must furnish on Schedule K–1
(Form 1065) certain information that
would allow the partner to accurately
calculate its FDII. The Treasury
Department and the IRS estimate the
number of domestic corporations that
are direct or indirect partners in a
PO 00000
Frm 00038
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
partnership affected by § 1.250(b)–1(e) is
between 15,000 and 45,000.
As discussed in the Summary of
Comments and Explanation of Revisions
section of this preamble, the Treasury
Department and the IRS have
determined that requiring specific
documentation in every case is
challenging given the variations in
industry practices. Accordingly, the
final regulations adopt a more flexible
approach to the documentation
requirements in the proposed
regulations and, for certain of these
regulatory requirements, instead
provide substantiation rules that are
more flexible with respect to the types
of corroborating evidence that may be
used to determine that a transaction is
a FDDEI transaction. A transaction is a
FDDEI transaction only if the taxpayer
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
substantiates its determination of
foreign use (in the case of sales of
general property to non-end users and
sales of intangible property) or location
outside the United States (in the case of
general services provided to a business
recipient) as described in the applicable
paragraph of § 1.250(b)–4(d)(3) or
§ 1.250(b)–5(e)(4). Similar to the
exception for small businesses from the
documentation requirements in the
proposed regulations, the final
regulations provide that the new
specific substantiation requirements do
not apply to a taxpayer if the taxpayer
and all related parties of the taxpayer
received less than $25,000,000 in gross
receipts in the prior taxable year. The
Treasury Department and the IRS
anticipate that a substantial share of
small entities claiming a section 250
deduction will qualify for the small
business exception, thereby
significantly reducing the overall
burden of the final regulations on small
entities. Although the rule will alleviate
burden on many small entities, the
Small Business Administration’s small
business size standards (13 CFR part
121) identify as small entities several
industries with annual revenues above
$25 million.
For the rules in the final regulations
for which there are no specific
substantiation requirements, taxpayers
will continue to be required to
substantiate deductions under section
250 pursuant to section 6001. Small
business entities are expected to
experience 0 to 5 minutes, with an
average of 2.5 minutes, of recordkeeping
per transaction recipient. The hourly
estimates include all associated
activities: Recordkeeping, tax planning,
learning about the law, gathering tax
materials, form completion and
submissions, and time with a tax
preparer or use of tax software. The
estimated monetized burden for small
business entities for compliance is
$53.12 per hour, a figure computed from
the IRS Business Taxpayer Burden
model which assigns each firm in the
micro data a monetization rate based on
total revenue and assets reported on
their tax return. See ‘‘Tax Compliance
Burden’’ (John Guyton et al., July 2018)
at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/
d13315.pdf. The assigned monetization
rates include, in addition to wages,
employer non-wage costs such as
employment taxes, benefits, and
overhead. The reporting burden for
completing Form 8993 is estimated to
average 21 hours for all affected entities,
regardless of size. The reporting burden
on small entities (those with receipts
below $25 million in RAAS
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
calculations) is estimated to average
17.1 hours. Based on the monetized
hourly burden reported above, the
annual per-entity reporting burden for
small entities will be $908.
For these reasons, the Treasury
Department and the IRS have
determined that the requirements in
§§ 1.250(a)–1(d), 1.250(b)–4(d)(3), and
1.250(b)–5(e)(4) will not have a
significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
The small business entities that are
subject to § 1.6038–2(f)(15), § 1.6038–
3(g)(4), or § 1.6038A–2(b)(5)(iv) are
domestic small business entities that
claim a deduction under section 250 by
reason of having FDII that are either
controlling U.S. shareholders of a
foreign corporation, controlling fiftypercent partners or controlling tenpercent partners of a foreign
partnership, or at least 25-percent
foreign-owned, by vote or value,
respectively. The data to assess the
number of small entities potentially
affected by § 1.6038–2(f)(15), § 1.6038–
3(g)(4), or § 1.6038A–2(b)(5)(iv) are not
readily available. However, businesses
that are controlling U.S. shareholders of
a foreign corporation, controlling fiftypercent partners or controlling tenpercent partners of a foreign
partnership, or at least 25-percent
foreign-owned, by vote or value are
generally not small businesses for the
reasons described in part III of the
Special Analyses section in the
proposed regulation (REG–104464–18,
84 FR 8188 (March 6, 2019)).
Consequently, the Treasury Department
and the IRS have determined that
§§ 1.6038–2(f)(15), 1.6038–3(g)(4), and
1.6038A–2(b)(5)(iv) will not have a
significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
Pursuant to section 7805(f) of the
Code, the proposed regulations
preceding these final regulations were
submitted to the Chief Counsel for
Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration for comment on its
impact on small businesses. No
comments were received.
IV. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
Section 202 of the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 requires
that agencies assess anticipated costs
and benefits and take certain other
actions before issuing a final rule that
includes any Federal mandate that may
result in expenditures in any one year
by a state, local, or tribal government, in
the aggregate, or by the private sector, of
$100 million in 1995 dollars, updated
annually for inflation. This rule does
not include any Federal mandate that
may result in expenditures by state,
PO 00000
Frm 00039
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43079
local, or tribal governments, or by the
private sector in excess of that
threshold.
V. Executive Order 13132: Federalism
Executive Order 13132 (entitled
‘‘Federalism’’) prohibits an agency from
publishing any rule that has federalism
implications if the rule either imposes
substantial, direct compliance costs on
state and local governments, and is not
required by statute, or preempts state
law, unless the agency meets the
consultation and funding requirements
of section 6 of the Executive Order.
These regulations do not have
federalism implications and do not
impose substantial direct compliance
costs on state and local governments or
preempt state law within the meaning of
the Executive Order.
VI. Congressional Review Act
The Administrator of the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs of
OMB has determined that this Treasury
decision is a major rule for purposes of
the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C.
801 et seq.) (‘‘CRA’’). Under section
801(a)(3) of the CRA, a major rule
generally may not take effect until 60
days after the rule is published in the
Federal Register. Accordingly, the
Treasury Department and IRS are
adopting these final regulations with the
delayed effective date generally
prescribed under the Congressional
Review Act.
Drafting Information
The principal authors of the
regulations are Kenneth Jeruchim, Brad
McCormack, and Lorraine Rodriguez of
the Office of Associate Chief Counsel
(International). However, other
personnel from the Treasury
Department and the IRS participated in
the development of the regulations.
Statement of Availability of IRS
Documents
IRS Revenue Procedures, Revenue
Rulings, Notices, and other guidance
cited in this document are published in
the Internal Revenue Bulletin and are
available from the Superintendent of
Documents, U.S. Government
Publishing Office, Washington, DC
20402, or by visiting the IRS website at
https://www.irs.gov.
List of Subjects in 26 CFR Part 1
Income taxes, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
Adoption of Amendments to the
Regulations
Accordingly, 26 CFR part 1 is
amended as follows:
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
43080
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
PART 1—INCOME TAXES
Paragraph 1. The authority citation
for part 1 is amended by adding entries
in numerical order for §§ 1.250–0,
1.250–1, 1.250(a)–1, 1.250(b)–1,
1.250(b)–2, 1.250(b)–3, 1.250(b)–4,
1.250(b)–5, 1.250(b)–6, and § 1.1502–50
and revising the entries for §§ 1.1502–12
and 1.1502–13 to read in part as follows:
■
Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805 * * *
*
*
*
*
*
Section 1.250–0 also issued under 26
U.S.C. 250(c).
Section 1.250–1 also issued under 26
U.S.C. 250(c).
Section 1.250(a)–1 also issued under 26
U.S.C. 250(c) and 6001.
Section 1.250(b)–1 also issued under 26
U.S.C. 250(c) and 6001.
Section 1.250(b)–2 also issued under 26
U.S.C. 250(c).
Section 1.250(b)–3 also issued under 26
U.S.C. 250(c).
Section 1.250(b)–4 also issued under 26
U.S.C. 250(c).
Section 1.250(b)–5 also issued under 26
U.S.C. 250(c).
Section 1.250(b)–6 also issued under 26
U.S.C. 250(c).
*
*
*
*
*
Section 1.1502–12 also issued under 26
U.S.C. 250(c) and 1502.
Section 1.1502–13 also issued under 26
U.S.C. 250(c) and 1502.
*
*
*
*
*
Section 1.1502–50 also issued under 26
U.S.C. 250(c) and 1502.
*
*
*
*
*
Par. 2. Sections 1.250–0, 1.250–1,
1.250(a)–1, and 1.250(b)–1 through
1.250(b)–6 are added to read as follows:
■
Sec.
*
*
*
*
*
1.250–0 Table of contents.
1.250–1 Introduction.
1.250(a)–1 Deduction for foreign-derived
intangible income (FDII) and global
intangible low-taxed income (GILTI).
1.250(b)–1 Computation of foreign-derived
intangible income (FDII).
1.250(b)–2 Qualified business asset
investment (QBAI).
1.250(b)–3 Foreign-derived deduction
eligible income (FDDEI) transactions.
1.250(b)–4 Foreign-derived deduction
eligible income (FDDEI) sales.
1.250(b)–5 Foreign-derived deduction
eligible income (FDDEI) services.
1.250(b)–6 Related party transactions.
*
*
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
§ 1.250–0
*
*
*
Table of contents.
This section contains a listing of the
headings for §§ 1.250–1, 1.250(a)–1, and
1.250(b)–1 through 1.250(b)–6.
§ 1.250–1 Introduction.
(a) Overview.
(b) Applicability dates.
§ 1.250(a)–1 Deduction for foreign-derived
intangible income (FDII) and global
intangible low-taxed income (GILTI).
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
(a) Scope.
(b) Allowance of deduction.
(1) In general.
(2) Taxable income limitation.
(3) Reduction in deduction for taxable
years after 2025.
(4) Treatment under section 4940.
(c) Definitions.
(1) Domestic corporation.
(2) Foreign-derived intangible income
(FDII).
(3) Global intangible low-taxed income
(GILTI).
(4) Section 250(a)(2) amount.
(5) Taxable income.
(i) In general.
(ii) [Reserved]
(d) Reporting requirement.
(e) Determination of deduction for
consolidated groups.
(f) Example: Application of the taxable
income limitation.
§ 1.250(b)–1 Computation of foreign-derived
intangible income (FDII).
(a) Scope.
(b) Definition of FDII.
(c) Definitions.
(1) Controlled foreign corporation.
(2) Deduction eligible income.
(3) Deemed intangible income.
(4) Deemed tangible income return.
(5) Dividend.
(6) Domestic corporation.
(7) Domestic oil and gas extraction income.
(8) FDDEI sale.
(9) FDDEI service.
(10) FDDEI transaction.
(11) Foreign branch income.
(12) Foreign-derived deduction eligible
income.
(13) Foreign-derived ratio.
(14) Gross RDEI.
(15) Gross DEI.
(16) Gross FDDEI.
(17) Modified affiliated group.
(i) In general.
(ii) Special rule for noncorporate entities.
(iii) Definition of control.
(18) Qualified business asset investment.
(19) Related party.
(20) United States shareholder.
(d) Treatment of cost of goods sold and
allocation and apportionment of deductions.
(1) Cost of goods sold for determining gross
DEI and gross FDDEI.
(2) Deductions properly allocable to gross
DEI and gross FDDEI.
(i) In general.
(ii) Determination of deductions to
allocate.
(3) Examples.
(e) Domestic corporate partners.
(1) In general.
(2) Reporting requirement for partnership
with domestic corporate partners.
(3) Examples.
(f) Determination of FDII for consolidated
groups.
(g) Determination of FDII for tax-exempt
corporations.
§ 1.250(b)–2 Qualified business asset
investment (QBAI).
(a) Scope.
(b) Definition of qualified business asset
investment.
(c) Specified tangible property.
PO 00000
Frm 00040
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
(1) In general.
(2) Tangible property.
(d) Dual use property.
(1) In general.
(2) Definition of dual use property.
(3) Dual use ratio.
(4) Example.
(e) Determination of adjusted basis of
specified tangible property.
(1) In general.
(2) Effect of change in law.
(3) Specified tangible property placed in
service before enactment of section 250.
(f) Special rules for short taxable years.
(1) In general.
(2) Determination of when the quarter
closes.
(3) Reduction of qualified business asset
investment.
(4) Example.
(g) Partnership property.
(1) In general.
(2) Determination of partnership QBAI.
(3) Determination of partner adjusted basis.
(i) In general.
(ii) Sole use partnership property.
(A) In general.
(B) Definition of sole use partnership
property.
(iii) Dual use partnership property.
(A) In general.
(B) Definition of dual use partnership
property.
(4) Determination of proportionate share of
the partnership’s adjusted basis in
partnership specified tangible property.
(i) In general.
(ii) Proportionate share ratio.
(5) Definition of partnership specified
tangible property.
(6) Determination of partnership adjusted
basis.
(7) Determination of partner-specific QBAI
basis.
(8) Examples.
(h) Anti-avoidance rule for certain transfers
of property.
(1) In general.
(2) Rule for structured arrangements.
(3) Per se rules for certain transactions.
(4) Definitions related to anti-avoidance
rule.
(i) Disqualified period.
(ii) FDII-eligible related party.
(iii) Specified related party.
(iv) Transfer.
(5) Transactions occurring before March 4,
2019.
(6) Examples.
§ 1.250(b)–3 Foreign-derived deduction
eligible income (FDDEI) transactions.
(a) Scope.
(b) Definitions.
(1) Digital content.
(2) End user.
(3) FDII filing date.
(4) Finished goods.
(5) Foreign person.
(6) Foreign related party.
(7) Foreign retail sale.
(8) Foreign unrelated party.
(9) Fungible mass of general property.
(10) General property.
(11) Intangible property.
(12) International transportation property.
(13) IP address.
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
(14) Recipient.
(15) Renderer.
(16) Sale.
(17) Seller.
(18) United States.
(19) United States person.
(20) United States territory.
(c) Foreign military sales and services.
(d) Transactions with multiple elements.
(e) Treatment of partnerships.
(1) In general.
(2) Examples.
(f) Substantiation for certain FDDEI
transactions.
(1) In general.
(2) Exception for small businesses.
(3) Treatment of certain loss transactions.
(i) In general.
(ii) Reason to know.
(A) Sales to a foreign person for a foreign
use.
(B) General services provided to a business
recipient located outside the United States.
(iii) Multiple transactions.
(iv) Example.
§ 1.250(b)–4 Foreign-derived deduction
eligible income (FDDEI) sales.
(a) Scope.
(b) Definition of FDDEI sale.
(c) Presumption of foreign person status.
(1) In general.
(2) Sales of property.
(d) Foreign use.
(1) Foreign use for general property.
(i) In general.
(ii) Rules for determining foreign use.
(A) Sales that are delivered to an end user
by a carrier or freight forwarder.
(B) Sales to an end user without the use of
a carrier or freight forwarder.
(C) Sales for resale.
(D) Sales of digital content.
(E) Sales of international transportation
property used for compensation or hire.
(F) Sales of international transportation
property not used for compensation or hire.
(iii) Sales for manufacturing, assembly, or
other processing.
(A) In general.
(B) Property subject to a physical and
material change.
(C) Property incorporated into a product as
a component.
(iv) Sales of property subject to
manufacturing, assembly, or other processing
in the United States
(v) Examples.
(2) Foreign use for intangible property.
(i) In general.
(ii) Determination of end users and revenue
earned from end users.
(A) Intangible property embedded in
general property or used in connection with
the sale of general property.
(B) Intangible property used in providing a
service.
(C) Intangible property consisting of a
manufacturing method or process.
(1) In general.
(2) Exception for certain manufacturing
arrangements.
(3) Manufacturing method or process.
(D) Intangible property used in research
and development.
(iii) Determination of revenue for periodic
payments versus lump sums.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
(A) Sales in exchange for periodic
payments.
(B) Sales in exchange for a lump sum.
(C) Sales to a foreign unrelated party of
intangible property consisting of a
manufacturing method or process.
(iv) Examples.
(3) Foreign use substantiation for certain
sales of property.
(i) In general.
(ii) Substantiation of foreign use for resale.
(iii) Substantiation of foreign use for
manufacturing, assembly, or other
processing. outside the United States.
(iv) Substantiation of foreign use of
intangible property.
(v) Examples.
(e) Sales of interests in a disregarded
entity.
(f) FDDEI sales hedging transactions.
(1) In general.
(2) FDDEI sales hedging transaction.
§ 1.250(b)–5 Foreign-derived deduction
eligible income (FDDEI) services.
(a) Scope.
(b) Definition of FDDEI service.
(c) Definitions.
(1) Advertising service.
(2) Benefit.
(3) Business recipient.
(4) Consumer.
(5) Electronically supplied service.
(6) General service.
(7) Property service.
(8) Proximate service.
(9) Transportation service.
(d) General services provided to
consumers.
(1) In general.
(2) Electronically supplied services.
(3) Example.
(e) General services provided to business
recipients.
(1) In general.
(2) Determination of business operations
that benefit from the service.
(i) In general.
(ii) Advertising services.
(iii) Electronically supplied services.
(3) Identification of business recipient’s
operations.
(i) In general.
(ii) Advertising services and electronically
supplied services.
(iii) No office or fixed place of business.
(4) Substantiation of the location of a
business recipient’s operations outside the
United States.
(5) Examples.
(f) Proximate services.
(g) Property services.
(1) In general.
(2) Exception for service provided with
respect to property temporarily in the United
States.
(h) Transportation services.
§ 1.250(b)–6 Related party transactions.
(a) Scope.
(b) Definitions.
(1) Related party sale.
(2) Related party service.
(3) Unrelated party transaction.
(c) Related party sales.
(1) In general.
(i) Sale of property in an unrelated party
transaction.
PO 00000
Frm 00041
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43081
(ii) Use of property in an unrelated party
transaction.
(2) Treatment of foreign related party as
seller or renderer.
(3) Transactions between related parties.
(4) Example.
(d) Related party services.
(1) In general.
(2) Substantially similar services.
(3) Special rules.
(i) Rules for determining the location of
and price paid by recipients of a service
provided by a related party.
(ii) Rules for allocating the benefits
provided by and priced paid to the renderer
of a related party service.
(4) Examples.
§ 1.250–1
Introduction.
(a) Overview. Sections 1.250(a)–1 and
1.250(b)–1 through 1.250(b)–6 provide
rules to determine a domestic
corporation’s section 250 deduction.
Section 1.250(a)–1 provides rules to
determine the amount of a domestic
corporation’s deduction for foreignderived intangible income and global
intangible low-taxed income. Section
1.250(b)–1 provides general rules and
definitions regarding the computation of
foreign-derived intangible income.
Section 1.250(b)–2 provides rules for
determining a domestic corporation’s
qualified business asset investment.
Section 1.250(b)–3 provides general
rules and definitions regarding the
determination of gross foreign-derived
deduction eligible income. Section
1.250(b)–4 provides rules regarding the
determination of gross foreign-derived
deduction eligible income from the sale
of property. Section 1.250(b)–5 provides
rules regarding the determination of
gross foreign-derived deduction eligible
income from the provision of a service.
Section 1.250(b)–6 provides rules
regarding the sale of property or
provision of a service to a related party.
(b) Applicability dates. Except as
provided in the next sentence,
§§ 1.250(a)–1 and 1.250(b)–1 through
1.250(b)–6 apply to taxable years
beginning on or after January 1, 2021.
Section 1.250(b)–2(h) applies to taxable
years ending on or after March 4, 2019.
However, taxpayers may choose to
apply §§ 1.250(a)–1 and 1.250(b)–1
through 1.250(b)–6 for taxable years
beginning on or after January 1, 2018,
and before January 1, 2021, provided
they apply the regulations in their
entirety (other than § 1.250(b)–3(f) and
the applicable provisions in § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(3) or § 1.250(b)–5(e)(4)).
§ 1.250(a)–1 Deduction for foreign-derived
intangible income (FDII) and global
intangible low-taxed income (GILTI).
(a) Scope. This section provides rules
for determining the amount of a
domestic corporation’s deduction for
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
43082
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
foreign-derived intangible income (FDII)
and global intangible low-taxed income
(GILTI). Paragraph (b) of this section
provides general rules for determining
the amount of the deduction. Paragraph
(c) of this section provides definitions
relevant for determining the amount of
the deduction. Paragraph (d) of this
section provides reporting requirements
for a domestic corporation claiming the
deduction. Paragraph (e) of this section
provides a rule for determining the
amount of the deduction of a member of
a consolidated group. Paragraph (f) of
this section provides examples
illustrating the application of this
section.
(b) Allowance of deduction—(1) In
general. A domestic corporation is
allowed a deduction for any taxable year
equal to the sum of—
(i) 37.5 percent of its foreign-derived
intangible income for the year; and
(ii) 50 percent of—
(A) Its global intangible low-taxed
income for the year; and
(B) The amount treated as a dividend
received by the corporation under
section 78 which is attributable to its
GILTI for the year.
(2) Taxable income limitation. In the
case of a domestic corporation with a
section 250(a)(2) amount for a taxable
year, for purposes of applying paragraph
(b)(1) of this section for the year—
(i) The corporation’s FDII for the year
(if any) is reduced (but not below zero)
by an amount that bears the same ratio
to the corporation’s section 250(a)(2)
amount that the corporation’s FDII for
the year bears to the sum of the
corporation’s FDII and GILTI for the
year; and
(ii) The corporation’s GILTI for the
year (if any) is reduced (but not below
zero) by the excess of the corporation’s
section 250(a)(2) amount over the
amount of the reduction described in
paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section.
(3) Reduction in deduction for taxable
years after 2025. For any taxable year of
a domestic corporation beginning after
December 31, 2025, paragraph (b)(1) of
this section applies by substituting—
(i) 21.875 percent for 37.5 percent in
paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section; and
(ii) 37.5 percent for 50 percent in
paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section.
(4) Treatment under section 4940. For
purposes of section 4940(c)(3)(A), a
deduction under section 250(a) is not
treated as an ordinary and necessary
expense paid or incurred for the
production or collection of gross
investment income.
(c) Definitions. The following
definitions apply for purposes of this
section.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
(1) Domestic corporation. The term
domestic corporation has the meaning
set forth in section 7701(a), but does not
include a regulated investment
company (as defined in section 851), a
real estate investment trust (as defined
in section 856), or an S corporation (as
defined in section 1361).
(2) Foreign-derived intangible income
(FDII). The term foreign-derived
intangible income or FDII has the
meaning set forth in § 1.250(b)–1(b).
(3) Global intangible low-taxed
income (GILTI). The term global
intangible low-taxed income or GILTI
means, with respect to a domestic
corporation for a taxable year, the
corporation’s GILTI inclusion amount
under § 1.951A–1(c) for the taxable year.
(4) Section 250(a)(2) amount. The
term section 250(a)(2) amount means,
with respect to a domestic corporation
for a taxable year, the excess (if any) of
the sum of the corporation’s FDII and
GILTI (determined without regard to
section 250(a)(2) and paragraph (b)(2) of
this section), over the corporation’s
taxable income. For a corporation that is
subject to the unrelated business income
tax under section 511, taxable income is
determined only by reference to that
corporation’s unrelated business taxable
income defined under section 512.
(5) Taxable income—(i) In general.
The term taxable income has the
meaning set forth in section 63(a)
determined without regard to the
deduction allowed under section 250
and this section.
(ii) [Reserved]
(d) Reporting requirement. Each
domestic corporation (or individual
making an election under section 962)
that claims a deduction under section
250 for a taxable year must make an
annual return on Form 8993, ‘‘Section
250 Deduction for Foreign-Derived
Intangible Income (FDII) and Global
Intangible Low-Taxed Income (GILTI)’’
(or any successor form) for such year,
setting forth the information, in such
form and manner, as Form 8993 (or any
successor form) or its instructions
prescribe. Returns on Form 8993 (or any
successor form) for a taxable year must
be filed with the domestic corporation’s
(or in the case of a section 962 election,
the individual’s) income tax return on
or before the due date (taking into
account extensions) for filing the
corporation’s (or in the case of a section
962 election, the individual’s) income
tax return.
(e) Determination of deduction for
consolidated groups. A member of a
consolidated group (as defined in
§ 1.1502–1(h)) determines its deduction
under section 250(a) and this section
PO 00000
Frm 00042
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
under the rules provided in § 1.1502–
50(b).
(f) Example: Application of the
taxable income limitation. The
following example illustrates the
application of this section. For purposes
of the example, it is assumed that DC is
a domestic corporation that is not a
member of a consolidated group and the
taxable year of DC begins after 2017 and
before 2026.
(1) Facts. For the taxable year, without
regard to section 250(a)(2) and paragraph
(b)(2) of this section, DC has FDII of $100x
and GILTI of $300x. DC’s taxable income
(without regard to section 250(a) and this
section) is $300x.
(2) Analysis. DC has a section 250(a)(2)
amount of $100x, which is equal to the
excess of the sum of DC’s FDII and GILTI of
$400x ($100x + $300x) over its taxable
income of $300x. As a result, DC’s FDII and
GILTI are reduced, in the aggregate, by $100x
under section 250(a)(2) and paragraph (b)(2)
of this section for purposes of calculating
DC’s deduction allowed under section
250(a)(1) and paragraph (b)(1) of this section.
DC’s FDII is reduced by $25x, the amount
that bears the same ratio to the section
250(a)(2) amount ($100x) as DC’s FDII
($100x) bears to the sum of DC’s FDII and
GILTI ($400x). DC’s GILTI is reduced by
$75x, which is the remainder of the section
250(a)(2) amount ($100x¥$25x). Therefore,
for purposes of calculating its deduction
under section 250(a)(1) and paragraph (b)(1)
of this section, DC’s FDII is $75x
($100x¥$25x) and its GILTI is $225x
($300x¥$75x). Accordingly, DC is allowed a
deduction for the taxable year under section
250(a)(1) and paragraph (b)(1) of this section
of $140.63x ($75x × 0.375 + $225x × 0.50).
§ 1.250(b)–1 Computation of foreignderived intangible income (FDII).
(a) Scope. This section provides rules
for computing FDII. Paragraph (b) of this
section defines FDII. Paragraph (c) of
this section provides definitions that are
relevant for computing FDII. Paragraph
(d) of this section provides rules for
computing gross income and allocating
and apportioning deductions for
purposes of computing deduction
eligible income (DEI) and foreignderived deduction eligible income
(FDDEI). Paragraph (e) of this section
provides rules for computing the DEI
and FDDEI of a domestic corporate
partner. Paragraph (f) of this section
provides a rule for computing the FDII
of a member of a consolidated group.
Paragraph (g) of this section provides a
rule for computing the FDII of a taxexempt corporation.
(b) Definition of FDII. Subject to the
provisions of this section, the term FDII
means, with respect to a domestic
corporation for a taxable year, the
corporation’s deemed intangible income
for the year multiplied by the
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
corporation’s foreign-derived ratio for
the year.
(c) Definitions. This paragraph (c)
provides definitions that apply for
purposes of this section and
§§ 1.250(b)–2 through 1.250(b)–6.
(1) Controlled foreign corporation.
The term controlled foreign corporation
has the meaning set forth in section
957(a) and § 1.957–1(a).
(2) Deduction eligible income. The
term deduction eligible income or DEI
means, with respect to a domestic
corporation for a taxable year, the excess
(if any) of the corporation’s gross DEI for
the year over the deductions properly
allocable to gross DEI for the year, as
determined under paragraph (d)(2) of
this section.
(3) Deemed intangible income. The
term deemed intangible income means,
with respect to a domestic corporation
for a taxable year, the excess (if any) of
the corporation’s DEI for the year over
the corporation’s deemed tangible
income return for the year.
(4) Deemed tangible income return.
The term deemed tangible income
return means, with respect to a domestic
corporation and a taxable year, 10
percent of the corporation’s qualified
business asset investment for the year.
(5) Dividend. The term dividend has
the meaning set forth in section 316,
and includes any amount treated as a
dividend under any other provision of
subtitle A of the Internal Revenue Code
or the regulations in this part (for
example, under section 78, 356(a)(2),
367(b), or 1248).
(6) Domestic corporation. The term
domestic corporation has the meaning
set forth in § 1.250(a)–1(c)(1).
(7) Domestic oil and gas extraction
income. The term domestic oil and gas
extraction income means income
described in section 907(c)(1),
substituting ‘‘within the United States’’
for ‘‘without the United States.’’
(8) FDDEI sale. The term FDDEI sale
has the meaning set forth in § 1.250(b)–
4(b).
(9) FDDEI service. The term FDDEI
service has the meaning set forth in
§ 1.250(b)–5(b).
(10) FDDEI transaction. The term
FDDEI transaction means a FDDEI sale
or a FDDEI service.
(11) Foreign branch income. The term
foreign branch income has the meaning
set forth in section 904(d)(2)(J) and
§ 1.904–4(f)(2).
(12) Foreign-derived deduction
eligible income. The term foreignderived deduction eligible income or
FDDEI means, with respect to a
domestic corporation for a taxable year,
the excess (if any) of the corporation’s
gross FDDEI for the year, over the
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
deductions properly allocable to gross
FDDEI for the year, as determined under
paragraph (d)(2) of this section.
(13) Foreign-derived ratio. The term
foreign-derived ratio means, with
respect to a domestic corporation for a
taxable year, the ratio (not to exceed
one) of the corporation’s FDDEI for the
year to the corporation’s DEI for the
year. If a domestic corporation has no
FDDEI for a taxable year, the
corporation’s foreign-derived ratio is
zero for the taxable year.
(14) Gross RDEI. The term gross RDEI
means, with respect to a domestic
corporation or a partnership for a
taxable year, the portion of the
corporation or partnership’s gross DEI
for the year that is not included in gross
FDDEI.
(15) Gross DEI. The term gross DEI
means, with respect to a domestic
corporation or a partnership for a
taxable year, the gross income of the
corporation or partnership for the year
determined without regard to the
following items of gross income—
(i) Amounts included in gross income
under section 951(a)(1);
(ii) GILTI (as defined in § 1.250(a)–
1(c)(3));
(iii) Financial services income (as
defined in section 904(d)(2)(D) and
§ 1.904–4(e)(1)(ii));
(iv) Dividends received from a
controlled foreign corporation with
respect to which the corporation or
partnership is a United States
shareholder;
(v) Domestic oil and gas extraction
income; and
(vi) Foreign branch income.
(16) Gross FDDEI. The term gross
FDDEI means, with respect to a
domestic corporation or a partnership
for a taxable year, the portion of the
gross DEI of the corporation or
partnership for the year which is
derived from all of its FDDEI
transactions.
(17) Modified affiliated group—(i) In
general. The term modified affiliated
group means an affiliated group as
defined in section 1504(a) determined
by substituting ‘‘more than 50 percent’’
for ‘‘at least 80 percent’’ each place it
appears, and without regard to section
1504(b)(2) and (3).
(ii) Special rule for noncorporate
entities. Any person (other than a
corporation) that is controlled by one or
more members of a modified affiliated
group (including one or more persons
treated as a member or members of a
modified affiliated group by reason of
this paragraph (c)(17)(ii)) or that
controls any such member is treated as
a member of the modified affiliated
group.
PO 00000
Frm 00043
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43083
(iii) Definition of control. For
purposes of paragraph (c)(17)(ii) of this
section, the term control has the
meaning set forth in section 954(d)(3).
(18) Qualified business asset
investment. The term qualified business
asset investment or QBAI has the
meaning set forth in § 1.250(b)–2(b).
(19) Related party. The term related
party means, with respect to any person,
any member of a modified affiliated
group that includes such person.
(20) United States shareholder. The
term United States shareholder has the
meaning set forth in section 951(b) and
§ 1.951–1(g).
(d) Treatment of cost of goods sold
and allocation and apportionment of
deductions—(1) Cost of goods sold for
determining gross DEI and gross FDDEI.
For purposes of determining the gross
income included in gross DEI and gross
FDDEI of a domestic corporation or a
partnership, the cost of goods sold of the
corporation or partnership is attributed
to gross receipts with respect to gross
DEI or gross FDDEI under any
reasonable method that is applied
consistently. Cost of goods sold must be
attributed to gross receipts with respect
to gross DEI or gross FDDEI regardless
of whether certain costs included in cost
of goods sold can be associated with
activities undertaken in an earlier
taxable year (including a year before the
effective date of section 250). A
domestic corporation or partnership
may not segregate cost of goods sold
with respect to a particular product into
component costs and attribute those
component costs disproportionately to
gross receipts with respect to amounts
excluded from gross DEI or gross FDDEI,
as applicable.
(2) Deductions properly allocable to
gross DEI and gross FDDEI—(i) In
general. For purposes of determining a
domestic corporation’s deductions that
are properly allocable to gross DEI and
gross FDDEI, the corporation’s
deductions are allocated and
apportioned to gross DEI and gross
FDDEI under the rules of §§ 1.861–8
through 1.861–14T and 1.861–17 by
treating section 250(b) as an operative
section described in § 1.861–8(f). In
allocating and apportioning deductions
under §§ 1.861–8 through 1.861–14T
and 1.861–17, gross FDDEI and gross
RDEI are treated as separate statutory
groupings. The deductions allocated
and apportioned to gross DEI equal the
sum of the deductions allocated and
apportioned to gross FDDEI and gross
RDEI. All items of gross income
described in paragraphs (c)(15)(i)
through (vi) of this section are in the
residual grouping.
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
43084
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
(ii) Determination of deductions to
allocate. For purposes of determining
the deductions of a domestic
corporation for a taxable year properly
allocable to gross DEI and gross FDDEI,
the deductions of the corporation for the
taxable year are determined without
regard to sections 163(j), 170(b)(2), 172,
246(b), and 250.
(3) Examples. The following examples
illustrate the application of this
paragraph (d).
(i) Assumed facts. The following facts
are assumed for purposes of the
examples—
(A) DC is a domestic corporation that
is not a member of a consolidated group.
(B) All sales and services are provided
to persons that are not related parties.
(C) All sales and services to foreign
persons qualify as FDDEI transactions.
(ii) Examples—
(A) Example 1: Allocation of deductions—
(1) Facts. For a taxable year, DC
manufactures products A and B in the United
States. DC sells products A and B and
provides services associated with products A
and B to United States and foreign persons.
DC’s QBAI for the taxable year is $1,000x. DC
has $300x of deductible interest expense
allowed under section 163. DC has assets
with a tax book value of $2,500x. The tax
book value of DC’s assets used to produce
products A and B and services is split evenly
between assets that produce gross FDDEI and
assets that produce gross RDEI. DC has $840x
of supportive deductions, as defined in
§ 1.861–8(b)(3), attributable to general and
administrative expenses incurred for the
purpose of generating the class of gross
income that consists of gross DEI. DC
apportions the $840x of deductions on the
basis of gross income in accordance with
§ 1.861–8T(c)(1). For purposes of determining
gross FDDEI and gross DEI under paragraph
(d)(1) of this section, DC attributes $200x of
cost of goods sold to Product A and $400x
of cost of goods sold to Product B, and then
attributes the cost of goods sold for each
product ratably between the gross receipts of
such product sold to foreign persons and the
gross receipts of such product sold to United
States persons. The manner in which DC
attributes the cost of goods sold is a
reasonable method. DC has no other items of
income, loss, or deduction. For the taxable
year, DC has the following income tax items
relevant to the determination of its FDII:
TABLE 1 TO PARAGRAPH (d)(3)(ii)(A)(1)
Product A
Gross receipts from U.S. persons ...................................................................
Gross receipts from foreign persons ...............................................................
Total gross receipts .........................................................................................
Cost of goods sold for gross receipts from U.S. persons ...............................
Cost of goods sold for gross receipts from foreign persons ...........................
Total cost of goods sold ..................................................................................
Gross income ...................................................................................................
Tax book value of assets used to produce products/services ........................
(2) Analysis—(i) Determination of gross
FDDEI and gross RDEI. Because DC does not
have any income described in section
250(b)(3)(A)(i)(I) through (VI) and paragraphs
(c)(15)(i) through (vi) of this section, none of
its gross income is excluded from gross DEI.
DC’s gross DEI is $1,600x ($2,200x total gross
receipts less $600x total cost of goods sold).
DC’s gross FDDEI is $800x ($1,100x of gross
receipts from foreign persons minus
attributable cost of goods sold of $300x).
(ii) Determination of foreign-derived
deduction eligible income. To calculate its
FDDEI, DC must determine the amount of its
deductions that are allocated and
apportioned to gross FDDEI and then subtract
those amounts from gross FDDEI. DC’s
interest deduction of $300x is allocated and
apportioned to gross FDDEI on the basis of
the average total value of DC’s assets in each
grouping. DC has assets with a tax book value
of $2,500x split evenly between assets that
produce gross FDDEI and assets that produce
gross RDEI. Accordingly, an interest expense
deduction of $150x is apportioned to DC’s
gross FDDEI. With respect to DC’s supportive
deductions of $840x that are related to DC’s
gross DEI, DC apportions such deductions
Product B
$200x
200x
400x
100x
100x
200x
200x
500x
between gross FDDEI and gross RDEI on the
basis of gross income. Accordingly,
supportive deductions of $420x are
apportioned to DC’s gross FDDEI. Thus, DC’s
FDDEI is $230x, which is equal to its gross
FDDEI of $800x less $150x of interest
expense deduction and $420x of supportive
deductions.
(iii) Determination of deemed intangible
income. DC’s deemed tangible income return
is $100x, which is equal to 10 percent of its
QBAI of $1,000x. DC’s DEI is $460x, which
is equal to its gross DEI of $1,600x less $300x
of interest expense deductions and $840x of
supportive deductions. Therefore, DC’s
deemed intangible income is $360x, which is
equal to the excess of its DEI of $460x over
its deemed tangible income return of $100x.
(iv) Determination of foreign-derived
intangible income. DC’s foreign-derived ratio
is 50 percent, which is the ratio of DC’s
FDDEI of $230x to DC’s DEI of $460x.
Therefore, DC’s FDII is $180x, which is equal
to DC’s deemed intangible income of $360x
multiplied by its foreign-derived ratio of 50
percent.
(B) Example 2: Allocation of deductions
with respect to a partnership—(1) Facts—(i)
$800x
800x
1,600x
200x
200x
400x
1,200x
500x
Services
$100x
100x
200x
0
0
0
200x
1,500x
Total
$1,100x
1,100x
2,200x
300x
300x
600x
1,600x
2,500x
DC’s operations. DC is engaged in the
production and sale of products consisting of
two separate product groups in three-digit
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)
Industry Groups, hereafter referred to as
Group AAA and Group BBB. All of the gross
income of DC is included in gross DEI. DC
incurs $250x of research and experimental
(R&E) expenditures in the United States that
are deductible under section 174. None of the
R&E is included in cost of goods sold. For
purposes of determining gross FDDEI and
gross DEI under paragraph (d)(1) of this
section, DC attributes $210x of cost of goods
sold to Group AAA products and $900x of
cost of goods sold to Group BBB products,
and then attributes the cost of goods sold
with respect to each such product group
ratably between the gross receipts with
respect to such product group sold to foreign
persons and the gross receipts with respect
to such product group not sold to foreign
persons. The manner in which DC attributes
the cost of goods sold is a reasonable method.
For the taxable year, DC has the following
income tax items relevant to the
determination of its FDII:
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
TABLE 2 TO (d)(3)(ii)(B)(1)(i)
Group AAA
products
Gross receipts from U.S. persons ...............................................................................................
Gross receipts from foreign persons ...........................................................................................
Total gross receipts .....................................................................................................................
Cost of goods sold for gross receipts from U.S. persons ...........................................................
Cost of goods sold for gross receipts from foreign persons .......................................................
Total cost of goods sold ..............................................................................................................
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
PO 00000
Frm 00044
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
$200x
100x
300x
140x
70x
210x
15JYR3
Group BBB
products
$800x
400x
1,200x
600x
300x
900x
Total
$1,000x
500x
1,500x
740x
370x
1,110x
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
43085
TABLE 2 TO (d)(3)(ii)(B)(1)(i)—Continued
Group AAA
products
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Gross income ...............................................................................................................................
R&E deductions ...........................................................................................................................
(ii) PRS’s operations. In addition to its own
operations, DC is a partner in PRS, a
partnership that also produces products
described in SIC Group AAA. DC is allocated
50 percent of all income, gain, loss, and
deductions of PRS. During the taxable year,
PRS sells Group AAA products solely to
foreign persons, and all of its gross income
is included in gross DEI. PRS has $400 of
gross receipts from sales of Group AAA
products for the taxable year and incurs
$100x of research and experimental (R&E)
expenditures in the United States that are
deductible under section 174. None of the
R&E is included in cost of goods sold. For
purposes of determining gross FDDEI and
gross DEI under paragraph (d)(1) of this
section, PRS attributes $200x of cost of goods
sold to Group AAA products, and then
attributes the cost of goods sold with respect
to such product group ratably between the
gross receipts with respect to such product
group sold to foreign persons and the gross
receipts with respect to such product group
not sold to foreign persons. The manner in
which PRS attributes the cost of goods sold
is a reasonable method. DC’s distributive
share of PRS taxable items is $100x of gross
income and $50x of R&E deductions, and
DC’s share of PRS’s gross receipts from sales
of Group AAA products for the taxable year
is $200x under § 1.861–17(f)(3).
(iii) Application of the sales method to
allocate and apportion R&E. DC applies the
sales method to apportion its R&E deductions
under § 1.861–17. Neither DC nor PRS
licenses or sells its intangible property to
controlled or uncontrolled corporations in a
manner that necessitates including the sales
by such corporations for purposes of
apportioning DC’s R&E deductions.
(2) Analysis—(i) Determination of gross
DEI and gross FDDEI. Under paragraph (e)(1)
of this section, DC’s gross DEI, gross FDDEI,
and deductions allocable to those amounts
include its distributive share of gross DEI,
gross FDDEI, and deductions of PRS. Thus,
DC’s gross DEI for the year is $490x ($390x
attributable to DC and $100x attributable to
DC’s interest in PRS). DC’s gross income from
sales of Group AAA products to foreign
persons is $30x ($100x of gross receipts
minus attributable cost of goods sold of
$70x). DC’s gross income from sales of Group
BBB products to foreign persons is $100x
($400x of gross receipts minus attributable
cost of goods sold of $300x). DC’s gross
FDDEI for the year is $230x ($30x from DC’s
sale of Group AAA products plus $100x from
DC’s sale of Group BBB products plus DC’s
distributive share of PRS’s gross FDDEI of
$100x).
(ii) Allocation and apportionment of R&E
deductions. To determine FDDEI, DC must
allocate and apportion its R&E expense of
$300x ($250x incurred directly by DC and
$50x incurred indirectly through DC’s
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
interest in PRS). In accordance with § 1.861–
17, R&E expenses are first allocated to a class
of gross income related to a three-digit SIC
group code. DC’s R&E expenses related to
products in Group AAA are $90x ($40x
incurred directly by DC and $50x incurred
indirectly through DC’s interest in PRS) and
its expenses related to Group BBB are $210x.
See paragraph (d)(2)(i) of this section.
Accordingly, all R&E expense attributable to
a particular SIC group code is apportioned on
the basis of the amounts of sales within that
SIC group code. Total sales within Group
AAA were $500x ($300x directly by DC and
$200x attributable to DC’s interest in PRS),
$300x of which were made to foreign persons
($100x directly by DC and $200x attributable
to DC’s interest in PRS). Therefore, the $90x
of R&E expense related to Group AAA is
apportioned $54x to gross FDDEI ($90x ×
$300x/$500x) and $36x to gross RDEI ($90x
× $200x/$500x). Total sales within Group
BBB were $1,200x, $400x of which were
made to foreign persons. Therefore, the
$210x of R&E expense related to products in
Group BBB is apportioned $70x to gross
FDDEI ($210x × $400x/$1,200x) and $140x to
gross RDEI ($210x × $800x/$1,200x).
Accordingly, DC’s FDDEI for the tax year is
$106x ($230x gross FDDEI minus $124x of
R&E ($54x + $70x) allocated and apportioned
to gross FDDEI).
(e) Domestic corporate partners—(1)
In general. A domestic corporation’s DEI
and FDDEI for a taxable year are
determined by taking into account the
corporation’s share of gross DEI, gross
FDDEI, and deductions of any
partnership (whether domestic or
foreign) in which the corporation is a
direct or indirect partner. For purposes
of the preceding sentence, a domestic
corporation’s share of each such item of
a partnership is determined in
accordance with the corporation’s
distributive share of the underlying
items of income, gain, deduction, and
loss of the partnership that comprise
such amounts. See § 1.250(b)–2(g) for
rules on calculating the increase to a
domestic corporation’s QBAI by the
corporation’s share of partnership QBAI.
(2) Reporting requirement for
partnership with domestic corporate
partners. A partnership that has one or
more direct partners that are domestic
corporations and that is required to file
a return under section 6031 must
furnish to each such partner on or with
such partner’s Schedule K–1 (Form
1065 or any successor form) by the due
date (including extensions) for
furnishing Schedule K–1 the partner’s
PO 00000
Frm 00045
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
90x
40x
Group BBB
products
300x
210x
Total
390x
250x
share of the partnership’s gross DEI,
gross FDDEI, deductions that are
properly allocable to the partnership’s
gross DEI and gross FDDEI, and
partnership QBAI (as determined under
§ 1.250(b)–2(g)) for each taxable year in
which the partnership has gross DEI,
gross FDDEI, deductions that are
properly allocable to the partnership’s
gross DEI or gross FDDEI, or partnership
specified tangible property (as defined
in § 1.250(b)–2(g)(5)). In the case of
tiered partnerships where one or more
partners of an upper-tier partnership are
domestic corporations, a lower-tier
partnership must report the amount
specified in this paragraph (e)(2) to the
upper-tier partnership to allow
reporting of such information to any
partner that is a domestic corporation.
To the extent that a partnership cannot
determine the information described in
the first sentence of this paragraph
(e)(2), the partnership must instead
furnish to each partner its share of the
partnership’s attributes that a partner
needs to determine the partner’s gross
DEI, gross FDDEI, deductions that are
properly allocable to the partner’s gross
DEI and gross FDDEI, and the partner’s
adjusted bases in partnership specified
tangible property.
(3) Examples. The following examples
illustrate the application of this
paragraph (e).
(i) Assumed facts. The following facts
are assumed for purposes of the
examples—
(A) DC, a domestic corporation, is a
partner in PRS, a partnership.
(B) FP and FP2 are foreign persons.
(C) FC is a foreign corporation.
(D) The allocations under PRS’s
partnership agreement satisfy the
requirements of section 704.
(E) No partner of PRS is a related
party of DC.
(F) DC, PRS, and FC all use the
calendar year as their taxable year.
(G) PRS has no items of income, loss,
or deduction for its taxable year, except
the items of income described.
(ii) Examples—
(A) Example 1: Sale by partnership to
foreign person—(1) Facts. Under the terms of
the partnership agreement, DC is allocated 50
percent of all income, gain, loss, and
deductions of PRS. For the taxable year, PRS
recognizes $20x of gross income on the sale
of general property (as defined in § 1.250(b)–
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
43086
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
3(b)(10)) to FP, a foreign person (as
determined under § 1.250(b)–4(c)), for a
foreign use (as determined under § 1.250(b)–
4(d)). The gross income recognized on the
sale of property is not described in section
250(b)(3)(A)(I) through (VI) or paragraphs
(c)(15)(i) through (vi) of this section.
(2) Analysis. PRS’s sale of property to FP
is a FDDEI sale as described in § 1.250(b)–
4(b). Therefore, the gross income derived
from the sale ($20x) is included in PRS’s
gross DEI and gross FDDEI, and DC’s share
of PRS’s gross DEI and gross FDDEI ($10x) is
included in DC’s gross DEI and gross FDDEI
for the taxable year.
(B) Example 2: Sale by partnership to
foreign person attributable to foreign
branch—(1) Facts. The facts are the same as
in paragraph (e)(3)(ii)(A)(1) of this section
(the facts in Example 1), except the income
from the sale of property to FP is attributable
to a foreign branch of PRS.
(2) Analysis. PRS’s sale of property to FP
is excluded from PRS’s gross DEI under
section 250(b)(3)(A)(VI) and paragraph
(c)(15)(vi) of this section. Accordingly, DC’s
share of PRS’s gross income of $10x from the
sale is not included in DC’s gross DEI or gross
FDDEI for the taxable year.
(C) Example 3: Partnership with a loss in
gross FDDEI—(1) Facts. The facts are the
same as in paragraph (e)(3)(ii)(A)(1) of this
section (the facts in Example 1), except that
in the same taxable year, PRS also sells
property to FP2, a foreign person (as
determined under § 1.250(b)–4(c)), for a
foreign use (as determined under § 1.250(b)–
4(d)). After taking into account both sales,
PRS has a gross loss of $30x.
(2) Analysis. Both the sale of property to
FP and the sale of property to FP2 are FDDEI
sales because each sale is described in
§ 1.250(b)–4(b). DC’s share of PRS’s gross loss
($15x) from the sales is included in DC’s
gross DEI and gross FDDEI.
(D) Example 4: Sale by partnership to
foreign related party of the partnership—(1)
Facts. Under the terms of the partnership
agreement, DC has 25 percent of the capital
and profits interest in the partnership and is
allocated 25 percent of all income, gain, loss,
and deductions of PRS. PRS owns 100
percent of the single class of stock of FC. In
the taxable year, PRS has $20x of gain on the
sale of general property (as defined in
§ 1.250(b)–3(b)(10)) to FC, and FC makes a
physical and material change to the property
within the meaning of § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(1)(iii)(B) outside the United States before
selling the property to customers in the
United States.
(2) Analysis. The sale of property by PRS
to FC is described in § 1.250(b)–4(b) without
regard to the application of § 1.250(b)–6,
since the sale is to a foreign person (as
determined under § 1.250(b)–4(c)) for a
foreign use (as determined under § 1.250(b)–
4(d)). However, FC is a foreign related party
of PRS within the meaning of section
250(b)(5)(D) and § 1.250(b)–3(b)(6), because
FC and PRS are members of a modified
affiliated group within the meaning of
paragraph (c)(17) of this section. Therefore,
the sale by PRS to FC is a related party sale
within the meaning of § 1.250(b)–6(b)(1).
Under section 250(b)(5)(C)(i) and § 1.250(b)–
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
6(c), because FC did not sell the property, or
use the property in connection with other
property sold or the provision of a service,
to a foreign unrelated party before the
property was subject to a domestic use, the
sale by PRS to FC is not a FDDEI sale. See
§ 1.250(b)–6(c)(1). Accordingly, the gain from
the sale ($20x) is included in PRS’s gross DEI
but not its gross FDDEI, and DC’s share of
PRS’s gain ($5x) is included in DC’s gross
DEI but not gross FDDEI. This is the result
notwithstanding that FC is not a related party
of DC because FC and DC are not members
of a modified affiliated group within the
meaning of paragraph (c)(17) of this section.
(f) Determination of FDII for
consolidated groups. A member of a
consolidated group (as defined in
§ 1.1502–1(h)) determines its FDII under
the rules provided in § 1.1502–50.
(g) Determination of FDII for taxexempt corporations. The FDII of a
corporation that is subject to the
unrelated business income tax under
section 511 is determined only by
reference to that corporation’s items of
income, gain, deduction, or loss, and
adjusted bases in property, that are
taken into account in computing the
corporation’s unrelated business taxable
income (as defined in section 512). For
example, if a corporation that is subject
to the unrelated business income tax
under section 511 has tangible property
used in the production of both unrelated
business income and gross income that
is not unrelated business income, only
the portion of the basis of such property
taken into account in computing the
corporation’s unrelated business taxable
income is taken into account in
determining the corporation’s QBAI.
Similarly, if a corporation that is subject
to the unrelated business income tax
under section 511 has tangible property
that is used in both the production of
gross DEI and the production of gross
income that is not gross DEI, only the
corporation’s unrelated business income
is taken into account in determining the
corporation’s dual use ratio with respect
to such property under § 1.250(b)–
2(d)(3).
§ 1.250(b)–2 Qualified business asset
investment (QBAI).
(a) Scope. This section provides
general rules for determining the
qualified business asset investment of a
domestic corporation for purposes of
determining its deemed tangible income
return under § 1.250(b)–1(c)(4).
Paragraph (b) of this section defines
qualified business asset investment
(QBAI). Paragraph (c) of this section
defines tangible property and specified
tangible property. Paragraph (d) of this
section provides rules for determining
the portion of property that is specified
tangible property when the property is
PO 00000
Frm 00046
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
used in the production of both gross DEI
and gross income that is not gross DEI.
Paragraph (e) of this section provides
rules for determining the adjusted basis
of specified tangible property. Paragraph
(f) of this section provides rules for
determining QBAI of a domestic
corporation with a short taxable year.
Paragraph (g) of this section provides
rules for increasing the QBAI of a
domestic corporation by reason of
property owned through a partnership.
Paragraph (h) of this section provides an
anti-avoidance rule that disregards
certain transfers when determining the
QBAI of a domestic corporation.
(b) Definition of qualified business
asset investment. The term qualified
business asset investment (QBAI) means
the average of a domestic corporation’s
aggregate adjusted bases as of the close
of each quarter of the domestic
corporation’s taxable year in specified
tangible property that is used in a trade
or business of the domestic corporation
and is of a type with respect to which
a deduction is allowable under section
167. In the case of partially depreciable
property, only the depreciable portion
of the property is of a type with respect
to which a deduction is allowable under
section 167.
(c) Specified tangible property—(1) In
general. The term specified tangible
property means, with respect to a
domestic corporation for a taxable year,
tangible property of the domestic
corporation used in the production of
gross DEI for the taxable year. For
purposes of the preceding sentence,
tangible property of a domestic
corporation is used in the production of
gross DEI for a taxable year if some or
all of the depreciation or cost recovery
allowance with respect to the tangible
property is either allocated and
apportioned to the gross DEI of the
domestic corporation for the taxable
year under § 1.250(b)–1(d)(2) or
capitalized to inventory or other
property held for sale, some or all of the
gross income or loss from the sale of
which is taken into account in
determining DEI of the domestic
corporation for the taxable year.
(2) Tangible property. The term
tangible property means property for
which the depreciation deduction
provided by section 167(a) is eligible to
be determined under section 168
without regard to section 168(f)(1), (2),
or (5), section 168(k)(2)(A)(i)(II), (IV), or
(V), and the date placed in service.
(d) Dual use property—(1) In general.
The amount of the adjusted basis in
dual use property of a domestic
corporation for a taxable year that is
treated as adjusted basis in specified
tangible property for the taxable year is
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
the average of the domestic
corporation’s adjusted basis in the
property multiplied by the dual use
ratio with respect to the property for the
taxable year.
(2) Definition of dual use property.
The term dual use property means, with
respect to a domestic corporation and a
taxable year, specified tangible property
of the domestic corporation that is used
in both the production of gross DEI and
the production of gross income that is
not gross DEI for the taxable year. For
purposes of the preceding sentence,
specified tangible property of a
domestic corporation is used in the
production of gross DEI and the
production of gross income that is not
gross DEI for a taxable year if less than
all of the depreciation or cost recovery
allowance with respect to the property
is either allocated and apportioned to
the gross DEI of the domestic
corporation for the taxable year under
§ 1.250(b)–1(d)(2) or capitalized to
inventory or other property held for
sale, the gross income or loss from the
sale of which is taken into account in
determining the DEI of the domestic
corporation for the taxable year.
(3) Dual use ratio. The term dual use
ratio means, with respect to dual use
property, a domestic corporation, and a
taxable year, a ratio (expressed as a
percentage) calculated as—
(i) The sum of—
(A) The depreciation deduction or
cost recovery allowance with respect to
the property that is allocated and
apportioned to the gross DEI of the
domestic corporation for the taxable
year under § 1.250(b)–1(d)(2); and
(B) The depreciation or cost recovery
allowance with respect to the property
that is capitalized to inventory or other
property held for sale, the gross income
or loss from the sale of which is taken
into account in determining the DEI of
the domestic corporation for the taxable
year; divided by
(ii) The sum of—
(A) The total amount of the domestic
corporation’s depreciation deduction or
cost recovery allowance with respect to
the property for the taxable year; and
(B) The total amount of the domestic
corporation’s depreciation or cost
recovery allowance with respect to the
property capitalized to inventory or
other property held for sale, the gross
income or loss from the sale of which
is taken into account in determining the
income or loss of the domestic
corporation for the taxable year.
(4) Example. The following example
illustrates the application of this
paragraph (d).
(i) Facts. DC, a domestic corporation, owns
a machine that produces both gross DEI and
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
income that is not gross DEI. The average
adjusted basis of the machine for the taxable
year in the hands of DC is $4,000x. The
depreciation with respect to the machine for
the taxable year is $400x, $320x of which is
capitalized to inventory of Product A, gross
income or loss from the sale of which is
taken into account in determining DC’s gross
DEI for the taxable year, and $80x of which
is capitalized to inventory of Product B, gross
income or loss from the sale of which is not
taken into account in determining DC’s gross
DEI for the taxable year. DC also owns an
office building for its administrative
functions with an average adjusted basis for
the taxable year of $10,000x. DC does not
capitalize depreciation with respect to the
office building to inventory or other property
held for sale. DC’s depreciation deduction
with respect to the office building is $1,000x
for the taxable year, $750x of which is
allocated and apportioned to gross DEI under
§ 1.250(b)–1(d)(2), and $250x of which is
allocated and apportioned to income other
than gross DEI under § 1.250(b)–1(d)(2).
(ii) Analysis—(A) Dual use property. The
machine and office building are property for
which the depreciation deduction provided
by section 167(a) is eligible to be determined
under section 168 (without regard to section
168(f)(1), (2), or (5), section 168(k)(2)(A)(i)(II),
(IV), or (V), and the date placed in service).
Therefore, under paragraph (c)(2) of this
section, the machine and office building are
tangible property. Furthermore, because the
machine and office building are used in the
production of gross DEI for the taxable year
within the meaning of paragraph (c)(1) of this
section, the machine and office building are
specified tangible property. Finally, because
the machine and office building are used in
both the production of gross DEI and the
production of gross income that is not gross
DEI for the taxable year within the meaning
of paragraph (d)(2) of this section, the
machine and office building are dual use
property. Therefore, under paragraph (d)(1)
of this section, the amount of DC’s adjusted
basis in the machine and office building that
is treated as adjusted basis in specified
tangible property for the taxable year is
determined by multiplying DC’s adjusted
basis in the machine and office building by
DC’s dual use ratio with respect to the
machine and office building determined
under paragraph (d)(3) of this section.
(B) Depreciation not capitalized to
inventory. Because none of the depreciation
with respect to the office building is
capitalized to inventory or other property
held for sale, DC’s dual use ratio with respect
to the office building is determined entirely
by reference to the depreciation deduction
with respect to the office building. Therefore,
under paragraph (d)(3) of this section, DC’s
dual use ratio with respect to the office
building for Year 1 is 75 percent, which is
DC’s depreciation deduction with respect to
the office building that is allocated and
apportioned to gross DEI under § 1.250(b)–
1(d)(2) for Year 1 ($750x), divided by the
total amount of DC’s depreciation deduction
with respect to the office building for Year
1 ($1000x). Accordingly, under paragraph
(d)(1) of this section, $7,500x ($10,000x ×
0.75) of DC’s average adjusted bases in the
PO 00000
Frm 00047
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43087
office building is taken into account under
paragraph (b) of this section in determining
DC’s QBAI for the taxable year.
(C) Depreciation capitalized to inventory.
Because all of the depreciation with respect
to the machine is capitalized to inventory,
DC’s dual use ratio with respect to the
machine is determined entirely by reference
to the depreciation with respect to the
machine that is capitalized to inventory and
included in cost of goods sold. Therefore,
under paragraph (d)(3) of this section, DC’s
dual use ratio with respect to the machine for
the taxable year is 80 percent, which is DC’s
depreciation with respect to the machine that
is capitalized to inventory of Product A, the
gross income or loss from the sale of which
is taken into account in determining in DC’s
DEI for the taxable year ($320x), divided by
DC’s depreciation with respect to the
machine that is capitalized to inventory, the
gross income or loss from the sale of which
is taken into account in determining DC’s
income for Year 1 ($400x). Accordingly,
under paragraph (d)(1) of this section,
$3,200x ($4,000x × 0.8) of DC’s average
adjusted basis in the machine is taken into
account under paragraph (b) of this section
in determining DC’s QBAI for the taxable
year.
(e) Determination of adjusted basis of
specified tangible property—(1) In
general. The adjusted basis in specified
tangible property for purposes of this
section is determined by using the cost
capitalization methods of accounting
used by the domestic corporation for
purposes of determining the gross
income and deductions of the domestic
corporation and the alternative
depreciation system under section
168(g), and by allocating the
depreciation deduction with respect to
such property for the domestic
corporation’s taxable year ratably to
each day during the period in the
taxable year to which such depreciation
relates. For purposes of the preceding
sentence, the period in the taxable year
to which such depreciation relates is
determined without regard to the
applicable convention under section
168(d).
(2) Effect of change in law. The
adjusted basis in specified tangible
property is determined without regard
to any provision of law enacted after
December 22, 2017, unless such later
enacted law specifically and directly
amends the definition of QBAI under
section 250 or section 951A.
(3) Specified tangible property placed
in service before enactment of section
250. The adjusted basis in specified
tangible property placed in service
before December 22, 2017, is
determined using the alternative
depreciation system under section
168(g), as if this system had applied
from the date that the property was
placed in service.
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
43088
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
(f) Special rules for short taxable
years—(1) In general. In the case of a
domestic corporation that has a taxable
year that is less than twelve months (a
short taxable year), the rules for
determining the QBAI of the domestic
corporation under this section are
modified as provided in paragraphs
(f)(2) and (3) of this section with respect
to the taxable year.
(2) Determination of when the quarter
closes. For purposes of determining
when the quarter closes, in determining
the QBAI of a domestic corporation for
a short taxable year, the quarters of the
domestic corporation for purposes of
this section are the full quarters
beginning and ending within the short
taxable year (if any), determining
quarter length as if the domestic
corporation did not have a short taxable
year, plus one or more short quarters (if
any).
(3) Reduction of qualified business
asset investment. The QBAI of a
domestic corporation for a short taxable
year is the sum of—
(i) The sum of the domestic
corporation’s aggregate adjusted bases in
specified tangible property as of the
close of each full quarter (if any) in the
domestic corporation’s taxable year
divided by four; plus
(ii) The domestic corporation’s
aggregate adjusted bases in specified
tangible property as of the close of each
short quarter (if any) in the domestic
corporation’s taxable year multiplied by
the sum of the number of days in each
short quarter divided by 365.
(4) Example. The following example
illustrates the application of this
paragraph (f).
(i) Facts. A, an individual, owns all of the
stock of DC, a domestic corporation. A owns
DC from the beginning of the taxable year. On
July 15 of the taxable year, A sells DC to USP,
a domestic corporation that is unrelated to A.
DC becomes a member of the consolidated
group of which USP is the common parent
and as a result, under § 1.1502–76(b)(2)(ii),
DC’s taxable year is treated as ending on July
15. USP and DC both use the calendar year
as their taxable year. DC’s aggregate adjusted
bases in specified tangible property for the
taxable year are $250x as of March 31, $300x
as of June 30, $275x as of July 15, $500x as
of September 30, and $450x as of December
31.
(ii) Analysis—(A) Determination of short
taxable years and quarters. DC has two short
taxable years during the year. The first short
taxable year is from January 1 to July 15, with
two full quarters (January 1 through March
31 and April 1 through June 30) and one
short quarter (July 1 through July 15). The
second taxable year is from July 16 to
December 31, with one short quarter (July 16
through September 30) and one full quarter
(October 1 through December 31).
(B) Calculation of qualified business asset
investment for the first short taxable year.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
Under paragraph (f)(2) of this section, for the
first short taxable year, DC has three quarter
closes (March 31, June 30, and July 15).
Under paragraph (f)(3) of this section, the
QBAI of DC for the first short taxable year is
$148.80x, the sum of $137.50x (($250x +
$300x)/4) attributable to the two full quarters
and $11.30x ($275x × 15/365) attributable to
the short quarter.
(C) Calculation of qualified business asset
investment for the second short taxable year.
Under paragraph (f)(2) of this section, for the
second short taxable year, DC has two quarter
closes (September 30 and December 31).
Under paragraph (f)(3) of this section, the
QBAI of DC for the second short taxable year
is $217.98x, the sum of $112.50x ($450x/4)
attributable to the one full quarter and
$105.48x ($500x × 77/365) attributable to the
short quarter.
(g) Partnership property—(1) In
general. If a domestic corporation holds
an interest in one or more partnerships
during a taxable year (including
indirectly through one or more
partnerships that are partners in a
lower-tier partnership), the QBAI of the
domestic corporation for the taxable
year (determined without regard to this
paragraph (g)(1)) is increased by the sum
of the domestic corporation’s
partnership QBAI with respect to each
partnership for the taxable year.
(2) Determination of partnership
QBAI. For purposes of paragraph (g)(1)
of this section, the term partnership
QBAI means, with respect to a
partnership, a domestic corporation,
and a taxable year, the sum of the
domestic corporation’s partner adjusted
basis in each partnership specified
tangible property of the partnership for
each partnership taxable year that ends
with or within the taxable year. If a
partnership taxable year is less than
twelve months, the principles of
paragraph (f) of this section apply in
determining a domestic corporation’s
partnership QBAI with respect to the
partnership.
(3) Determination of partner adjusted
basis—(i) In general. For purposes of
paragraph (g)(2) of this section, the term
partner adjusted basis means the
amount described in paragraph (g)(3)(ii)
of this section with respect to sole use
partnership property or paragraph
(g)(3)(iii) of this section with respect to
dual use partnership property. The
principles of section 706(d) apply to this
determination.
(ii) Sole use partnership property—
(A) In general. The amount described in
this paragraph (g)(3)(ii), with respect to
sole use partnership property, a
partnership taxable year, and a domestic
corporation, is the sum of the domestic
corporation’s proportionate share of the
partnership adjusted basis in the sole
use partnership property for the
partnership taxable year and the
PO 00000
Frm 00048
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
domestic corporation’s partner-specific
QBAI basis in the sole use partnership
property for the partnership taxable
year.
(B) Definition of sole use partnership
property. The term sole use partnership
property means, with respect to a
partnership, a partnership taxable year,
and a domestic corporation, partnership
specified tangible property of the
partnership that is used in the
production of only gross DEI of the
domestic corporation for the taxable
year in which or with which the
partnership taxable year ends. For
purposes of the preceding sentence,
partnership specified tangible property
of a partnership is used in the
production of only gross DEI for a
taxable year if all the domestic
corporation’s distributive share of the
partnership’s depreciation deduction or
cost recovery allowance with respect to
the property (if any) for the partnership
taxable year that ends with or within the
taxable year is allocated and
apportioned to the domestic
corporation’s gross DEI for the taxable
year under § 1.250(b)–1(d)(2) and, if any
of the partnership’s depreciation or cost
recovery allowance with respect to the
property is capitalized to inventory or
other property held for sale, all the
domestic corporation’s distributive
share of the partnership’s gross income
or loss from the sale of such inventory
or other property for the partnership
taxable year that ends with or within the
taxable year is taken into account in
determining the DEI of the domestic
corporation for the taxable year.
(iii) Dual use partnership property—
(A) In general. The amount described in
this paragraph (g)(3)(iii), with respect to
dual use partnership property, a
partnership taxable year, and a domestic
corporation, is the sum of the domestic
corporation’s proportionate share of the
partnership adjusted basis in the
property for the partnership taxable year
and the domestic corporation’s partnerspecific QBAI basis in the property for
the partnership taxable year, multiplied
by the domestic corporation’s dual use
ratio with respect to the property for the
partnership taxable year determined
under the principles of paragraph (d)(3)
of this section, except that the ratio
described in paragraph (d)(3) of this
section is determined by reference to the
domestic corporation’s distributive
share of the amounts described in
paragraph (d)(3) of this section.
(B) Definition of dual use partnership
property. The term dual use partnership
property means partnership specified
tangible property other than sole use
partnership property.
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
(4) Determination of proportionate
share of the partnership’s adjusted basis
in partnership specified tangible
property—(i) In general. For purposes of
paragraph (g)(3) of this section, the
domestic corporation’s proportionate
share of the partnership adjusted basis
in partnership specified tangible
property for a partnership taxable year
is the partnership adjusted basis in the
property multiplied by the domestic
corporation’s proportionate share ratio
with respect to the property for the
partnership taxable year. Solely for
purposes of determining the
proportionate share ratio under
paragraph (g)(4)(ii) of this section, the
partnership’s calculation of, and a
partner’s distributive share of, any
income, loss, depreciation, or cost
recovery allowance is determined under
section 704(b).
(ii) Proportionate share ratio. The
term proportionate share ratio means,
with respect to a partnership, a
partnership taxable year, and a domestic
corporation, the ratio (expressed as a
percentage) calculated as—
(A) The sum of—
(1) The domestic corporation’s
distributive share of the partnership’s
depreciation deduction or cost recovery
allowance with respect to the property
for the partnership taxable year; and
(2) The amount of the partnership’s
depreciation or cost recovery allowance
with respect to the property that is
capitalized to inventory or other
property held for sale, the gross income
or loss from the sale of which is taken
into account in determining the
domestic corporation’s distributive
share of the partnership’s income or loss
for the partnership taxable year; divided
by
(B) The sum of—
(1) The total amount of the
partnership’s depreciation deduction or
cost recovery allowance with respect to
the property for the partnership taxable
year; and
(2) The total amount of the
partnership’s depreciation or cost
recovery allowance with respect to the
property capitalized to inventory or
other property held for sale, the gross
income or loss from the sale of which
is taken into account in determining the
partnership’s income or loss for the
partnership taxable year.
(5) Definition of partnership specified
tangible property. The term partnership
specified tangible property means, with
respect to a domestic corporation,
tangible property (as defined in
paragraph (c)(2) of this section) of a
partnership that is—
(i) Used in the trade or business of the
partnership;
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
(ii) Of a type with respect to which a
deduction is allowable under section
167; and
(iii) Used in the production of gross
income included in the domestic
corporation’s gross DEI.
(6) Determination of partnership
adjusted basis. For purposes of this
paragraph (g), the term partnership
adjusted basis means, with respect to a
partnership, partnership specified
tangible property, and a partnership
taxable year, the amount equal to the
average of the partnership’s adjusted
basis in the partnership specified
tangible property as of the close of each
quarter in the partnership taxable year
determined without regard to any
adjustments under section 734(b) except
for adjustments under section
734(b)(1)(B) or section 734(b)(2)(B) that
are attributable to distributions of
tangible property (as defined in
paragraph (c)(2) of this section) and for
adjustments under section 734(b)(1)(A)
or 734(b)(2)(A). The principles of
paragraphs (e) and (h) of this section
apply for purposes of determining a
partnership’s adjusted basis in
partnership specified tangible property
and the proportionate share of the
partnership’s adjusted basis in
partnership specified tangible property.
(7) Determination of partner-specific
QBAI basis. For purposes of this
paragraph (g), the term partner-specific
QBAI basis means, with respect to a
domestic corporation, a partnership,
and partnership specified tangible
property, the amount that is equal to the
average of the basis adjustment under
section 743(b) that is allocated to the
partnership specified tangible property
of the partnership with respect to the
domestic corporation as of the close of
each quarter in the partnership taxable
year. For this purpose, a negative basis
adjustment under section 743(b) is
expressed as a negative number. The
principles of paragraphs (e) and (h) of
this section apply for purposes of
determining the partner-specific QBAI
basis with respect to partnership
specified tangible property.
(8) Examples. The following examples
illustrate the rules of this paragraph (g).
(i) Assumed facts. Except as otherwise
stated, the following facts are assumed
for purposes of the examples:
(A) DC, DC1, DC2, and DC3 are
domestic corporations.
(B) PRS is a partnership and its
allocations satisfy the requirements of
section 704.
(C) All properties are partnership
specified tangible property.
(D) All persons use the calendar year
as their taxable year.
PO 00000
Frm 00049
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43089
(E) There is no partner-specific QBAI
basis with respect to any property.
(ii) Example 1: Sole use partnership
property—(A) Facts. DC is a partner in PRS.
PRS owns two properties, Asset A and Asset
B. The average of PRS’s adjusted basis as of
the close of each quarter of PRS’s taxable year
in Asset A is $100x and in Asset B is $500x.
In Year 1, PRS’s section 704(b) depreciation
deduction is $10x with respect to Asset A
and $5x with respect to Asset B, and DC’s
section 704(b) distributive share of the
depreciation deduction is $8x with respect to
Asset A and $1x with respect to Asset B.
None of the depreciation with respect to
Asset A or Asset B is capitalized to inventory
or other property held for sale. DC’s entire
distributive share of the depreciation
deduction with respect to Asset A and Asset
B is allocated and apportioned to DC’s gross
DEI for Year 1 under § 1.250(b)–1(d)(2).
(B) Analysis—(1) Sole use partnership
property. Because all of DC’s distributive
share of the depreciation deduction with
respect to Asset A and B is allocated and
apportioned to gross DEI for Year 1, Asset A
and Asset B are sole use partnership property
within the meaning of paragraph (g)(3)(ii)(B)
of this section. Therefore, under paragraph
(g)(3)(ii)(A) of this section, DC’s partner
adjusted basis in Asset A and Asset B is
equal to the sum of DC’s proportionate share
of PRS’s partnership adjusted basis in Asset
A and Asset B for Year 1 and DC’s partnerspecific QBAI basis in Asset A and Asset B
for Year 1, respectively.
(2) Proportionate share. Under paragraph
(g)(4)(i) of this section, DC’s proportionate
share of PRS’s partnership adjusted basis in
Asset A and Asset B is PRS’s partnership
adjusted basis in Asset A and Asset B for
Year 1, multiplied by DC’s proportionate
share ratio with respect to Asset A and Asset
B for Year 1, respectively. Because none of
the depreciation with respect to Asset A or
Asset B is capitalized to inventory or other
property held for sale, DC’s proportionate
share ratio with respect to Asset A and Asset
B is determined entirely by reference to the
depreciation deduction with respect to Asset
A and Asset B. Therefore, DC’s proportionate
share ratio with respect to Asset A for Year
1 is 80 percent, which is the ratio of DC’s
section 704(b) distributive share of PRS’s
section 704(b) depreciation deduction with
respect to Asset A for Year 1 ($8x), divided
by the total amount of PRS’s section 704(b)
depreciation deduction with respect to Asset
A for Year 1 ($10x). DC’s proportionate share
ratio with respect to Asset B for Year 1 is 20
percent, which is the ratio of DC’s section
704(b) distributive share of PRS’s section
704(b) depreciation deduction with respect to
Asset B for Year 1 ($1x), divided by the total
amount of PRS’s section 704(b) depreciation
deduction with respect to Asset B for Year 1
($5x). Accordingly, under paragraph (g)(4)(i)
of this section, DC’s proportionate share of
PRS’s partnership adjusted basis in Asset A
is $80x ($100x × 0.8), and DC’s proportionate
share of PRS’s partnership adjusted basis in
Asset B is $100x ($500x × 0.2).
(3) Partner adjusted basis. Because DC has
no partner-specific QBAI basis with respect
to Asset A and Asset B, DC’s partner adjusted
basis in Asset A and Asset B is determined
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
43090
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
entirely by reference to its proportionate
share of PRS’s partnership adjusted basis in
Asset A and Asset B. Therefore, under
paragraph (g)(3)(ii)(A) of this section, DC’s
partner adjusted basis in Asset A is $80x,
DC’s proportionate share of PRS’s
partnership adjusted basis in Asset A, and
DC’s partner adjusted basis in Asset B is
$100x, DC’s proportionate share of PRS’s
partnership adjusted basis in Asset B.
(4) Partnership QBAI. Under paragraph
(g)(2) of this section, DC’s partnership QBAI
with respect to PRS is $180x, the sum of DC’s
partner adjusted basis in Asset A ($80x) and
DC’s partner adjusted basis in Asset B
($100x). Accordingly, under paragraph (g)(1)
of this section, DC increases its QBAI for
Year 1 by $180x.
(iii) Example 2: Dual use partnership
property—(A) Facts. DC owns a 50 percent
interest in PRS. All section 704(b) and tax
items are identical and are allocated equally
between DC and its other partner. PRS owns
three properties, Asset C, Asset D, and Asset
E. PRS sells two products, Product A and
Product B. All of DC’s distributive share of
the gross income or loss from the sale of
Product A is taken into account in
determining DC’s DEI, and none of DC’s
distributive share of the gross income or loss
from the sale of Product B is taken into
account in determining DC’s DEI.
(1) Asset C. The average of PRS’s adjusted
basis as of the close of each quarter of PRS’s
taxable year in Asset C is $100x. In Year 1,
PRS’s depreciation is $10x with respect to
Asset C, none of which is capitalized to
inventory or other property held for sale.
DC’s distributive share of the depreciation
deduction with respect to Asset C is $5x
($10x × 0.5), $3x of which is allocated and
apportioned to DC’s gross DEI under
§ 1.250(b)–1(d)(2).
(2) Asset D. The average of PRS’s adjusted
basis as of the close of each quarter of PRS’s
taxable year in Asset D is $500x. In Year 1,
PRS’s depreciation is $50x with respect to
Asset D, $10x of which is capitalized to
inventory of Product A and $40x is
capitalized to inventory of Product B. None
of the $10x depreciation with respect to
Asset D capitalized to inventory of Product
A is capitalized to ending inventory.
However, of the $40x capitalized to inventory
of Product B, $10x is capitalized to ending
inventory. Therefore, the amount of
depreciation with respect to Asset D
capitalized to inventory of Product A that is
taken into account in determining DC’s
distributive share of the income or loss of
PRS for Year 1 is $5x ($10x × 0.5), and the
amount of depreciation with respect to Asset
D capitalized to inventory of Product B that
is taken into account in determining DC’s
distributive share of the income or loss of
PRS for Year 1 is $15x ($30x × 0.5).
(3) Asset E. The average of PRS’s adjusted
basis as of the close of each quarter of PRS’s
taxable year in Asset E is $600x. In Year 1,
PRS’s depreciation is $60x with respect to
Asset E. Of the $60x depreciation with
respect to Asset E, $20x is allowed as a
deduction, $24x is capitalized to inventory of
Product A, and $16x is capitalized to
inventory of Product B. DC’s distributive
share of the depreciation deduction with
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
respect to Asset E is $10x ($20x × 0.5), $8x
of which is allocated and apportioned to DC’s
gross DEI under § 1.250(b)–1(d)(2). None of
the $24x depreciation with respect to Asset
E capitalized to inventory of Product A is
capitalized to ending inventory. However, of
the $16x depreciation with respect to Asset
E capitalized to inventory of Product B, $10x
is capitalized to ending inventory. Therefore,
the amount of depreciation with respect to
Asset E capitalized to inventory of Product A
that is taken into account in determining
DC’s distributive share of the income or loss
of PRS for Year 1 is $12x ($24x × 0.5), and
the amount of depreciation with respect to
Asset E capitalized to inventory of Product B
that is taken into account in determining
DC’s distributive share of the income or loss
of PRS for Year 1 is $3x ($6x × 0.5).
(B) Analysis. Because Asset C, Asset D, and
Asset E are not used in the production of
only gross DEI in Year 1 within the meaning
of paragraph (g)(3)(ii)(B) of this section, Asset
C, Asset D, and Asset E are dual use
partnership property within the meaning of
paragraph (g)(3)(iii)(B) of this section.
Therefore, under paragraph (g)(3)(iii)(A) of
this section, DC’s partner adjusted basis in
Asset C, Asset D, and Asset E is the sum of
DC’s proportionate share of PRS’s
partnership adjusted basis in Asset C, Asset
D, and Asset E, respectively, for Year 1, and
DC’s partner-specific QBAI basis in Asset C,
Asset D, and Asset E, respectively, for Year
1, multiplied by DC’s dual use ratio with
respect to Asset C, Asset D, and Asset E,
respectively, for Year 1, determined under
the principles of paragraph (d)(3) of this
section, except that the ratio described in
paragraph (d)(3) of this section is determined
by reference to DC’s distributive share of the
amounts described in paragraph (d)(3) of this
section.
(1) Asset C—(i) Proportionate share. Under
paragraph (g)(4)(i) of this section, DC’s
proportionate share of PRS’s partnership
adjusted basis in Asset C is PRS’s partnership
adjusted basis in Asset C for Year 1,
multiplied by DC’s proportionate share ratio
with respect to Asset C for Year 1. Because
none of the depreciation with respect to
Asset C is capitalized to inventory or other
property held for sale, DC’s proportionate
share ratio with respect to Asset C is
determined entirely by reference to the
depreciation deduction with respect to Asset
C. Therefore, DC’s proportionate share ratio
with respect to Asset C is 50 percent, which
is the ratio calculated as the amount of DC’s
section 704(b) distributive share of PRS’s
section 704(b) depreciation deduction with
respect to Asset C for Year 1 ($5x), divided
by the total amount of PRS’s section 704(b)
depreciation deduction with respect to Asset
C for Year 1 ($10x). Accordingly, under
paragraph (g)(4)(i) of this section, DC’s
proportionate share of PRS’s partnership
adjusted basis in Asset C is $50x ($100x ×
0.5).
(ii) Dual use ratio. Because none of the
depreciation with respect to Asset C is
capitalized to inventory or other property
held for sale, DC’s dual use ratio with respect
to Asset C is determined entirely by reference
to the depreciation deduction with respect to
Asset C. Therefore, DC’s dual use ratio with
PO 00000
Frm 00050
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
respect to Asset C is 60 percent, which is the
ratio calculated as the amount of DC’s
distributive share of PRS’s depreciation
deduction with respect to Asset C that is
allocated and apportioned to DC’s gross DEI
under § 1.250(b)–1(d)(2) for Year 1 ($3x),
divided by the total amount of DC’s
distributive share of PRS’s depreciation
deduction with respect to Asset C for Year 1
($5x).
(iii) Partner adjusted basis. Because DC has
no partner-specific QBAI basis with respect
to Asset C, DC’s partner adjusted basis in
Asset C is determined entirely by reference
to DC’s proportionate share of PRS’s
partnership adjusted basis in Asset C,
multiplied by DC’s dual use ratio with
respect to Asset C. Under paragraph
(g)(3)(iii)(A) of this section, DC’s partner
adjusted basis in Asset C is $30x, DC’s
proportionate share of PRS’s partnership
adjusted basis in Asset C for Year 1 ($50x),
multiplied by DC’s dual use ratio with
respect to Asset C for Year 1 (60 percent).
(2) Asset D—(i) Proportionate share. Under
paragraph (g)(4)(i) of this section, DC’s
proportionate share of PRS’s partnership
adjusted basis in Asset D is PRS’s partnership
adjusted basis in Asset D for Year 1,
multiplied by DC’s proportionate share ratio
with respect to Asset D for Year 1. Because
all of the depreciation with respect to Asset
D is capitalized to inventory, DC’s
proportionate share ratio with respect to
Asset D is determined entirely by reference
to the depreciation with respect to Asset D
that is capitalized to inventory and included
in cost of goods sold. Therefore, DC’s
proportionate share ratio with respect to
Asset D is 50 percent, which is the ratio
calculated as the amount of PRS’s section
704(b) depreciation with respect to Asset D
capitalized to Product A and Product B that
is taken into account in determining DC’s
section 704(b) distributive share of PRS’s
income or loss for Year 1 ($20x), divided by
the total amount of PRS’s section 704(b)
depreciation with respect to Asset D
capitalized to Product A and Product B that
is taken into account in determining PRS’s
section 704(b) income or loss for Year 1
($40x). Accordingly, under paragraph (g)(4)(i)
of this section, DC’s proportionate share of
PRS’s partnership adjusted basis in Asset D
is $250x ($500x × 0.5).
(ii) Dual use ratio. Because all of the
depreciation with respect to Asset D is
capitalized to inventory, DC’s dual use ratio
with respect to Asset D is determined
entirely by reference to the depreciation with
respect to Asset D that is capitalized to
inventory and included in cost of goods sold.
Therefore, DC’s dual use ratio with respect to
Asset D is 25 percent, which is the ratio
calculated as the amount of depreciation
with respect to Asset D capitalized to
inventory of Product A and Product B that is
taken into account in determining DC’s DEI
for Year 1 ($5x), divided by the total amount
of depreciation with respect to Asset D
capitalized to inventory of Product A and
Product B that is taken into account in
determining DC’s income or loss for Year 1
($20x).
(iii) Partner adjusted basis. Because DC has
no partner-specific QBAI basis with respect
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
to Asset D, DC’s partner adjusted basis in
Asset D is determined entirely by reference
to DC’s proportionate share of PRS’s
partnership adjusted basis in Asset D,
multiplied by DC’s dual use ratio with
respect to Asset D. Under paragraph
(g)(3)(iii)(A) of this section, DC’s partner
adjusted basis in Asset D is $62.50x, DC’s
proportionate share of PRS’s partnership
adjusted basis in Asset D for Year 1 ($250x),
multiplied by DC’s dual use ratio with
respect to Asset D for Year 1 (25 percent).
(3) Asset E—(i) Proportionate share. Under
paragraph (g)(4)(i) of this section, DC’s
proportionate share of PRS’s partnership
adjusted basis in Asset E is PRS’s partnership
adjusted basis in Asset E for Year 1,
multiplied by DC’s proportionate share ratio
with respect to Asset E for Year 1. Because
the depreciation with respect to Asset E is
partly deducted and partly capitalized to
inventory, DC’s proportionate share ratio
with respect to Asset E is determined by
reference to both the depreciation that is
deducted and the depreciation that is
capitalized to inventory and included in cost
of goods sold. Therefore, DC’s proportionate
share ratio with respect to Asset E is 50
percent, which is the ratio calculated as the
sum ($25x) of the amount of DC’s section
704(b) distributive share of PRS’s section
704(b) depreciation deduction with respect to
Asset E for Year 1 ($10x) and the amount of
PRS’s section 704(b) depreciation with
respect to Asset E capitalized to inventory of
Product A and Product B that is taken into
account in determining DC’s section 704(b)
distributive share of PRS’s income or loss for
Year 1 ($15x), divided by the sum ($50x) of
the total amount of PRS’s section 704(b)
depreciation deduction with respect to Asset
E for Year 1 ($20x) and the total amount of
PRS’s section 704(b) depreciation with
respect to Asset E capitalized to inventory of
Product A and Product B that is taken into
account in determining PRS’s section 704(b)
income or loss for Year 1 ($30x).
Accordingly, under paragraph (g)(4)(i) of this
section, DC’s proportionate share of PRS’s
partnership adjusted basis in Asset E is
$300x ($600x × 0.5).
(ii) Dual use ratio. Because the
depreciation with respect to Asset E is partly
deducted and partly capitalized to inventory,
DC’s dual use ratio with respect to Asset E
is determined by reference to the
depreciation that is deducted and the
depreciation that is capitalized to inventory
and included in cost of goods sold.
Therefore, DC’s dual use ratio with respect to
Asset E is 80 percent, which is the ratio
calculated as the sum ($20x) of the amount
of DC’s distributive share of PRS’s
depreciation deduction with respect to Asset
E that is allocated and apportioned to DC’s
gross DEI under § 1.250(b)–1(d)(2) for Year 1
($8x) and the amount of depreciation with
respect to Asset E capitalized to inventory of
Product A and Product B that is taken into
account in determining DC’s DEI for Year 1
($12x), divided by the sum ($25x) of the total
amount of DC’s distributive share of PRS’s
depreciation deduction with respect to Asset
E for Year 1 ($10x) and the total amount of
depreciation with respect to Asset E
capitalized to inventory of Product A and
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
Product B that is taken into account in
determining DC’s income or loss for Year 1
($15x).
(iii) Partner adjusted basis. Because DC has
no partner-specific QBAI basis with respect
to Asset E, DC’s partner adjusted basis in
Asset E is determined entirely by reference
to DC’s proportionate share of PRS’s
partnership adjusted basis in Asset E,
multiplied by DC’s dual use ratio with
respect to Asset E. Under paragraph
(g)(3)(iii)(A) of this section, DC’s partner
adjusted basis in Asset E is $240x, DC’s
proportionate share of PRS’s partnership
adjusted basis in Asset E for Year 1 ($300x),
multiplied by DC’s dual use ratio with
respect to Asset E for Year 1 (80 percent).
(4) Partnership QBAI. Under paragraph
(g)(2) of this section, DC’s partnership QBAI
with respect to PRS is $332.50x, the sum of
DC’s partner adjusted basis in Asset C ($30x),
DC’s partner adjusted basis in Asset D
($62.50x), and DC’s partner adjusted basis in
Asset E ($240x). Accordingly, under
paragraph (g)(1) of this section, DC increases
its QBAI for Year 1 by $332.50x.
(iv) Example 3: Sole use partnership
specified tangible property; section 743(b)
adjustments—(A) Facts. The facts are the
same as in paragraph (g)(8)(ii)(A) of this
section (the facts in Example 1), except that
there is an average of $40x positive
adjustment to the adjusted basis in Asset A
as of the close of each quarter of PRS’s
taxable year with respect to DC under section
743(b) and an average of $20x negative
adjustment to the adjusted basis in Asset B
as of the close of each quarter of PRS’s
taxable year with respect to DC under section
743(b).
(B) Analysis. Under paragraph (g)(3)(ii)(A)
of this section, DC’s partner adjusted basis in
Asset A is $120x, which is the sum of $80x
(DC’s proportionate share of PRS’s
partnership adjusted basis in Asset A as
illustrated in paragraph (g)(8)(ii)(B)(2) of this
section (the analysis in Example 1)) and $40x
(DC’s partner-specific QBAI basis in Asset A).
Under paragraph (g)(3)(ii)(A) of this section,
DC’s partner adjusted basis in Asset B is
$80x, the sum of $100x (DC’s proportionate
share of the partnership adjusted basis in the
property as illustrated in paragraph
(g)(8)(ii)(B)(2) of this section (the analysis in
Example 1)) and (¥$20x) (DC’s partnerspecific QBAI basis in Asset B). Therefore,
under paragraph (g)(2) of this section, DC’s
partnership QBAI with respect to PRS is
$200x ($120x + $80x). Accordingly, under
paragraph (g)(1) of this section, DC increases
its QBAI for Year 1 by $200x.
(v) Example 4: Sale of partnership interest
before close of taxable year—(A) Facts. DC1
owns a 50 percent interest in PRS on January
1 of Year 1. PRS does not have an election
under section 754 in effect. On July 1 of Year
1, DC1 sells its entire interest in PRS to DC2.
PRS owns Asset G. The average of PRS’s
adjusted basis as of the close of each quarter
of PRS’s taxable year in Asset G is $100x.
DC1’s section 704(b) distributive share of the
depreciation deduction with respect to Asset
G is 25 percent with respect to PRS’s entire
year. DC2’s section 704(b) distributive share
of the depreciation deduction with respect to
Asset G is also 25 percent with respect to
PO 00000
Frm 00051
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43091
PRS’s entire year. Both DC1’s and DC2’s
entire distributive shares of the depreciation
deduction with respect to Asset G are
allocated and apportioned under § 1.250(b)–
1(d)(2) to DC1’s and DC2’s gross DEI,
respectively, for Year 1. PRS’s allocations
satisfy section 706(d).
(B) Analysis—(1) DC1. Because DC1 owns
an interest in PRS during DC1’s taxable year
and receives a distributive share of
partnership items of the partnership under
section 706(d), DC1 has partnership QBAI
with respect to PRS in the amount
determined under paragraph (g)(2) of this
section. Under paragraph (g)(3)(i) of this
section, DC1’s partner adjusted basis in Asset
G is $25x, the product of $100x (the
partnership’s adjusted basis in the property)
and 25 percent (DC1’s section 704(b)
distributive share of depreciation deduction
with respect to Asset G). Therefore, DC1’s
partnership QBAI with respect to PRS is
$25x. Accordingly, under paragraph (g)(1) of
this section, DC1 increases its QBAI by $25x
for Year 1.
(2) DC2. DC2’s partner adjusted basis in
Asset G is also $25x, the product of $100x
(the partnership’s adjusted basis in the
property) and 25 percent (DC2’s section
704(b) distributive share of depreciation
deduction with respect to Asset G).
Therefore, DC2’s partnership QBAI with
respect to PRS is $25x. Accordingly, under
paragraph (g)(1) of this section, DC2 increases
its QBAI by $25x for Year 1.
(vi) Example 5: Partnership adjusted basis;
distribution of property in liquidation of
partnership interest—(A) Facts. DC1, DC2,
and DC3 are equal partners in PRS, a
partnership. DC1 and DC2 each has an
adjusted basis of $100x in its partnership
interest. DC3 has an adjusted basis of $50x
in its partnership interest. PRS has a section
754 election in effect. PRS owns Asset H with
a fair market value of $50x and an adjusted
basis of $0, Asset I with a fair market value
of $100x and an adjusted basis of $100x, and
Asset J with a fair market value of $150x and
an adjusted basis of $150x. Asset H and Asset
J are tangible property, but Asset I is not
tangible property. PRS distributes Asset I to
DC3 in liquidation of DC3’s interest in PRS.
None of DC1, DC2, DC3, or PRS recognizes
gain on the distribution. Under section
732(b), DC3’s adjusted basis in Asset I is
$50x. PRS’s adjusted basis in Asset H is
increased by $50x to $50x under section
734(b)(1)(B), which is the amount by which
PRS’s adjusted basis in Asset I immediately
before the distribution exceeds DC3’s
adjusted basis in Asset I.
(B) Analysis. Under paragraph (g)(6) of this
section, PRS’s adjusted basis in Asset H is
determined without regard to any
adjustments under section 734(b) except for
adjustments under section 734(b)(1)(B) or
section 734(b)(2)(B) that are attributable to
distributions of tangible property and for
adjustments under section 734(b)(1)(A) or
734(b)(2)(A). The adjustment to the adjusted
basis in Asset H is under section 734(b)(1)(B)
and is attributable to the distribution of Asset
I, which is not tangible property.
Accordingly, for purposes of applying
paragraph (g)(1) of this section, PRS’s
adjusted basis in Asset H is $0.
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
43092
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
(h) Anti-avoidance rule for certain
transfers of property—(1) In general. If,
with a principal purpose of decreasing
the amount of its deemed tangible
income return, a domestic corporation
transfers specified tangible property
(transferred property) to a specified
related party of the domestic
corporation and, within the disqualified
period, the domestic corporation or an
FDII-eligible related party of the
domestic corporation leases the same or
substantially similar property from any
specified related party, then, solely for
purposes of determining the QBAI of the
domestic corporation under paragraph
(b) of this section, the domestic
corporation is treated as owning the
transferred property from the later of the
beginning of the term of the lease or
date of the transfer of the property until
the earlier of the end of the term of the
lease or the end of the recovery period
of the property.
(2) Rule for structured arrangements.
For purposes of paragraph (h)(1) of this
section, a transfer of specified tangible
property to a person that is not a related
party or lease of property from a person
that is not a related party is treated as
a transfer to or lease from a specified
related party if the transfer or lease is
pursuant to a structured arrangement. A
structured arrangement exists only if
either paragraph (h)(2)(i) or (ii) of this
section is satisfied.
(i) The reduction in the domestic
corporation’s deemed tangible income
return is priced into the terms of the
arrangement with the transferee.
(ii) Based on all the facts and
circumstances, the reduction in the
domestic corporation’s deemed tangible
income return is a principal purpose of
the arrangement. Facts and
circumstances that indicate the
reduction in the domestic corporation’s
deemed tangible income return is a
principal purpose of the arrangement
include—
(A) Marketing the arrangement as taxadvantaged where some or all of the tax
advantage derives from the reduction in
the domestic corporation’s deemed
tangible income return;
(B) Primarily marketing the
arrangement to domestic corporations
which earn FDDEI;
(C) Features that alter the terms of the
arrangement, including the return, in
the event the reduction in the domestic
corporation’s deemed tangible income
return is no longer relevant; or
(D) A below-market return absent the
tax effects or benefits resulting from the
reduction in the domestic corporation’s
deemed tangible income return.
(3) Per se rules for certain
transactions. For purposes of paragraph
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
(h)(1) of this section, a transfer of
property by a domestic corporation to a
specified related party (including a
party deemed to be a specified related
party under paragraph (h)(2) of this
section) followed by a lease of the same
or substantially similar property by the
domestic corporation or an FDII-eligible
related party from a specified related
party (including a party deemed to be a
specified related party under paragraph
(h)(2) of this section) is treated per se as
occurring pursuant to a principal
purpose of decreasing the amount of the
domestic corporation’s deemed tangible
income return if both the transfer and
the lease occur within a six-month
period.
(4) Definitions related to antiavoidance rule. The following
definitions apply for purpose of this
paragraph (h).
(i) Disqualified period. The term
disqualified period means, with respect
to a transfer, the period beginning one
year before the date of the transfer and
ending the earlier of the end of the
remaining recovery period (under the
system described in section
951A(d)(3)(A)) of the property or one
year after the date of the transfer.
(ii) FDII-eligible related party. The
term FDII-eligible related party means,
with respect to a domestic corporation,
a member of the same consolidated
group as the domestic corporation or a
partnership with respect to which at
least 80 percent of the interests in
partnership capital and profits are
owned, directly or indirectly, by the
domestic corporation or one or more
members of the consolidated group that
includes the domestic corporation.
(iii) Specified related party. The term
specified related party means, with
respect to a domestic corporation, a
related party other than an FDII-eligible
related party.
(iv) Transfer. The term transfer means
any disposition, exchange, contribution,
or distribution of property, and includes
an indirect transfer. For example, a
transfer of an interest in a partnership
is treated as a transfer of the assets of
the partnership. In addition, if
paragraph (h)(1) of this section applies
to treat a domestic corporation as
owning specified tangible property by
reason of a lease of property, the
termination or lapse of the lease of the
property is treated as a transfer of the
specified tangible property by the
domestic corporation to the lessor.
(5) Transactions occurring before
March 4, 2019. Paragraph (h)(1) of this
section does not apply to a transfer of
property that occurs before March 4,
2019.
PO 00000
Frm 00052
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
(6) Examples. The following examples
illustrate the application of this
paragraph (h).
(i) Example 1: Sale-leaseback with a
related party—(A) Facts. DC, a domestic
corporation, owns Asset A, which is
specified tangible property. DC also owns all
the single class of stock of DS, a domestic
corporation, and FS1 and FS2, each a
controlled foreign corporation. DC and DS
are members of the same consolidated group.
On January 1, Year 1, DC sells Asset A to
FS1. At the time of the sale, Asset A had a
remaining recovery period of 10 years under
the alternative depreciation system. On
February 1, Year 1, FS2 leases Asset B, which
is substantially similar to Asset A, to DS for
a five-year term ending on January 31, Year
6.
(B) Analysis. Because DC transfers
specified tangible property (Asset A), to a
specified related party of DC (FS1), and,
within a six month period (January 1, Year
1 to February 1, Year 1), an FDII-eligible
related party of DC (DS) leases a substantially
similar property (Asset B) from a specified
related party (FS2), DC’s transfer of Asset A
and lease of Asset B are treated as per se
occurring pursuant to a principal purpose of
decreasing the amount of its deemed tangible
income return. Accordingly, for purposes of
determining DC’s QBAI, DC is treated as
owning Asset A from February 1, Year 1, the
later of the date of the transfer of Asset A
(January 1, Year 1) and the beginning of the
term of the lease of Asset B (February 1, Year
1), until January 31, Year 6, the earlier of the
end of the term of the lease of Asset B
(January 31, Year 6) or the remaining
recovery period of Asset A (December 31,
Year 10).
(ii) Example 2: Sale-leaseback with a
related party; lapse of initial lease—(A)
Facts. The facts are the same as in paragraph
(h)(6)(i)(A) of this section (the facts in
Example 1). In addition, DS allows the lease
of Asset B to expire on February 1, Year 6.
On June 1, Year 6, DS and FS2 renew the
lease for a five-year term ending on May 31,
Year 11.
(B) Analysis. Because DC is treated as
owning Asset A under paragraph (h)(1) of
this section, the lapse of the lease of Asset
B is treated as a transfer of Asset A to FS2
on February 1, Year 6, under paragraph
(h)(4)(iv) of this section. Further, because DC
is deemed to transfer specified tangible
property (Asset A) to a specified related party
(FS2) upon the lapse of the lease, and within
a six month period (February 1, Year 6 to
June 1, Year 6), an FDII-eligible related party
of DC (DS) leases a substantially similar
property (Asset B), DC’s deemed transfer of
Asset A under paragraph (h)(4)(iv) of this
section and lease of Asset B are treated as per
se occurring pursuant to a principal purpose
of decreasing the amount of its deemed
tangible income return. Accordingly, for
purposes of determining DC’s QBAI, DC is
treated as owning Asset A from June 1, Year
6, the later of the date of the deemed transfer
of Asset A (February 1, Year 6) and the
beginning of the term of the lease of Asset B
(June 1, Year 6), until December 31, Year 10,
the earlier of the end of the term of the lease
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
of Asset B (May 31, Year 11) or the remaining
recovery period of Asset A (December 31,
Year 10).
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
§ 1.250(b)–3 Foreign-derived deduction
eligible income (FDDEI) transactions.
(a) Scope. This section provides rules
related to the determination of whether
a sale of property or provision of a
service is a FDDEI transaction.
Paragraph (b) of this section provides
definitions related to the determination
of whether a sale of property or
provision of a service is a FDDEI
transaction. Paragraph (c) of this section
provides rules regarding a sale of
property or provision of a service to a
foreign government or an agency or
instrumentality thereof. Paragraph (d) of
this section provides a rule for
characterizing a transaction with both
sales and services elements. Paragraph
(e) of this section provides a rule for
determining whether a sale of property
or provision of a service to a partnership
is a FDDEI transaction. Paragraph (f) of
this section provides rules for
substantiating certain FDDEI
transactions.
(b) Definitions. This paragraph (b)
provides definitions that apply for
purposes of this section and
§§ 1.250(b)–4 through 1.250(b)–6.
(1) Digital content. The term digital
content means a computer program or
any other content in digital format. For
example, digital content includes books
in digital format, movies in digital
format, and music in digital format. For
purposes of this section, a computer
program is a set of statements or
instructions to be used directly or
indirectly in a computer or other
electronic device in order to bring about
a certain result, and includes any media,
user manuals, documentation, data base,
or similar item if the media, user
manuals, documentation, data base, or
other similar item is incidental to the
operation of the computer program.
(2) End user. Except as modified by
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(2)(ii), the term end user
means the person that ultimately uses or
consumes property or a person that
acquires property in a foreign retail sale.
A person that acquires property for
resale or otherwise as an intermediary is
not an end user.
(3) FDII filing date. The term FDII
filing date means, with respect to a sale
of property by a seller or provision of a
service by a renderer, the date,
including extensions, by which the
seller or renderer is required to file an
income tax return (or in the case of a
seller or renderer that is a partnership,
a return of partnership income) for the
taxable year in which the gross income
from the sale of property or provision of
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
a service is included in the gross income
of the seller or renderer.
(4) Finished goods. The term finished
goods means general property that is
acquired by an end user.
(5) Foreign person. The term foreign
person means a person (as defined in
section 7701(a)(1)) that is not a United
States person and includes a foreign
government or an international
organization.
(6) Foreign related party. The term
foreign related party means, with
respect to a seller or renderer, any
foreign person that is a related party of
the seller or renderer.
(7) Foreign retail sale. The term
foreign retail sale means a sale of
general property to a recipient that
acquires the general property at a
physical retail location (such as a store
or warehouse) outside the United States.
(8) Foreign unrelated party. The term
foreign unrelated party means, with
respect to a seller, a foreign person that
is not a related party of the seller.
(9) Fungible mass of general property.
The term fungible mass of general
property means multiple units of
property for sale with similar or
identical characteristics for which the
seller does not know the specific
identity of the recipient or the end user
for a particular unit.
(10) General property. The term
general property means any property
other than: Intangible property (as
defined in paragraph (b)(11) of this
section); a security (as defined in
section 475(c)(2)); an interest in a
partnership, trust, or estate; a
commodity described in section
475(e)(2)(A) that is not a physical
commodity; or a commodity described
in section 475(e)(2)(B) through (D). A
physical commodity described in
section 475(e)(2)(A) is treated as general
property, including if it is sold pursuant
to a forward or option contract
(including a contract described in
section 475(e)(2)(C), but not a section
1256 contract as defined in section
1256(b) or other similar contract that is
traded on a U.S. or non-U.S. regulated
exchange and cleared by a central
clearing organization in a manner
similar to a section 1256 contract) that
is physically settled by delivery of the
commodity (provided that the taxpayer
physically settled the contract pursuant
to a consistent practice adopted for
business purposes of determining
whether to cash or physically settle
such contracts under similar
circumstances).
(11) Intangible property. The term
intangible property has the meaning set
forth in section 367(d)(4). For purposes
of section 250, intangible property does
PO 00000
Frm 00053
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43093
not include a copyrighted article as
defined in § 1.861–18(c)(3).
(12) International transportation
property. The term international
transportation property means aircraft,
railroad rolling stock, vessel, motor
vehicle, or similar property that
provides a mode of transportation and is
capable of traveling internationally.
(13) IP address. The term IP address
means a device’s internet Protocol
address.
(14) Recipient. The term recipient
means a person that purchases property
or services from a seller or renderer.
(15) Renderer. The term renderer
means a person that provides a service
to a recipient.
(16) Sale. The term sale means any
sale, lease, license, sublicense,
exchange, or other disposition of
property, and includes any transfer of
property in which gain or income is
recognized under section 367. In
addition, the term sell (and any form of
the word sell) means any transfer by
sale.
(17) Seller. The term seller means a
person that sells property to a recipient.
(18) United States. The term United
States has the meaning set forth in
section 7701(a)(9), as expanded by
section 638(1) with respect to mines, oil
and gas wells, and other natural
deposits.
(19) United States person. The term
United States person has the meaning
set forth in section 7701(a)(30), except
that the term does not include an
individual that is a bona fide resident of
a United States territory within the
meaning of section 937(a).
(20) United States territory. The term
United States territory means American
Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana
Islands, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin
Islands.
(c) Foreign military sales and services.
If a sale of property or a provision of a
service is made to the United States or
an instrumentality thereof pursuant to
22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq. under which the
United States or an instrumentality
thereof purchases the property or
service for resale or on-service to a
foreign government or agency or
instrumentality thereof, then the sale of
property or provision of a service is
treated as a FDDEI sale or FDDEI service
without regard to § 1.250(b)–4 or
§ 1.250(b)–5.
(d) Transactions with multiple
elements. A transaction is classified
according to its overall predominant
character for purposes of determining
whether the transaction is a FDDEI sale
under § 1.250(b)–4 or a FDDEI service
under § 1.250(b)–5. For example,
whether a transaction that includes both
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
43094
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
a sales component and a service
component is subject to § 1.250(b)–4 or
§ 1.250(b)–5 is determined based on
whether the overall predominant
character, taking into account all
relevant facts and circumstances, is a
sale or service. In addition, whether a
transaction that includes both a sale of
general property and a sale of intangible
property is subject to § 1.250(b)–4(d)(1)
or § 1.250(b)–4(d)(2) is determined
based on whether the overall
predominant character, taking into
account all relevant facts and
circumstances, is a sale of general
property or a sale of intangible property.
(e) Treatment of partnerships—(1) In
general. For purposes of determining
whether a sale of property to or by a
partnership or a provision of a service
to or by a partnership is a FDDEI
transaction, a partnership is treated as a
person. Accordingly, for example, a
partnership may be a seller, renderer,
recipient, or related party, including a
foreign related party (as defined in
paragraph (b)(6) of this section).
(2) Examples. The following examples
illustrate the application of this
paragraph (e).
(i) Example 1: Domestic partner sale to
foreign partnership with a foreign branch—
(A) Facts. DC, a domestic corporation, is a
partner in PRS, a foreign partnership. DC and
PRS are not related parties. PRS has a foreign
branch within the meaning of § 1.904–
4(f)(3)(iii). DC and PRS both use the calendar
year as their taxable year. For the taxable
year, DC recognizes $20x of gain on the sale
of general property to PRS for a foreign use
(as determined under § 1.250(b)–4(d)). During
the same taxable year, PRS recognizes $20x
of gain on the sale of other general property
to a foreign person for a foreign use (as
determined under § 1.250(b)–4(d)). PRS’s
income on the sale of the property is
attributable to its foreign branch.
(B) Analysis. DC’s sale of property to PRS,
a foreign partnership, is a FDDEI sale because
it is a sale to a foreign person for a foreign
use. Therefore, DC’s gain of $20x on the sale
to PRS is included in DC’s gross DEI and
gross FDDEI. However, PRS’s gain of $20x is
not included in the gross DEI or gross FDDEI
of PRS because the gain is foreign branch
income within the meaning of § 1.250(b)–
1(c)(11). Accordingly, none of PRS’s gain on
the sale of property is included in DC’s gross
DEI or gross FDDEI under § 1.250(b)–1(e)(1).
(ii) Example 2: Domestic partner sale to
domestic partnership without a foreign
branch—(A) Facts. The facts are the same as
in paragraph (e)(2)(i)(A) of this section (the
facts in Example 1), except PRS is a domestic
partnership that does not have a foreign
branch within the meaning of § 1.904–
4(f)(3)(iii).
(B) Analysis. DC’s sale of property to PRS,
a domestic partnership, is not a FDDEI sale
because the sale is to a United States person.
Therefore, the gross income from DC’s sale to
PRS is included in DC’s gross DEI but is not
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
included in its gross FDDEI. However, PRS’s
sale of other general property is a FDDEI sale,
and therefore the gain of $20x is included in
the gross DEI and gross FDDEI of PRS.
Accordingly, DC includes its distributive
share of PRS’s gain from the sale in
determining DC’s gross DEI and gross FDDEI
for the taxable year under § 1.250(b)–1(e)(1).
(f) Substantiation for certain FDDEI
transactions—(1) In general. Except as
provided in paragraph (f)(2) of this
section, for purposes of § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(1)(ii)(C) (foreign use for sale of
general property for resale), § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(1)(iii) (foreign use for sale of
general property subject to
manufacturing, assembly, or processing
outside the United States), § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(2) (foreign use for sale of intangible
property), and § 1.250(b)–5(e) (general
services provided to business recipients
located outside the United States), a
transaction is a FDDEI transaction only
if the taxpayer substantiates its
determination of foreign use (in the case
of sales of property) or location outside
the United States (in the case of general
services provided to a business
recipient) as described in the applicable
paragraph of § 1.250(b)–4(d)(3) or
§ 1.250(b)–5(e)(4). The substantiating
documents must be in existence as of
the FDII filing date with respect to the
FDDEI transaction, and a taxpayer must
provide the required substantiating
documents within 30 days of a request
by the Commissioner or another period
as agreed between the Commissioner
and the taxpayer.
(2) Exception for small businesses.
Paragraph (f)(1) of this section, and the
specific substantiation requirements
described in the applicable paragraph of
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(3) or § 1.250(b)–5(e)(4),
do not apply to a taxpayer if the
taxpayer and all related parties of the
taxpayer, in the aggregate, receive less
than $25,000,000 in gross receipts
during the taxable year prior to the
FDDEI transaction. If the taxpayer’s
prior taxable year was less than 12
months (a short period), gross receipts
are annualized by multiplying the gross
receipts for the short period by 365 and
dividing the result by the number of
days in the short period.
(3) Treatment of certain loss
transactions—(i) In general. If a
domestic corporation fails to satisfy the
substantiation requirements described
in the applicable paragraph of
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(3) or § 1.250(b)–5(e)(4)
with respect to a transaction (including
in connection with a related party
transaction described in § 1.250(b)–6),
the gross income from the transaction
will be treated as gross FDDEI if—
(A) In the case of a sale of property,
the seller knows or has reason to know
PO 00000
Frm 00054
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
that property is sold to a foreign person
for a foreign use (within the meaning of
§ 1.250(b)–4(d)(1) or (2));
(B) In the case of the provision of a
general service to a business recipient,
the renderer knows or has reason to
know that a service is provided to a
business recipient located outside the
United States; and
(C) Not treating the transaction as a
FDDEI transaction would increase the
amount of the corporation’s FDDEI for
the taxable year relative to its FDDEI
that would be determined if the
transaction were treated as a FDDEI
transaction.
(ii) Reason to know—(A) Sales to a
foreign person for a foreign use. For
purposes of paragraph (f)(3)(i)(A) of this
section, a seller has reason to know that
a sale is to a foreign person for a foreign
use if the information received as part
of the sales process contains
information that indicates that the
recipient is a foreign person or that the
sale is for a foreign use, and the seller
fails to obtain evidence establishing that
the recipient is not in fact a foreign
person or that the sale is not in fact for
a foreign use. Information that indicates
that a recipient is a foreign person or
that the sale is for a foreign use
includes, but is not limited to, a foreign
phone number, billing address, shipping
address, or place of residence; and, with
respect to an entity, evidence that the
entity is incorporated, formed, or
managed outside the United States.
(B) General services provided to a
business recipient located outside the
United States. For purposes of
paragraph (f)(3)(i)(B) of this section, a
renderer has reason to know that the
provision of a general service is to a
business recipient located outside the
United States if the information
received as part of the sales process
contains information that indicates that
the recipient is a business recipient
located outside the United States and
the seller fails to obtain evidence
establishing that the recipient is not in
fact a business recipient located outside
the United States. Information that
indicates that a recipient is a business
recipient includes, but is not limited to,
indicia of a business status (such as
‘‘LLC’’ or ‘‘Company,’’ or similar indicia
under applicable domestic or foreign
law, in the name) or statements by the
recipient indicating that it is a business.
Information that indicates that a
business recipient is located outside the
United States includes, but is not
limited to, a foreign phone number,
billing address, and evidence that the
entity or business is incorporated,
formed, or managed outside the United
States.
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
(iii) Multiple transactions. If a seller
or renderer engages in more than one
transaction described in paragraph
(f)(3)(i) of this section in a taxable year,
paragraph (f)(3)(i) of this section applies
by comparing the corporation’s FDDEI if
each such transaction were not treated
as a FDDEI transaction to its FDDEI if
each such transaction were treated as a
FDDEI transaction.
(iv) Example. The following example
illustrates the application of this
paragraph (f)(3).
(A) Facts. During a taxable year, DC, a
domestic corporation, manufactures products
A and B in the United States. DC sells
product A and product B to Y, a foreign
person that is a distributor, for $200x and
$800x, respectively. DC knows or has reason
to know that all of its sales of product A and
product B will ultimately be sold to end
users located outside the United States. Y
provides DC with a statement that satisfies
the substantiation requirement of paragraph
(f)(1) of this section and § 1.250(b)–4(d)(3)(ii)
that establishes that its sales of product B are
for a foreign use but does not obtain
43095
substantiation establishing that any sales of
product A are for a foreign use. DC’s cost of
goods sold is $450x. For purposes of
determining gross FDDEI, under § 1.250(b)–
1(d)(1) DC attributes $250x of cost of goods
sold to product A and $200x of cost of goods
sold to product B, and then attributes the cost
of goods sold for each product ratably
between the gross receipts of such product
sold to foreign persons and the gross receipts
of such product not sold to foreign persons.
The manner in which DC attributes the cost
of goods sold is a reasonable method. DC has
no other items of income, loss, or deduction.
TABLE 1 TO PARAGRAPH (F)(3)(IV)(A)
Product A
Gross receipts ..............................................................................................................................
Cost of Goods Sold .....................................................................................................................
Gross Income (Loss) ...................................................................................................................
(B) Analysis. By not treating the sales of
product A as FDDEI sales, the amount of DC’s
FDDEI would increase by $50x relative to its
FDDEI if the sales of product A were treated
as FDDEI sales. Accordingly, because DC
knows or has reason to know that its sales
of product A are to foreign persons for a
foreign use, the sales of product A constitute
FDDEI sales under paragraph (f)(3) of this
section, and thus the $50x loss from the sale
of product A is included in DC’s gross
FDDEI.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
§ 1.250(b)–4 Foreign-derived deduction
eligible income (FDDEI) sales.
(a) Scope. This section provides rules
for determining whether a sale of
property is a FDDEI sale. Paragraph (b)
of this section defines a FDDEI sale.
Paragraph (c) of this section provides
rules for determining whether a
recipient is a foreign person. Paragraph
(d) of this section provides rules for
determining whether property is sold
for a foreign use. Paragraph (e) of this
section provides a special rule for the
sale of interests in a disregarded entity.
Paragraph (f) of this section provides a
rule regarding certain hedging
transactions with respect to FDDEI
sales.
(b) Definition of FDDEI sale. Except as
provided in § 1.250(b)–6(c), the term
FDDEI sale means a sale of general
property or intangible property to a
recipient that is a foreign person (see
paragraph (c) of this section for
presumption rules relating to
determining foreign person status) and
that is for a foreign use (as determined
under paragraph (d) of this section). A
sale of any property other than general
property or intangible property is not a
FDDEI sale.
(c) Presumption of foreign person
status—(1) In general. The sale of
property is presumed to be to a recipient
that is a foreign person for purposes of
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
paragraph (b) of this section if the sale
is described in paragraph (c)(2) of this
section. However, this presumption
does not apply if the seller knows or has
reason to know that the sale is not to a
foreign person. A seller has reason to
know that a sale is not to a foreign
person if the information received as
part of the sales process contains
information that indicates that the
recipient is not a foreign person and the
seller fails to obtain evidence
establishing that the recipient is in fact
a foreign person. Information that
indicates that a recipient is not a foreign
person include, but are not limited to,
a United States phone number, billing
address, shipping address, or place of
residence; and, with respect to an entity,
evidence that the entity is incorporated,
formed, or managed in the United
States.
(2) Sales of property. A sale of a
property is described in this paragraph
(c)(2) if:
(i) The sale is a foreign retail sale;
(ii) In the case of a sale of general
property that is not a foreign retail sale
and the general property is delivered
(such as through a commercial carrier)
to the recipient or an end user, the
shipping address of the recipient or end
user is outside the United States;
(iii) In the case of a sale of general
property that is not described in either
paragraph (c)(2)(i) or (ii) of this section,
the billing address of the recipient is
outside the United States; or
(iv) In the case of a sale of intangible
property, the billing address of the
recipient is outside the United States.
(d) Foreign use—(1) Foreign use for
general property—(i) In general. The
sale of general property is for a foreign
use for purposes of paragraph (b) of this
section if the seller determines that the
PO 00000
Frm 00055
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
$200x
250x
(50x)
Product B
$800x
200x
600x
Total
$1,000x
450x
550x
sale is for a foreign use under the rules
of paragraph (d)(1)(ii) or (iii) of this
section and the exception in paragraph
(d)(1)(iv) of this section does not apply.
(ii) Rules for determining foreign
use—(A) Sales that are delivered to an
end user by a carrier or freight
forwarder. Except as otherwise provided
in this paragraph (d)(1)(ii)(A), a sale of
general property (other than a sale of
general property described in
paragraphs (d)(1)(ii)(D) through (F) of
this section) that is delivered through a
carrier or freight forwarder to a recipient
that is an end user is for a foreign use
if the end user receives delivery of the
general property outside the United
States. However, a sale described in the
preceding sentence is not treated as a
sale to an end user for a foreign use if
the sale is made with a principal
purpose of having the property
transported from its location outside the
United States to a location within the
United States for ultimate use or
consumption.
(B) Sales to an end user without the
use of a carrier or freight forwarder.
With respect to sales that are not
delivered through the use of a carrier or
freight forwarder, a sale of general
property (other than a sale of general
property described in paragraphs
(d)(1)(ii)(D) through (F) of this section)
to a recipient that is an end user is for
a foreign use if the property is located
outside the United States at the time of
the sale (including as part of foreign
retail sales).
(C) Sales for resale. A sale of general
property (other than a sale of general
property described in paragraphs
(d)(1)(ii)(D) through (F) of this section)
to a recipient (such as a distributor or
retailer) that will resell the general
property is for a foreign use if the
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
43096
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
general property will ultimately be sold
to end users outside the United States
(including in foreign retail sales) and
such sales to end users outside the
United States are substantiated under
paragraph (d)(3)(ii) of this section. In the
case of sales of a fungible mass of
general property, the taxpayer may
presume that the proportion of its sales
that are ultimately sold to end users
outside the United States is the same as
the proportion of the recipient’s resales
of that fungible mass to end users
outside the United States.
(D) Sales of digital content. A sale of
general property that primarily contains
digital content that is transferred
electronically rather than in a physical
medium is for a foreign use if the end
user downloads, installs, receives, or
accesses the purchased digital content
on the end user’s device outside the
United States (see § 1.250(b)–5(d)(2) and
(e)(2)(iii) for rules that apply in the case
of digital content that is not purchased
in a sale but is electronically supplied
as a service). If information about where
the digital content is downloaded,
installed, received, or accessed (such as
the device’s IP address) is unavailable,
and the gross receipts from all sales
with respect to the end user (which may
be a business) are in the aggregate less
than $50,000, a sale of general property
described in the preceding sentence is
for a foreign use if it is to an end user
that has a billing address located
outside the United States.
(E) Sales of international
transportation property used for
compensation or hire. A sale of
international transportation property
used for compensation or hire is for a
foreign use if the end user registers the
property with a foreign jurisdiction.
(F) Sales of international
transportation property not used for
compensation or hire. A sale of
international transportation property
not used for compensation or hire is for
a foreign use if the end user registers the
property in a foreign jurisdiction and
hangars or stores the property primarily
outside the United States.
(iii) Sales for manufacturing,
assembly, or other processing—(A) In
general. A sale of general property is for
a foreign use if the sale is to a foreign
unrelated party that subjects the
property to manufacture, assembly, or
other processing outside the United
States and such manufacturing,
assembly, or other processing outside
the United States is substantiated under
paragraph (d)(3)(iii) of this section.
Property is subject to manufacture,
assembly, or other processing only if the
property is physically and materially
changed (as described in paragraph
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
(d)(1)(iii)(B) of this section) or the
property is incorporated as a component
into another product (as described in
paragraph (d)(1)(iii)(C) of this section).
(B) Property subject to a physical and
material change. The determination of
whether general property is subject to a
physical and material change is made
based on all the relevant facts and
circumstances. General property is
subject to a physical and material
change if it is substantially transformed
and is distinguishable from and cannot
be readily returned to its original state.
(C) Property incorporated into a
product as a component. General
property is a component incorporated
into another product if the
incorporation of the general property
into another product involves activities
that are substantial in nature and
generally considered to constitute the
manufacture, assembly, or processing of
property based on all the relevant facts
and circumstances. However, general
property is not considered a component
incorporated into another product if it is
subject only to packaging, repackaging,
labeling, or minor assembly operations.
In addition, general property is treated
as a component if the seller expects,
using reliable estimates, that the fair
market value of the property when it is
delivered to the recipient will constitute
no more than 20 percent of the fair
market value of the finished good into
which the general property is directly or
indirectly incorporated when the
finished good is sold to end users (the
‘‘20-percent rule’’). If the property could
be incorporated into a number of
different finished goods, a reliable
estimate of the fair market value of the
finished good may include the average
fair market value of a representative
range of such goods. For purposes of the
20-percent rule, all general property that
is sold by the seller and incorporated
into the finished good is treated as a
single item of property if the seller sells
the property to the recipient and the
seller knows or has reason to know that
the components will be incorporated
into a single item of property (for
example, where multiple components
are sold as a kit). A seller knows or has
reason to know that the components
will be incorporated into a single item
of property if the information received
as part of the sales process indicates that
the components will be included in the
same second product or the nature of
the components compels inclusion into
the second product and the seller fails
to obtain evidence to the contrary.
(iv) Sales of property subject to
manufacturing, assembly, or other
processing in the United States. If the
seller sells general property to a
PO 00000
Frm 00056
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
recipient (other than a related party) for
manufacturing, assembly, or other
processing within the United States,
such property is not sold for a foreign
use even if the requirements of
paragraph (d)(1)(ii) or (iii) of this section
are subsequently satisfied. See
§ 1.250(b)–6(c) for rules governing sales
of general property to a foreign person
that is a related party. Property is
subject to manufacture, assembly, or
other processing only if the property is
physically and materially changed (as
described in paragraph (d)(1)(iii)(B) of
this section) or the property is
incorporated as a component into
another product (as described in
paragraph (d)(1)(iii)(C) of this section).
(v) Examples. The following examples
illustrate the application of this
paragraph (d)(1).
(A) Assumed facts. The following
facts are assumed for purposes of the
examples—
(1) DC is a domestic corporation.
(2) FP is a foreign person that is a
foreign unrelated party with respect to
DC.
(3) To the extent a sale is for a foreign
use, any applicable substantiation
requirements described in paragraph
(d)(3)(ii) or (iii) of this section are
satisfied.
(B) Examples—
(1) Example 1: Manufacturing outside the
United States—(i) Facts. DC sells batteries for
$18x to FP. DC expects that FP will insert the
batteries into tablets as part of the process of
assembling tablets outside the United States.
While the tablets are manufactured in a way
that end users would not easily be able to
remove the batteries, the batteries could be
removed from the tablets and would
resemble their original state following the
removal. The finished tablets will be sold to
end users within and outside the United
States. DC’s batteries are used in two types
of tablets, Tablet A and Tablet B. Based on
an economic analysis, DC determines that the
fair market value of Tablet A is $90x and the
fair market value of Tablet B is $110x. FP
informs DC that the number of sales of Tablet
A is approximately equal to the number of
sales of Tablet B.
(ii) Analysis. Because the batteries could be
removed from the tablets and be returned to
their original state, the insertion of the
batteries into the tablets does not constitute
a physical and material change described in
paragraph (d)(1)(iii)(B) of this section.
However, the average fair market value of a
representative range of tablets that
incorporate the batteries is $100x (the
average of $90x for Tablet A and $110x for
Tablet B because their sales are
approximately equal), and $18x is less than
20 percent of $100x. Therefore, the batteries
are considered components of the tablets and
treated as subject to manufacture, assembly,
or other processing outside the United States.
See paragraphs (d)(1)(iii)(A) and (C) of this
section. As a result, notwithstanding that
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
some tablets incorporating the batteries may
be sold to an end user in the United States,
DC’s sale of batteries is considered for a
foreign use. Accordingly, DC’s sale of
batteries to FP is for a foreign use under
paragraph (d)(1)(iii)(A) and (C) of this
section, and the sale is a FDDEI sale.
(2) Example 2: Manufacturing outside the
United States—(i) Facts. The facts are the
same as in paragraph (d)(1)(v)(B)(1) of this
section (the facts in Example 1), except FP
purchases the batteries from DC for $25x. In
addition, FP purchased other components of
tablets from other parties. FP has a
substantial investment in machinery and
tools that are used to assemble tablets.
(ii) Analysis. Even though the fair market
value of the batteries that FP purchases from
DC and incorporates into the tablets exceeds
20 percent of the fair market value of the
tablets, because the batteries are used by FP
in activities that are substantial in nature and
generally considered to constitute the
manufacture, assembly or other processing of
property, the batteries are components of the
tablets. As a result, DC’s sale of property to
FP is still for a foreign use under paragraph
(d)(1)(iii)(A) and (C) of this section, and the
sale is a FDDEI sale.
(3) Example 3: Sale of products to
distributor outside the United States—(i)
Facts. DC sells smartphones to FP, a
distributor of electronics located within
Country A. The sales contract between DC
and FP provides that FP may sell the
smartphones it purchases from DC only to
specified retailers located within Country A.
The specified retailers only sell electronics,
including smartphones, in foreign retail
sales.
(ii) Analysis. Although FP does not sell the
smartphones it purchases from DC to end
users, FP sells to retailers that sell the
smartphones in foreign retail sales. All of the
sales of smartphones from DC to FP are sales
of general property for a foreign use under
paragraph (d)(1)(ii)(C) of this section because
FP is only allowed to sell the smartphones
to retailers who sell such property in foreign
retail sales. As a result, DC’s sales of
smartphones to FP are FDDEI sales.
(4) Example 4: Sale of a fungible mass of
products—(i) Facts. DC and persons other
than DC sell multiple units of printer paper
that is considered fungible general property
to FP during the taxable year. FP is a
distributor that sells paper to retail stores
within and outside the United States. FP
informs DC that approximately 25 percent of
FP’s sales of the paper are to retail stores
located outside of the United States for
foreign retail sales.
(ii) Analysis. The sale of paper to FP is for
a foreign use to the extent that the paper will
be sold to end users located outside the
United States under paragraph (d)(1)(ii)(C) of
this section. Because a portion of DC’s sales
to FP are not for a foreign use, DC must
determine the amount of paper that is sold
for a foreign use. Based on the information
provided by FP about its own sales, DC
determines under paragraph (d)(1)(ii)(C) of
this section that 25 percent of the total units
of paper that is fungible general property that
FP purchased from all persons in the taxable
year will ultimately be sold to end users
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
located outside the United States.
Accordingly, DC satisfies the test for a foreign
use under paragraph (d)(1)(ii)(C) of this
section with respect to 25 percent of its sales
of the paper to FP.
(5) Example 5: Limited use license of
copyrighted computer software—(i) Facts. DC
provides FP with a limited use license to
copyrighted computer software in exchange
for an annual fee of $100x. The limited use
license restricts FP’s use of the computer
software to 100 of FP’s employees, who
download the software onto their computers.
The limited use license prohibits FP from
using the computer software in any way
other than as an end user, which includes
prohibiting sublicensing, selling, reverse
engineering, or modifying the computer
software. All of FP’s employees download
the software onto computers that are
physically located outside the United States.
(ii) Analysis. The software licensed to FP
is digital content as defined in § 1.250(b)–
3(b)(1), and is downloaded by an end user as
defined in § 1.250(b)–3(b)(2). Accordingly,
because the software is downloaded solely
onto computers outside the United States,
DC’s license to FP is for a foreign use and
therefore a FDDEI sale under paragraph
(d)(1)(ii)(D) of this section. The entire $100x
of the license fee is included in DC’s gross
FDDEI for the taxable year.
(6) Example 6: Limited use license of
copyrighted computer software used within
and outside the United States—(i) Facts. The
facts are the same as in paragraph
(d)(1)(v)(B)(5) of this section (the facts in
Example 5), except that FP has offices both
within and outside the United States, and
DC’s internal records indicates that 50
percent of the downloads of the software are
onto computers located outside the United
States.
(ii) Analysis. Because 50 percent of the
downloads of the software are onto
computers located outside the United States,
a portion of DC’s license to FP is for a foreign
use and therefore such portion is a FDDEI
sale. The $50x of license fee derived with
respect to such portion is included in DC’s
gross FDDEI for the taxable year.
(7) Example 7: Sale of a copyrighted
article—(i) Facts. DC sells copyrighted music
available for download on its website. Once
downloaded, the recipient listens to the
music on electronic devices that do not need
to be connected to the internet. DC has data
that an individual accesses the website to
purchase a song for download on a device
located outside the United States. The terms
of the sale permit the recipient to use the
song for personal use, but convey no other
rights to the copyrighted music to the
recipient.
(ii) Analysis. The music acquired through
download is digital content as defined in
§ 1.250(b)–3(b)(1). Because the recipient
acquires no ownership in copyright rights to
the music, the sale is considered a sale of a
copyrighted article, and thus is a sale of
general property. See § 1.250(b)–3(b)(10) and
(11). As a result, the sale is considered for a
foreign use under paragraph (d)(1)(ii)(D) of
this section because the digital content was
installed, received, or accessed on the end
user’s device outside the United States. The
PO 00000
Frm 00057
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43097
income derived with respect to the sale of the
music is included in DC’s gross FDDEI for the
taxable year. See § 1.250(b)–5(d)(3) for an
example of digital content provided to
consumers as a service rather than as a sale.
(2) Foreign use for intangible
property—(i) In general. A sale of rights
to exploit intangible property solely
outside the United States is for a foreign
use. A sale of rights to exploit intangible
property solely within the United States
is not for a foreign use. A sale of rights
to exploit intangible property
worldwide is partially for a foreign use
and partially not for a foreign use.
Whether intangible property is
exploited within versus outside the
United States is determined based on
revenue earned from end users located
within versus outside the United States.
Therefore, a sale of rights to exploit
intangible property both within and
outside the United States is for a foreign
use in proportion to the revenue earned
from end users located outside the
United States over the total revenue
earned from the exploitation of the
intangible property. A sale of intangible
property will be treated as a FDDEI sale
only if the substantiation requirements
of paragraph (d)(3)(iv) of this section are
satisfied. For rules specific to
determining end users and revenue
earned from end users for intangible
property used in sales of general
property, provision of services, research
and development, or consisting of a
manufacturing method or process, see
paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of this section.
(ii) Determination of end users and
revenue earned from end users—(A)
Intangible property embedded in
general property or used in connection
with the sale of general property. If
intangible property is embedded in
general property that is sold, or used in
connection with a sale of general
property, then the end user of the
intangible property is the end user of
the general property. Revenue is earned
from the end user of the general
property outside the United States to the
extent the sale of the general property is
for a foreign use under paragraph
(d)(1)(ii) of this section.
(B) Intangible property used in
providing a service. If intangible
property is used to provide a service,
then the end user of that intangible
property is the recipient, consumer, or
business recipient of the service or, in
the case of a property service or a
transportation service that involves the
transportation of property, the end user
is the owner of the property on which
such service is being performed. Such
end users are treated as located outside
the United States only to the extent the
service qualifies as a FDDEI service
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
43098
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
under § 1.250(b)–5. Therefore, in the
case of a recipient of a sale of intangible
property that uses such intangible
property to provide a property service
that qualifies as a FDDEI service to
another person, that person is the end
user and is treated as located outside the
United States.
(C) Intangible property consisting of a
manufacturing method or process—(1)
In general. Except as provided in
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(2) of this section,
if intangible property consists of a
manufacturing method or process (as
defined in paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(3) of
this section) and is sold to a foreign
unrelated party (including in a sale by
a foreign related party), then the foreign
unrelated party is treated as an end user
located outside the United States, unless
the seller knows or has reason to know
that the manufacturing method or
process will be used in the United
States, in which case the foreign
unrelated party is treated as an end user
located within the United States. A
seller has reason to know that the
manufacturing method or process will
be used in the United States if the
information received from the recipient
as part of the sales process contains
information that indicates that the
recipient intends to use the
manufacturing method or process in the
United States and the seller fails to
obtain evidence establishing that the
recipient does not intend to use the
manufacturing method or process in the
United States.
(2) Exception for certain
manufacturing arrangements. A sale of
intangible property consisting of a
manufacturing method or process
(including a sale by a foreign related
party) to a foreign unrelated party for
use in manufacturing products for or on
behalf of the seller or any person related
to the seller does not qualify as a sale
to a foreign unrelated party for purposes
of determining the end user under
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(1) of this section.
(3) Manufacturing method or process.
For purposes of this section, a
manufacturing method or process
consists of a sequence of actions or steps
that comprise an overall method or
process that is used to manufacture a
product or produce a particular
manufacturing result, which may be in
the form of a patent or know-how.
Intangible property consisting of the
right to make and sell an item of
property is not a manufacturing method
or process, whereas intangible property
consisting of the right to apply a series
of actions or steps to be performed to
achieve a particular manufacturing
result is a manufacturing method or
process. For example, a utility or design
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
patent on an article of manufacture,
machine, composition of matter, design,
or providing the right to sell equipment
to perform a process is not a
manufacturing method or process,
whereas a utility patent covering a
method or process of manufacturing is
a manufacturing method or process for
purposes of this section.
(D) Intangible property used in
research and development. If intangible
property (primary IP) is used to develop
new or modify other intangible property
(secondary IP), then the end user of the
primary IP is the end user (applying
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A), (B), or (C) of this
section) of the secondary IP.
(iii) Determination of revenue for
periodic payments versus lump sums—
(A) Sales in exchange for periodic
payments. In the case of a sale of
intangible property, other than
intangible property consisting of a
manufacturing method or process that is
sold to a foreign unrelated party, to a
recipient in exchange for periodic
payments, the extent to which the sale
is for a foreign use is determined
annually based on the actual revenue
earned by the recipient from any use of
the intangible property for the taxable
year in which a periodic payment is
received. If actual revenue earned by the
recipient cannot be obtained after
reasonable efforts, then estimated
revenue earned by a recipient that is not
a related party of the seller from the use
of the intangible property may be used
based on the principles of paragraph
(d)(2)(iii)(B) of this section.
(B) Sales in exchange for a lump sum.
In the case of a sale of intangible
property, other than intangible property
consisting of a manufacturing method or
process that is sold to a foreign
unrelated party, for a lump sum, the
extent to which the sale is for a foreign
use is determined based on the ratio of
the total net present value of revenue
the seller would have expected to earn
from the exploitation of the intangible
property outside the United States to the
total net present value of revenue the
seller would have expected to earn from
the exploitation of the intangible
property. In the case of a recipient that
is a foreign unrelated party, net present
values of revenue that the recipient
expected to earn from the exploitation
of the intangible property within and
outside the United States may also be
used if the seller obtained such revenue
data from the recipient near the time of
the sale and such revenue data was used
to negotiate the lump sum price paid for
the intangible property. Net present
values must be determined using
reliable inputs including, but not
limited to, reliable revenue, expenses,
PO 00000
Frm 00058
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
and discount rates. The extent to which
the inputs are used by the parties to
determine the sales price agreed to
between the seller and a foreign
unrelated party purchasing the
intangible property will be a factor in
determining whether such inputs are
reliable. If the intangible property is
sold to a foreign related party, the
reliability of the inputs used to
determine net present values and the
net present values are determined under
section 482.
(C) Sales to a foreign unrelated party
of intangible property consisting of a
manufacturing method or process. In
the case of a sale to an unrelated foreign
party of intangible property consisting
of a manufacturing method or process,
the revenue earned from the end user is
equal to the amount received from the
recipient in exchange for the
manufacturing method or process. In the
case of a bundled sale of intangible
property consisting of a manufacturing
method or process and intangible
property not consisting of a
manufacturing method or process, the
revenue earned from the intangible
property consisting of the
manufacturing method or process equals
the total amount paid for the bundled
sale multiplied by the proportion that
the value of the manufacturing method
or process bears to the total value of the
intangible property. The value of the
manufacturing method or process to the
total value of the intangible property
must be determined using the principles
of section 482.
(iv) Examples. The following
examples illustrate the application of
this paragraph (d)(2).
(A) Assumed facts. The following
facts are assumed for purposes of the
examples—
(1) DC is a domestic corporation.
(2) Except as otherwise provided, FP
and FP2 are foreign persons that are
foreign unrelated parties with respect to
DC.
(3) All of DC’s income is DEI.
(4) Except as otherwise provided, the
substantiation requirements described
in paragraph (d)(3)(iv) of this section are
satisfied.
(5) Except as otherwise provided,
inputs used to determine the net present
values of the revenue are reliable.
(B) Examples—
(1) Example 1: License of worldwide rights
with actual revenue data from recipient—(i)
Facts. DC licenses to FP worldwide rights to
the copyright to composition A in exchange
for annual royalties of 60 percent of revenue
from FP’s sales of composition A. FP sells
composition A to customers through digital
downloads from servers. In the taxable year,
FP earns $100x in revenue from sales of
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
copies of composition A to customers, of
which $60x is from customers located in the
United States and the remaining $40x is from
customers located outside the United States.
FP provides DC with reliable records
showing the amount of revenue earned in the
taxable year from sales of composition A to
establish the royalties owed to DC. These
records also provide DC with the amount of
revenue earned from sales of composition A
to customers located within the United
States.
(ii) Analysis. FP is not the end user of the
copyright to composition A under paragraph
(d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section because the
copyright is used in the sale of general
property (the sale of copyrighted articles to
customers). The customers that purchase a
copy of composition A from FP are the end
users (as defined in § 1.250(b)–3(b)(2) and
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section)
because those customers are the recipients of
composition A when sold as general
property. Based on the actual revenue earned
by FP from sales of composition A, 40
percent ($40x/$100x) of the revenue
generated by the copyright during the taxable
year is earned outside the United States.
Accordingly, a portion of DC’s license to FP
is for a foreign use under paragraph (d)(2) of
this section and therefore such portion is a
FDDEI sale. The $24x of royalty (0.40 x $60x
of total royalties owed to DC during the
taxable year) derived with respect to such
portion is included in DC’s gross FDDEI for
the taxable year.
(2) Example 2: Fixed annual payments for
worldwide rights without actual revenue data
from recipient—(i) Facts. The facts are the
same as in paragraph (d)(2)(iv)(B)(1)(i) of this
section (the facts in Example 1), except FP
pays DC a fixed annual payment of $60x each
year for the worldwide rights to the copyright
to composition A and does not provide DC
with data showing how much revenue FP
earned from sales of composition A, even
after DC requests that FP provide it with such
information. DC also is unable to determine
how much revenue FP earned from sales of
composition A to customers within the
United States from the data it has with
respect to FP and publicly available data
with respect to FP. However, DC’s economic
analysis of the revenue DC expected it could
earn annually from use of composition A as
part of determining the annual payments DC
would receive from FP from the license of
composition A supports a determination that
40 percent of sales of composition A during
the tax year would be to customers located
outside the United States. During an
examination of DC’s return for the taxable
year, DC provides the IRS with data
explaining the economic analysis, inputs,
and results from its valuation of composition
A used in determining the amount of annual
payments agreed to by DC and FP.
(ii) Analysis. For the same reasons
provided in paragraph (d)(2)(iv)(B)(1)(ii) of
this section (the analysis in Example 1), the
customers that purchase copies of
composition A from FP are the end users. DC
is allowed to use reliable economic analysis
to estimate revenue earned by FP from the
use of the copyright to composition A under
paragraph (d)(2)(iii)(A) of this section
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
because DC was unable to obtain actual
revenue earned by FP from use of the
copyright to composition A during the
taxable year after reasonable efforts to obtain
the actual revenue data. Based on DC’s
economic analysis, a portion of DC’s license
to FP is for a foreign use under paragraph
(d)(2) of this section and therefore such
portion is a FDDEI sale. $24x of the $60x
fixed payment to DC (0.40 x $60x) is
included in DC’s gross FDDEI for the taxable
year.
(3) Example 3: Sale of patent rights
protected in the United States and other
countries; use of financial projections in sale
to foreign unrelated party—(i) Facts. DC
owns a patent for an active pharmaceutical
ingredient (‘‘API’’) approved for treatment of
disease A (‘‘indication A’’) in the United
States and in Countries A, B, and C. The
patent is registered in the United States and
in Countries A, B, and C. DC sells to FP all
of its patent rights to the API for indication
A for a lump sum payment of $1,000x. DC
has no basis in the patent rights. To
determine the sales price for the patent
rights, DC projected that the net present
value of the revenue it would earn from
selling a pharmaceutical product
incorporating the API for indication A was
$5,000x, with 15 percent of the net present
value of revenue earned from sales within the
United States and 85 percent of the net
present value of revenue earned from sales
outside the United States. DC did not obtain
revenue projections from the recipient.
(ii) Analysis. FP is not the end user of the
patent under paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this
section because the patent is used in the sale
of general property (the sale of
pharmaceutical products to customers) and
FP is not the recipient of that general
property. The unrelated party customers that
purchase the finished pharmaceutical
product from FP are the end users (as defined
in § 1.250(b)–3(b)(2) and paragraph
(d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section) because those
customers are the unrelated party recipients
of the pharmaceutical product when sold as
general property. Based on the financial
projections DC used to determine the sales
price of the patent that FP purchased, a
portion of DC’s sale to FP is for a foreign use
under paragraph (d)(2) of this section and
such portion is a FDDEI sale. The $850x (85
percent × $1,000x) of gain derived with
respect to such portion is included in DC’s
gross FDDEI for the taxable year.
(4) Example 4: Sale of patent rights
protected in the United States and other
countries; use of financial projections in sale
to foreign related party—(i) Facts. The facts
are the same as in paragraph (d)(2)(iv)(B)(3)(i)
of this section (the facts in Example 3),
except that FP is a foreign related party with
respect to DC, and DC projected that the net
present value of the revenue it would earn
from selling a pharmaceutical product
incorporating the API for indication A would
result in 1 percent of the revenue earned
from sales within the United States and 99
percent of the revenue earned from sales
outside the United States. During the
examination of DC’s return for the taxable
year, the IRS determines that DC’s
substantiation allocating the projected
PO 00000
Frm 00059
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43099
revenue from sales within the United States
and outside the United States does not reflect
reliable inputs to determine the net present
values of revenues under section 482, but
determines that the total lump sum price FP
paid for DC’s patent rights is an arm’s length
price. The IRS determines that the most
reliable net present values of revenue DC
would have earned from sales within the
United States and outside the United States
is $750x and $4250x, respectively.
(ii) Analysis. For the same reasons
provided in paragraph (d)(2)(iv)(B)(3)(ii) of
this section (the analysis in Example 3), the
customers that purchase the finished
pharmaceutical product from FP are the end
users. Under paragraph (d)(2)(iii)(B) of this
section, the reliability of the inputs DC used
to determine the net present values and the
net present values are determined under
section 482. Based on the sales price of the
patent that FP purchased and the IRSdetermined net present values of revenue DC
would have earned from sales within the
United States and outside the United States,
a portion of DC’s sale to FP is for a foreign
use under paragraph (d)(2) of this section and
such portion is a FDDEI sale. DC is allowed
to include $850x (($4250x divided by
$5000x) × $1,000x) of gain in DC’s gross
FDDEI for the taxable year.
(5) Example 5: Sale of patent of
manufacturing method or process protected
in the United States and other countries;
foreign unrelated party—(i) Facts. DC owns
the worldwide rights to a patent covering a
process for refining crude oil. DC sells to FP
the right to DC’s patented process for refining
crude oil for a lump sum payment of $100x.
DC has no basis in the patent rights. DC does
not know or have reason to know that FP will
use the patented process to refine crude oil
within the United States or will sell or
license the rights to the patent to a person to
refine crude oil within the United States.
(ii) Analysis. DC’s patent covering a
process for refining crude oil is a
manufacturing method or process as defined
in paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(3) of this section.
Under paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(1) of this
section, FP is treated as the end user of the
patent, and is treated as located outside the
United States because FP is a foreign
unrelated party and DC does not know or
have reason to know that the patented
process will be used in the United States. As
a result, all of the sale to FP is for a foreign
use under paragraph (d)(2) of this section and
therefore is a FDDEI sale. The entire $100x
lump sum payment is included in DC’s gross
FDDEI for the taxable year.
(6) Example 6: License of intangible
property that includes a patented
manufacturing method or process protected
in the United States and other countries;
foreign unrelated party—(i) Facts. DC owns
worldwide rights to patents, know-how, and
a trademark and tradename for product Z.
The patents consist of: a patent covering the
right to make, use, and sell product Z (article
of manufacture), a patent covering the rights
to make, use, and sell a composition of
substances used in certain components of
product Z (composition of matter), and a
patent covering the right to use a
manufacturing process consisting of a series
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
43100
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
of manufacturing steps to manufacture
product Z (manufacturing method or process
as defined in paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(3) of this
section) and to sell the product Z that FP
manufactures using the manufacturing
method or process. The know-how consists
entirely of manufacturing know-how used to
implement the manufacturing steps that
comprise the manufacturing method or
process. DC licenses the worldwide rights to
the patents, know-how, and the trademark
and tradename for product Z to FP in
exchange for annual royalties of 60 percent
of revenue from sales of product Z. FP
manufactures product Z in country X and
sells product Z to DC2, a domestic
corporation and unrelated party to DC and
FP, for resale to customers located within the
United States. FP also sells product Z to FP2,
a foreign unrelated party with respect to DC
and FP, for resale to customers located
outside the United States. During the taxable
year, FP sells to DC2 $140x of product Z.
Also, during the taxable year, FP sells to FP2
$60x of product Z. DC determines under the
principles of section 482 that the licensed
know-how and the patented manufacturing
method or process comprise 10 percent of the
arm’s length price of the intangible property
DC licenses to FP.
(ii) Analysis—(A) End users. Under
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(1) of this section, FP is
treated as the end user of the patent covering
the right to use the manufacturing process
and the manufacturing know-how used to
implement the manufacturing method or
process, and is treated as located outside the
United States because FP is a foreign
unrelated party and DC does not know or
have reason to know that the patented
process and know-how will be used in the
United States. DC2, FP, and FP2 are not the
end users of the remaining intangible
property under paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this
section because that intangible property is
used in the sale of general property (the sale
of product Z) and DC2, FP, and FP2 are not
the end users of that general property. The
unrelated party customers that purchase
product Z from DC2 and FP2 are the end
users (as defined in § 1.250(b)–3(b)(2) and
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section)
because those customers are the unrelated
party recipients of product Z.
(B) Foreign use. Under paragraph
(d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section, revenue from
royalties paid for the intangible property
other than the manufacturing method or
process is earned from end users outside the
United States to the extent the sale of the
general property is for a foreign use under
paragraph (d)(1) of this section. FP2 is a
reseller of product Z to end users outside the
United States, so all sales of product Z to FP2
are for a foreign use under paragraph
(d)(1)(ii)(C) of this section. Because DC has
determined that 10 percent of the value of the
intangible property consists of a
manufacturing method or process (as defined
in paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(3) of this section)
used to manufacture product Z, $12x of the
$120x royalty FP pays to DC during the
taxable year is for foreign use ($120x total
royalty × 0.10) based on the location of FP’s
manufacturing utilizing the know-how or all
of the sequence of actions that comprise the
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
manufacturing method or process under
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(3) of this section.
Based on the sales of product Z within and
outside the United States, $32.4x of the
royalties FP pays DC for rights to the licensed
intangible property during the taxable year
(($60x of revenue from sales to FP2 for resale
to customers located outside the United
States divided by $200x total worldwide
sales revenue FP receives from DC2 and FP2)
× ($120x total royalties less $12 of those
royalties attributable to the manufacturing
method or process)) qualifies as income
earned from the sale of intangible property
for a foreign use under paragraph (d)(2) of
this section and therefore such portion is a
FDDEI sale. As a result, $44.40x of royalties
($12x + $32.40x) is included in DC’s gross
FDDEI for the taxable year.
(7) Example 7: License of intangible
property that includes a patented
manufacturing method or process protected
in the United States and other countries;
foreign related party with third-party
manufacturer—(i) Facts. The facts are the
same as in paragraph (d)(2)(iv)(B)(6)(i) of this
section (the facts in Example 6), except that
FP is a foreign related party with respect to
DC and FP engages FP2, a foreign unrelated
party, to manufacture product Z. FP
sublicenses to FP2 the rights to the intangible
property FP licenses from DC solely to
manufacture product Z and sell product Z to
FP. FP2 manufactures product Z in country
Y and sells all of product Z it manufactures
to FP. During the taxable year, FP sold $80x
of product Z to DC2, which DC2 resold to
customers located within the United States.
Also, during the taxable year, FP sold $120x
of product Z to customers located outside the
United States.
(ii) Analysis—(A) End users. Under
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(1) of this section, FP is
not treated as the end user of the patent
covering the right to use the manufacturing
process and the manufacturing know-how
used to implement the manufacturing
method or process because FP is a foreign
related party with respect to DC. Under
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(2) of this section, FP2
is also not treated as the end user of the
patent covering the right to use the
manufacturing process and the
manufacturing know-how used to implement
the manufacturing method or process
because FP2 is using that intangible property
to manufacture product Z for FP. DC2 is also
not treated as the end user of the patent
covering the right to use the manufacturing
process and the manufacturing know-how
used to implement the manufacturing
method or process because DC2 does not use
the patent or know-how in manufacturing.
DC2, FP, and FP2 are not the end users of
the remaining intangible property under
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section because
that intangible property is used in the sale of
general property (the sale of product Z) and
DC2, FP, and FP2 are not the end users of
that general property. The unrelated party
customers that purchase the Product Z from
DC2 and FP are the end users (as defined in
§ 1.250(b)–3(b)(2) and paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A)
of this section) of the intangible property
because those customers are the persons that
ultimately use or consume product Z.
PO 00000
Frm 00060
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
(B) Foreign use. Based on the sales of
product Z to customers located within and
outside the United States, $72x of the
royalties FP pays DC for rights to the licensed
intangible property during the taxable year
(($120x of revenue from sales to customers
located outside the United States divided by
$200x total worldwide sales revenue) ×
$120x total royalties) qualifies as income
earned from the sale of intangible property
for a foreign use under paragraph (d)(2) of
this section and therefore such portion is a
FDDEI sale. As a result, $72x of royalties is
included in DC’s gross FDDEI for the taxable
year.
(8) Example 8: Deemed sale in exchange
for contingent payments under section
367(d)—(i) Facts. DC owns 100 percent of the
stock of FP, a foreign related party with
respect to DC. FP manufactures and sells
product A. For the taxable year, DC
contributes to FP exclusive worldwide rights
to patents, trademarks, know-how, customer
lists, and goodwill and going concern value
(collectively, intangible property) related to
product A in an exchange described in
section 351. DC is required to report an
annual income inclusion on its Federal
income tax return based on the productivity,
use, or disposition of the contributed
intangible property under section 367(d). DC
includes a percentage of FP’s revenue in its
gross income under section 367(d) each year.
In the current taxable year, FP earns $1,000x
of revenue from sales of product A. Based on
reliable sales records kept by FP for the
taxable year, $300x of FP’s revenue is earned
from sales of product A to customers within
the United States, and $700x of its revenue
is earned from sales of product A to
customers outside the United States.
(ii) Analysis. DC’s deemed sale of the
intangible property to FP in exchange for
payments contingent upon the productivity,
use, or disposition of the intangible property
related to product A under section 367(d) is
a sale for purposes of section 250 and this
section. See § 1.250(b)–3(b)(16). Based on
FP’s sales records for the taxable year, 70
percent of DC’s deemed sale to FP is for a
foreign use, and 70 percent of DC’s income
inclusion under section 367(d) derived with
respect to such portion is included in DC’s
gross FDDEI for the taxable year.
(9) Example 9: License of intangible
property followed by a sale of general
property in which the intangible property is
embedded; unrelated parties—(i) Facts. DC
owns the worldwide rights to a patent on a
silicon chip used in computers, tablets, and
smartphones. The patent does not qualify as
a manufacturing method or process (as
defined in paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(3) of this
section). DC licenses the worldwide rights to
the patent to FP in exchange for annual
royalties of 30 percent of revenue from sales
of the silicon chips. During the taxable year,
FP manufactures silicon chips protected by
the patent and sells all of those chips to FP2
for $1,000x. FP2 also purchases similar
silicon chips from other suppliers. FP2 uses
the silicon chips in computers, tablets,
smartphones, and motherboards that FP2
manufactures in country X and sells to its
customers located within the United States
and foreign countries. For purposes of this
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
example, FP2’s manufacturing qualifies as
subjecting the silicon chips to manufacture,
assembly, or other processing outside the
United States as provided in paragraph
(d)(1)(iii) of this section.
(ii) Analysis. FP is not the end user or
treated as an end user (as defined in
§ 1.250(b)–3(b)(2) and paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A)
of this section) because FP is not the
unrelated party recipient of the general
property in which the patent is embedded,
and the patent does not qualify as a
manufacturing method or process. Under
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section,
revenue from royalties paid for the patent is
earned from end users outside the United
States to the extent the sale of the general
property is for a foreign use under paragraph
(d)(1) of this section. Because FP2 is
subjecting the silicon chips to manufacture,
assembly, or other processing outside the
United States, the revenue from royalties FP
pays to DC qualifies for foreign use based on
the location of FP2’s manufacturing and
qualifies as a FDDEI sale. As a result, the
entire $300x of annual royalties paid by FP
to DC during the taxable year is included in
DC’s gross FDDEI for the taxable year.
(10) Example 10: License of intangible
property followed by a sale of general
property in which the intangible property is
embedded; related parties—(i) Facts. The
facts are the same as in paragraph
(d)(2)(iv)(B)(9)(i) of this section (the facts in
Example 9), except that FP and FP2 are
foreign related parties with respect to DC.
FP2 sells and ships computers, tablets, and
smartphones it manufactures with the silicon
chips it purchases from FP to unrelated party
wholesalers located within and outside the
United States. The wholesalers within the
United States only sell to retailers located
within the United States and the wholesalers
outside the United States only sell to retailers
located outside the United States. The
retailers within the United States only sell to
customers located within the United States
and the retailers located outside the United
States only sell to customers located outside
the United States. FP2 earns $15,000x of
revenue from sales to unrelated party
wholesalers located outside the United States
and $10,000x of revenue from sales to
unrelated party wholesalers located within
the United States. FP2 also sells and ships
motherboards with the silicon chips it
purchases from FP to unrelated party
manufacturers located outside the United
States. FP2 does not sell motherboards with
the silicon chips it purchases from FP to
unrelated party manufacturers located within
the United States. FP2 earns $5,000x of
revenue from the sales of these motherboards
to manufacturers located outside the United
States. For purposes of this example, these
manufacturers subject the motherboards to
manufacture, assembly, or other processing
outside the United States as provided in
paragraph (d)(1)(iii) of this section.
(ii) Analysis. FP is not the end user or
treated as an end user (as defined in
§ 1.250(b)–3(b)(2) and paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A)
of this section) of the intangible property
because FP is not the end user of the general
property in which the patent is embedded
(the silicon chips). FP2 is also not the end
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
user (as defined in § 1.250(b)–3(b)(2) and
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section) of the
intangible property because FP2 is not the
end user of the silicon chips. Under
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section, the
customers of the retailers that purchase from
the unrelated party wholesalers are the end
users. Because the wholesalers located
outside the United States only sell to retailers
located outside the United States that sell to
end users located outside the United States,
the location of the wholesalers is a reliable
basis for determining the location of the end
users. Revenue from royalties paid for the
patent is earned from end users outside the
United States to the extent the sale of the
general property is for a foreign use under
paragraph (d)(1) of this section. A portion of
the sales to the unrelated party wholesalers
qualify as foreign use under paragraph (d)(1)
of this section and the sales to the unrelated
party manufacturers qualify as foreign use
under paragraph (d)(1)(iii) of this section.
Accordingly, revenue from royalties FP pays
to DC is from a FDDEI sale to the extent of
such sales to the unrelated party
manufacturers and such potion of sales to
unrelated party wholesalers that qualify for
foreign use. As a result, $200x of annual
royalties paid by FP to DC during the taxable
year ((($15,000x of sales to wholesalers
located outside the United States plus
$5,000x of sales to manufacturers located
outside the United States) divided by
$30,000x total sales) × $300x) is included in
DC’s gross FDDEI for the taxable year.
(11) Example 11: License of intangible
property followed by a sale of general
property that incorporates the intangible
property; unrelated parties with
manufacturing within the United States—(i)
Facts. The facts are the same as in paragraph
(d)(2)(iv)(B)(9)(i) of this section (the facts in
Example 9), except that FP2 manufactures its
computers, tablets, smartphones, and
motherboards in the United States.
(ii) Analysis. FP is not the end user or
treated as an end user (as defined in
§ 1.250(b)–3(b)(2) and paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A)
of this section) because FP is not the
unrelated party recipient of the general
property in which the patent is embedded
(the silicon chips) and the patent does not
qualify as a manufacturing method or
process. Under paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this
section, revenue from royalties paid for the
patent is earned from end users outside the
United States to the extent the sale of the
general property is for a foreign use under
paragraph (d)(1) of this section. Because FP2
is subjecting the silicon chips to
manufacture, assembly, or other processing
within the United States, the revenue from
royalties FP pays to DC does not qualify as
foreign use based on the location of FP2’s
manufacturing and therefore does not qualify
as a FDDEI sale. As a result, none of the
$300x of annual royalties paid by FP to DC
during the taxable year is included in DC’s
gross FDDEI for the taxable year.
(12) Example 12: License of intangible
property used to provide a service—(i) Facts.
DC licenses to FP worldwide rights to the
copyrights on movies in exchange for an
annual royalty of $100x. FP also licenses
copyrights on movies from persons other
PO 00000
Frm 00061
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43101
than DC. FP provides a streaming service that
meets the definition of an electronically
supplied service in § 1.250(b)–5(c)(5) to its
customers within the United States and
foreign countries. FP’s streaming service
provides its customers a catalog of movies to
choose to stream. These movies include the
copyrighted movies FP licenses from DC. FP
does not provide DC with data showing how
much revenue FP earned from streaming
services during the taxable year, even after
DC requests that FP provide it with such
information. DC also is unable to determine
how much revenue FP earned from streaming
services to customers within the United
States from the data it has with respect to FP
and publicly available data with respect to
FP. However, DC’s economic analysis of the
revenue DC expected it could earn annually
from use of the copyrights as part of
determining the annual payments DC would
receive from FP from the license of the
copyrights supports a determination that
$10,000x of revenue would be earned during
the taxable year from customers worldwide,
and that 40 percent of that revenue would be
earned from customers located outside the
United States. During an examination of DC’s
return for the taxable year, DC provides the
IRS with data explaining the economic
analysis, inputs, and results from its
valuation of the copyrights used in
determining the amount of annual payments
agreed to by DC and FP.
(ii) Analysis. Under paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(B)
of this section, FP’s customers are the end
users of the copyrights FP licenses from DC
because FP uses those copyrights to provide
the general service to FP’s customers. Under
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(B) of this section, revenue
from royalties paid for the copyrights is
earned from end users outside the United
States to the extent the service qualifies as a
FDDEI service under § 1.250(b)–5. DC is
allowed to use reliable economic analysis to
estimate revenue earned by FP from
streaming the licensed movies under
paragraph (d)(2)(iii)(A) of this section
because DC was unable to obtain actual
revenue earned by FP from use of the
copyrights during the taxable year after
reasonable efforts to obtain the actual
revenue data. Based on DC’s reliable
economic analysis, $40x of the annual
royalty payment to DC (0.40 × $100x total
annual royalty payment) is included in DC’s
gross FDDEI for the taxable year.
(13) Example 13: License of intangible
property used to in research and
development of other intangible property—(i)
Facts. DC owns a patent (‘‘patent A’’) for an
active pharmaceutical ingredient (‘‘API’’)
approved for treatment of disease A in the
United States and in foreign countries. DC
licenses to FP worldwide rights to patent A
for an annual royalty of $100x. FP uses
patent A in research and development of a
new API for treatment of disease B. Patent A
does not consist of a manufacturing method
or process (as defined in paragraph
(d)(2)(ii)(C)(3) of this section). FP’s research
and development is successful, resulting in
FP obtaining both a patent for the new API
for treatment of disease B and approval for
use in the United States and foreign
countries. FP does not earn any revenue from
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
43102
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
sales of finished pharmaceutical products
containing the API during years 1 through 4
of the license of patent A. In year 5 of the
license of patent A, FP earns $800x of
revenue from sales of finished
pharmaceutical products containing the API
to customers located within the United States
and $200x of revenue from sales to customers
located in foreign countries.
(ii) Analysis. FP is not the end user (as
defined in § 1.250(b)–3(b)(2) and paragraph
(d)(2)(ii)(D) of this section) of patent A
because FP is not the end user described in
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section of the
product in which the API that was developed
from patent A is embedded. The unrelated
party customers that purchase the finished
pharmaceutical product from FP are the end
users (as defined in § 1.250(b)–3(b)(2) and
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(D) of this section)
because those customers are the end users
described in paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this
section of the pharmaceutical product in
which the newly developed patent is
embedded. During the taxable years that
include years 1 through 4 of the license of
patent A, FP earns no revenue from sales of
the API to a foreign person for a foreign use.
Under paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(D) of this section,
none of the $100x annual royalty payments
to DC for each of the tax years that include
years 1 through 4 of the license of patent A
is included in DC’s gross FDDEI. Based on
FP’s sales of the API during the tax year that
includes year 5 of the license of patent A,
$20x of the annual royalty payment to DC
($200x of revenue from sales of API to
customers located outside the United States
divided by $1,000x total worldwide revenue
earned from sales of the API) × $100x annual
royalty) is included in DC’s gross FDDEI for
the taxable year.
(3) Foreign use substantiation for
certain sales of property—(i) In general.
Except as provided in § 1.250(b)–3(f)(3)
(relating to certain loss transactions), a
sale of property described in paragraphs
(d)(1)(ii)(C) of this section (foreign use
for sale of general property for resale),
(d)(1)(iii) of this section (foreign use for
sale of general property subject to
manufacturing, assembly, or processing
outside the United States), or (d)(2) of
this section (foreign use for sale of
intangible property) is a FDDEI
transaction only if the taxpayer satisfies
the substantiation requirements
described in paragraphs (d)(3)(ii), (iii),
or (iv) of this section, as applicable.
(ii) Substantiation of foreign use for
resale. A seller satisfies the
substantiation requirements with
respect to a sale of property described
in paragraph (d)(1)(ii)(C) of this section
(sales of general property for resale)
only if the seller maintains one or more
of the following items—
(A) A binding contract that
specifically limits subsequent sales to
sales outside the United States;
(B) Proof that property is specifically
designed, labeled, or adapted for a
foreign market;
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
(C) Proof that the cost of shipping the
property back to the United States
relative to the value of the property
makes it impractical that the property
will be resold in the United States;
(D) Credible evidence obtained or
created in the ordinary course of
business from the recipient evidencing
that property will be sold to an end user
outside the United States (or, in the case
of sales of fungible mass property,
stating what portion of the property will
be sold to end users outside the United
States); or
(E) A written statement prepared by
the seller containing the information
described in paragraphs (d)(3)(ii)(E)(1)
through (7) of this section corroborated
by evidence that is credible and
sufficient to support the information
provided.
(1) The name and address of the
recipient;
(2) The date or dates the property was
shipped or delivered to the recipient;
(3) The amount of gross income from
the sale;
(4) A full description of the property
subject to resale;
(5) A description of the method of
sales to the end users, such as direct
sales by the recipient or sales by the
recipient to retail stores;
(6) If known, a description of the end
users; and
(7) A description of how the seller
determined that property will be
ultimately sold to an end user outside
the United States (or, in the case of sales
of fungible mass property, of how the
taxpayer determined what portion of the
property that will ultimately be sold to
end users outside the United States).
(iii) Substantiation of foreign use for
manufacturing, assembly, or other
processing outside the United States. A
seller satisfies the substantiation
requirements with respect to a sale of
property described in paragraph
(d)(1)(iii) of this section (sales of general
property subject to manufacturing,
assembly, or other processing outside
the United States) if the seller maintains
one or more of the following items—
(A) Credible evidence that the
property has been sold to a foreign
unrelated party that is a manufacturer
and such property generally cannot be
sold to end users without being subject
to a physical and material change (for
example, the sale of raw materials that
cannot be used except in a
manufacturing process);
(B) Credible evidence obtained or
created in the ordinary course of
business from the recipient to support
that the product purchased will be
subject to manufacture, assembly, or
other processing outside the United
PO 00000
Frm 00062
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
States within the meaning of paragraph
(d)(1)(iii) of this section; or
(C) A written statement prepared by
the seller containing the information
described in paragraphs (d)(3)(iii)(C)(1)
through (7) of this section corroborated
by evidence that is credible and
sufficient to support the information
provided.
(1) The name and address of the
manufacturer of the property;
(2) The date or dates the property was
shipped or delivered to the recipient;
(3) The amount of gross income from
the sale;
(4) A full description of the general
property sold and the type or types of
finished goods that will incorporate the
general property the taxpayer sold;
(5) A description of the
manufacturing, assembly, or other
processing operations, including the
location or locations of manufacture,
assembly, or other processing; how the
general property will be used in the
finished good; and the nature of the
finished good’s manufacturing,
assembly, or other processing operations
as compared to the process used to
make the general property used to make
the finished good;
(6) A description of how the seller
determined the general property was
substantially transformed or the
activities were substantial in nature
within the meaning of paragraph
(d)(1)(iii)(B) or (C) of this section,
whichever the case may be; and,
(7) If the seller is relying on the rule
described in paragraph (d)(1)(iii)(C) of
this section (that the fair market value
of the general property be no more than
twenty percent of the fair market value
when incorporated into the finished
goods sold to end users), an explanation
of how the seller satisfies the
requirements in that paragraph.
(iv) Substantiation of foreign use of
intangible property. A taxpayer satisfies
the substantiation requirements with
respect to a sale of property described
in paragraph (d)(2) of this section
(foreign use for intangible property) if
the seller maintains one or more of the
following items—
(A) A binding contract that
specifically provides that the intangible
property can be exploited solely outside
the United States;
(B) Credible evidence obtained or
created in the ordinary course of
business from the recipient establishing
the portion of its revenue for a taxable
year that was derived from exploiting
the intangible property outside the
United States; or
(C) A written statement prepared by
the seller containing the information
described in paragraphs (d)(3)(iv)(C)(1)
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
through (9) of this section corroborated
by evidence that is credible and
sufficient to support the information
provided.
(1) The name and address of the
recipient;
(2) The date of the sale;
(3) The amount of gross income from
the sale;
(4) A description of the intangible
property;
(5) An explanation of how the
intangible property will be used by the
recipient (embedded in general
property, used to provide a service, used
as a manufacturing method or process,
or used in research and development);
(6) An explanation of how the seller
determined what portion of the sale is
a FDDEI sale;
(7) If the intangible property consists
of a manufacturing method or process,
an explanation of how the elements of
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C) of this section are
satisfied;
(8) If the sale is for periodic payments,
an explanation of how the seller
determined the extent of foreign use
based on the actual revenue earned by
the recipient from the use of the
intangible property for the taxable year
in which a periodic payment is received
as required by paragraph (d)(2)(iii)(A) of
this section, or, if actual revenue cannot
be obtained after reasonable efforts, an
explanation of why actual revenue is
unavailable and how the seller
determined the extent of foreign use
based on estimated revenue; and
(9) If the sale is for a lump sum, an
explanation of how the seller
determined the total net present value of
revenue it expected to earn from the
exploitation of the intangible property
outside the United States and the total
net present value of revenue it expected
to earn from the exploitation of the
intangible property as required by
paragraph (d)(2)(iii)(B) of this section.
(v) Examples. The following examples
illustrate the application of this
paragraph (d)(3).
(A) Assumed facts. The following
facts are assumed for purposes of the
examples—
(1) DC is a domestic corporation.
(2) FP is a foreign person located
within Country A that is a foreign
unrelated party with respect to DC.
(3) All of DC’s income is DEI.
(4) Except as otherwise provided, the
substantive rule for foreign use as
described in paragraphs (d)(1) and (2) of
this section are satisfied.
(B) Examples—
(1) Example 1: Substantiation by seller of
sale of products to distributor outside the
United States with taxpayer statement and
corroborating evidence—(i) Facts. DC sells
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
smartphones to FP, a distributor of
electronics that sells property to end users.
As part of their regular business process and
pursuant to DC’s terms and conditions of
sales, DC issues commercial invoices to FP
that contain a condition that any subsequent
sales must be to end users outside the United
States. At or near the time of the FDII filing
date, DC prepares a statement containing the
information required in paragraph
(d)(3)(ii)(E) of this section. During an
examination of DC’s return for the taxable
year, the IRS requests substantiation
information of foreign use. DC submits the
commercial invoices issued to FP as
supporting information that FP’s customers
are end users outside the United States and
all other corroborating evidence to the IRS.
(ii) Analysis. DC’s sale to FP is a sale of
general property for resale subject to the
substantiation requirements of paragraph
(d)(3)(ii) of this section. DC satisfies the
substantiation requirement by providing the
statement that satisfies the requirements of
paragraph (d)(3)(ii)(E) of this section. The
commercial invoices issued pursuant to the
terms and conditions of sales sufficiently
corroborate DC’s statement that the
smartphones will ultimately be sold to end
users outside of the United States.
(2) Example 2: Substantiation of sale of
products to distributor outside the United
States with recipient provided information—
(i) Facts. DC sells cameras to FP, a distributor
of electronics that sells property to end users
outside the United States. FP issues sales
invoices to its end users. The invoices
contain detailed information about the nature
of the subsequent sales of the cameras and
the location of the end users for value added
tax (VAT) purposes. DC is able to obtain
copies of FP’s VAT invoices with respect to
the camera sales that were maintained and
submitted pursuant to Country A law. Rather
than prepare a statement described in
paragraph (d)(3)(ii)(E) of this section, DC
submits FP’s invoices to the IRS as
substantiation of foreign use.
(ii) Analysis. DC’s sale to FP is a sale of
general property for resale subject to the
substantiation requirements of paragraph
(d)(3)(ii) of this section. DC satisfies the
substantiation requirements by providing the
invoices that satisfy the requirements of
paragraph (d)(3)(ii)(D) of this section. The
VAT invoices issued by FP pursuant to
Country A law constitute credible evidence
from FP that ultimate sales are to end users
located outside the United States.
(e) Sales of interests in a disregarded
entity. Under Federal income tax
principles, the sale of any interest in an
entity that is disregarded for Federal
income tax purposes is considered the
sale of the assets of that entity, and this
section applies to the sale of each such
asset that is general property or
intangible property for purposes of
determining whether such sale qualifies
as a FDDEI sale.
(f) FDDEI sales hedging transactions—
(1) In general. The amount of a
corporation’s or partnership’s gross
FDDEI from FDDEI sales of general
PO 00000
Frm 00063
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43103
property in a taxable year is increased
by any gain, or decreased by any loss,
taken into account in that taxable year
with respect to any FDDEI sales hedging
transactions (determined by taking into
account the applicable Federal income
tax accounting rules, including § 1.446–
4).
(2) FDDEI sales hedging transaction—
The term FDDEI sales hedging
transaction means a transaction that
meets the requirements of § 1.1221–2(a)
through (e) and that is identified in
accordance with the requirements of
§ 1.1221–2(f), except that the transaction
must manage risk of price changes or
currency fluctuations with respect to
ordinary property, as provided in
§ 1.1221–2(b)(1), and the ordinary
property whose price risk is being
hedged must be general property that is
sold in a FDDEI sale.
§ 1.250(b)–5 Foreign-derived deduction
eligible income (FDDEI) services.
(a) Scope. This section provides rules
for determining whether a provision of
a service is a FDDEI service. Paragraph
(b) of this section defines a FDDEI
service. Paragraph (c) of this section
provides definitions relevant for
determining whether a provision of a
service is a FDDEI service. Paragraph (d)
of this section provides rules for
determining whether a general service is
provided to a consumer located outside
the United States. Paragraph (e) of this
section provides rules for determining
whether a general service is provided to
a business recipient located outside the
United States. Paragraph (f) of this
section provides rules for determining
whether a proximate service is provided
to a recipient located outside the United
States. Paragraph (g) of this section
provides rules for determining whether
a service is provided with respect to
property located outside the United
States. Paragraph (h) of this section
provides rules for determining whether
a transportation service is provided to a
recipient, or with respect to property,
located outside the United States.
(b) Definition of FDDEI service. Except
as provided in § 1.250(b)–6(d), the term
FDDEI service means a provision of a
service described in any one of
paragraphs (b)(1) through (5) of this
section. If only a portion of a service is
treated as provided to a person, or with
respect to property, outside the United
States, the provision of the service is a
FDDEI service only to the extent of the
gross income derived with respect to
such portion.
(1) The provision of a general service
to a consumer located outside the
United States (as determined under
paragraph (d) of this section).
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
43104
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
(2) The provision of a general service
to a business recipient located outside
the United States (as determined under
paragraph (e) of this section).
(3) The provision of a proximate
service to a recipient located outside the
United States (as determined under
paragraph (f) of this section).
(4) The provision of a property service
with respect to tangible property located
outside the United States (as determined
under paragraph (g) of this section).
(5) The provision of a transportation
service to a recipient, or with respect to
property, located outside the United
States (as determined under paragraph
(h) of this section).
(c) Definitions. This paragraph (c)
provides definitions that apply for
purposes of this section and § 1.250(b)–
6.
(1) Advertising service. The term
advertising service means a general
service that consists primarily of
transmitting or displaying content
(including via the internet) to
consumers with a purpose to generate
revenue based on the promotion of a
product or service.
(2) Benefit. The term benefit has the
meaning set forth in § 1.482–9(l)(3).
(3) Business recipient. The term
business recipient means a recipient
other than a consumer and includes all
related parties of the recipient.
However, if the recipient is a related
party of the taxpayer, the term does not
include the taxpayer.
(4) Consumer. The term consumer
means a recipient that is an individual
that purchases a general service for
personal use.
(5) Electronically supplied service.
The term electronically supplied service
means, with respect to a general service
other than an advertising service, a
service that is delivered primarily over
the internet or an electronic network.
Electronically supplied services include
the provision of access to digitized
products (such as streaming content
without downloading the content); ondemand network access to computing
resources, such as networks, servers,
storage, and software; the provision or
support of a business or personal
presence on a network (such as a
website or a web page); services
automatically generated from a
computer via the internet or other
network in response to data input by the
recipient; the provision of information
electronically; and similar services.
(6) General service. The term general
service means any service other than a
property service, proximate service, or
transportation service. The term general
service includes advertising services
and electronically supplied services.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
(7) Property service. The term
property service means a service, other
than a transportation service, provided
with respect to tangible property, but
only if substantially all of the service is
performed at the location of the
property and results in physical
manipulation of the property such as
through manufacturing, assembly,
maintenance, or repair. Substantially all
of a service is performed at the location
of property only if the renderer spends
more than 80 percent of the time
providing the service at or near the
location of the property.
(8) Proximate service. The term
proximate service means a service, other
than a property service or a
transportation service, provided to a
consumer or business recipient, but
only if substantially all of the service is
performed in the physical presence of
the consumer or, in the case of a
business recipient, substantially all of
the service is performed in the physical
presence of persons working for the
business recipient such as employees,
contractors, or agents. Substantially all
of a service is performed in the physical
presence of a consumer or persons
working for a business recipient only if
the renderer spends more than 80
percent of the time providing the service
in the physical presence of such
persons.
(9) Transportation service. The term
transportation service means a service
to transport a person or property using
aircraft, railroad rolling stock, vessel,
motor vehicle, or any other mode of
transportation. Transportation services
include freight forwarding and similar
services.
(d) General services provided to
consumers—(1) In general. A general
service is provided to a consumer
located outside the United States if the
consumer of a general service resides
outside of the United States when the
service is provided. Except as provided
in paragraph (d)(2) of this section, if the
renderer does not have or cannot after
reasonable efforts obtain the consumer’s
location of residence when the service
is provided, the consumer of a general
service is treated as residing at the
location of the consumer’s billing
address. However, the rule in the
preceding sentence allowing for the use
of a consumer’s billing address does not
apply if the renderer knows or has
reason to know that the consumer does
not reside outside the United States. A
renderer has reason to know that the
consumer does not reside outside the
United States if the information
received as part of the provision of the
service indicates that the consumer
resides in the United States and the
PO 00000
Frm 00064
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
renderer fails to obtain evidence
establishing that the consumer resides
outside the United States.
(2) Electronically supplied services.
The consumer of an electronically
supplied service is deemed to reside at
the location of the device used to
receive the service. Such location may
be determined based on the location of
the IP address when the electronically
supplied service is provided. However,
if the renderer does not have or cannot
after reasonable efforts obtain the
consumer’s device location, then the
location of the device is treated as being
outside the United States if the
renderer’s billing address for the
consumer is outside of the United
States, subject to the knowledge and
reason to know standards described in
paragraph (d)(1) of this section.
(3) Example. The following example
illustrates the application of paragraph
(d) of this section.
(i) Facts. DC, a domestic corporation,
provides a streaming movie service on its
website. The terms of the service allow
consumers to watch movies over the internet.
The terms of the service permit the consumer
to view the movies for personal use, but
convey no ownership of movies to the
consumers.
(ii) Analysis. The streaming service is a
FDDEI service under paragraph (d)(1) of this
section to the extent that the service is
provided to consumers that reside outside
the United States. The service that DC
provides is a general service, provided to
consumers that is an electronically supplied
service under paragraph (c)(5) of this section.
Therefore, the consumers are deemed to
reside at the location of the devices used to
receive the service under paragraph (d)(2) of
this section. However, if the renderer cannot
reasonably obtain the consumers’ device
location (such as IP addresses), the device
location is treated as being outside the
United States if their billing addresses are
outside the United States. See § 1.250(b)–
4(d)(1)(v)(B)(7) for an example of digital
content provided to consumers as a sale
rather than a service.
(e) General services provided to
business recipients—(1) In general. A
general service is provided to a business
recipient located outside the United
States to the extent that the service
confers a benefit on the business
recipient’s operations outside the
United States under the rules in
paragraph (e)(2) of this section. The
location of residence, incorporation, or
formation of a business recipient is not
relevant to determining the location of
the business recipient’s operations that
benefit from a general service.
(2) Determination of business
operations that benefit from the
service—(i) In general. Except as
otherwise provided in paragraph
(e)(2)(ii) and (iii) of this section, the
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
determination of which operations of
the business recipient located outside
the United States benefit from a general
service, and the extent to which such
operations benefit, is made under the
principles of § 1.482–9 by treating the
taxpayer as one controlled taxpayer, the
portions of the business recipient’s
operations within the United States (if
any) that may benefit from the general
service as one or more controlled
taxpayers, and the portions of the
business recipient’s operations outside
the United States (if any) that may
benefit from the general service, each as
one or more controlled taxpayers. The
extent to which a business recipient’s
operations within or outside of the
United States are treated as one or more
separate controlled taxpayers is
determined under any reasonable
method (for example, separate
controlled taxpayers may be determined
on a per entity or per country basis, or
by aggregating all of the business
recipient’s operations outside the
United States as one controlled
taxpayer). The determination of the
amount of the benefit conferred on the
business recipient’s operations that are
treated as controlled taxpayers is
determined under a reasonable method
consistent with the principles of
§ 1.482–9(k), treating the renderer’s
gross income from the services provided
to the business recipient as if it were a
‘‘cost’’ as that term is used in § 1.482–
9(k). Reasonable methods may include,
for example, allocations based on time
spent or costs incurred by the renderer
or sales, profits, or assets of the business
recipient. The determination is made
when the service is provided based on
information obtained from the business
recipient or on the renderer’s own
records (such as time spent working
with the business recipient’s offices
located outside the United States).
(ii) Advertising services. With respect
to advertising services, the operations of
the business recipient that benefit from
the advertising service provided by the
renderer are deemed to be located where
the advertisements are viewed by
individuals. If advertising services are
displayed via the internet, the
advertising services are viewed at the
location of the device on which the
advertisements are viewed. For this
purpose, the IP address may be used to
establish the location of a device on
which an advertisement is viewed.
(iii) Electronically supplied services.
With respect to an electronically
supplied service, the operations of the
business recipient that benefit from that
service provided by the renderer are
deemed to be located where the
business recipient (including
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
employees, contractors, or agents)
accesses the service. If it cannot be
determined whether the location is
within or outside the United States
(such as where the location of access
cannot be reliably determined using the
location of the IP address of the device
used to receive the service), and the
gross receipts from all services with
respect to the business recipient are in
the aggregate less than $50,000 for the
renderer’s taxable year, the operations of
the business recipient that benefit from
the service provided by the renderer are
deemed to be located at the recipient’s
billing address; otherwise, the
operations of the business recipient that
benefit is deemed to be located in the
United States. If the renderer provides a
service that is partially an electronically
supplied service and partially a general
service that is not an electronically
supplied service (such as a service that
is performed partially online and
partially by mail or in person), the
location of the business recipient is
determined using the rule for
electronically supplied services in this
paragraph (e)(2)(iii) if the primary
purpose of the service is to provide
electronically supplied services;
otherwise, the rule for general services
described in paragraph (e)(2)(i) of this
section applies.
(3) Identification of business
recipient’s operations—(i) In general.
For purposes of this paragraph (e),
except with respect to advertising
services and electronically supplied
services, a business recipient is treated
as having operations where it maintains
an office or other fixed place of
business. In general, an office or other
fixed place of business is a fixed facility,
that is, a place, site, structure, or other
similar facility, through which the
business recipient engages in a trade or
business. For purposes of making the
determination in this paragraph (e)(3)(i),
the renderer may make reliable
assumptions based on the information
available to it.
(ii) Advertising services and
electronically supplied services. The
location of a business recipient that
receives advertising services or
electronically supplied services will be
determined under the rules of paragraph
(e)(2)(ii) and (iii) of this section,
respectively, even if the business
recipient does not maintain an office or
other fixed place of business in the
locations where the advertisements are
viewed (in the case of advertising
services) or where the general service is
accessed (in the case of electronically
supplied services).
(iii) No office or fixed place of
business. In the case of general services
PO 00000
Frm 00065
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43105
other than advertising services and
other than electronically supplied
services, if the business recipient does
not have an identifiable office or fixed
place of business (including the office of
a principal manager or managing
owner), the business recipient is
deemed to be located at its primary
billing address.
(4) Substantiation of the location of a
business recipient’s operations outside
the United States. Except as provided in
§ 1.250(b)–3(f)(3) (relating to certain loss
transactions), a general service provided
to a business recipient is treated as a
FDDEI service only if the renderer
substantiates its determination of the
extent to which the service benefits a
business recipient’s operations outside
the United States. A renderer satisfies
the preceding sentence if the renderer
maintains one or more of the following
items—
(i) Credible evidence obtained or
created in the ordinary course of
business from the business recipient
establishing the extent to which
operations of the business recipient
outside the United States benefit from
the service; or
(ii) A written statement prepared by
the renderer containing the information
described in paragraphs (e)(4)(ii)(A)
through (F) of this section corroborated
by evidence that is credible and
sufficient to support the information
provided.
(A) The name of the business
recipient;
(B) The date or dates of the service;
(C) The amount of gross income from
the service;
(D) A full description of the service;
(E) A description of how the service
will benefit the business recipient; and
(F) An explanation of how the
renderer determined what portion of the
service will benefit the business
recipient’s operations located outside
the United States.
(5) Examples. The following examples
illustrate the application of this
paragraph (e).
(i) Assumed facts. The following facts
are assumed for purposes of the
examples—
(A) DC is a domestic corporation.
(B) A and R are not related parties of
DC.
(C) Except as otherwise provided, the
substantiation requirements described
in paragraph (e)(4) of this section are
satisfied.
(ii) Examples—
(A) Example 1: Determination of business
operations that benefit from the service—(1)
Facts. For the taxable year, DC provides a
consulting service to R, a company that
operates restaurants within and outside of
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
43106
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
the United States, in exchange for $150x.
Fifty percent of the sales earned by R and its
related parties are from customers located
outside of the United States. However, the
consulting service that DC provides relates
specifically to a single chain of fast food
restaurants that R operates. Sales information
that R provides to DC indicates that 70
percent of the sales of the fast food restaurant
chain are from locations within the United
States and 30 percent of the sales are from
Country X. DC determines that the use of
sales is a reasonable method under the
principles of § 1.482–9(k) to allocate the
benefit of the consulting service among R’s
fast food operations.
(2) Analysis. Under paragraph (e)(1) of this
section, DC’s service is provided to a person
located outside the United States to the
extent that DC’s service confers a benefit to
R’s operations outside the United States.
Under paragraph (e)(2)(i) of this section, DC,
R’s fast food operations within the United
States, and R’s fast food operations in
Country X, are treated as if they were
controlled taxpayers because only these
operations may benefit from DC’s service.
The principles of § 1.482–9(k) apply to
determine the amount of DC’s service that
benefits R’s operations outside the United
States. DC’s gross income is allocated based
on the sales of the fast food chain of
restaurants that benefits from DC’s service
because using sales is a reasonable method.
Therefore, 30 percent of the provision of the
consulting service is treated as the provision
of a service to a person located outside the
United States and a FDDEI service under
paragraph (b)(2) of this section. Accordingly,
$45x ($150x × 0.30) of DC’s gross income
from the provision of the consulting service
is included in DC’s gross FDDEI for the
taxable year.
(B) Example 2: Determination of business
operations that benefit from the service;
alternative facts—(1) Facts. The facts are the
same as in paragraph (e)(5)(ii)(A)(1) of this
section (the facts in Example 1), except that
DC provides an information technology
service to R that benefits R’s entire business.
DC determines that the use of sales is a
reasonable method under the principles of
§ 1.482–9(k) to allocate the benefit of the
information technology service among R’s
entire business.
(2) Analysis. DC, R’s operations within the
United States, and R’s operations in Country
X, are treated as if they were controlled
taxpayers because the service that DC
provides relates to R’s entire business. DC’s
gross income is allocated based on sales of
the entire business because using sales is a
reasonable method to determine the amount
of DC’s service that benefits R’s operations
outside the United States under the
principles of § 1.482–9(k). Therefore, 50
percent of the provision of the information
technology service is treated as a service to
a person located outside the United States
and a FDDEI service under paragraph (b)(2)
of this section. Accordingly, $75x ($150x ×
0.50) of DC’s gross income from the provision
of the information technology service is
included in DC’s gross FDDEI for the taxable
year.
(C) Example 3: Advertising services—(1)
Facts. The facts are the same as in paragraph
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
(e)(5)(ii)(A)(1) of this section (the facts in
Example 1), except that DC provides an
advertising service to R. DC displays
advertisements for R’s restaurant chain on its
social media website and smartphone
application. Based on the IP addresses of the
devices on which the advertisements are
viewed, 20 percent of the views of the
advertisements were from devices located
outside the United States.
(2) Analysis. Because the service that DC
provides is an advertising service, under
paragraph (e)(2)(i) of this section, as modified
by paragraph (e)(2)(ii) of this section, R’s
operations that benefit from DC’s advertising
service are deemed to be where the
advertisements are viewed. Therefore, 20
percent of the provision of the advertising
service is treated as a service to a person
located outside the United States and a
FDDEI service under paragraph (b)(2) of this
section. Accordingly, $30x ($150x × 0.20) of
DC’s gross income from the provision of the
advertising service is included in DC’s gross
FDDEI for the taxable year.
(D) Example 4: No reliable information
about which operations benefit from the
service or publicly available information—(1)
Facts. For the taxable year, DC provides a
consulting service to R, a business-facing
company that does not advertise its business.
All of DC’s interaction with R is through R’s
employees that report to an office in the
United States. Statements made by R’s
employees indicate that the service will
benefit R’s business operations located
within and outside the United States, but do
not provide information that would allow DC
to reliably determine the extent to which its
service will confer a benefit on R’s business
operations located outside the United States.
(2) Analysis. DC is unable to determine the
extent to which its service will confer a
benefit on R’s business operations located
outside the United States under paragraph
(e)(2)(i) of this section. Accordingly, DC
cannot substantiate a determination of the
extent to which the service benefits a
business recipient’s operations outside the
United States under paragraph (e)(4) of this
section. Therefore, no portion of DC’s service
is a FDDEI service.
(E) Example 5: Electronically supplied
services that are accessed by the business
recipient’s employees—(1) Facts. DC
provides payroll services for R. As part of
this service, DC maintains a website through
which R can enter payroll information for its
employees and through which R’s employees
can enter and change their personal
information. DC also causes R’s employees’
paychecks to be directly deposited into their
bank accounts and pays R’s employment
taxes on R’s behalf. The primary purpose of
the service is to pay R’s employees. R has 100
user accounts that access DC’s website. Sixty
of the user accounts that access DC’s website
access the website from devices that are
located outside the United States and forty of
the user accounts access the website from
devices that are located inside the United
States.
(2) Analysis. Under paragraph (e)(1) of this
section, DC’s service is provided to a person
located outside the United States to the
extent that DC’s service confers a benefit to
PO 00000
Frm 00066
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
R’s operations outside the United States. The
service that DC provides to R is an
electronically supplied service under
paragraph (c)(5) of this section. Accordingly,
under paragraph (e)(2)(i) of this section, as
modified by paragraph (e)(2)(iii) of this
section, R’s operations that benefit from DC’s
services are deemed to be located where R
accesses the service, which is where R’s
employees access the website. See paragraph
(e)(2)(iii) of this section. Accordingly, the
portion of the payroll service that is treated
as a service to a person located outside the
United States and a FDDEI service under
paragraph (b)(2) of this section is determined
based on the extent to which the locations
where R accesses the website are located
outside the United States. Because 60 percent
(60/100) of user accounts access DC’s website
from locations outside the United States, 60
percent of the provision of the payroll service
is treated as a service to a person located
outside the United States and a FDDEI
service under paragraph (b)(2) of this section.
(F) Example 6: Electronically supplied
services that are accessed by the business
recipient’s customers—(1) Facts. DC
maintains a website for R, a company that
sells consumer goods online. R’s offices are
in the United States, but R sells its products
to customers both within and outside the
United States. Based on the IP addresses of
the devices on which the website is accessed,
30 percent of the devices that accessed the
website during the taxable year were located
outside the United States.
(2) Analysis. Under paragraph (e)(1) of this
section, DC’s service is provided to a person
located outside the United States to the
extent that DC’s service confers a benefit to
R’s operations outside the United States. The
service that DC provides to R is an
electronically supplied service under
paragraph (c)(5) of this section. Accordingly,
under paragraph (e)(2)(i) of this section, as
modified by paragraph (e)(2)(iii) of this
section, R’s operations that benefit from DC’s
services are deemed to be located where the
service is accessed, which is where R’s
website is accessed in this example.
Therefore, 30 percent of the provision of the
website maintenance service is treated as a
service to a person located outside the United
States and a FDDEI service under paragraph
(b)(2) of this section.
(G) Example 7: Service provided to a
domestic person—(1) Facts. A, a domestic
corporation that operates solely in the United
States, enters into a services agreement with
R, a company that operates solely outside the
United States. Under the agreement, A agrees
to perform a consulting service for R. A hires
DC to provide a service to A that A will use
in the provision of a consulting service to R.
(2) Analysis. Because DC provides a service
to A, a person located within the United
States, DC’s provision of the service to A is
not a FDDEI service under paragraph (b)(2) of
this section, even though the service is used
by A in providing a service to R, a person
located outside the United States. See also
section 250(b)(5)(B)(ii). However, A’s
provision of the consulting service to R may
be a FDDEI service, in which case A’s gross
income from the provision of such service
would be included in A’s gross FDDEI.
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
(f) Proximate services. A proximate
service is provided to a recipient located
outside the United States if the
proximate service is performed outside
the United States. In the case of a
proximate service performed partly
within the United States and partly
outside of the United States, a
proportionate amount of the service is
treated as provided to a recipient
located outside the United States
corresponding to the portion of time the
renderer spends providing the service
outside of the United States.
(g) Property services—(1) In general.
Except as provided in paragraph (g)(2)
of this section, a property service is
provided with respect to tangible
property located outside the United
States only if the property is located
outside the United States for the
duration of the period the service is
performed.
(2) Exception for services provided
with respect to property temporarily in
the United States. A property service is
deemed to be provided with respect to
tangible property located outside the
United States if the following conditions
are satisfied—
(i) The property is temporarily in the
United States for the purpose of
receiving the property service;
(ii) After the completion of the
service, the property will be primarily
hangared, stored, or used outside the
United States;
(iii) The property is not used to
generate revenue in the United States at
any point during the duration of the
service; and
(iv) The property is owned by a
foreign person that resides or primarily
operates outside the United States.
(h) Transportation services. Except as
provided in this paragraph (h), a
transportation service is provided to a
recipient, or with respect to property,
located outside the United States only if
both the origin and the destination of
the service are outside of the United
States. However, in the case of a
transportation service provided to a
recipient, or with respect to property,
where either the origin or the
destination of the service is outside of
the United States, but not both, then 50
percent of the gross income from the
transportation service is considered
derived from services provided to a
recipient, or with respect to property,
located outside the United States.
§ 1.250(b)–6
Related party transactions.
(a) Scope. This section provides rules
for determining whether a sale of
property or a provision of a service to
a related party is a FDDEI transaction.
Paragraph (b) of this section provides
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
definitions relevant for determining
whether a sale of property or a provision
of a service to a related party is a FDDEI
transaction. Paragraph (c) of this section
provides rules for determining whether
a sale of general property to a foreign
related party is a FDDEI sale. Paragraph
(d) of this section provides rules for
determining whether the provision of a
general service to a business recipient
that is a related party is a FDDEI service.
(b) Definitions. This paragraph (b)
provides definitions that apply for
purposes of this section.
(1) Related party sale. The term
related party sale means a sale of
general property to a foreign related
party. See § 1.250(b)–1(e)(3)(ii)(D)
(Example 4) for an illustration of a
related party sale in the case of a seller
that is a partnership.
(2) Related party service. The term
related party service means a provision
of a general service to a business
recipient that is a related party of the
renderer and that is described in
§ 1.250(b)–5(b)(2) without regard to
paragraph (d) of this section.
(3) Unrelated party transaction. The
term unrelated party transaction means,
with respect to property purchased by a
foreign related party (the ‘‘purchased
property’’) in a related party sale from
a seller—
(i) A sale of the purchased property by
the foreign related party in the ordinary
course of its business to a foreign
unrelated party with respect to the
seller;
(ii) A sale of property by the foreign
related party to a foreign unrelated party
with respect to the seller, if the
purchased property is a constituent part
of the property sold to the foreign
unrelated party;
(iii) A sale of property by the foreign
related party to a foreign unrelated party
with respect to the seller, if the
purchased property is not a constituent
part of the product sold to the foreign
unrelated party but rather is used in
connection with producing the property
sold to the foreign unrelated party; or
(iv) A provision of a service by the
foreign related party to a foreign
unrelated party with respect to the
seller, if the purchased property was
used in connection with the provision
of the service.
(c) Related party sales—(1) In general.
A related party sale of general property
is a FDDEI sale only if the requirements
described in either paragraph (c)(1)(i) or
(ii) of this section are satisfied with
respect to the related party sale. This
paragraph (c) does not apply in
determining whether a sale of intangible
property to a foreign related party is a
FDDEI sale.
PO 00000
Frm 00067
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43107
(i) Sale of property in an unrelated
party transaction. A related party sale is
a FDDEI sale if an unrelated party
transaction described in paragraph
(b)(3)(i) or (ii) of this section occurs with
respect to the property purchased in the
related party sale and such unrelated
party transaction is described in
§ 1.250(b)–4(b) (definition of FDDEI
sale). The seller in the related party sale
may establish that an unrelated party
transaction will occur with respect to
the property, or what portion of the
property will be sold in an unrelated
party transaction in the case of sale of
a fungible mass of general property,
based on contractual terms (including,
for example, that the related party is
contractually bound to only sell the
product to foreign unrelated parties),
past practices of the foreign related
party (such as practices to only sell
products to foreign unrelated parties), a
showing that the product sold is
designed specifically for a foreign
market, or books and records otherwise
evidencing that sales will be made to
foreign unrelated parties.
(ii) Use of property in an unrelated
party transaction. A related party sale is
a FDDEI sale if one or more unrelated
party transactions described in
paragraph (b)(3)(iii) or (iv) of this
section occurs with respect to the
property purchased in the related party
sale and such unrelated party
transaction or transactions would be
described in § 1.250(b)–4(b) or
§ 1.250(b)–5(b) (definition of FDDEI
service). If the property purchased in
the related party sale will be used in
unrelated party transactions described
in the preceding sentence and other
transactions, the amount of gross
income from the related party sale that
is attributable to a FDDEI sale is equal
to the gross income from the related
party sale multiplied by a fraction, the
numerator of which is the revenue that
the related party reasonably expects (as
of the FDII filing date) to earn from all
unrelated party transactions with
respect to the property purchased in the
related party sale that would be
described in § 1.250(b)–4(b) or
§ 1.250(b)–5(b) and the denominator of
which is the total revenue that the
related party reasonably expects (as of
the FDII filing date) to earn from all
transactions with respect to the property
purchased in the related party sale.
(2) Treatment of foreign related party
as seller or renderer. For purposes of
determining whether a sale of property
or provision of a service by a foreign
related party is, or would be, described
in § 1.250(b)–4(b) or § 1.250(b)–5(b), the
foreign related party that sells the
property or provides the service is
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
43108
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
treated as a seller or renderer, as
applicable, and the foreign unrelated
party is treated as the recipient.
(3) Transactions between related
parties. For purposes of determining
whether an unrelated party sale has
occurred and satisfies the requirements
of paragraphs (c)(1) or (2) of this section
with respect to a sale to a foreign related
party (and not for purposes of
determining whether a sale is to a
foreign person as required by § 1.250(b)–
4(b)), all related parties of the seller are
treated as if they are part of a single
foreign related party. For purposes of
the preceding sentence, in determining
whether a United States person is a
member of the seller’s modified
affiliated group, and therefore a related
party of the seller, the definition of the
term modified affiliated group in
§ 1.250(b)–1(c)(17) applies without the
substitution of ‘‘more than 50 percent’’
for ‘‘at least 80 percent’’ each place it
appears. Accordingly, if a foreign
related party sells or uses property
purchased in a related party sale in a
transaction with a second related party
of the seller, transactions between the
second related party and an unrelated
party may be treated as an unrelated
party transaction for purposes of
applying paragraph (c)(1) of this section
to a related party sale.
(4) Example. The following example
illustrates the application of this
paragraph (c).
(i) Facts. DC, a domestic corporation, sells
a machine to FC, a foreign related party of
DC in a transaction described in § 1.250(b)–
4(b) (without regard to this paragraph (c)). FC
uses the machine solely to manufacture
product A. As of the FDII filing date for the
taxable year, 75 percent of future revenue
from sales by FC to unrelated parties of
product A will be from sales that would be
described in § 1.250(b)–4(b).
(ii) Analysis. The sale by DC to FC is a
related party sale. Because FC uses the
machine to make product A, but the machine
is not a constituent part of product A because
FC does not undertake further manufacturing
with respect to the machine itself, FC’s sale
of product A is an unrelated party transaction
described in paragraph (b)(3)(iii) of this
section. Therefore, DC’s sale of the machine
is only a FDDEI sale if the requirements of
paragraph (c)(1)(ii) of this section are
satisfied. Because 75 percent of the revenue
from future sales of product A will be from
unrelated party transactions that would be
described in § 1.250(b)–4(b), 75 percent of the
revenues from DC’s sale of the machine to FC
constitute FDDEI sales.
(d) Related party services—(1) In
general. Except as provided in this
paragraph (d)(1), a related party service
is a FDDEI service only if the related
party service is not substantially similar
to a service that has been provided or
will be provided by the related party to
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
a person located within the United
States. However, if a related party
service is substantially similar to a
service provided (in whole or in part) by
the related party to a person located in
the United States solely by reason of
paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of this section, the
amount of gross income from the related
party service attributable to a FDDEI
service is equal to the difference
between the gross income from the
related party service and the amount of
the price paid by persons located within
the United States that is attributable to
the related party service. Section
250(b)(5)(C)(ii) and this paragraph (d)(1)
apply only to a general service provided
to a related party that is a business
recipient and are not applicable with
respect to any other service provided to
a related party.
(2) Substantially similar services. A
related party service is substantially
similar to a service provided by the
related party to a person located within
the United States only if the related
party service is used by the related party
in whole or part to provide a service to
a person located within the United
States and either—
(i) 60 percent or more of the benefits
conferred by the related party service
are directly used by the related party to
confer benefits on consumers or
business recipients located within the
United States; or
(ii) 60 percent or more of the price
paid by consumers or business
recipients located within the United
States for the service provided by the
related party is attributable to the
related party service.
(3) Special rules. For purposes of
paragraph (d) of this section, the rules
in paragraphs (d)(3)(i) and (ii) of this
section apply.
(i) Rules for determining the location
of and price paid by recipients of a
service provided by a related party. The
location of a consumer or business
recipient with respect to services
provided by the related party is
determined under § 1.250(b)–5(d) and
(e)(2), respectively, but treating the
related party as the renderer.
Accordingly, if the related party
provides a service to a business
recipient, the related party is treated as
conferring benefits on a person located
within the United States to the extent
that the service confers a benefit on the
business recipient’s operations located
within the United States. Similarly, for
purposes of applying paragraph (d)(2)(ii)
of this section with respect to business
recipients, the price paid by a business
recipient to the related party for services
is allocated proportionally based on the
locations of the business recipient that
PO 00000
Frm 00068
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
benefit from the services provided by
the related party.
(ii) Rules for allocating the benefits
provided by and price paid to the
renderer of a related party service. For
purposes of applying paragraph (d)(2)(i)
of this section with respect to benefits
that are directly used by the related
party to confer benefits on its recipients,
the benefits provided by the renderer to
the related party are allocated to the
related party’s consumers or business
recipients within the United States
based on the proportion of benefits
conferred by the related party on
consumers or business recipients
located within the United States. For
purposes of determining the amount of
the price paid by persons located within
the United States that is attributable to
the related party service in applying
paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of this section, if the
related party provides services that
confer benefits on persons located
within the United States and outside the
United States, the price paid for the
related party service by the related party
to the renderer is allocated
proportionally based on the benefits
conferred on each location by the
related party to its recipients.
(4) Examples. The following examples
illustrate the application of this
paragraph (d).
(i) Assumed facts. The following facts
are assumed for purposes of the
examples—
(A) DC is a domestic corporation.
(B) FC is a foreign corporation and a
foreign related party of DC that operates
solely outside the United States.
(C) The service DC provides to FC is
a general service provided to a business
recipient located outside the United
States as described in § 1.250(b)–5(b)(2)
without regard to the application of
paragraph (d) of this section.
(D) The benefits conferred by DC’s
service to FC’s customers are not
indirect or remote within the meaning
of § 1.482–9(l)(3)(ii).
(ii) Examples—
(A) Example 1: Services that are
substantially similar services under
paragraph (d)(2)(i) of this section—(1) Facts.
FC enters into a services agreement with R,
a company that operates restaurant chains
within and outside the United States. Under
the agreement, FC agrees to furnish a design
for the renovation of a chain of restaurants
that R owns; the design will include
architectural plans. FC hires DC to provide
an architectural service to FC that FC will use
in the provision of its design service to R.
The architectural service that DC provides to
FC will serve no other purpose than to enable
FC to provide its service to R. The service
that FC provides will benefit only R’s
operations within the United States. FC pays
an arm’s length price of $50x to DC for the
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
architectural service and DC recognizes $50x
of gross income from the service. FC incurs
additional costs to add additional design
elements to the plans and charges R a total
of $100x for its service.
(2) Analysis. All of the service that DC
provides to FC is directly used in the
provision of a service to R because FC uses
DC’s architectural service to provide its
design service to R, and the architectural
service that DC provides to FC will serve no
purpose other than to enable FC to provide
its service to R. In addition, FC is treated as
conferring benefits only to persons located
within the United States under paragraph
(d)(3)(i) of this section because only R’s
operations within the United States benefit
from the service provided by FC that used the
service provided by DC. Therefore, the
service provided by DC to FC is substantially
similar to the service provided by FC to R
under paragraph (d)(2)(i) of this section.
Accordingly, DC’s provision of the
architectural service to FC is not a FDDEI
service under paragraph (d)(1) of this section,
and DC’s gross income from the architectural
service ($50x) is not included in its gross
FDDEI.
(B) Example 2: Services that are not
substantially similar services under
paragraph (d)(2)(i) of this section—(1) Facts.
The facts are the same as paragraph
(d)(4)(ii)(A)(1) of this section (the facts in
Example 1), except that 90 percent of R’s
operations that will benefit from FC’s service
are located outside the United States.
(2) Analysis—(i) Analysis under paragraph
(d)(2)(i) of this section. All of the service that
DC provides to FC is directly used in the
provision of a service to R. However, because
90 percent of R’s operations that will benefit
from FC’s service are located outside the
United States under paragraph (d)(3)(i) of this
section, only 10 percent of the benefits of
FC’s service are conferred on person’s located
within the United States. Further, because
FC’s service confers a benefit on R’s
operations located within and outside the
United States, the benefit provided by DC to
FC is allocated proportionately based on the
locations of R that benefit from the services
provided by FC under paragraph (d)(3)(ii) of
this section. Therefore, only 10 percent of
DC’s architectural service are directly used
by FC to confer benefits on persons located
within the United States under paragraph
(d)(3)(ii) of this section. Therefore, the
architectural service provided by DC to FC is
not substantially similar to the design service
provided by FC to persons located within the
United States under paragraph (d)(2)(i) of this
section.
(C) Example 3: Services that are
substantially similar services under
paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of this section—(1) Facts.
The facts are the same as paragraph
(d)(4)(ii)(B)(1) of this section (the facts in
Example 2), except that FC pays an arm’s
length price of $75x to DC for the
architectural service and DC recognizes $75x
of gross income from the service. As in
paragraph (d)(4)(ii)(A)(1) and (d)(4)(ii)(B)(1)
of this section (the facts in Example 1 and
Example 2), FC charges R a total of $100x for
its service.
(2) Analysis—(i) Price paid by persons
located within the United States. Under
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
paragraph (d)(3)(i) of this section, FC is
treated as conferring benefits on a person
located within the United States to the extent
that R’s operations that will benefit from FC’s
service are located within the United States.
Further, because FC’s service confers a
benefit on R’s operations located within and
outside the United States, the price paid by
R to FC ($100x) is allocated proportionately
based on the locations of R that benefit from
the services provided by FC under paragraph
(d)(3)(i) of this section. Accordingly, because
10 percent of the R’s operations that will
benefit from FC’s services are located within
the United States, persons located within the
United States are treated as paying $10x
($100x x 0.10) for FC’s services for purposes
of applying the test in paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of
this section.
(ii) Amount attributable to the related party
service. The service that FC provides to R is
attributable in part to DC’s service because
FC uses the architectural plans that DC
provides to provide a service to R. Under
paragraph (d)(3)(ii) of this section, because
the benefits of the service provided by FC are
conferred on persons located within the
United States and outside the United States,
a proportionate amount (10 percent) of the
price paid to DC for the related party service
($75x), or $7.5x, is treated as attributable to
the services provided to persons located
within the United States.
(iii) Application of test in paragraph
(d)(2)(ii) of this section. For purposes of
applying the test described in paragraph
(d)(2)(ii) of this section, the price paid by
persons located within the United States for
the service provided by the related party (FC)
is $10x, as determined in paragraph
(d)(4)(ii)(C)(2)(i) of this section (the analysis
of this Example 3). The amount of the price
that is attributable to DC’s service is $7.5x,
as determined in paragraph (d)(4)(ii)(C)(2)(ii)
of this section (the analysis of this Example
3). Accordingly, of the price treated as paid
to FC by persons located within the United
States, 75 percent ($7.5x/$10x) is attributable
to the related party service. Because more
than 60 percent of the price treated as paid
by persons within the United States for FC’s
service is attributable to DC’s service, the
service provided by DC to FC is substantially
similar to the design service provided by FC
to persons located within the United States
under paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of this section.
(iv) Conclusion. Under paragraph (d)(1) of
this section, because the related party service
provided by DC is substantially similar to the
service provided by FC to a person located
in the United States solely by reason of
paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of this section, the
difference between DC’s gross income from
the related party service and the amount of
the price paid by persons located within the
United States that is attributable to the
related party service is treated as a FDDEI
service. Accordingly, $67.5x ($75x—$7.5x) of
DC’s gross income from the provision of the
service to FC is treated as a FDDEI service.
Par. 3. Section 1.861–8 is amended by
revising the last sentence of paragraph
(d)(2)(ii)(C)(1) and adding paragraph
(f)(1)(vi)(N) as follows:
■
PO 00000
Frm 00069
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43109
§ 1.861–8 Computation of taxable income
from sources within the United States and
from other sources and activities.
*
*
*
*
*
(d) * * *
(2) * * *
(ii) * * *
(C) * * *
(1) * * * The term gross foreignderived deduction eligible income, or
gross FDDEI, has the meaning provided
in § 1.250(b)–1(c)(16).
*
*
*
*
*
(f) * * *
(1) * * *
(vi) * * *
(N) Deduction eligible income and
foreign-derived deduction eligible
income under section 250(b).
*
*
*
*
*
■ Par. 4. Section 1.962–1 is amended
by:
■ 1. Revising paragraph (a)(2).
■ 2. Adding paragraphs (b)(1)(i)(A)(2)
and (b)(1)(i)(B)(3).
■ 3. Removing and reserving paragraph
(b)(1)(ii).
■ 4. Revising paragraphs (b)(2)(i)
through (iii), (c), and (d)
The revisions and additions read as
follows:
§ 1.962–1 Limitation of tax for individuals
on amounts included in gross income
under section 951(a).
(a) * * *
(2) For purposes of applying sections
960(a) and 960(d) (relating to foreign tax
credit) such amounts shall be treated as
if received by a domestic corporation (as
provided in paragraph (b)(2) of this
section).
*
*
*
*
*
(b) * * *
(1) * * *
(i) * * *
(A) * * *
(2) His GILTI inclusion amount (as
defined in § 1.951A–1(c)(1)) for the
taxable year; plus
*
*
*
*
*
(B) * * *
(3) The portion of the deduction
under section 250 and § 1.250(a)–1 that
would be allowed to a domestic
corporation equal to the percentage
applicable to global intangible lowtaxed income for the taxable year under
section 250(a)(1)(B) (including as
modified by section 250(a)(3)(B))
multiplied by the sum of the amount
described in paragraph (b)(1)(i)(A)(2) of
this section and the amount described
in paragraph (b)(1)(i)(A)(3) of this
section that is attributable to the amount
described in paragraph (b)(1)(i)(A)(2) of
this section.
*
*
*
*
*
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
43110
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
(2) * * *
(i) In general. Subject to the
applicable limitation of section 904 and
to the provisions of this paragraph
(b)(2), there shall be allowed as a credit
against the United States tax on the
amounts described in paragraph (b)(1)(i)
of this section the foreign income, war
profits, and excess profits taxes deemed
paid under section 960(a) or section
960(d) by the electing United States
shareholder with respect to such
amounts.
(ii) Application of sections 960(a) and
960(d). In applying sections 960(a) and
960(d) for purposes of this paragraph
(b)(2) in the case of an electing United
States shareholder, the term ‘‘domestic
corporation’’ as used in sections 960(a),
960(d), and 78, and the term
‘‘corporation’’ as used in sections 901
and 960(d)(2)(A) and (B), are treated as
referring to such shareholder with
respect to the amounts described in
paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section.
(iii) Carryback and carryover of excess
tax deemed paid. For purposes of this
paragraph (b)(2), other than with respect
to section 951A category income (as
defined in § 1.904–4(g)) (including
section 951A category income that is
reassigned to a separate category for
income resourced under a treaty), any
amount by which the foreign income,
war profits, and excess profits taxes
deemed paid by the electing United
States shareholder for any taxable year
under section 960 exceed the limitation
determined under paragraph
(b)(2)(iv)(A) of this section is treated as
a carryback and carryover of excess tax
paid under section 904(c), except that in
no case will excess tax paid be deemed
paid in another taxable year under
section 904(c) if an election under
section 962 by the shareholder does not
apply for such taxable year. Such
carrybacks and carryovers are applied
only against the United States tax on
amounts described in paragraph (b)(1)(i)
of this section.
*
*
*
*
*
(c) Example. The application of this
section may be illustrated by the
following example.
(1) Facts—(i) Individual A is a U.S.
resident who owns all of the shares of the
one class of stock in CFC, a controlled foreign
corporation. A and CFC each use the
calendar year as their U.S. and foreign
taxable years and the U.S. dollar as their
functional currency. A owns no direct or
indirect interest in any other controlled
foreign corporation.
(ii) For the 2019 taxable year, CFC has
$6,000,000 of pre-foreign tax earnings with
respect to which it accrues and pays
$1,000,000 of foreign income tax, leaving
$5,000,000 of after-tax net income. Of this
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
amount, $3,000,000 is general category tested
income as defined in section 951A(c)(2), and
$2,000,000 is passive category subpart F
income described in sections 952 and
904(d)(1)(C) that is all in a single subpart F
income group under §§ 1.954–1(c)(1)(iii) and
1.960–1(d)(2)(ii)(B)(2)(i). Of the $1,000,000 of
foreign income taxes paid or accrued by CFC,
$600,000 is allocated and apportioned to its
general category tested income group and
$400,000 is allocated and apportioned to its
passive category subpart F income group
under § 1.960–1(d)(3)(ii).
(iii) For the 2019 taxable year, A includes
under section 951A(a) all $3,000,000 of the
tested income of CFC as A’s GILTI inclusion
amount, as defined in § 1.951A–1(c)(1). In
addition, A includes under section 951(a)(1)
the $2,000,000 of passive category subpart F
income of CFC.
(iv) For the 2019 taxable year, A earns
$1,000,000 of foreign source passive category
gross income and $3,000,000 of U.S. source
gross income. A pays $100,000 of foreign
withholding taxes with respect to the
$1,000,000 of foreign source passive category
gross income. A incurs $1,000,000 of
deductible expenses for the 2019 taxable year
that are definitely related to all of A’s gross
income and are properly allocated and
apportioned under §§ 1.861–8(b)(5) and
1.861–8T(c)(1) among the section 904
statutory and residual groupings on the basis
of the relative amounts of gross income in
each grouping.
(v) A elects to apply section 962 and
chooses to claim credits under section 901
for the 2019 taxable year.
(2) Analysis with respect to section 962
taxable income—(i) Section 962(a)(1) and
§ 1.962–1(a)(1) provide that when an
individual United States shareholder elects
to apply section 962 for a taxable year, the
U.S. tax imposed with respect to amounts
that the individual includes under section
951(a) (the ‘‘section 951(a) inclusions’’)
equals the tax that would be imposed under
section 11 if the amounts were included by
a domestic corporation under section 951(a).
For purposes of section 962, an amount
included under section 951A is treated as an
inclusion under section 951(a). See section
951A(f)(1)(A). Therefore, A has total section
951(a) inclusions of $5,000,000: a $2,000,000
passive category subpart F inclusion and a
$3,000,000 GILTI inclusion amount. A is
taxed at the corporate rates under section 11
with respect to these inclusions.
(ii) Section 962(a)(2), § 1.962–1(a)(2), and
§ 1.962–1(b)(2) provide that sections 960(a)
and 960(d) apply to the section 951(a)
inclusions of an electing individual United
States shareholder as though the inclusions
were received by a domestic corporation, and
the electing individual United States
shareholder is allowed a credit against the
U.S. tax imposed with respect to the section
951(a) inclusions.
(iii) Section 960(a) deems a domestic
corporation that is a United States
shareholder of a controlled foreign
corporation to pay the foreign income taxes
paid or accrued by the foreign corporation
that are properly attributable to the foreign
corporation’s items of income included in the
domestic corporation’s income under section
PO 00000
Frm 00070
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
951(a). The foreign income taxes of a CFC
that are properly attributable to such items
are the domestic corporation’s proportionate
share of the taxes that are allocated and
apportioned to the relevant subpart F income
group. See § 1.960–1(c) and § 1.960–2(b). A
owns 100 percent of CFC, and includes all of
its subpart F income, which is in a single
subpart F income group. Therefore, all of the
$400,000 of foreign income taxes that are
allocable to CFC’s subpart F income are
properly attributable to the section 951(a)
inclusion of A, and A is deemed to pay these
taxes.
(iv) Section 960(d) provides that a
domestic corporation that has an inclusion in
income under section 951A is deemed to pay
an amount of foreign income taxes equal to
80 percent of the product of the domestic
corporation’s inclusion percentage
multiplied by the sum of all tested foreign
income taxes. Tested foreign income taxes
are the foreign income taxes of a controlled
foreign corporation that are properly
attributable to its tested income that the
domestic corporation takes into account
under section 951A. The foreign income
taxes that are properly attributable to the
tested income taken into account by a
domestic corporation are the domestic
corporation’s proportionate share of the
controlled foreign corporation’s foreign
income taxes that are allocated and
apportioned to the relevant tested income.
See § 1.960–1(c) and § 1.960–2(c). Because A
owns 100% of CFC and takes all $3,000,000
of CFC’s tested income into account in
computing A’s GILTI inclusion amount, all
$600,000 of the foreign income taxes that are
allocated and apportioned to the general
category tested income group of CFC are
tested foreign income taxes. A has an
inclusion percentage of 100 percent because
A’s GILTI inclusion amount equals all of A’s
share of the tested income of CFC. A is
therefore deemed to pay under section 960(d)
80 percent of the $600,000 of tested foreign
income taxes of CFC, or $480,000 of the
tested foreign income taxes.
(v) Section 1.962–1(b)(1)(i)(A) provides
that, for purposes of computing taxable
income under section 962, gross income
includes amounts that would be included
under section 78 if the shareholder with the
section 951(a) inclusions were a domestic
corporation. Section 78 requires a domestic
corporation to include in its gross income the
foreign income taxes that it is deemed to pay
under section 960, computed without regard
to the 80 percent limitation under section
960(d), and to which the benefits of section
901 apply. See section 78. A therefore
includes in gross income the $600,000 of
foreign income taxes that A is deemed to pay
under section 960(d), computed without
regard to the 80 percent limitation, and the
$400,000 of taxes that A is deemed to pay
under section 960(a).
(vi) Section 1.962–1(b)(1)(i)(B)(3) provides
that, for purposes of computing taxable
income under section 962, gross income is
reduced only by specified deductions, which
include the deduction allowed to a domestic
corporation under section 250 and
§ 1.250(a)–1 equal to 50 percent of the sum
of the GILTI inclusion amount and the
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
inclusion under section 78 with respect to
the GILTI inclusion amount. See section
250(a). A is therefore allowed a deduction
under section 250 equal to 50 percent of
$3,600,000 (the $3,000,000 GILTI inclusion
amount plus the $600,000 inclusion under
section 78), or $1,800,000.
43111
(vii) A’s taxable income and pre-credit U.S.
tax liability with respect to the section 951(a)
inclusions are computed as follows:
TABLE 1 TO PARAGRAPH (c)(2)(vii)
Section 951(a) inclusions with respect to CFC ...................................................................................................................................
Section 78 inclusions ...........................................................................................................................................................................
Deduction under section 250 ...............................................................................................................................................................
Taxable income under section 962 .....................................................................................................................................................
Pre-credit U.S. tax (0.21 × $4,200,000) ..............................................................................................................................................
(viii) Section 962 and § 1.962–1(b)(2)
provide that, in computing the section 904
limitation on the credit for foreign income
taxes that an electing individual United
States shareholder is deemed to pay under
sections 960(a) and (d), the individual’s
taxable income for a taxable year is
considered to consist only of section 951(a)
inclusions and the deductions allowed under
section 962. Section 904 limits the credit that
a taxpayer may claim for the taxes that it
pays or accrues, or is deemed to pay, to the
amount of its U.S. tax that is attributable to
the taxpayer’s foreign source income, and
applies this limitation separately with
respect to each separate category of income.
The limitation amount is computed by
multiplying the taxpayer’s total pre-credit
U.S. tax by the ratio of the taxpayer’s foreign
source taxable income in a separate category
for the taxable year to the taxpayer’s total
taxable income for the taxable year. See
section 904(a) and § 1.904–1(a).
(ix) A must compute the limitation on the
credit for the foreign income taxes deemed
paid under section 960(d) separately with
$5,000,000
1,000,000
(1,800,000)
4,200,000
882,000
respect to A’s taxable income in the separate
category described in section 904(d)(1)(A)
(the ‘‘GILTI category’’), namely, taxable
income attributable to the GILTI inclusion
amount. The limitation is computed using
only A’s 2019 taxable income under section
962 and the pre-credit U.S. tax of $882,000
on this income. A therefore computes the
limitation by multiplying $882,000 by the
ratio of A’s foreign source GILTI category
taxable income under section 962 to A’s total
taxable income under section 962, as follows:
TABLE 2 TO PARAGRAPH (c)(2)(ix)
GILTI inclusion amount ........................................................................................................................................................................
Section 78 inclusion .............................................................................................................................................................................
Section 250 deduction .........................................................................................................................................................................
Total GILTI category taxable income under section 962 ....................................................................................................................
Ratio of GILTI category taxable income to total taxable income under section 962 (1,800,000/$4,200,000) ...................................
Limitation amount (pre-credit U.S. tax of $882,000 × ($1,800,000/$4,200,000)) ...............................................................................
(x) A also must compute the limitation on
the credit for the foreign income taxes
deemed paid under section 960(a) separately
with respect to the foreign source passive
category taxable income under section 962,
namely, A’s taxable income attributable to
the subpart F inclusion. A computes the
limitation by multiplying A’s pre-credit U.S.
$3,000,000
$600,000
($1,800,000)
$1,800,000
42.86%
$378,000
tax of $882,000 by the ratio of A’s foreign
source passive category taxable income under
section 962 to A’s total taxable income under
section 962, as follows:
TABLE 3 TO PARAGRAPH (c)(2)(x)
Subpart F inclusion ..............................................................................................................................................................................
Section 78 inclusion .............................................................................................................................................................................
Total foreign source passive category taxable income .......................................................................................................................
Ratio of foreign source passive category taxable income to total taxable income under section 962 ($2,400,000/$4,200,000) ......
Limitation amount (pre-credit U.S. tax of $882,000 × ($2,400,000/$4,200,000)) ...............................................................................
(xi) A may claim a foreign tax credit for
$378,000 of the $480,000 of foreign income
taxes deemed paid under section 960(d), and
a foreign tax credit for all $400,000 of the
foreign income taxes deemed paid under
section 960(a), for a total foreign tax credit of
$778,000. The U.S. tax on A’s 2019 taxable
income with respect to CFC under section
962 is reduced from $882,000 to $104,000
($882,000 minus $778,000).
$2,000,000
$400,000
$2,400,000
57.14%
$504,000
(3) Analysis with respect to other income—
(i) A’s taxable income and pre-credit U.S. tax
liability with respect to A’s other income is
computed as follows:
TABLE 4 TO PARAGRAPH (c)(3)(i)
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
Gross income .......................................................................................................................................................................................
Deductions ...........................................................................................................................................................................................
Taxable Income ...................................................................................................................................................................................
Pre-credit U.S. tax computed under section 1(j) .................................................................................................................................
(ii) A must compute a separate limitation
on the credit for the foreign withholding
taxes paid with respect to A’s other foreign
source passive category taxable income.
Under § 1.962–1(b)(2)(iv)(B), A’s section 904
limitation on this income is computed on the
basis of A’s taxable income other than the
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
amounts taken into account under § 1.962–
1(b)(1)(i). Accordingly, $250,000 of A’s
deductions ($1,000,000 × $1,000,000/
$4,000,000) are apportioned to A’s
$1,000,000 of other foreign source passive
category gross income, and $750,000 of
deductions ($1,000,000 × $3,000,000/
PO 00000
Frm 00071
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
$4,000,000
1,000,000
3,000,000
1,074,988
$4,000,000) are apportioned to A’s
$3,000,000 of U.S. source gross income,
resulting in $750,000 of other foreign source
passive category taxable income and
$2,250,000 of U.S. source taxable income A
computes the limitation by multiplying A’s
pre-credit U.S. tax on A’s other income of
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
43112
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
$1,074,988 by the ratio of A’s other foreign
source passive category taxable income to A’s
other total taxable income, as follows:
TABLE 5 TO PARAGRAPH (c)(3)(ii)
Total other foreign source passive category taxable income .............................................................................................................
Ratio of other foreign source passive category taxable income to total other taxable income ($750,000/$3,000,000) ....................
Limitation amount (pre-credit U.S. tax of $1,074,988 × ($750,000/$3,000,000)) ...............................................................................
(iii) A may claim a foreign tax credit under
section 901 for all $100,000 of the foreign
withholding taxes on the other passive
income. The U.S. tax on A’s $3,000,000 of
other taxable income is reduced from
$1,074,988 to $974,988 ($1,074,88 minus
$100,000).
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
(d) Applicability dates. Except as
otherwise provided in this paragraph
(d), paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section
applies beginning the last taxable year
of a foreign corporation that begins
before January 1, 2018, and with respect
to a United States person, for the taxable
year in which or with which such
taxable year of the foreign corporation
ends. Paragraphs (b)(1)(i)(A)(2) and
(b)(1)(i)(B)(3) of this section apply to
taxable years of a foreign corporation
that end on or after March 4, 2019, and
with respect to a United States person,
for the taxable year in which or with
which such taxable year of the foreign
corporation ends. Paragraphs (a)(2),
(b)(1)(ii), (b)(2)(i) through (iii), and (c) of
this section apply to taxable years of a
foreign corporation that end on or after
July 15, 2020, and with respect to a
United States person, for the taxable
year in which or with which such
taxable year of the foreign corporation
ends. For taxable years that precede the
applicability dates described in the
preceding two sentences, taxpayers may
choose to apply the provisions of
paragraphs (a)(2), (b)(1)(i)(A)(2),
(b)(1)(i)(B)(3), (b)(1)(ii), (b)(2)(i) through
(iii), and (c) of this section for taxable
years of a foreign corporation beginning
on or after January 1, 2018, and with
respect to a United States person, for the
taxable year in which or with which
such taxable year of the foreign
corporation ends.
■ Par. 5. Section 1.1502–12 is amended
by adding paragraph (t) to read as
follows:
§ 1.1502–12
Separate taxable income.
*
*
*
*
*
(t) See § 1.1502–50 for rules relating to
the computation of a member’s
deduction under section 250.
*
*
*
*
*
■ Par. 6. Section 1.1502–13 is amended
by:
■ 1. In paragraph (a)(6)(ii), under the
heading ‘‘Matching rule. (§ 1.1502–
13(c)(7)(ii))’’, designating Examples 1
through 17 as entries (A) through (Q).
■ 2. In paragraph (a)(6)(ii), under the
heading ‘‘Matching rule. (§ 1.1502–
13(c)(7)(ii))’’, adding entry (R).
■ 3. In paragraph (c)(7)(ii), Examples 1
through 17 are designated as paragraphs
(c)(7)(ii)(A) through (Q), respectively.
■ 4. Redesignating newly designated
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(A)(a) through (i) as
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(A)(1) through (9).
■ 5. Redesignating newly designated
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(B)(a) and (b) as
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(B)(1) and (2).
■ 6. Redesignating newly designated
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(C)(a) through (d) as
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(C)(1) through (4).
■ 7. Redesignating newly designated
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(D)(a) through (e) as
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(D)(1) through (5).
Paragraph
Remove
(c)(7)(ii)(A)(5) .............
(c)(7)(ii)(A)(5) .............
(c)(7)(ii)(A)(6) .............
(c)(7)(ii)(A)(7) .............
(c)(7)(ii)(A)(8) .............
(c)(7)(ii)(A)(9) .............
(c)(7)(ii)(C)(3) .............
(c)(7)(ii)(C)(4) .............
(c)(7)(ii)(C)(4) .............
(c)(7)(ii)(D)(5) .............
(c)(7)(ii)(D)(5) .............
(c)(7)(ii)(E)(3) .............
(c)(7)(ii)(E)(4) .............
(c)(7)(ii)(E)(5) .............
(c)(7)(ii)(E)(6) .............
(c)(7)(ii)(F)(3) .............
(c)(7)(ii)(F)(4) .............
(c)(7)(ii)(G)(4) ............
paragraph (a) of this Example 1 .............................
paragraphs (c) and (d) of this Example 1 ..............
paragraph (a) of this Example 1 .............................
paragraph (a) of this Example 1 .............................
paragraph (a) of this Example 1 .............................
paragraph (a) of this Example 1 .............................
paragraph (a) of this Example 3 .............................
paragraph (c) of this Example 3 .............................
paragraph (b) of this Example 3 .............................
paragraph (a) of this Example 4 .............................
paragraphs (c) and (d) of this Example 4 ..............
paragraph (a) of this Example 5 .............................
paragraph (a) of this Example 5 .............................
paragraph (a) of this Example 5 .............................
paragraph (a) of this Example 5 .............................
paragraph (a) of this Example 6 .............................
paragraph (a) of this Example 6 .............................
paragraph (a) of this Example 7 .............................
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
PO 00000
Frm 00072
$750,000
25%
$268,747
8. Redesignating newly designated
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(E)(a) through (f) as
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(E)(1) through (6).
■ 9. Redesignating newly designated
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(F)(a) through (d) as
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(F)(1) through (4).
■ 10. Redesignating newly designated
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(G)(a) through (d) as
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(G)(1) through (4).
■ 11. Redesignating newly designated
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(I)(a) through (e) as
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(I)(1) through (5).
■ 12. Redesignating newly designated
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(J)(a) through (d) as
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(J)(1) through (4).
■ 13. Redesignating newly designated
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(K)(a) through (d) as
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(K)(1) through (4).
■ 14. Redesignating newly designated
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(L)(a) and (b) as
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(L)(1) and (2).
■ 15. Redesignating newly designated
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(N)(a) through (c) as
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(N)(1) through (3).
■ 16. Redesignating newly designated
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(O)(a) through (d) as
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(O)(1) through (4).
■ 17. Redesignating newly designated
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(P)(a) and (b) as
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(P)(1) and (2).
■ 18. Redesignating newly designated
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(Q)(a) through (c) as
paragraphs (c)(7)(Q)(1) through (3).
■ 19. In the table in this paragraph, for
each newly redesignated paragraph
listed in the ‘‘Paragraph’’ column,
remove the text indicated in the
‘‘Remove’’ column and add in its place
the text indicated in the ‘‘Add’’ column:
■
Add
Fmt 4701
Example
Example
Example
Example
Example
Example
Example
Example
Example
Example
Example
Example
Example
Example
Example
Example
Example
Example
Sfmt 4700
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
3
3
4
4
5
5
5
5
6
6
7
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
in
paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(A)(1) of this section.
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(A)(3) and (4) of this section.
paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(A)(1) of this section.
paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(A)(1) of this section.
paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(A)(1) of this section.
paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(A)(1) of this section.
paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(C)(1) of this section.
paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(C)(3) of this section.
paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(C)(2) of this section.
paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(D)(1) of this section.
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(D)(3) and (4) of this section.
paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(E)(1) of this section.
paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(E)(1) of this section.
paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(E)(1) of this section.
paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(E)(1) of this section.
paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(F)(1) of this section.
paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(F)(1) of this section.
paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(G)(1) of this section.
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
Paragraph
Remove
Add
(c)(7)(ii)(G)(4) ............
(c)(7)(ii)(I)(3) ..............
(c)(7)(ii)(I)(4) ..............
(c)(7)(ii)(I)(5) ..............
(c)(7)(ii)(J)(3) .............
(c)(7)(ii)(J)(4) .............
(c)(7)(ii)(K)(4) .............
(c)(7)(ii)(N)(2) .............
(c)(7)(ii)(O)(4) ............
(c)(7)(ii)(Q)(1) ............
(c)(7)(ii)(Q)(2) ............
(c)(7)(iii)(A) ................
paragraph (c) of this Example 7 .............................
paragraph (a) of this Example 9 .............................
paragraph (a) of this Example 9 .............................
paragraph (d) of this Example 9 .............................
paragraph (a) of this Example 10 ...........................
paragraph (a) of this Example 10 ...........................
paragraph (a) of this Example 11 ...........................
paragraph (a) of this Example 14 ...........................
paragraph (a) of this Example 15 ...........................
Example 16 .............................................................
paragraph (f)(7), Example 2 of this section ............
Paragraphs (c)(6)(ii)(C), (c)(6)(ii)(D), and (c)(7)(ii),
Examples 16 and 17 of this section.
Example 7 in paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(G)(3) of this section.
Example 9 in paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(I)(1) of this section.
Example 9 in paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(I)(1) of this section.
Example 9 in paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(I)(4) of this section.
Example 10 in paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(J)(1) of this section.
Example 10 in paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(J)(1) of this section.
Example 11 in paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(K)(1) of this section.
Example 14 in paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(N)(1) of this section.
Example 15 in paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(O)(1) of this section.
Example 16 in paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(P) of this section.
Example 2 in paragraph (f)(7) of this section.
Paragraphs (c)(6)(ii)(C) and (D) of this section, Example 16 in
paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(P) of this section, and Example 17 in paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(Q) of this section.
■
20. Adding paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(R).
The additions read as follows:
§ 1.1502–13
Intercompany transactions.
(a) * * *
(6) * * *
(ii) * * *
Matching rule. (§ 1.1502–13(c)(7)(ii))
*
*
*
*
*
(R) Example 18. Redetermination of
attributes for section 250 purposes.
*
*
*
*
*
(c) * * *
(7) * * *
(ii) * * *
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
43113
(R) Example 18: Redetermination of
attributes for section 250 purposes—(1)
Facts. S manufactures equipment in the
United States and recognizes $75 of gross
income included in gross DEI (as defined in
§ 1.250(b)–1(c)(15)) on the sale of Asset,
which is not depreciable property, to B in
Year 1 for $100. In Year 2, B sells Asset to
X for $125 and recognizes $25 of gross
income. The sale is a FDDEI sale (as defined
in § 1.250(b)–1(c)(8)), and thus the $25 of
income is included in B’s gross FDDEI (as
defined in § 1.250(b)–1(c)(16)) for Year 2.
(2) Timing and attributes. S’s $75 of
intercompany income is taken into account
in Year 2 under the matching rule to reflect
the $75 difference between B’s $25
corresponding item taken into account (based
on B’s $100 cost basis in Asset) and the
recomputed corresponding item (based on
the $25 basis that B would have if S and B
were divisions of a single corporation and B’s
basis were determined by reference to S’s
basis). In determining whether S’s gross
income included in gross DEI from the sale
of Asset is included in gross FDDEI, S and
B are treated as divisions of a single
corporation. See paragraph (a)(6) of this
section. In determining the amount of income
included in gross DEI that is included in
gross FDDEI, the attributes of S’s
intercompany item and B’s corresponding
item may be redetermined to the extent
necessary to produce the same effect on
consolidated taxable income (and
consolidated tax liability) as if S and B were
divisions of a single corporation. See
paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section. Applying
section 250 and § 1.1502–50 on a single
entity basis, all $100 of income included in
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
gross DEI would be gross FDDEI. On a
separate entity basis, S would have $75 of
gross income included in gross DEI that is
included in gross RDEI (as defined in
§ 1.250(b)–1(c)(14)) and B would have $25 of
gross income included in gross DEI that is
included in gross FDDEI. Thus, on a separate
entity basis, S and B would have, in the
aggregate, $100 of gross income included in
gross DEI, of which only $25 is included
gross FDDEI. Accordingly, under single
entity treatment, $75 that would be treated as
gross income included in gross DEI that is
included in gross RDEI on a separate entity
basis is redetermined to be included in gross
FDDEI.
(3) Intercompany sale for loss. The facts are
the same as in paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(R)(1) of
this section (the facts in Example 18), except
that S recognizes $25 of loss on the sale of
Asset. S’s $25 of intercompany loss is taken
into account under the matching rule to
reflect the $25 difference between B’s $25
corresponding item taken into account (based
on B’s $100 cost basis in Asset) and the
recomputed corresponding item (based on
the $125 basis that B would have if S and B
were divisions of a single corporation and B’s
basis were determined by reference to S’s
$125 of costs). Applying section 250 and
§ 1.1502–50 on a single entity basis, $0 of
income would be included in gross DEI. In
order to reflect this result, under the
matching rule, S’s $25 loss is allocated and
apportioned solely to B’s $25 of gross income
from the sale of Asset for purposes of
determining B’s DEI and FDDEI.
Furthermore, B’s $25 of gross income is not
taken into account for purposes of
apportioning any other deductions under
section 861 and the regulations under that
section for purposes of determining any
member’s DEI or FDDEI.
*
*
*
*
*
Par. 7. Section 1.1502–50 is added to
read as follows:
■
§ 1.1502–50
Consolidated section 250.
(a) In general—(1) Scope. This section
provides rules for applying section 250
and §§ 1.250–1 through 1.250(b)–6 (the
section 250 regulations) to a member of
a consolidated group (member).
Paragraph (b) of this section provides
rules for the determination of the
amount of the deduction allowed to a
PO 00000
Frm 00073
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
member under section 250(a)(1).
Paragraph (c) of this section provides
rules governing the impact of
intercompany transactions on the
determination of a member’s qualified
business asset investment (QBAI) and
the effect of intercompany transactions
on the determination of a member’s
foreign-derived deduction eligible
income (FDDEI). Paragraph (d) of this
section provides rules governing basis
adjustments to member stock resulting
from the application of paragraph (b)(1)
of this section. Paragraph (e) of this
section provides definitions. Paragraph
(f) of this section provides examples
illustrating the rules of this section.
Paragraph (g) of this section provides an
applicability date.
(2) Overview. The rules of this section
ensure that the aggregate amount of
deductions allowed under section 250
to members appropriately reflects the
income, expenses, gains, losses, and
property of all members. Paragraph (b)
of this section allocates the consolidated
group’s overall deduction amount under
section 250 to each member on the basis
of its contribution to the consolidated
foreign-derived deduction eligible
income (consolidated FDDEI) and
consolidated global intangible low-taxed
income (consolidated GILTI). The
definitions in paragraph (e) of this
section provide for the aggregation of
the deduction eligible income (DEI),
FDDEI, deemed tangible income return,
and global intangible low-taxed income
(GILTI) of all members in order to
calculate the consolidated group’s
overall deduction amount under section
250.
(b) Allowance of deduction—(1) In
general. A member is allowed a
deduction for a consolidated return year
under section 250. See § 1.250(a)–1(b).
The amount of the deduction is equal to
the sum of—
(i) The product of the consolidated
FDII deduction amount and the
member’s FDII deduction allocation
ratio; and
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
43114
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
(ii) The product of the consolidated
GILTI deduction amount and the
member’s GILTI deduction allocation
ratio.
(2) Consolidated taxable income
limitation. For purposes of applying the
limitation described in § 1.250(a)–
1(b)(2) to the determination of the
consolidated FDII deduction amount
and the consolidated GILTI deduction
amount of a consolidated group for a
consolidated return year—
(i) The consolidated foreign-derived
intangible income (consolidated FDII) (if
any) is reduced (but not below zero) by
an amount which bears the same ratio
to the consolidated section 250(a)(2)
amount that such consolidated FDII
bears to the sum of the consolidated
FDII and the consolidated GILTI; and
(ii) The consolidated GILTI (if any) is
reduced (but not below zero) by the
excess of the consolidated section
250(a)(2) amount over the reduction
described in paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this
section.
(c) Impact of intercompany
transactions—(1) Impact on qualified
business asset investment
determination—(i) In general. For
purposes of determining a member’s
QBAI, the basis of specified tangible
property does not include an amount
equal to any gain or loss recognized
with respect to such property by another
member in an intercompany transaction
(as defined in § 1.1502–13(b)(1)) until
the time that such gain or loss is no
longer deferred under § 1.1502–13.
Thus, for example, if a selling member
owns specified tangible property with
an adjusted basis (within the meaning of
section 1011) of $60x and an adjusted
basis (for purposes of calculating QBAI)
of $80x, and sells it for $50x to the
purchasing member (and the
intercompany loss remains deferred),
the basis of such property for purposes
of computing the purchasing member’s
QBAI is $80x.
(ii) Partner-specific QBAI basis. A
member’s partner-specific QBAI basis
(as defined in § 1.250(b)–2(g)(7))
includes a basis adjustment under
section 743(b) resulting from an
intercompany transaction only at the
time, and to the extent, gain or loss, if
any, is recognized in the transaction and
no longer deferred under § 1.1502–13.
(2) Impact on foreign-derived
deduction eligible income
characterization. For purposes of
redetermining attributes of members
from an intercompany transaction as
FDDEI, see § 1.1502–13(c)(1)(i) and
(c)(7)(ii)(R) (Example 18).
(d) Adjustments to the basis of a
member. For adjustments to the basis of
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
a member related to paragraph (b)(1) of
this section, see § 1.1502–32(b)(3)(ii)(B).
(e) Definitions. The following
definitions apply for purposes of this
section.
(1) Consolidated deduction eligible
income (consolidated DEI). With respect
to a consolidated group for a
consolidated return year, the term
consolidated deduction eligible income
or consolidated DEI means the greater of
the sum of the DEI (whether positive or
negative) of all members or zero.
(2) Consolidated deemed intangible
income. With respect to a consolidated
group for a consolidated return year, the
term consolidated deemed intangible
income means the excess (if any) of the
consolidated DEI, over the consolidated
deemed tangible income return.
(3) Consolidated deemed tangible
income return. With respect to a
consolidated group for a consolidated
return year, the term consolidated
deemed tangible income return means
the sum of the deemed tangible income
return of all members.
(4) Consolidated FDII deduction
amount. With respect to a consolidated
group for a consolidated return year, the
term consolidated FDII deduction
amount means the product of the FDII
deduction rate and the consolidated
FDII, as adjusted by paragraph (b)(2) of
this section.
(5) Consolidated foreign-derived
deduction eligible income (consolidated
FDDEI). With respect to a consolidated
group for a consolidated return year, the
term consolidated foreign-derived
deduction eligible income or
consolidated FDDEI means the greater of
the sum of the FDDEI (whether positive
or negative) of all members or zero.
(6) Consolidated foreign-derived
intangible income (consolidated FDII).
With respect to a consolidated group for
a consolidated return year, the term
consolidated foreign-derived intangible
income or consolidated FDII means the
product of the consolidated deemed
intangible income and the consolidated
foreign-derived ratio.
(7) Consolidated foreign-derived ratio.
With respect to a consolidated group for
a consolidated return year, the term
consolidated foreign-derived ratio
means the ratio (not to exceed one) of—
(i) The consolidated FDDEI; to
(ii) The consolidated DEI.
(8) Consolidated GILTI deduction
amount. With respect to a consolidated
group for a consolidated return year, the
term consolidated GILTI deduction
amount means the product of the GILTI
deduction rate and the sum of the
consolidated GILTI, as adjusted by
paragraph (b)(2) of this section, and the
amounts treated as dividends received
PO 00000
Frm 00074
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
by the members under section 78 which
are attributable to their GILTI for the
consolidated return year.
(9) Consolidated global intangible
low-taxed income (consolidated GILTI).
With respect to a consolidated group for
a consolidated return year, the term
consolidated global intangible low-taxed
income or consolidated GILTI means the
sum of the GILTI of all members.
(10) Consolidated section 250(a)(2)
amount. With respect to a consolidated
group for a consolidated return year, the
term consolidated section 250(a)(2)
amount means the excess (if any) of the
sum of the consolidated FDII and the
consolidated GILTI (determined without
regard to section 250(a)(2) and
paragraph (b)(2) of this section), over the
consolidated taxable income of the
consolidated group (within the meaning
of § 1.1502–11).
(11) Deduction eligible income (DEI).
With respect to a member for a
consolidated return year, the term
deduction eligible income or DEI means
the member’s gross DEI for the year
(within the meaning of § 1.250(b)–
1(c)(15)) reduced (including below zero)
by the deductions properly allocable to
gross DEI for the year (as determined
under § 1.250(b)–1(d)(2)).
(12) Deemed tangible income return.
With respect to a member for a
consolidated return year, the term
deemed tangible income return means
an amount equal to 10 percent of the
member’s QBAI, as adjusted by
paragraph (c)(1) of this section.
(13) FDII deduction allocation ratio.
With respect to a member for a
consolidated return year, the term FDII
deduction allocation ratio means the
ratio of—
(i) The member’s positive FDDEI (if
any); to
(ii) The sum of the positive FDDEI of
all members.
(14) FDII deduction rate. The term
FDII deduction rate means 37.5 percent
for consolidated return years beginning
before January 1, 2026, and 21.875
percent for consolidated return years
beginning after December 31, 2025.
(15) Foreign-derived deduction
eligible income (FDDEI). With respect to
a member for a consolidated return year,
the term foreign-derived deduction
eligible income or FDDEI means the
member’s gross FDDEI for the year
(within the meaning of § 1.250(b)–
1(c)(16)) reduced (including below zero)
by the deductions properly allocable to
gross FDDEI for the year (as determined
under § 1.250(b)–1(d)(2)).
(16) GILTI deduction allocation ratio.
With respect to a member for a
consolidated return year, the term GILTI
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
deduction allocation ratio means the
ratio of—
(i) The sum of the member’s GILTI
and the amount treated as a dividend
received by the member under section
78 which is attributable to its GILTI for
the consolidated return year; to
(ii) The sum of consolidated GILTI
and the amounts treated as dividends
received by the members under section
78 which are attributable to their GILTI
for the consolidated return year.
(17) GILTI deduction rate. The term
GILTI deduction rate means 50 percent
for consolidated return years beginning
before January 1, 2026, and 37.5 percent
for consolidated return years beginning
after December 31, 2025.
(18) Global intangible low-taxed
income (GILTI). With respect to a
member for a consolidated return year,
the term global intangible low-taxed
income or GILTI means the sum of the
member’s GILTI inclusion amount
under § 1.1502–51(b) and the member’s
distributive share of any domestic
partnership’s GILTI inclusion amount
under § 1.951A–5(b)(2).
(19) Qualified business asset
investment (QBAI). The term qualified
business asset investment or QBAI has
the meaning provided in § 1.250(b)–2(b).
(20) Specified tangible property. The
term specified tangible property has the
meaning provided in § 1.250(b)–2(c)(1).
(f) Examples. The following examples
illustrate the rules of this section.
(1) Example 1: Calculation of deduction
attributable to FDII—(i) Facts. P is the
common parent of the P group and owns all
of the only class of stock of subsidiaries
USS1 and USS2. The consolidated return
year of all persons is the calendar year. In
2018, P has DEI of $400x, FDDEI of $0, and
QBAI of $0; USS1 has DEI of $200x, FDDEI
of $200x, and QBAI of $600x; and USS2 has
DEI of ¥$100x, FDDEI of $100x, and QBAI
of $400x. The P group has consolidated
taxable income that is sufficient to make
inapplicable the limitation in paragraph
(b)(2) of this section. No member of the P
group has GILTI.
(ii) Analysis—(A) Consolidated DEI. Under
paragraph (e)(1) of this section, the P group’s
consolidated DEI is $500x, the greater of the
sum of the DEI (whether positive or negative)
of all members ($400x + $200x¥$100x) or
zero.
(B) Consolidated FDDEI. Under paragraph
(e)(5) of this section, the P group’s
consolidated FDDEI is $300x, the greater of
the sum of the FDDEI (whether positive or
negative) of all members ($0 + $200x +
$100x) or zero.
(C) Consolidated deemed tangible income
return. Under paragraph (e)(12) of this
section, a member’s deemed tangible income
return is 10 percent of its QBAI. Therefore,
P’s deemed tangible income return is $0 (0.10
× $0), USS1’s deemed tangible income return
is $60x (0.10 × $600x), and USS2’s deemed
tangible income return is $40x (0.10 ×
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
$400x). Under paragraph (e)(3) of this
section, the P group’s consolidated deemed
tangible income return is $100x, the sum of
the deemed tangible income return of all
members ($0 + $60x + $40x).
(D) Consolidated deemed intangible
income. Under paragraph (e)(2) of this
section, the P group’s consolidated deemed
intangible income is $400x, the excess of its
consolidated DEI over its consolidated
deemed tangible income return ($500x
¥$100x).
(E) Consolidated FDII. Under paragraph
(e)(7) of this section, the P group’s
consolidated foreign-derived ratio is 0.60, the
ratio of its consolidated FDDEI to its
consolidated DEI ($300x/$500x). Under
paragraph (e)(6) of this section, the P group’s
consolidated FDII is $240x, the product of its
consolidated deemed intangible income and
its consolidated foreign-derived ratio ($400x
× 0.60).
(F) Consolidated FDII deduction amount.
Under paragraph (e)(4) of this section, the P
group’s consolidated FDII deduction amount
is $90x, the product of the FDII deduction
rate and the consolidated FDII (0.375 ×
$240x).
(G) Member’s deduction attributable to
consolidated FDII deduction amount. Under
paragraph (b)(1) of this section, a member is
allowed a deduction equal, in part, to the
product of the consolidated FDII deduction
amount of the consolidated group to which
the member belongs and the member’s FDII
deduction allocation ratio. Under paragraph
(e)(13) of this section, a member’s FDII
deduction allocation ratio is the ratio of its
positive FDDEI to the sum of each member’s
positive FDDEI for such consolidated return
year. As a result, the FDII deduction
allocation ratios of P, USS1, and USS2 are 0
($0/$300x), 2⁄3 ($200x/$300x), and 1⁄3 ($100x/
$300x), respectively. Therefore, P, USS1, and
USS2 are permitted deductions under
paragraph (b)(1) of this section in the amount
of $0 (0 × $90x), $60x (2⁄3 × $90x), and $30x
(1⁄3 × $90x), respectively.
(2) Example 2: Limitation on consolidated
foreign-derived deduction eligible income—
(i) Facts. The facts are the same as in
paragraph (f)(1)(i) of this section (the facts in
Example 1), except that P’s FDDEI is $300x.
(ii) Analysis—(A) Consolidated DEI and
consolidated deemed tangible income return.
As in paragraphs (f)(1)(ii)(A) and (C) of this
section (the analysis in Example 1), the P
group’s consolidated DEI is $500x and the P
group’s consolidated deemed tangible
income return is $100x.
(B) Consolidated FDDEI. Under paragraph
(e)(5) of this section, the P group’s
consolidated FDDEI is $600x, the greater of
the sum of the FDDEI (whether positive or
negative) of all members ($300x + $200x +
$100x) or zero.
(C) Consolidated deemed intangible
income and consolidated FDII. Under
paragraph (e)(2) of this section, the P group’s
consolidated deemed intangible income is
$400x ($500x ¥ $100x). Under paragraph
(e)(7) of this section, the P group’s
consolidated foreign-derived ratio is 1.00
($600x/$500x, but not in excess of one).
Under paragraph (e)(6) of this section, the P
group’s consolidated FDII is $400x ($400x ×
1.00).
PO 00000
Frm 00075
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
43115
(D) Consolidated FDII deduction amount
and member’s deduction attributable to
consolidated FDII deduction amount. Under
paragraph (e)(4) of this section, the P group’s
consolidated FDII deduction amount is $150x
(0.375 × $400x). Under paragraph (e)(13) of
this section, the FDII deduction allocation
ratios of P, USS1, and USS2 are 1⁄2 ($300/
$600x), 1⁄3 ($200x/$600x), and 1⁄6 ($100x/
$600x), respectively. Therefore, P, USS1, and
USS2 are permitted deductions under
paragraph (b)(1) of this section in the
amounts of $75x (1⁄2 × $150x), $50x (1⁄3 ×
$150x), and $25x (1⁄6 × $150x), respectively.
(3) Example 3: Member with negative
FDDEI—(i) Facts. The facts are the same as
in paragraph (f)(1)(i) of this section (the facts
in Example 1), except that P’s FDDEI is
-$100x.
(ii) Analysis—(A) Consolidated DEI and
consolidated deemed tangible income return.
As in paragraphs (f)(1)(ii)(A) and (C) of this
section (the facts in Example 1), the P group’s
consolidated DEI is $500x and the P group’s
consolidated deemed tangible income return
is $100x.
(B) Consolidated FDDEI. Under paragraph
(e)(5) of this section, the P group’s
consolidated FDDEI is $200x, the greater of
the sum of the FDDEI (whether positive or
negative) of all members (¥$100x + $200x +
$100x) or zero.
(C) Consolidated deemed intangible
income and consolidated FDII. Under
paragraphs (e)(2) and (6) of this section, the
P group’s consolidated deemed intangible
income is $400x ($500x ¥$100x), and the P
group’s consolidated FDII is $160x ($400x ×
($200x/$500x)).
(D) Consolidated FDII deduction amount
and member’s deduction attributable to
consolidated FDII deduction amount. Under
paragraph (e)(4) of this section, the P group’s
consolidated FDII deduction amount is $60x
(0.375 × $160x). Under paragraph (e)(13) of
this section, the FDII deduction allocation
ratios of P, USS1, and USS2 are 0 ($0/$300x),
2⁄3 ($200x/$300x), and 1⁄3 ($100x/$300x),
respectively. Therefore, P, USS1, and USS2
are permitted deductions under paragraph
(b)(1) of this section in the amounts of $0 (0
× $60x), $40x (2⁄3 × $60x), and $20x (1⁄3 ×
$60x), respectively.
(4) Example 4: Calculation of deduction
attributable to GILTI—(i) Facts. The facts are
the same as in paragraph (f)(1)(i) of this
section (the facts in Example 1), except that
USS1 owns CFC1 and USS2 owns CFC2.
USS1 and USS2 have GILTI of $65x and
$20x, respectively, and amounts treated as
dividends received under section 78
attributable to their GILTI of $10x and $5x,
respectively.
(ii) Analysis—(A) Consolidated GILTI.
Under paragraph (e)(9) of this section, the P
group’s consolidated GILTI is $85x, the sum
of the GILTI of all members ($0 + $65x +
$20x).
(B) Consolidated GILTI deduction amount.
Under paragraph (e)(8) of this section, the P
group’s consolidated GILTI deduction
amount is $50x, the product of the GILTI
deduction rate and the sum of its
consolidated GILTI and the amounts treated
as dividends received by the members under
section 78 which are attributable to their
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
43116
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
GILTI for the consolidated return year (0.50
× ($85x + $10x + $5x)).
(C) Member’s deduction attributable to
consolidated GILTI deduction amount. Under
paragraph (b)(1) of this section, a member is
allowed a deduction equal, in part, to the
product of the consolidated GILTI deduction
amount of the consolidated group to which
the member belongs and the member’s GILTI
deduction allocation ratio. Under paragraph
(e)(16) of this section, a member’s GILTI
deduction allocation ratio is the ratio of the
sum of its GILTI and the amount treated as
a dividend received by the member under
section 78 which is attributable to its GILTI
for the consolidated return year to the sum
of the consolidated GILTI and the amounts
treated as dividends received by the members
under section 78 which are attributable to
their GILTI for the consolidated return year.
As a result, the GILTI deduction allocation
ratios of P, USS1, and USS2 are 0 ($0/($85x
+ $10x + $5x)), 3⁄4 (($65x + $10x)/($85x +
$10x + $5x)), and 1⁄4 (($20x + $5x)/($85x +
$10x + $5x)), respectively. Therefore, P,
USS1, and USS2 are permitted deductions of
$0 (0 × $50x), $37.50x (3⁄4 × $50x), and
$12.50x (1⁄4 × $50x), respectively.
(D) Member’s deduction under section 250.
Under paragraph (b)(1) of this section, a
member is allowed a deduction equal to the
sum of the member’s deduction attributable
to the consolidated FDII deduction amount
and the member’s deduction attributable to
the consolidated GILTI deduction amount.
As a result P, USS1, and USS2 are entitled
to deductions under paragraph (b)(1) of this
section of $0 ($0 + $0), $97.50x ($60x +
$37.50x), and $42.50x ($30x + $12.50x),
respectively.
(5) Example 5: Taxable income
limitation—(i) Facts. The facts are the same
as in paragraph (f)(4)(i) of this section (the
facts in Example 4), except that the P group’s
consolidated taxable income (within the
meaning of paragraph (e)(10) of this section)
is $300x.
(ii) Analysis—(A) Determination of
whether the limitation described in
paragraph (b)(2) of this section applies.
Under paragraph (b)(2) of this section, in the
case of a consolidated group with a
consolidated section 250(a)(2) amount for a
consolidated year, the amount of the
consolidated FDII and the consolidated GILTI
otherwise taken into account in the
determination of the consolidated FDII
deduction amount and the consolidated
GILTI deduction amount are subject to
reduction. As in paragraph (f)(1)(ii)(E) of this
section (the facts in Example 1), the P group’s
consolidated FDII is $240x. As in paragraph
(f)(4)(ii)(A) of this section (the analysis in
Example 4), the P group’s consolidated GILTI
is $85x. The P group’s consolidated taxable
income is $300x. Under paragraph (e)(10) of
this section, the P group’s consolidated
section 250(a)(2) amount is $25x (($240x +
$85x) ¥ $300x), the excess of the sum of the
consolidated FDII and the consolidated
GILTI, over the P group’s consolidated
taxable income. Therefore, the limitation
described in paragraph (b)(2) of this section
applies.
(B) Allocation of reduction. Under
paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section, the P
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
group’s consolidated FDII is reduced by an
amount which bears the same ratio to the
consolidated section 250(a)(2) amount as the
consolidated FDII bears to the sum of the
consolidated FDII and consolidated GILTI,
and the P group’s consolidated GILTI is
reduced by the excess of the consolidated
section 250(a)(2) amount over the reduction
described in paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this
section. Therefore, for purposes of
determining the P group’s consolidated FDII
deduction amount and consolidated GILTI
deduction amount, its consolidated FDII is
reduced to $221.54x ($240x ¥($25x ×
($240x/$325x))) and its consolidated GILTI is
reduced to $78.46x ($85x ¥($25x ¥($25x ×
($240x/$325x)))).
(C) Calculation of consolidated FDII
deduction amount and consolidated GILTI
deduction amount. Under paragraph (e)(4) of
this section, the P group’s consolidated FDII
deduction amount is $83.08x ($221.54x ×
0.375). Under paragraph (e)(8) of this section,
the P group’s consolidated GILTI deduction
amount is $46.73x (($78.46x + 10x + 5x) ×
0.50).
(D) Member’s deduction attributable to the
consolidated FDII deduction amount. As in
paragraph (f)(1)(ii)(G) of this section (the
analysis in Example 1), the FDII deduction
allocation ratios of P, USS1, and USS2 are 0,
2⁄3, and 1⁄3, respectively. Therefore, P, USS1,
and USS2 are permitted deductions
attributable to the consolidated FDII
deduction amount of $0 (0 × $83.08x),
$55.39x (2⁄3 × $83.08x), and $27.69x (1⁄3 ×
$83.08x), respectively.
(E) Member’s deduction attributable to the
consolidated GILTI deduction amount. As in
paragraph (f)(4)(ii)(C) of this section (the
analysis in Example 4), the GILTI deduction
allocation ratios of P, USS1, and USS2 are 0,
3⁄4, and 1⁄4, respectively. Therefore, P, USS1,
and USS2 are permitted deductions
attributable to the consolidated GILTI
deduction amount of $0 (0 × $46.73x),
$35.05x (3⁄4 × $46.73x), and $11.68x (1⁄4 ×
$46.73x), respectively.
(F) Member’s deduction pursuant section
250. Under paragraph (b)(1) of this section,
a member is allowed a deduction equal to the
sum of the member’s deduction attributable
to the consolidated FDII deduction amount
and the member’s deduction attributable to
the consolidated GILTI deduction amount.
As a result, P, USS1, and USS2 are entitled
to deductions under paragraph (b)(1) of this
section of $0 ($0 + $0), $90.44x ($55.39x +
$35.05x), and $39.37 × ($27.69x + $11.68x),
respectively.
(g) Applicability date. This section
applies to consolidated return years
beginning on or after January 1, 2021. A
taxpayer that chooses to apply the rules
in §§ 1.250(a)–1 and 1.250(b)–1 through
1.250(b)–6 to taxable years beginning
before January 1, 2021, pursuant to
§ 1.250–1(b), must also apply the rules
of this section in their entirety to
consolidated return years beginning
after December 31, 2017, and before
January 1, 2021.
■ Par. 8. Section 1.6038–2 is amended
by adding paragraphs (f)(15) and (m)(4)
to read as follows:
PO 00000
Frm 00076
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 4700
§ 1.6038–2 Information returns required of
United States persons with respect to
annual accounting periods of certain
foreign corporations.
*
*
*
*
*
(f) * * *
(15) Information reporting under
section 250. If the person required to file
Form 5471 (or any successor form)
claims a deduction under section 250(a)
that is determined, in whole or part, by
reference to its foreign-derived
intangible income, and any amount
required to be reported under paragraph
(f)(11) of this section is included in its
computation of foreign-derived
deduction eligible income, such person
will provide on Form 5471 (or any
successor form) such information that is
prescribed by the form, instructions to
the form, publication, or other guidance
published in the Internal Revenue
Bulletin.
*
*
*
*
*
(m) * * *
(4) Paragraph (f)(15) of this section
applies with respect to information for
annual accounting periods beginning on
or after March 4, 2019.
■ Par. 9. Section 1.6038–3 is amended
by adding paragraph (g)(4) and a
sentence to the end of paragraph (l) to
read as follows:
§ 1.6038–3 Information returns required of
certain United States persons with respect
to controlled foreign partnerships (CFPs).
*
*
*
*
*
(g) * * *
(4) Additional information required to
be submitted by a controlling tenpercent or a controlling fifty-percent
partner that has a deduction under
section 250 by reason of FDII. In
addition to the information required
pursuant to paragraphs (g)(1), (2), and
(3) of this section, if, with respect to the
partnership’s tax year for which the
Form 8865 is being filed, a controlling
ten-percent partner or a controlling fiftypercent partner has a deduction under
section 250 (by reason of having foreignderived intangible income), determined,
in whole or in part, by reference to the
income, assets, or activities of the
partnership, or transactions between the
controlling-ten percent partner or
controlling fifty-percent partner and the
partnership, the controlling ten-percent
partner or controlling fifty-percent
partner must provide its share of the
partnership’s gross DEI, gross FDDEI,
deductions that are properly allocable to
the partnership’s gross DEI and gross
FDDEI, and partnership QBAI (as those
terms are defined in the section 250
regulations) in the form and manner and
to the extent prescribed by Form 8865
(or any successor form), instructions to
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 / Rules and Regulations
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with RULES3
the form, publication, or other guidance
published in the Internal Revenue
Bulletin. To the extent that the
partnership amounts described in the
previous sentence cannot be
determined, the controlling ten-percent
partner or controlling fifty-percent
partner must provide its share of the
partnership’s attributes that the partner
uses to determine the partner’s gross
DEI, gross FDDEI, deductions that are
properly allocable to the partner’s gross
DEI and gross FDDEI, and the partner’s
adjusted bases in partnership specified
tangible property.
*
*
*
*
*
(l) * * * Paragraph (g)(4) of this
section applies for tax years of a foreign
partnership beginning on or after March
4, 2019.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:27 Jul 14, 2020
Jkt 250001
Par. 10. Section 1.6038A–2 is
amended by adding paragraph (b)(5)(iv)
and a sentence at the end of paragraph
(g) to read as follows:
■
§ 1.6038A–2
Requirement of return.
*
*
*
*
*
(b) * * *
(5) * * *
(iv) If, for the taxable year, the
reporting corporation has a deduction
under section 250 (by reason of having
foreign-derived intangible income) with
respect to any amount required to be
reported under paragraph (b)(3) or (4) of
this section, the reporting corporation
will provide on Form 5472 (or any
successor form) such information about
the deduction in the form and manner
and to the extent prescribed by Form
5472 (or any successor form),
PO 00000
Frm 00077
Fmt 4701
Sfmt 9990
43117
instructions to the form, publication, or
other guidance published in the Internal
Revenue Bulletin.
*
*
*
*
*
(g) * * * Paragraph (b)(5)(iv) of this
section applies with respect to
information for annual accounting
periods beginning on or after March 4,
2019.
Douglas W. O’Donnell,
Acting Deputy Commissioner for Services and
Enforcement.
Approved: June 12, 2020.
David J. Kautter
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (Tax
Policy).
[FR Doc. 2020–14649 Filed 7–9–20; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 4830–01–P
E:\FR\FM\15JYR3.SGM
15JYR3
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 136 (Wednesday, July 15, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 43042-43117]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14649]
[[Page 43041]]
Vol. 85
Wednesday,
No. 136
July 15, 2020
Part III
Department of the Treasury
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Revenue Service
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
26 CFR Part 1
Deduction for Foreign-Derived Intangible Income and Global Intangible
Low-Taxed Income; Final Rule
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 136 / Wednesday, July 15, 2020 /
Rules and Regulations
[[Page 43042]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Internal Revenue Service
26 CFR Part 1
[TD 9901]
RIN 1545-BO55
Deduction for Foreign-Derived Intangible Income and Global
Intangible Low-Taxed Income
AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury.
ACTION: Final regulations.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This document contains final regulations that provide guidance
regarding the deduction for foreign-derived intangible income (FDII)
and global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI). This document also
contains final regulations coordinating the deduction for FDII and
GILTI with other provisions in the Internal Revenue Code. These
regulations generally affect domestic corporations and individuals who
elect to be subject to tax at corporate rates for purposes of
inclusions under subpart F and GILTI.
DATES:
Effective Date: These regulations are effective on September 14,
2020.
Applicability Dates: For dates of applicability, see Sec. Sec.
1.250-1(b), 1.962-1(d), 1.1502-50(g), 1.6038-2(m)(4), 1.6038-3(l), and
1.6038A-2(g).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Concerning Sec. Sec. 1.250-1 through
1.250(b)-6, 1.6038-2, 1.6038-3, and 1.6038A-2, Brad McCormack at (202)
317-6911 and Lorraine Rodriguez at (202) 317-6726; concerning Sec.
1.962-1, Edward Tracy at (202) 317-6934; concerning Sec. Sec. 1.1502-
12, 1.1502-13 and 1.1502-50, Michelle A. Monroy at (202) 317-5363 (not
toll free numbers).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 250 was added to the Internal Revenue Code (``Code'') by
the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Public Law 115-97, 131 Stat. 2054, 2208
(2017) (the ``Act''), which was enacted on December 22, 2017. On March
6, 2019, the Department of the Treasury (``Treasury Department'') and
the IRS published proposed regulations (REG-104464-18) under sections
250, 962, 1502, 6038, and 6038A in the Federal Register (84 FR 8188)
(the ``proposed regulations''). Corrections to the proposed regulations
were published on April 11, 2019, and April 12, 2019, in the Federal
Register (84 FR 14634 and 84 FR 14901, respectively). A public hearing
on the proposed regulations was held on July 10, 2019. The Treasury
Department and the IRS also received written comments with respect to
the proposed regulations.
All written comments received in response to the proposed
regulations are available at https://www.regulations.gov or upon
request. Terms used but not defined in this preamble have the meaning
provided in these final regulations.
Summary of Comments and Explanation of Revisions
I. Overview
The final regulations retain the basic approach and structure of
the proposed regulations, with certain revisions. This Summary of
Comments and Explanation of Revisions section discusses those revisions
as well as comments received in response to the solicitation of
comments in the notice of proposed rulemaking. Comments outside the
scope of this rulemaking are generally not addressed but may be
considered in connection with future guidance projects.
II. Comments on and Revisions to Documentation Requirements and
Applicability Dates
A. Documentation Requirements for Foreign Persons, Foreign Use, and
Location Outside the United States
As described in parts VII.B, C.1, and D.1 and VIII.B.1 and B.2.c of
this Summary of Comments and Explanation of Revisions section, the
proposed regulations provided that to establish that a recipient is a
foreign person, property is for a foreign use (within the meaning of
proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d) and (e)), or a recipient of a general
service is located outside the United States (within the meaning of
proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-5(d)(2)), the taxpayer must obtain specific
types of documentation described in proposed Sec. Sec. 1.250(b)-
4(c)(2), (d)(3), and (e)(3) and 1.250(b)-5(d)(3) and (e)(3). The
proposed regulations also provided a transition rule whereby for
taxable years beginning on or before March 4, 2019, taxpayers could use
any reasonable documentation maintained in the ordinary course of the
taxpayer's business that establishes that a recipient is a foreign
person, property is for a foreign use, or a recipient of a general
service is located outside the United States, as applicable, in lieu of
the specific documentation described in the regulations, provided that
such documentation meets certain reliability requirements described in
proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-3(d). See proposed Sec. 1.250-1(b). The
preamble requested comments on this special transition rule.
Several comments recommended either making this transition rule
permanent or extending it for a certain period after the regulations
are finalized. The comments recommending that the transition rule be
made permanent indicated that the documentation described in the
proposed regulations may be difficult, if not impossible, to obtain in
the ordinary course of business. The comments noted that customers are
highly reluctant to provide some of the types of documents that the
proposed regulations described. A comment noted that the documentation
rules in the proposed regulations could require taxpayers to
renegotiate contracts or make inquiries of their customers that could
interfere with the customer relationship. Several comments were
concerned with how the documentation rules and, in particular, the
reliability requirements would apply to business models with longer-
term contracts, especially those entered into during the 2019 tax year.
The comments that requested extending the transition rule suggested
that this would allow adequate time for the IRS to gain experience with
the types of documentation taxpayers collect in the ordinary course of
business, and for taxpayers to gain experience complying with such
rules by developing or improving internal compliance systems.
Alternatively, some comments suggested that the next issuance of
regulations should be in temporary form to allow additional time to
consider the reasonableness of the documentation requirements before
final regulations are issued and to allow taxpayers more time to
identify distortive results.
Other comments recommended changes to the documentation rules if
the final regulations do not make the transition rule permanent.
Several comments suggested that any list of suitable documents (for
either property sales or services) should be non-exclusive and include
more documents obtained in the ordinary course of business. Some
comments recommended allowing the use of documentation methods similar
to those for sales of fungible mass property under proposed Sec.
1.250(b)-4(d)(3)(iii) such as market research, statistical sampling,
economic modeling or other similar methods to show foreign person
status or foreign use.
The final regulations address these comments in several ways.
First, the final regulations eliminate the requirement in the proposed
regulations to obtain specific types of documents to
[[Page 43043]]
establish foreign person status, foreign use with respect to sales of
certain general property that are made directly to end users, and the
location of general services provided to consumers. The Treasury
Department and the IRS have determined that requiring specific
documentation with respect to these requirements is difficult given the
variations in industry practices and is not necessary to achieve the
purpose of the statute. Accordingly, the final regulations remove the
specific documentation requirements to establish foreign person status
and foreign use with respect to certain sales of general property and
the location of a consumer of a general service. However, as explained
in more detail in part II.D of this Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section, as with any deduction, taxpayers claiming a
deduction under section 250 bear the burden of demonstrating that they
are entitled to the deduction. Therefore, the general requirement for
taxpayers to substantiate their deductions will apply without any
additional specific requirements as to the content of information or
documents.
Second, the final regulations adopt a more flexible approach
regarding the types of substantiation required for foreign use with
respect to sales of general property to non-end users, foreign use with
respect to sales of intangible property, and with respect to
determining whether services are performed for business recipients
located outside the United States. Although the substantiation
requirements in the final regulations are more specific as to the
nature of the information required, they are not limited to a narrow
set of documents. The requirements also do not contain the specific
reliability requirement set out in the proposed regulations because the
reliability of documents or information can differ depending on the
circumstances. For example, documents created in advance of a sales
date (such as a long-term sales contract) may be as reliable as
documents created at the time of the sale, depending on the facts and
circumstances. Further, the final regulations continue to require that
the substantiating documents be supported by credible evidence. See
part II.C of this Summary of Comments and Explanation of Revisions
section.
Finally, the applicability dates of the regulations have been
revised, and taxpayers are permitted to rely on the proposed
regulations for taxable years before the final regulations are
applicable, including relying on the transition rules during the
entirety of such period. See part II.F and XII of this Summary of
Comments and Explanation of Revisions section.
B. Specific Substantiation for Certain Transactions
In lieu of the documentation requirements in the proposed
regulations, with respect to sales of general property to recipients
other than end users, sales of intangible property, and general
services provided to business recipients, the final regulations provide
substantiation rules that are more flexible with respect to the types
of corroborating evidence that may be used. See Sec. 1.250(b)-3(f).
For these transactions, specific substantiation requirements are needed
to ensure that taxpayers make sufficient efforts to determine whether
the regulatory requirement is met. Therefore, with respect to these
transactions, the final regulations describe the type of information
necessary to meet the substantiation requirements. The specific ways a
taxpayer must substantiate these elements are described in parts
VII.C.9, VII.D.2, and VIII.B.2.d of this Summary of Comments and
Explanation of Revisions section. The substantiation requirements are
modeled after substantiation rules under section 170 (requiring
substantiation through receipts for certain charitable deductions) and
section 274(d) (requiring substantiation by adequate records or a
taxpayer statement with corroborating evidence). The Treasury
Department and the IRS have determined that requiring a taxpayer to
specifically substantiate certain transactions--in particular
transactions where the relevant facts needed to satisfy the rules are
generally in the hands of a third party with a business relationship
with the taxpayer--is necessary and appropriate for establishing ``to
the satisfaction of the Secretary'' that property is sold for a foreign
use or that services are provided to persons located outside the United
States. See section 250(b)(4) and (b)(5)(C).
C. Timing To Obtain, Maintain, and Provide Specific Substantiation
In general, the substantiation rules require that the
substantiating documents with respect to certain transactions that give
rise to foreign-derived deduction eligible income (a ``FDDEI
transaction'') be in existence by the time the taxpayer files its
return (including extensions) with respect to the FDDEI transaction
(the ``FDII filing date''). See Sec. 1.250(b)-3(f)(1). The final
regulations do not impose additional requirements relating to when
substantiating documents must be in existence. However, the timing of
when substantiating documents are created may affect the credibility of
the substantiating documents. For example, substantiating documents
created at or near the time of the transaction generally have a higher
degree of credibility as compared to substantiating documents created
later in time. With respect to long-term contracts, substantiating
documents created when the transaction was entered into will be more
credible in later years if the taxpayer periodically confirms that the
terms of the long-term contract are being adhered to.
The final regulations provide that substantiating documents must be
provided to the IRS upon request, generally within 30 days or some
other period agreed upon by the IRS and the taxpayer. See Sec.
1.250(b)-3(f)(1). This is necessary to allow the substantiation
requirements to serve their purpose, including to allow the IRS to
timely examine the taxpayer's qualification for the FDII deduction.
D. Substantiation in All Other Cases
For the rules in the final regulations for which there are no
specific substantiation requirements, taxpayers are already required
under section 6001 to make returns, render statements, and keep the
necessary records to show whether such person is liable for tax under
the Code. Therefore, a taxpayer claiming a deduction under section 250
will still be required to substantiate that it is entitled to the
deduction even if it is not subject to the specific substantiation
requirements contained in the final regulations. See Sec. 1.6001-1(a);
INDOPCO v. Commissioner, 503 U.S. 79, 84 (1992) (``an income tax
deduction is a matter of legislative grace and . . . the burden of
clearly showing the right to the claimed deduction is on the taxpayer''
(internal citations omitted)).
The Treasury Department and the IRS expect that taxpayers may use a
broader range of evidence to substantiate a section 250 deduction under
the new substantiation requirements (and section 6001 where no specific
substantiation requirements are provided) than they would have been
able to use under the more specific documentation requirements detailed
in the proposed regulations. Based on comments received, in many cases
a taxpayer will be able to determine whether it meets the requirements
in the final regulations using documents maintained in the ordinary
course of its business, as provided in the transition rule. In some
circumstances, however, it may be necessary for taxpayers to gather
[[Page 43044]]
additional information to establish that a requirement is met. The
Treasury Department and the IRS are also considering issuing additional
administrative guidance on acceptable documentation to substantiate the
deduction.
E. Small Business Exception
The final regulations include an exception for small businesses
similar to the exceptions from the documentation requirements for small
businesses that are in the proposed regulations. See proposed
Sec. Sec. 1.250(b)-4(c)(2)(ii)(A) and (d)(3)(ii)(A), and 1.250(b)-
5(d)(3)(ii)(A) and (e)(3)(ii)(A). The exception provides that the
substantiation requirements described generally in part II.B of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation of Revisions section do not apply
if the taxpayer and all related parties of the taxpayer, in the
aggregate, receive less than $25,000,000 in gross receipts during the
prior taxable year. See Sec. 1.250(b)-3(f)(2). In response to comments
that the final regulations should allow for broader application of the
small business exception, the final regulations modify the threshold
amount to qualify for that exception from $10,000,000 of gross receipts
received by the seller of general property or renderer of services in
the prior taxable year (the standard used in the proposed regulations)
to $25,000,000 in gross receipts received by the taxpayer and all
related parties. As a result of this exception, a small business will
not need to satisfy the specific substantiation requirements in the
regulations, although it must continue to comply with the general
substantiation rules under section 6001. For example, small businesses
may be able to substantiate that a sale of general property is for a
foreign use by having evidence of a foreign shipping address and
memorializing conversations with the recipients explaining where the
property will be resold, if sufficiently reliable, or having a copy of
an export bill of lading.
F. Transition Rules
The final regulations modify the applicability dates of the
regulations to give taxpayers additional time to develop systems for
complying with the regulations. Generally, the final regulations are
applicable for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2021. See
Sec. 1.250-1(b). This applicability date ensures that all taxpayers,
regardless of whether they are fiscal- or calendar-year taxpayers, have
at least three full taxable years after the Act was enacted before the
final regulations become applicable. However, for taxable years
beginning before January 1, 2021, taxpayers may apply the final
regulations or rely on the proposed regulations, except that taxpayers
that choose to rely on the proposed regulations may rely on the
transition rule for documentation for all taxable years beginning
before January 1, 2021 (rather than only for taxable years beginning on
or before March 4, 2019, which was the limitation contained in the
proposed regulations).
III. Comments on and Revisions to Proposed Sec. 1.250(a)-1--Deduction
for Foreign-Derived Intangible Income and Global Intangible Low-Taxed
Income
Proposed Sec. 1.250(a)-1 provided general rules to determine the
amount of a taxpayer's section 250 deduction and associated definitions
that apply for purposes of the proposed regulations.
A. Pre-Act NOLs
Several Code sections, including section 250, include limitations
based on a taxpayer's taxable income or a percentage of taxable income.
The proposed regulations provided an ordering rule for applying
sections 163(j) and 172 in conjunction with section 250 that provided
that a taxpayer's taxable income for purposes of applying the taxable
income limitation of section 250(a)(2) is determined after all of the
corporation's other deductions are taken into account, without
distinguishing between pre-Act and post-Act net operating losses
(``NOLs''). See proposed Sec. 1.250(a)-1(c)(4).
Several comments noted that the proposed regulations did not
explicitly address the impact of pre-Act NOLs on the deduction under
section 250 and recommended that pre-Act NOLs not be taken into account
for purposes of determining the deduction limit under section
250(a)(2). This would allow taxpayers to take a deduction under section
250 for FDII in lieu of utilizing available pre-Act NOLs.
Section 250(a)(2) limits the FDII deduction based on ``taxable
income,'' which is defined in section 63 to include gross income minus
deductions, including NOL deductions under section 172. Section
250(a)(2) contains no language that would support ignoring pre-Act NOLs
for purposes of determining the amount of taxable income for purposes
of section 250(a)(2). Cf. section 965(n) (providing an election to
forgo usage of a portion of pre-Act NOLs against a taxpayer's inclusion
under section 965). Therefore, the comment is not adopted.
B. Ordering Rule
As discussed in the previous section, the deduction under section
250 is subject to a taxable income limitation under section 250(a)(2).
Proposed Sec. 1.250(a)-1(c)(4) provided that the corporation's taxable
income is determined with regard to all items of income, deduction, or
loss, except for the deduction allowed under section 250. Example 2 in
proposed Sec. 1.250(a)-1(f)(2) applied the ordering rule with respect
to sections 163(j), 172, and 250.
Some comments recommended that the regulations eliminate the
ordering rule in favor of an approach that used simultaneous equations
to compute taxable income for each Code provision that referred to
taxable income, whereas other comments expressed concern with the
complexity of performing simultaneous equations. One comment
recommended that the regulations not consider section 163(j) and 172(b)
carryforwards or carrybacks.
The Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that further
study is required to determine the appropriate rule for coordinating
section 250(a)(2), 163(j), 172, and other Code provisions (including,
for example, sections 170(b)(2), 246(b), 613A(d), and 1503(d)) that
limit the availability of deductions based, directly or indirectly,
upon a taxpayer's taxable income. Therefore, the final regulations
remove Example 2 in proposed Sec. 1.250(a)-1(f)(2) and reserve a
paragraph in Sec. 1.250(a)-1(c)(5)(ii) for coordinating section
250(a)(2) with other provisions calculated based on taxable income. The
Treasury Department and the IRS are considering a separate guidance
project to address the interaction of sections 163(j), 172, 250(a)(2),
and other Code sections that refer to taxable income; this guidance may
include an option to use simultaneous equations in lieu of an ordering
rule.\1\ Comments are requested in this regard.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Any separate guidance would take into account the recent
addition of section 172(a)(2)(B)(ii)(I) by the Coronavirus Aid,
Relief, and Economic Security Act, Public Law 116-136, 134 Stat. 281
(2020). That provision provides in relevant part that, for taxable
years beginning after December 31, 2020, the taxable income
limitation for purposes of deducting net operating loss carrybacks
and carryovers is determined without regard to the deductions under
sections 172, 199A, and 250.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before further guidance is issued regarding how allowed deductions
are taken into account in determining the taxable income limitation in
section 250(a)(2), taxpayers may choose any reasonable method (which
could include the ordering rule described in the proposed regulations
or the use of simultaneous equations) if the method
[[Page 43045]]
is applied consistently for all taxable years beginning on or after
January 1, 2021.
C. Carryovers of Excess FDII
Consistent with the statute, the proposed regulations did not
contain any provision allowing the carryforward or carryback of a tax
year's FDII deduction in excess of the taxpayer's taxable income
limitation under section 250(b)(2) and proposed Sec. 1.250(a)-1(b)(2).
One comment argued that a provision allowing the carryforward or
carryback should be added because the taxable income limitation
frustrates the policy goal of the FDII regime of reducing the tax
incentive to locate intellectual property outside the United States. A
different comment recommended that where the taxable income limitation
of the proposed regulations applies to a given tax year, the final
regulations should allow for the creation of a FDII recapture account
by which taxpayers can carry forward previously unused section 250
deductions to future tax years when they have enough taxable income to
use these deductions. In contrast, another comment recommended that,
consistent with the statute, the final regulations should not allow for
carrybacks or carryforwards in order to limit the potential for abuse
by taxpayers.
The section 250 deduction is an annual calculation, and nothing in
the statute or legislative history contemplates the creation of
carryforwards or carrybacks or a recapture account. Cf. section
163(j)(2) (providing for the carryforward of disallowed business
interest). As a result, the final regulations do not adopt these
recommendations.
D. Definition of GILTI
The final regulations under section 250 revise the definition of
GILTI consistent with the final regulations under section 951A
(``section 951A final regulations''). The term ``GILTI'' means, with
respect to a domestic corporation for a taxable year, the corporation's
GILTI inclusion amount under Sec. 1.951A-1(c) for the taxable year.
See Sec. 1.250(a)-1(c)(3).
IV. Comments on and Revisions to Proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-1--Computation
of Foreign-Derived Intangible Income
The proposed regulations provided that a taxpayer's FDII is the
taxpayer's deemed intangible income (``DII'') multiplied by the
corporation's foreign-derived ratio. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-1(b).
A taxpayer's DII is the excess (if any) of the corporation's deduction
eligible income (``DEI'') over its deemed tangible income return
(``DTIR''). See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-1(c)(3). A taxpayer's DTIR is
10 percent of the taxpayer's qualified business asset investment
(``QBAI''). See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-1(c)(4). The foreign-derived
ratio is the taxpayer's ratio of foreign-derived deduction eligible
income (``FDDEI'') to DEI. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-1(c)(13).
A. Financial Services Income
Section 250(b)(3)(A)(i)(III) excludes from DEI financial services
income as defined in section 904(d)(2)(D). One comment requested a
clarification that income that falls outside of the definition of
section 904(d)(2)(D) should be eligible for inclusion in DEI, such as
leasing or financing activities outside of the active conduct of a
banking, financing, or similar business.
Section 250(b)(3)(A)(i)(III) excludes only financial services
income as defined in section 904(d)(2)(D). Any leasing or financing
activities that are not described in section 904(d)(2)(D) will not fall
within this exclusion. Therefore, no changes are necessary.
Another comment suggested that the proposed regulations do not
provide enough general guidance on non-active financial services income
from financial instruments (such as derivatives and hedges), and, in
particular, how to characterize such income (or losses) as a FDDEI
transaction. Absent such guidance, the comment asserts that taxpayers
could take inconsistent positions in characterizing a derivative or
hedge and characterizing the underlying transaction as FDDEI
transactions. This comment recommended adding a general rule that
associates the income, loss, and expenses of a derivative or hedge with
the underlying transaction. Alternatively, the comment suggested that
the final regulations treat the derivative or hedge transaction as a
separate transaction and test it for FDDEI under the rules regarding
sales of intangible property.
Consistent with the proposed regulations, the final regulations
provide that, in general, financial instruments are neither general
property nor intangible property, and therefore their sales cannot give
rise to FDDEI. See Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(10) (excluding from the
definition of general property a security defined under section
475(c)(2)) and Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(11) (intangible property has the
meaning set forth in section 367(d)(4)). However, the final regulations
adopt the suggestion to provide a special rule for hedges to associate
the income or loss from such hedges with the underlying transaction.
See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(f) and part VII.E of this Summary of Comments and
Explanation of Revisions section.
B. Definition of Foreign Branch Income
Section 250(b)(3) excludes from DEI foreign branch income as
defined in section 904(d)(2)(J), which provides that foreign branch
income is business profits attributable to one or more qualified
business units. Proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-1(c)(11) defined foreign branch
income by cross-reference to Sec. 1.904-4(f)(2), which provides that
gross income is attributable to a foreign branch if the gross income is
reflected on the separate set of books and records of the foreign
branch. Proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-1(c)(11), however, modified this
definition to also include any income from the sale, directly or
indirectly, of any asset (other than stock) that produces gross income
attributable to a foreign branch, including by reason of the sale of a
disregarded entity or partnership interest.
Several comments requested that the final regulations remove the
modification to the definition in proposed Sec. 1.904-4(f)(2). Several
comments noted that the definition, as proposed, would impermissibly
create a class of income that is neither DEI nor foreign branch income
for section 904 foreign tax credit purposes, and therefore, asserted
that the definitions must be aligned consistently. Another comment
argued that the proposed regulations under section 904 already contain
rules that address the types of transactions that were described in
proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-1(c)(11). Multiple comments also noted that
section 250(b)(3)(A)(i)(VI) cross references to section 904(d)(2)(J)
without any modification to that latter provision and argued that
modifying the definition in regulations exceeded the Treasury
Department and IRS's regulatory authority. One comment argued that the
expansion contravenes the Congressional purpose behind FDII of
encouraging the repatriation of intangible property. Another comment
noted that if the definition with the modification is applied
retroactively, it could adversely affect taxpayers that undertook
transactions to repatriate intellectual property before the proposed
regulations were issued, a problem that the comment asserted is
exacerbated by the differing effective dates of the proposed foreign
tax credit regulations and the FDII proposed regulations.
If the final regulations were to retain the expanded definition,
one comment requested that the definition also be
[[Page 43046]]
used for purposes of the foreign branch category definition in Sec.
1.904-4(f). Another comment requested that the final regulations
provide further clarification of the treatment of the disregarded
transactions, particularly with respect to the disposition of a
partnership interest, and provide relevant examples of other types of
transactions that the expanded definition is intended to capture.
Moreover, the comment requested that the definition of foreign branch
income should be modified such that it would not include any
adjustments that would increase the gross income attributable to the
foreign branch as a result of the transfer of intangible property from
the foreign branch to the foreign branch owner.
The Treasury Department and the IRS agree that there should be one
consistent definition of foreign branch income in both Sec. Sec.
1.250(b)-1(c)(11) and 1.904-4(f)(2) to avoid the various results
suggested by comments. Accordingly, the final regulations define
foreign branch income by cross reference to Sec. 1.904-4(f)(2) and
remove the modification to that definition in the proposed regulations
that would have included as foreign branch income any income from the
sale, directly or indirectly, of any asset (other than stock) that
produces gross income attributable to a foreign branch, including by
reason of the sale of a disregarded entity or partnership interest. See
Sec. 1.250(b)-1(c)(11).\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Under Sec. 1.904-4(f)(2), a disposition of an interest in a
disregarded entity could still result in foreign branch income. See
Sec. 1.904-4(f)(4)(ii) Example 2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
C. Cost of Goods Sold Allocation
The proposed regulations provided that for purposes of determining
the gross income included in gross DEI and gross FDDEI, cost of goods
sold is attributed to gross receipts with respect to gross DEI or gross
FDDEI under any reasonable method. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-1(d)(1).
The final regulations clarify that the method chosen by the taxpayer
must be consistently applied.
For purposes of this rule, any cost of goods sold associated with
activities undertaken in an earlier taxable year cannot be segregated
into component costs and attributed disproportionately to amounts
excluded from gross FDDEI or to amounts excluded from gross DEI,
similar to the rules in proposed Sec. 1.199-4(b)(2)(iii)(A). The
preamble to the proposed regulations requested comments on whether
there are alternative approaches for dealing with timing issues, and
whether additional rules should be provided for attributing cost of
goods sold in determining gross DEI and gross FDDEI.
One comment recommended that the final regulations continue to
allow cost of goods sold to be allocated under any reasonable method to
provide flexibility to different taxpayers. Another comment agreed with
the proposed regulations that cost of goods sold should be allocated
between gross FDDEI and gross non-FDDEI \3\ regardless of whether any
component of the costs was associated with activities undertaken in a
prior tax year. That comment, however, recommended that for future
periods taxpayers that recognized revenue under section 451 for advance
payments should be permitted an election to create an imputed cost of
goods sold deduction based upon the taxpayer's gross profit percentage
for that particular product or service. The comment argued this
election is needed because recognition of an advance payment as income
without associated cost of goods sold might be required under section
451 based upon certain facts and circumstances and the election would
allow the taxpayer to avoid this distortive impact.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ The final regulations rename ``gross non-FDDEI'' as ``gross
RDEI'' to clarify that the term includes only the residual of gross
DEI that is not gross FDDEI, rather than all gross income (including
income that is not gross DEI) that is not gross FDDEI. See Sec.
1.250(b)-1(c)(14).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sections 451 and 461 provide the general rules on the timing of
income recognition and taking a deduction into account, respectively.
Nothing in section 250 suggests that Congress intended to change the
scope of generally applicable income recognition rules. Therefore, the
final regulations do not adopt the comment to permit an election to
create an imputed cost of goods sold deduction in the context of
advance payments with respect to section 250.
D. Expense Allocation
1. In General
In calculating DEI under section 250(b)(3), a taxpayer must
determine the deductions that are ``properly allocable'' to gross DEI.
Proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-1(d)(2)(i) further provided that, for purposes
of calculating FDDEI, a taxpayer must determine the deductions that are
``properly allocable'' to gross FDDEI. Consistent with the rules for
determining the foreign tax credit limitation under section 904 or
qualified production activities income under former section 199, the
proposed regulations provided that Sec. Sec. 1.861-8 through 1.861-14T
and 1.861-17 apply for purposes of allocating deductions to gross DEI
and gross FDDEI. Id. Several comments supported using these general
apportionment rules.
2. Research and Experimentation Expenditures
Under Sec. 1.861-17(b), an exclusive apportionment of research and
experimentation (``R&E'') expenditures is made if activities
representing more than 50 percent of the R&E expenditures were
performed in a particular geographic location, such as the United
States. After this initial exclusive apportionment, the remainder of
the taxpayer's R&E expenditures are apportioned under either the sales
or gross income methods under Sec. 1.861-17(c) and (d). Section 1.861-
17(e) provides rules for making a binding election to use either the
sales or gross income method.
a. Exclusive Apportionment and Direct Apportionment
The proposed regulations under section 250 specified that the
exclusive apportionment rules in Sec. 1.861-17(b) did not apply for
purposes of apportioning R&E expenses to gross DEI and gross FDDEI. See
proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-1(d)(2)(i). Several comments requested that the
final regulations allow taxpayers to use exclusive apportionment for
purposes of determining FDII. One comment noted that the preamble to
the proposed regulations does not justify the proposed regulations
omitting the exclusive apportionment method in the FDII context.
Another comment asserted that allowing exclusive apportionment would
mitigate a significant disincentive for taxpayers to onshore intangible
property into the United States. Other comments argued that allocating
R&E expenses to FDDEI may discourage taxpayers from performing R&E
activities in the United States.
Several comments recommended allocating R&E expenditures based on
an optional books and records method that could be used when there is a
clear factual relationship between the R&E expenditures and a
particular amount of income. These comments noted that some taxpayers
are subject to regulatory oversight with respect to their contract
pricing and costs, and therefore such taxpayers' books and records
could be an accurate way of showing the relationship between R&E
expenses and gross income.
Several comments also requested that the final regulations adopt
special rules for expenses that are market-restricted or market-
required (for example, expenses required only by the U.S. Food
[[Page 43047]]
and Drug Administration concerning the U.S. market), including where
the legally mandated rule in Sec. 1.861-17(a)(4) would not apply. One
comment noted that this rule could apply in situations where U.S. law
limits the realization from certain research activities to the market
in which the research is performed (such as export controls) and
therefore the R&E expenditures would not be expected to generate gross
income outside the United States.
Several comments requested that if none of these recommendations
for allocating R&E expenses are adopted, the final regulations should
reserve on this provision pending the broader ongoing review of Sec.
1.861-17 by the Treasury Department.
In light of the issuance of proposed rules under Sec. 1.861-17 on
December 17, 2019 (84 FR 69124) (the ``2019 FTC proposed
regulations''), the final regulations remove the provision stating that
the exclusive apportionment rules in Sec. 1.861-17(b) do not apply for
purposes of apportioning R&E expenses to gross DEI and gross FDDEI, and
generally do not provide special rules for applying Sec. 1.861-17 for
purposes of section 250. Proposed Sec. 1.861-17 in the 2019 FTC
proposed regulations provides that the exclusive apportionment rule
applies only to section 904 as the operative section, and also proposes
eliminating the special rule for legally mandated R&E. As recommended
by comments to the proposed regulations under section 250, the Treasury
Department and the IRS will consider the issues raised regarding the
application of exclusive apportionment for purposes of section 250 as
part of finalizing the 2019 FTC proposed regulations.
b. Use of Sales or Gross Income Method
Several comments requested that the final regulations include an
election to allocate R&E expenses under either the sales or gross
income method. Comments also requested that taxpayers should be
permitted to make this election annually to give taxpayers a longer
period to assess the various new regimes that rely on Sec. 1.861-17
such as section 250, and pending the finalization of the FDII
regulations. Another comment suggested that the final regulations
should provide that the provisions of Sec. 1.861-17(c)(3) (requiring
sales to third parties by controlled foreign affiliates to be included)
should not apply as it might artificially apportion more R&E expense
against FDDEI.
As described in the preamble to proposed Sec. 1.861-17 in the 2019
FTC proposed regulations, the Treasury Department and the IRS are
concerned that the gross income method could in some cases produce
inappropriate results. See 84 FR 69124, 69129. As a result, the 2019
FTC proposed regulations proposed to eliminate the optional gross
income method described in Sec. 1.861-17(d) and require R&E
expenditures in excess of the amount exclusively apportioned under
Sec. 1.861-17(b) to be apportioned based on gross receipts. See
proposed Sec. 1.861-17(d). Comments addressing the applicability of
the gross income method will be addressed as part of finalizing the
2019 FTC proposed regulations.
Proposed Sec. 1.861-17(e)(3), published December 7, 2018 (83 FR
63200), permitted taxpayers a one-time exception to what would
otherwise be a five-year binding election period under Sec. 1.861-
17(e)(1) to use either the sales or the gross income method, in light
of the many changes to the foreign tax credit rules made by the Act.
Under proposed Sec. 1.861-17(e)(3), even if a taxpayer is subject to
the binding election period, for the taxpayer's first taxable year
beginning after December 31, 2017, the taxpayer may change its
apportionment method without obtaining the Commissioner's consent.
Comments to the proposed regulations under section 250 requested that
this one-time exception be extended to at least a second tax year
beginning after December 31, 2017, potentially at the election of the
taxpayer, pending the Treasury Department's ongoing review of Sec.
1.861-17. The final regulations under Sec. 1.861-17 issued on December
17, 2019, provide an additional year for taxpayers to change their
election of the sales or gross income method. See Sec. 1.861-17(e)(3).
3. Carryovers
Comments requested additional clarification regarding whether
taxpayers are required to apportion expenses incurred before the
effective date of the proposed regulations. Multiple comments
specifically asked for a clarification that taxpayers are not required
to apportion NOLs incurred before the effective date of the proposed
regulations or, in some cases, before the effective date of the Act,
recommending that a clarification could be along the lines of Sec.
1.199-4(c)(2)(ii) (providing that a deduction under section 172 for a
net operating loss is not allocated or apportioned to domestic
production gross receipts or gross income attributable to domestic
production gross receipts).
The final regulations address this comment by providing that the
following provisions (which limit certain deductions and provide for
the carryover of the amounts not currently allowed) do not apply when
allocating and apportioning deductions to gross DEI or gross FDDEI of a
taxpayer for a taxable year: Sections 163(j), 170(b)(2), 172, 246(b),
and 250. See Sec. 1.250(b)-1(d)(2)(ii). The Treasury Department and
the IRS considered a rule that would require expenses incurred in prior
years, including in years before the effective date of the proposed
regulations, to be allocated to gross DEI and gross FDDEI, but
determined that the benefit of the theoretical precision of this
approach would be outweighed by the burden on taxpayers and the IRS
that would be associated with making retroactive determinations.
Further, the approach taken in the final regulations is consistent with
the premise that the section 250 deduction is calculated based on
annual income and expenses.
E. Foreign-Derived Ratio
The proposed regulations provided rules for determining a
taxpayer's foreign-derived ratio, which is the ratio of FDDEI to DEI.
See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-1(c)(13). The preamble to the proposed
regulations observed that as a result of expense apportionment or
attribution of cost of goods sold to gross receipts, a taxpayer's FDDEI
could exceed its DEI, thereby resulting in a foreign-derived ratio
greater than one. The preamble noted that this result would be
inconsistent with section 250(b)(4), which defines FDDEI as a subset of
DEI, as it would lead to having FDII in excess of DII. Therefore, the
proposed regulations clarified that the foreign-derived ratio cannot
exceed one.
Several comments requested that the final regulations allow the
foreign-derived ratio to exceed one. The comments asserted that the
foreign-derived ratio can in fact exceed one under the statute where
the taxpayer has losses that cause its FDDEI to exceed its DEI, and
that there is no evidence Congress intended to limit the foreign-
derived ratio to no greater than one. One of the comments asserted that
FDDEI and DEI are defined by the statute and that the Treasury
Department and the IRS do not have the authority to define FDDEI more
narrowly than the statute does. Another comment argued that section
250(a)(2) provides a separate taxable income limitation that limits the
FDII deduction based on domestic losses. This comment further asserted
that the foreign-derived ratio rule of the proposed regulations reduces
a taxpayer's incentive for repatriating intangible property when the
foreign income from these intangibles cannot be
[[Page 43048]]
used to offset domestic losses for purposes of applying section 250.
One comment further suggested that the final regulations allow a
taxpayer to elect to determine its FDII deduction, including the
various elements of the determination such as DII, QBAI, and DTIR,
based on specific product lines or business lines, as determined by the
taxpayer. The comment asserted that such an approach would be analogous
to other provisions that calculate taxable income separately for
different subsets of income such as former section 199, the foreign tax
credit limitation under section 904(d), separate limitation loss
recapture rules in sections 904(f) and (g), and Sec. Sec. 1.994-1(c)
and 1.994-2(b). The comment argued that such an approach to determining
FDII is more consistent with the policy goal of reducing the tax
incentive to locate intellectual property outside the United States,
which the comment asserted would be frustrated if domestic losses
reduce FDII-eligible income.
The Treasury Department and the IRS do not agree that limiting the
foreign-derived ratio to no greater than one is inconsistent with the
plain meaning of section 250. Specifically, the approach recommended by
the comments would be inconsistent with the statutory language of
section 250(b)(4), which defines FDDEI as a subset of DEI, that is,
``any deduction eligible income of such taxpayer which is derived in
connection with'' certain transactions. Allowing the foreign-derived
ratio to exceed one could also lead to anomalous results. For example,
a cliff effect would arise whereby a taxpayer with significant FDDEI
but only $1 of DEI would have a significant FDII deduction, whereas if
it has $0 or less of DEI, then no FDII deduction would be allowed. This
would also create further anomalous results and incentives with respect
to section 163(j), which is determined taking into account the section
250 deduction.
In addition, nothing in section 250 provides for FDII to be
calculated based on specific product lines or business lines, which
would entail significant complexity for taxpayers and administrative
burdens for the IRS. Instead, the statute is clear that the FDII
deduction is calculated as an aggregate of all FDDEI transactions.
Therefore, the final regulations do not adopt this comment.
F. Partnership Reporting Requirements
The proposed regulations required partnership information reporting
in order to administer section 250. See proposed Sec. Sec. 1.250(b)-
1(e)(2) and 1.6038-3(g)(4). One comment asserted that the partnership
information reporting requirements of proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-1(e)(2)
impose unnecessary administrative burdens on a partnership that
reasonably believes it has no (direct or indirect) domestic corporate
partners, even after the partnership has performed reasonable due
diligence as to the identity of its partners and reasonably relied on
information provided by the partners. The comment requested that the
Treasury Department and IRS consider some form of relief from this
reporting; the comment expressed the view that this limited reporting
requirement would not prejudice the government's interest because the
use of partnership items can only reduce the partner's tax liability.
The comment further requested the addition of a reasonable cause
exception (consistent with the penalty defenses available for the Form
8865 penalties).
The final regulations do not include a more limited reporting
requirement because the Treasury Department and IRS are concerned that
this might undermine accurate reporting at the partner level. In
addition, the Treasury Department and IRS disagree with the comment's
observation that reporting by the partnership of items under section
250 could only reduce a partner's tax liability--for example, a
domestic corporate partner might reduce its tax liability by failing to
include partnership QBAI. As to the comment's request for a reasonable
cause exception, generally applicable penalty exceptions already apply
to the extent information relevant to FDII is not reported on the
applicable form. See section 6698(a) for filing Form 1065, section
6038(c)(4)(B) for filing Form 8865, and section 6724(a) for filing
Schedule K-1 (Form 1065). For example, under Sec. 301.6724-1(a)(2)(ii)
and (c)(6), a partnership may establish reasonable cause because a
payee failed to provide information necessary for the partnership to
comply (or because of incorrect information provided by the payee or
any other person that the partnership relied on in good faith).
However, the final regulations clarify the reporting rules for tiered-
partnership situations as well as provide guidance on certain
computational aspects. See Sec. 1.250(b)-1(e)(2). Similar additions
are made to the reporting rules with respect to controlled foreign
partnerships. See Sec. 1.6038-3(g)(3).
V. Comments on and Revisions to Proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-2--Qualified
Business Asset Investment
A. In General
The proposed regulations provided general rules for determining the
QBAI of a taxpayer for purposes of determining its DTIR, including
defining QBAI, tangible property, and specified tangible property;
rules regarding dual-use property; rules for determining adjusted
basis; rules regarding short tax years; rules regarding property owned
through a partnership; and an anti-avoidance rule. See proposed Sec.
1.250(b)-2. Section 250(b)(2)(B) provides that QBAI, for purposes of
section 250, is defined under section 951A(d), and is determined by
substituting ``deduction eligible income'' for ``tested income'' and
without regard to whether the corporation is a controlled foreign
corporation (``CFC''). While the rules provided in Sec. 1.951A-3 for
determining QBAI of a CFC for purposes of section 951A do not apply in
determining QBAI for purposes of computing the deduction of a taxpayer
under section 250 for its FDII, the proposed regulations under section
250 provided a similar, but not identical, determination of QBAI for
purposes of FDII.
The section 951A final regulations made certain revisions and
clarifications to the proposed regulations under that section
(``section 951A proposed regulations''). See Sec. 1.951A-3. The
preamble to the section 951A final regulations noted that, except as
indicated with respect to the election to use a depreciation method
other than the alternative depreciation system (``ADS'') for
determining the adjusted basis in specified tangible property for
assets placed in service before the enactment of section 951A (see part
V.B of this Summary of Comments and Explanation of Revisions section),
modifications similar to the revisions to proposed Sec. 1.951A-3 will
be made to proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-2. These modifications generally
clarify the QBAI computation with respect to dual-use property (Sec.
1.250(b)-2(d)) and partnerships (Sec. 1.250(b)-2(g)). Accordingly, the
final regulations make conforming changes to QBAI for purposes of FDII
similar to the changes made to proposed Sec. 1.951A-3 in the section
951A final regulations. See Sec. 1.250(b)-(2).
B. Determination of Basis Under ADS
The proposed regulations provided that, for purposes of determining
QBAI, the adjusted basis in specified tangible
[[Page 43049]]
property is determined by using ADS under section 168(g), and by
allocating the depreciation deduction with respect to such property for
the taxpayer's taxable year ratably to each day during the period in
the taxable year to which such depreciation relates. See section
951A(d)(3) \4\ and proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-2(e)(1). ADS applies to
determine the adjusted basis in property for purposes of determining
QBAI regardless of whether the property was placed in service before
the enactment of section 250 or section 951A, or whether the basis in
the property is determined under another depreciation method for other
purposes of the Code. See section 951A(d)(3) and proposed Sec.
1.250(b)-2(e).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ As enacted, section 951A(d) contains two paragraphs
designated as paragraph (3). The section 951A(d)(3) discussed in
this part V.B of the Summary of Comments and Explanation of
Revisions section relates to the determination of the adjusted basis
in property for purposes of calculating QBAI.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A comment recommended that the final regulations for FDII should
permit taxpayers the opportunity to follow U.S. GAAP for purposes of
determining QBAI where the difference between U.S. GAAP and ADS is
immaterial. The final regulations do not adopt this recommendation.
Section 951A(d)(3) (and, by reference, section 250(b)(2)(B)) is clear
that the adjusted basis in specified tangible property is determined
using ADS under section 168(g). In addition, permitting taxpayers to
elect to follow U.S. GAAP in the context of FDII will impose
significant administrative burdens on the IRS to determine what would
be immaterial and account for different depreciation methods to compute
QBAI.
C. QBAI Anti-Avoidance Rule
In order to prevent artificial decreases to the DTIR amount, the
proposed regulations disregarded certain transfers of specified
tangible property by a domestic corporation to a related party where
the corporation continues to use the property in production of gross
DEI. In particular, proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-2(h)(1) disregarded a
transfer of specified tangible property by the taxpayer to a related
party if, within a two-year period beginning one year before the
transfer, the taxpayer leases the same or substantially similar
property from a related party and such transfer and lease occur with a
principal purpose of reducing the taxpayer's DTIR. In addition, a
transfer or leaseback transaction was treated as per se undertaken for
a principal purpose of reducing the transferor's DTIR if the transfer
and leaseback each occur within a six-month span. See proposed Sec.
1.250(b)-2(h)(3). Comments recommended that the final regulations
contain a transition period for the QBAI anti-avoidance rule in
proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-2(h)(3) for transactions entered into before
the date that the proposed regulations were issued. The final
regulations adopt this comment. See Sec. 1.250(b)-2(h)(5).
Another comment recommended that a taxpayer be able to rebut the
presumption that a transfer or leaseback transaction was undertaken for
a principal purpose of reducing the transferor's DTIR if the transfer
and leaseback each occurred within a six-month span. The final
regulations do not adopt this recommendation because a transfer and
lease of the same or similar property that occurs between related
parties within six months does not materially change the economic risk
of the parties and is unlikely to be motivated by non-tax reasons. In
addition, permitting taxpayers to rebut the presumption that such a
transaction was undertaken for a principal purpose of reducing the
transferor's DTIR creates significant administrative burdens.
VI. Comments on and Revisions to Proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-3--FDDEI
Transactions
The proposed regulations provided that FDDEI is the excess of gross
FDDEI over deductions properly allocable to gross FDDEI. See proposed
Sec. 1.250(b)-1(c)(12). The proposed regulations defined gross FDDEI
as the portion of a corporation's gross DEI that is derived from all of
its ``FDDEI sales'' and ``FDDEI services.'' See proposed Sec.
1.250(b)-1(c)(15). The proposed regulations defined ``sale'' to include
a lease, license, exchange, or other disposition of property, including
a transfer of property resulting in gain or an income inclusion under
section 367. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(7).
A. Definition of ``General Property''
1. Treatment of Commodities
For purposes of determining what is a FDDEI sale (and relatedly,
whether a sale is for a foreign use), the proposed regulations
distinguished between ``general property'' and certain other types of
property. The proposed regulations excluded any commodity (as defined
in section 475(e)(2)(B) through (D)) from the definition of general
property. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(3). The proposed regulations
did not exclude from the definition of general property a commodity
described in section 475(e)(2)(A), and therefore, the sale of such a
commodity may qualify as a FDDEI sale. A comment raised a concern that
the sale of a physical commodity effected through certain derivative
contracts (described in section 475(e)(2)(B) through (D)) might not be
treated as a sale of general property under the proposed regulations.
The comment recommended clarifying that the sale of a physical
commodity in satisfaction of a forward contract is not excluded from
the definition of general property.
The Treasury Department and the IRS generally agree that a sale of
a commodity such as an agricultural commodity or a natural resource
should be a sale of general property whether it is sold pursuant to a
spot contract or sold pursuant to a forward or option contract, other
than a section 1256 contract or similar contract that is traded and
cleared like a section 1256 contract. The sale of such a commodity
through a futures or option contract that is a section 1256 contract or
similar contract is not treated as a sale of general property because
the interposition of a clearing organization as the counterparty to
such contracts severs the connection between the original selling and
buying parties to the contract such that no meaningful determination
can be made whether the sale through such a contract is for a foreign
use. The definition of ``general property'' in Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(10)
is modified accordingly. The final regulations also clarify that
financial instruments or similar assets traded through futures or
similar contracts do not qualify as general property.
The Treasury Department and the IRS are concerned, however, that a
taxpayer could manipulate its FDDEI by selectively physically settling
only its commodities forward or option contracts in which it has a
gain. To prevent this manipulation, the final regulations provide that
the sale of a commodity pursuant to a forward or option contract is
treated as a sale of general property only to the extent that a
taxpayer physically settled the contract pursuant to a consistent
practice adopted for business purposes of determining whether to cash
or physically settle such contracts under similar circumstances. See
Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(10).
The proposed regulations further provided that a sale of a security
(as defined in section 475(c)(2)) or a commodity (as defined in section
475(e)(2)(B) through (D)) is not a FDDEI sale. See proposed Sec.
1.250(b)-4(f). This rule is no longer necessary because the final
regulations exclude such property from the definition of general
property.
[[Page 43050]]
2. Treatment of Interests in Partnerships
The proposed regulations did not address the conditions under which
the sale of a partnership interest that is not described in section
475(c)(2) will satisfy the foreign use requirement. One comment
suggested that when a taxpayer sells a partnership interest, a look-
through approach should apply such that the sale of a partnership
interest would be considered a sale of the partner's proportionate
share in the partnership's assets. As such, the sale of the partnership
interest could be considered a sale of general property and would
qualify as a FDDEI sale so long as the other relevant requirements of
the regulations were met. The same comment noted an alternative
approach that would preclude looking through to the underlying assets
and instead would require the foreign purchaser to determine if the
acquisition of the partnership interest is for a foreign use.
The Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that, like an
interest in a corporation (which is a security under section
475(c)(2)(A) and therefore not general property under Sec. 1.250(b)-
3(b)(10)), interests in a partnership are not the type of property that
can be subject to ``any use, consumption, or disposition'' outside the
United States. Furthermore, a look-through approach would be
inconsistent with the fact that title to the partnership's property
does not change upon the sale of an interest in a partnership and also
would be difficult to administer given that the underlying property
that would be tested for foreign use is not actually being transferred.
Accordingly, the final regulations provide that an interest in a
partnership, as well as an interest in a trust or estate, is not
general property. See Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(10).
3. Exclusion of Intangible Property
Under the proposed regulations, the rules applicable to the
determination of whether a sale of property is for a foreign use
depends on whether the property sold is ``general property'' or
``intangible property.'' See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d) and (e). The
proposed regulations defined general property as property other than
intangible property, a security (as defined in section 475(c)(2)), or a
commodity (as defined in section 475(e)(2)(B) through (D)). See
proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(3). The proposed regulations defined
intangible property by cross-reference to section 367(d)(4). See
proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(4).
Two examples in the proposed regulations suggested that a limited
use license of a copyrighted article is analyzed under the rules for
sales of intangible property. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-
4(e)(4)(ii)(D) and (E) (Example 4 and 5). One comment recommended that
if the distinction between sales of tangible and intangible property is
maintained, then the final regulations should provide that software
transactions involving the sale or lease of copyrighted articles are
governed by the general property rules and not the intangible property
rules.
The final regulations make several changes in response to this
comment. Consistent with the request in the comment, the definition of
``intangible property'' for purposes of section 250 is clarified to not
include a copyrighted article as defined in Sec. 1.861-18(c)(3). See
Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(11). However, the rules for determining foreign use
that apply to general property are not suitable for sales of digital
content, including copyrighted articles, that are transferred
electronically, because those rules focus on the physical transfer of
property to end users. Therefore, the final regulations provide an
additional rule for sales of general property that primarily contain
digital content. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(1)(ii)(D). Under the final
regulations, ``digital content'' is defined as a computer program or
any other content in digital format. See Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(1). The
determination of how a transfer of a copyrighted article is
characterized (for example, as a sale or a service) for purposes of
applying the final regulations is based on general U.S. tax principles,
taking into account the regulations issued under section 861.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ See proposed Sec. 1.861-18(a) (84 FR 40317) (adding section
250 to the list of provisions to which Sec. 1.861-18 applies).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notwithstanding the final regulations' treatment of sales of
copyrighted articles for purposes of determining foreign use, no
inference is intended with respect to the treatment of sales of
copyrighted articles under other sections of the Code. For example, the
fact that a sale of a copyrighted article (or other property) is
treated as a FDDEI sale does not necessarily mean that the income from
the sale is foreign source under section 861.
B. Foreign Military Sales and Services
The proposed regulations provided that for purposes of section 250
a sale of property or a provision of service to the U.S. government
that is governed by the Arms Export Control Act of 1976, as amended (22
U.S.C. 2751 et. seq.), is treated as a sale of property or provision of
a service to a foreign government, and therefore may qualify as a FDDEI
transaction if the other requirements under proposed Sec. Sec.
1.250(b)-3 through 1.250(b)-6 are satisfied. See proposed Sec.
1.250(b)-3(c). The proposed regulations requested comments on
identifying readily available documentation sufficient to demonstrate
that a particular sale or service was made pursuant to the Arms Export
Control Act.
Several comments requested removal of the requirement in proposed
Sec. 1.250(b)-3(c) that the resale or on-service to a foreign
government or agency or instrumentality thereof must be ``on commercial
terms.'' The comments asserted that this requirement was ambiguous and
observed that the taxpayer would not necessarily have access to the
contract between the U.S. government and the foreign counterparty and
therefore could not necessarily evaluate the commerciality of such
contract. The comments also objected to the requirement that the
contract between the taxpayer and the U.S. government specifically
refer to the resale or on-service to the foreign government, stating
that the contract may not always specify this information but that the
resale or on-service could be evidenced by the taxpayer's generally
available records.
In response to the preamble's request for comments on suitable
documentation to demonstrate that a foreign military sale qualifies
under this special rule, several comments noted that no one particular
document will suffice to demonstrate that a given sale or service
qualifies. Nevertheless, comments stated that ordinary course
documentation should suffice to show that the sale or service
qualifies. If the final regulations were to retain a list of particular
documents required to demonstrate that a particular sale or service was
made pursuant to the Arms Export Control Act, the comments suggested
various types of documents that might be available but also stated that
any list of these documents should be non-exclusive since any one
document may not exist for a particular sale or service, and, in any
event, the Department of Defense and the State Department modify their
forms frequently. One comment asked for transitional relief for any
pre-existing contracts, if the final regulations were to provide an
exclusive list of required documentation. Another comment requested a
presumption of foreign use in the context of foreign military sales
based on the high likelihood that defense articles would satisfy
foreign use--sales made pursuant to the Arms Export Control Act are
limited to foreign strategic partners who intend to use
[[Page 43051]]
articles in a certain manner, such as, self-defense and internal
security--and the low likelihood that a foreign person could use a
defense article within the United States.
In general, the final regulations adopt the comments. Section
1.250(b)-3(c) does not include a requirement that the foreign military
sale or service be ``on commercial terms'' or that the contract
specifically refer to the resale or on-service to the foreign
government. Instead, if a sale of property or a provision of a service
is made pursuant to the Arms Export Control Act, then the sale of
property or provision of a service is treated as a FDDEI sale or FDDEI
service without needing to apply the general rules in Sec. 1.250(b)-4
or Sec. 1.250(b)-5. See Sec. 1.250(b)-3(c). The final regulations
also do not require any particular documentation to substantiate that a
transaction qualifies under the rule in Sec. 1.250(b)-3(c). Taxpayers
will continue to be required to substantiate under section 6001 that
any foreign military sale or service qualifies for a section 250
deduction.
C. Reliability of Documentation and Reason To Know Standard
The proposed regulations provided that to establish that a
recipient is a foreign person, property is for a foreign use, or a
recipient of a general service is located outside the United States,
the taxpayer must obtain specific types of documentation described in
proposed Sec. Sec. 1.250(b)-4(c)(2), (d)(3), and (e)(3) and 1.250(b)-
5(d)(3) and (e)(3). The proposed regulations also provided that the
seller or renderer must not know or have reason to know that the
documentation is incorrect or unreliable. Proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-
3(d)(1). One comment requested that the final regulations provide more
guidance and relevant examples regarding the scope of this rule, in
particular what knowledge should be imputed across a large organization
and how the standard should apply when relevant information is legally
protected by data privacy laws.
As described in part II of this Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section, the final regulations replace the documentation
requirements with substantiation rules that are more flexible with
respect to the types of corroborating evidence that may be used. The
knowledge or reason to know standard is retained in Sec. Sec.
1.250(b)-3(f)(3) (treatment of certain loss transactions), 1.250(b)-
4(c)(1) (foreign person requirement), (d)(1)(iii)(C) (general property
incorporated into a product as a component) and (d)(2)(ii)(C)(2) (sale
of intangible property consisting of a manufacturing method or process
to a foreign unrelated party), and 1.250(b)-5(d)(1) (general services
provided to consumers). In response to comments, the final regulations
provide additional detail regarding the application of the reason to
know standard in these sections. The final regulations generally
provide that a taxpayer has reason to know that a transaction fails to
satisfy a substantive requirement if the information that the taxpayer
receives as part of the sales process contains information that
indicates that the substantive requirement is not met and, after making
reasonable efforts, the taxpayer cannot establish that the substantive
requirement is met. See Sec. Sec. 1.250(b)-3(f)(3), 1.250(b)-4(c)(1),
(d)(1)(iii)(C) and (d)(2)(ii)(C)(2), and Sec. 1.250(b)-5(d)(1).
D. Sales or Services to a Partnership
For purposes of determining a taxpayer's FDII attributable to sales
of property or services to a partnership, the proposed regulations
adopted an entity approach to partnerships. See proposed Sec.
1.250(b)-3(g)(1). One comment suggested that if a seller of a good has
a greater than 10 percent ownership interest in the recipient domestic
partnership, the final regulations should also permit aggregate
treatment of the partnership for this limited purpose. The comment
observed that the proposed regulations do not permit sales to a
domestic partnership to qualify as a FDDEI sale because a domestic
partnership is not a foreign person under proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-
3(b)(2). According to the comment, in certain industries, customers
request ``teaming arrangements'' that require bidders to form a single
domestic bidding entity that will govern the relationship between the
members of the team, but most of the work is performed by the partners,
under subcontract from the partnership. The comment recommended that
the practice of joint bidding should not disqualify the activity for
FDII purposes.
With respect to a taxpayer's sales of property to a partnership,
one comment suggested that the final regulations consider alternatives
to a pure entity approach. The comment outlined two other approaches to
determine if a sale to a partnership qualifies as a FDDEI sale based on
whether the partnership is predominantly engaged in foreign business or
a pure aggregate approach to treat the partnership as a foreign person
to the extent of its ownership by direct or indirect foreign partners.
With respect to a partnership engaged in multiple lines of business,
each business could be viewed as a separate person for FDII purposes.
While the comment did not support an aggregate approach or advocate a
specific approach, the comment noted that the Treasury Department and
the IRS should balance legislative intent, administrative burden, and
precision.
The final regulations do not adopt these comments. The statute is
clear that in the case of sales of property, the sale must be to a
person that is not a United States person, and a domestic partnership
is a United States person. See part VII.B of this Summary of Comments
and Explanation of Revisions section. In addition, requiring taxpayers
to trace the ownership, potentially through multiple tiers, of third-
party partnership recipients presents significant administrative
hurdles. If, alternatively, this regime were elective, it would create
the potential for abuse or uneven results for similarly situated
taxpayers.
E. Treatment of Certain Loss Transactions
The proposed regulations provided that if a seller or renderer
knows or has reason to know that property is sold to a foreign person
for a foreign use or a general service is provided to a person located
outside the United States, but the seller or renderer does not satisfy
the documentation requirements applicable to such sale or service, the
sale of property or provision of a service is nonetheless deemed a
FDDEI transaction if treating the sale or service as a FDDEI
transaction would reduce a taxpayer's FDDEI. See proposed Sec.
1.250(b)-3(f). One comment requested a clarification that taking the
FDII deduction should be considered an elective action and that this
rule does not impact such an election.
As described in part II of this Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section, in response to comments, the final regulations
adopt a more flexible approach to the FDII-specific documentation rules
and instead provide specific substantiation requirements for certain
elements of the regulations. Accordingly, the rule with respect to loss
transactions is revised so that it only applies to transactions for
which there is a specific substantiation requirement. See Sec.
1.250(b)-3(f)(3)(i). However, the fact that Sec. 1.250(b)-3(f)(3) has
been narrowed in the final regulations does not mean that the allowed
FDII deduction can be determined on a transaction-by-transaction basis.
As provided in the final regulations, FDII is determined on a single
aggregate basis, not on a
[[Page 43052]]
transaction-by-transaction basis. See Sec. 1.250(b)-1.
The final regulations also clarify that for purposes of the loss
transaction rule, whether a taxpayer has reason to know that a sale of
property is to a foreign person for a foreign use, or that a general
service is provided to a business recipient located outside the United
States, depends on the information received as part of the sales
process. If the information received as part of the sales process
contains information that indicates that a sale is to a foreign person
for a foreign use or that a general service is to a business recipient
located outside the United States, the requisite reason to know is
present unless the taxpayer can prove otherwise. See Sec. 1.250(b)-
3(f)(3)(ii). With respect to sales, the final regulations provide a
non-exhaustive list of information that indicates that a recipient is a
foreign person or that the sale is for a foreign use, such as a foreign
address or phone number. While not all sales to a foreign person are
for a foreign use (nor are all sales for a foreign use made to foreign
persons), the final regulations use the same indicia for both
requirements because a foreign person is more likely to make a purchase
for a foreign use compared to a U.S. person. With respect to general
services, information that indicates that a recipient is a business
recipient include indicia of a business status, such as ``LLC'' or
``Company,'' or similar indicia under applicable law, in its name.
Information that indicates that a business recipient is located outside
the United States includes, but is not limited to, a foreign phone
number, billing address, and evidence that the business was formed or
is managed outside the United States. These rules can also apply in the
case of sales made by related parties where the foreign related party
is treated as the seller and the unrelated party transaction is being
analyzed. See Sec. 1.250(b)-6(c)(2).
The final regulations do not include a rule specifying that a
taxpayer may choose not to claim a FDII deduction. Whether an allowable
deduction must be claimed is governed by general tax principles and
rules on whether such deduction can be elective is beyond the scope of
these regulations.
F. Predominant Character Rule
The proposed regulations provided that if a transaction includes
both a sale component and a service component, the transaction is
classified according to the overall predominant character of the
transaction for purposes of determining whether the transaction is
subject to the FDDEI sales rules of proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-4 or the
FDDEI services rules of proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-5. See proposed Sec.
1.250(b)-3(e). A comment expressed support for the predominant
character rule for transactions that contain both sale and service
components in general but also suggested that the final regulations
allow taxpayers to elect to follow U.S. GAAP accounting, which may in
certain circumstances require the disaggregation of the sale and
service components of a single transaction.
For purposes of simplicity and to avoid the need for complex
apportionment rules, Sec. 1.250(b)-3(d) provides a rule to determine
the predominant character of the transaction when a transaction has
multiple elements, such as a sale of general property and a service or
sale of general property and sale of intangible property. The Treasury
Department and the IRS have determined that an elective rule that
allows for disaggregation would create significant complexity for
taxpayers and be difficult for the IRS to administer, and could lead to
whipsaw for the IRS as taxpayers elect to disaggregate when it
increases the FDII deduction but not otherwise. Accordingly, the final
regulations do not adopt the comment to include an election to follow
U.S. GAAP to disaggregate a single transaction.
VII. Comments on and Revisions to Proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-4--FDDEI
Sales
Section 250(b)(4)(A) provides that FDDEI includes income from
property the taxpayer sells to any person who is not a U.S. person and
that the taxpayer establishes to the satisfaction of the Secretary is
for a foreign use. Accordingly, the proposed regulations defined a
FDDEI sale as a sale of property to a foreign person for a foreign use.
See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-4(b).
A. End User Requirement
The proposed regulations provided that a sale of intangible
property is for a foreign use to the extent the intangible property
generates revenue from exploitation outside the United States, which is
generally determined based on the location of end users purchasing
products for which the intangible property was used in development,
manufacture, sale, or distribution. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-
4(e)(2)(i).
Several comments requested that the final regulations clarify the
definition of an ``end user.'' One comment recommended that an ``end
user'' be defined as any consumer or business recipient that purchases
a finished good for its own use or consumption (not for resale or
further manufacture, assembly, or other processing). Another
recommended that the finished good manufacturer or original equipment
manufacturer, rather than the ultimate customer of the manufacturer, be
treated as the end user.
The final regulations generally adopt the comment that the end user
should be the consumer that purchases the property for its own
consumption. See Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(2). Further, as discussed in part
VII.C.1 of this Summary of Comments and Explanation of Revisions
section, the concept of an end user is also incorporated into the rules
for determining whether a sale of general property, in addition to
intangible property, is for a foreign use. See Sec. 1.250-4(d). In
this way, to the extent possible, the final regulations harmonize the
rules for sales of general property and intangible property.
Section 1.250(b)-3(b)(2) defines the ``end user'' as the person
that ultimately uses the property, and that a person who acquires
property for resale or otherwise as an intermediary is not an end user.
The definition of end user is modified for intangible property used in
connection with the sale of general property, provision of services,
sale of a manufacturing method or process intangible property, and for
research and development as provided in Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(ii).
The final regulations do not adopt the comments that in all cases a
finished goods manufacturer may be an end user. However, as described
in part VII.C.7 of this Summary of Comments and Explanation of
Revisions section, the final regulations continue to provide that sales
of general property for manufacturing, assembly, or other processing
outside the United States are sales for a foreign use. See Sec.
1.250(b)-4(d)(1)(iii). In addition, as described in part VII.D.4 of
this Summary of Comments and Explanation of Revisions section, an
unrelated manufacturer (such as an original equipment manufacturer)
that uses intangible property that consists of a manufacturing method
or process, as provided in Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(ii)(C), is treated as
the end user if it has purchased (or licensed) the manufacturing method
or process intangible property from an unrelated party.
B. Foreign Person
The proposed regulations provided that a recipient is treated as a
foreign person only if the seller obtains documentation of the
recipient's foreign status and does not know or have reason to know
that the recipient is not a foreign person. See proposed Sec.
1.250(b)-4(c)(1). The proposed regulations
[[Page 43053]]
provided several types of permissible documentation for this purpose,
such as a written statement by the recipient indicating that the
recipient is a foreign person. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-4(c)(2)(i).
As explained in part II of this Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section, in response to comments, the final regulations
remove the specific documentation requirements with respect to certain
requirements, including the foreign person requirement, and further
identify the substantive standards by which taxpayers must meet the
requirements of the FDII regime. To address situations in which
taxpayers may not be able to determine whether the recipient is a
foreign person within the meaning of section 7701(a)(1), the final
regulations provide that the sale of property is presumed made to a
recipient that is a foreign person if the sale is as described in one
of four categories: (1) Foreign retail sales; (2) sales of general
property that are delivered to an address outside the United States;
(3) in the case of general property that is not sold in a foreign
retail sale or delivered overseas, the billing address of the recipient
is outside the United States; or (4) in the case of sales of intangible
property, the billing address of the recipient is outside the United
States. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(c)(2)(i) through (iv). The presumption
does not apply if the seller knows or has reason to know that the sale
is to a recipient other than a foreign person. See Sec. 1.250(b)-
4(c)(1). The final regulations also specify that a seller has reason to
know that a sale is to a recipient other than a foreign person if the
information received as part of the sales process contains information
that indicates that the recipient is not a foreign person and the
seller fails to obtain evidence establishing that the recipient is in
fact a foreign person. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(c)(1). Information that
indicates that a recipient is not a foreign person includes, but is not
limited to, a United States phone number, billing address, shipping
address, or place of residence; and, with respect to an entity,
evidence that the entity is incorporated, formed, or managed in the
United States. Id.
One comment requested that the final regulations include exceptions
similar to the foreign military sales rule in the proposed regulations
for other sales or licenses of property through an intermediate
domestic person. The comment asserted that, for various business
reasons including historic relationships with unrelated parties and
efficiencies from entering into global deals to sell property to
unrelated parties, certain U.S. manufacturers sell products to another
U.S. entity, even though that intermediary never actually takes
possession, and the product is immediately resold to a foreign person
and used outside the United States. In the licensing context, a U.S.
taxpayer may enter a global licensing deal with another U.S. entity
whereby this intermediary is granted the authority to sub-license the
intangible property to its foreign affiliates. While in both cases the
transactions could potentially be restructured so that the taxpayer
enters into the transactions with a foreign person that is related to
the U.S. intermediary, the comment suggested that unrelated
counterparties could demand compensation for any restructuring. The
comment also noted that the title to section 250(b)(5)(B) references
rules for ``[p]roperty or services provided to domestic
intermediaries,'' suggesting that Congress contemplated situations
where sales to a U.S. intermediary could be treated as a sale to a non-
U.S. person, although the rule itself does not reference domestic
intermediaries.
As explained in the preamble to the proposed regulations, section
250(b)(4)(A)(i) requires that a sale of property (which includes
licenses of intangible property) be made to a person who is not a
United States person. This requirement ensures that only the domestic
corporation that makes the final sale to a foreign person can claim a
section 250 deduction for a FDDEI sale (rather than allowing the
benefit to multiple unrelated domestic corporations that all
participate in a sale). Furthermore, the Treasury Department and the
IRS do not agree that the heading to section 250(b)(5)(B) implies an
exception to the requirement in section 250(b)(4)(A)(i) that the sale
be to a foreign person. The rule in section 250(b)(5)(B)(i) refers only
to other ``persons'' and is not limited to domestic persons. In
contrast, the Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that it
is necessary and appropriate to provide a special rule for military
sales in recognition that sales pursuant to the Arms Export Control Act
are required to be made to the U.S. government, but are in effect sales
to a foreign government. Therefore, the comment is not adopted.
C. Foreign Use of General Property
1. Determination of Foreign Use in General
The proposed regulations provided that the sale of general property
is for a foreign use if either the property is not subject to domestic
use within three years of delivery of the property or the property is
subject to manufacture, assembly, or other processing outside the
United States before any domestic use of the property. See proposed
Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(i). Domestic use was defined in the proposed
regulations as the use, consumption, or disposition of property within
the United States, including manufacture, assembly, or other processing
within the United States. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(ii). In
order to establish that general property is for a foreign use, the
seller must generally obtain certain documentation with respect to the
sale, such as proof of shipment of the property to a foreign address,
and the seller cannot know or have reason to know that the property is
not for a foreign use. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(1) and (3).
Several comments noted that the definition of foreign use combined
with the narrow documentation requirements make it difficult for
taxpayers to satisfy the foreign use requirement. Several comments
interpreted the proposed regulations as requiring taxpayers to
determine whether general property that was sold would actually be
subject to a domestic use within three years of the date of delivery.
Other comments similarly expressed confusion regarding the obligation
imposed on taxpayers to determine whether there was a reason to know
that property would be subject to a domestic use. One comment requested
that the Treasury Department and the IRS treat certain types of sales,
such as foreign retail sales at a physical store even where the
consumer might ultimately use the property within the United States, as
sales for foreign use.
As explained in part II of this Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section, in response to comments on documentation, the
final regulations take a more flexible approach to documentation and
provide specific substantiation requirements for certain transactions
(described in part VII.C.9 of this Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section).
In addition, with respect to the requirement of ``foreign use'' for
sales of general property, the final regulations clarify the meaning of
that term to provide that it generally means the sale (or eventual
sale) of the property to end users outside the United States or the
sale of the property to a person that subjects the property to
manufacture, assembly, or other processing outside the United States.
See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(1)(ii) and (iii). Consistent with the
recommendations from comments, the Treasury Department and the IRS have
determined that a more flexible
[[Page 43054]]
definition of foreign use of general property that accounts for the
possibility of some limited domestic use is more reasonable for
taxpayers to apply and for the IRS to administer. Accordingly, the
final regulations eliminate the requirement that the taxpayer have no
``reason to know'' of some domestic use for sales of general property.
As described in part VII.C.2 through 8 of this Summary of Comments and
Explanation of Revisions section, the final regulations generally
provide that the sale of general property is for a foreign use if the
seller determines that such sale is to an end user described in one of
five categories. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(1)(ii)(A)-(F).
2. Delivery of Property Outside the United States
The first category of sales that are for a foreign use is sales to
a recipient that are delivered by a freight forwarder or carrier to an
end user if the end user receives delivery of the general property
outside the United States. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(1)(ii)(A). The
Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that, in general, if an
end user receives delivery of general property outside the United
States, the general property will be ``for a foreign use'' as
contemplated by section 250(b)(4)(A)(ii) and additional detail
regarding the actual use of the property is unnecessary. However, it
would be inappropriate to treat these sales as FDDEI sales if the
seller and buyer arrange for general property to be delivered to a
location outside the United States only to be redelivered for use or
consumption into the United States with a principal purpose of causing
what would otherwise not be a FDDEI sale to be treated as a FDDEI sale.
Therefore, Sec. 1.250-4(b)(1)(ii)(A) provides an anti-abuse rule to
address these concerns.
3. Location of Property Outside the United States
The second category of sales that are for a foreign use is sales of
general property to an end user where the property is already located
outside the United States, and includes foreign retail sales. See Sec.
1.250(b)-4(d)(1)(ii)(B). In general, sales of general property from a
foreign retail sale will be used outside the United States. While it
may be possible that some end users will purchase property in a foreign
retail store and use it solely within the United States, the Treasury
Department and the IRS have determined that requiring a determination
of the actual use of these sales would be unnecessarily burdensome.
4. Resale of Property Outside the United States
The third category of sales for a foreign use is sales to a
recipient such as a distributor or retailer that will resell the
general property, if the seller determines that the general property
will ultimately be sold to end users outside the United States. See
Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(1)(ii)(C). This category is intended to apply to
sales to distributors and retailers, but may also apply to other sales
to foreign persons for resale. In addition, the final regulations
provide that for purposes of this rule, the seller must substantiate
the portion of sales to end users outside the United States under the
rules described in parts II and VII.C.9 of this Summary of Comments and
Explanation of Revisions section.
The proposed regulations contained alternative documentation
requirements for a sale of multiple items of general property that
because of their fungible nature are difficult to specifically trace to
a location of use (fungible mass). See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-
4(d)(3)(iii). Under the proposed regulations, a seller establishes
foreign use of a fungible mass through market research, including
statistical sampling, economic modeling and other similar methods. Id.
The proposed regulations also provided that if a seller establishes
that 90 percent or more of a fungible mass is for a foreign use, the
entire fungible mass is treated as for a foreign use and if the seller
cannot establish that 10 percent or more of the sale of a fungible mass
is for a foreign use, then no part of the fungible mass is treated as
for a foreign use. Id.
One comment stated that the fungible mass rules created overly
stringent documentation requirements that were unnecessary,
impractical, and unreliable because a U.S. seller would need to perform
market research in order to meet the 90 percent threshold to qualify
for foreign use. Conversely, the comment noted that a U.S. seller that
could not meet the 10 percent threshold through market research could
see their deduction eliminated in its entirety. The comment suggested
instead a rebuttable presumption that fungible mass property sold
outside the United States is for a foreign use unless a taxpayer knows
or has reason to know that a material amount will be used within the
United States.
In response to the comment, the final regulations eliminate the 10
percent and 90 percent thresholds and apply a proportionate rule. See
Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(1)(ii)(C). Under this rule, in the case of a sale
of a fungible mass of general property, if a portion of the property
sold is not for a foreign use, the seller may rely on the proportion of
the recipient's resales of fungible mass to end users outside the
United States to determine its proportion of ultimate sales to end
users outside the United States. Id. In addition, the Treasury
Department and the IRS have determined that prescribing specific
methods such as market research, statistical sampling, economic
modeling, and other similar methods to determine foreign use from the
sale of a fungible mass of general property (or a sale of any general
property) is unnecessary given the more flexible approach to
documentation. It should be noted that market research or information
from public data, such as general internet searches of secondary
sources, is generally not a source of reliable information. In
contrast, statistical sampling, economic modeling, or market research
based on the taxpayer's own data will be more reliable.
5. Electronic Transfer of Digital Content Outside the United States
The fourth category of sales for a foreign use is for sales of
digital content that are transferred electronically. Sales of digital
content transferred in a physical medium are for a foreign use if
described in one of the first three categories. The final regulations
provide that digital content that is transferred electronically is for
a foreign use if it is sold to a recipient that is an end user that
downloads, installs, receives, or accesses the digital content on the
end user's device outside the United States. See Sec. 1.250(b)-
4(d)(1)(ii)(D). However, if this information is unavailable, such as
where the device's internet Protocol address (``IP address'') is not
available or does not serve as a reliable proxy for the end user's
location (for example, using a business headquarters' IP address when
it has employees located both within and outside the United States who
use the digital content), then the sale is for a foreign use if made to
an end user with a foreign billing address, but only if the gross
receipts from all sales with respect to the end user (which may be a
business) are in the aggregate less than $50,000.
6. International Transportation Property
The fifth category of sales for a foreign use is sales of
international transportation property. The proposed regulations
provided a special rule for determining whether transportation property
like aircraft, railroad rolling stock, vessels, motor vehicles or
similar property that travels internationally is
[[Page 43055]]
sold for foreign use and therefore constitutes a FDDEI sale. See
proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(iv). Under this rule, such
transportation property is sold for foreign use only if during the
three-year period from the date of delivery of the property the
property is located outside the United States more than 50 percent of
the time and more than 50 percent of the miles traversed in the use of
such property will be traversed outside the United States. The seller
can establish that these criteria are satisfied by obtaining a written
statement from the recipient that the property is anticipated to
satisfy these tests over the requisite three-year period. See proposed
Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(3)(i)(A). With respect to air transportation, the
proposed regulations provided that, for purposes of the above tests,
international transportation property is deemed to be within the United
States at all times during which it is engaged in transport between any
two points within the United States, except where the transport
constitutes uninterrupted international air transportation within the
meaning of section 4262(c)(3) and the regulations under that section.
See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(iv).
One comment suggested supplementing these tests with a rebuttable
presumption that any foreign-registered aircraft sold to a foreign
person is for foreign use. The comment observes that ``cabotage rules''
significantly restrict the use of foreign registered aircraft within
the United States such that a foreign registered aircraft cannot travel
between two points in the United States unless the route is part of a
through trip on the way to, or coming from, a foreign destination. The
comment further noted that the ability of foreign persons to register
aircraft in the United States is restricted. Therefore, the comment
proposed that a document evidencing foreign registration of an aircraft
to a foreign person should suffice to establish foreign use.
Other comments suggested changes to the thresholds in the foreign
use tests in the proposed regulations. Several comments suggested
reducing the thresholds from 50 percent to 20 percent and making these
tests disjunctive. Another comment would retain the 50 percent
threshold but eliminate the three-year period so that the foreign use
test would only have to be satisfied as of the filing date of the FDII
return, and that the taxpayer be permitted to elect annually to
bifurcate income from foreign and domestic use based on the percentage
of actual time spent or miles traversed outside and inside the United
States. A different comment suggested reducing the three-year period to
one year after the date of delivery.
The Treasury Department and the IRS generally agree with the
comment that place of registration is appropriate as evidence of
``use.'' Therefore, the final regulations provide that international
transportation property used for compensation or hire is considered for
a foreign use if it is sold to an end user that registers the property
with a foreign jurisdiction. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(1)(ii)(E). The
final regulations provide that other international transportation
property is considered for a foreign use if sold to an end user that
registers the property with a foreign jurisdiction and the property is
hangared or primarily stored outside the United States. See Sec.
1.250(b)-4(d)(1)(ii)(F). This rule reflects the fact that many
recipients of international transportation property will not be further
using the property for the provision of international transportation
services. As a result, the property will be primarily used in the place
it is registered or otherwise hangared or stored. Even if such property
enters the United States, because it originated in a different country,
the use should not be considered domestic use because the international
transportation property will generally be located outside the United
States. As a result, the Treasury Department and the IRS have
determined that there is no need to determine the amount of time or
miles that such property is inside or outside the United States.
Finally, one comment suggested expanding the definition of
transportation property to include parts of transportation property
like engines, tires, electronic equipment and spare parts, even if such
parts would not otherwise satisfy the foreign use tests for general
property. The comment expressed concern that the sale of parts that
were included within international transportation property could fail
the foreign use test for general property because the parts may enter
the United States as part of the transportation property. At the same
time, such parts would be ineligible for the special rules for
international transportation property. The comment suggested expanding
the definition of transportation property to include additional parts,
even if such parts would not otherwise satisfy the foreign use tests
for general property.
This comment is not adopted. Such a rule would be administratively
burdensome and could lead to inconsistency through the application of
two sets of rules to the same transaction and property. Furthermore,
the Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that the concerns
that were the basis for the comment are generally addressed through the
adoption of the new general rules with respect to general property and
international transportation property. In particular, parts that are
used outside the United States by an end user, including when
incorporated into transportation property through manufacturing,
assembly or other processing, would generally be considered for a
foreign use under the general test for general property. As described
in part VII.C.1 of this Summary of Comments and Explanation of
Revisions section, this is the case even if there is the possibility of
some domestic use of the property.
7. Manufacturing, Assembly, or Other Processing Outside the United
States
As described in part VII.C.1 of this Summary of Comments and
Explanation of Revisions section, the proposed regulations provided
that the sale of general property is for a foreign use if either the
property is not subject to domestic use within three years of delivery
of the property or the property is subject to manufacture, assembly, or
other processing outside the United States before any domestic use of
the property. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(i). Under the
proposed regulations, general property is subject to manufacturing,
assembly, or other processing only if it meets either of the following
two tests: (1) There is a physical and material change to the property,
or (2) the property is incorporated as a component into a second
product. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(iii)(A).
The proposed regulations clarified that a physical and material
change does not include ``minor assembly, packaging, or labeling.'' See
proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(iii)(B). Whether property has undergone
a physical and material change (as opposed to minor assembly,
packaging, or labeling) is determined based on all the relevant facts
and circumstances. The proposed regulations provided that general
property is incorporated as a component into a second product only if
the fair market value of the property when it is delivered to the
recipient constitutes no more than 20 percent of the fair market value
of the second product, determined when the second product is completed.
See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(iii)(C). For purposes of this rule,
the proposed regulations included an aggregation rule providing that if
the seller sells multiple items of property that are incorporated into
the second product, all of the property sold by the seller that is
[[Page 43056]]
incorporated into the second product is treated as a single item of
property.
Several comments recommended that the final regulations provide
more flexibility in satisfying the manufacturing, assembly, or other
processing rule, especially in the context of sales to foreign
unrelated parties where information to establish the two distinct tests
may not be readily available. Several comments suggested that the
``physical and material change'' test should be satisfied where general
property is subject to processing or manufacturing activities that are
substantial in nature and that are generally considered to constitute
manufacturing or production of a substantially different product. Other
comments suggested that the final regulations could provide for such a
``substantial in nature'' rule as a third test in addition to the
``physical and material change'' and component tests. Comments also
recommended a rebuttable presumption where a taxpayer could show that
the physical and material change test had been met through reasonable
documentation created in the ordinary course of its business. In
addition, these comments suggested that general property sold to an
unrelated party can be presumed to be sold for use, consumption, or
disposition in the country of destination of the property sold, unless
the taxpayer knows, or has reason to know otherwise.
With respect to the component test, comments suggested the 20
percent threshold should function as a safe harbor similar to the safe
harbor under the subpart F components manufacturing rule in Sec.
1.954-3(a)(4)(iii). Another comment suggested the addition of a facts
and circumstances test. Citing concerns with lack of readily available
information, comments further suggested allowing taxpayers to satisfy
the 20 percent threshold through market research or other methods
similar to the fungible mass rule. Another comment suggested the 20
percent threshold was too low and should be increased to 50 percent. In
the case of sales of multiple components by the same seller, comments
suggested that the sales should not be integrated unless actual
knowledge exists as to where the products will be incorporated (such as
knowledge that the product will be included in the same second product
or the nature of the component compels inclusion into the second
product).
Comments also noted similarities and differences with the
manufacturing, assembly, or other processing requirement under FDII and
the manufacturing rules under subpart F. In particular, comments
pointed out that in the subpart F context, the rules address parties
under common control where information is more readily available, while
in the FDII context, information may not be available. A CFC's foreign
base company sales income does not include income of a CFC derived in
connection with the sale of personal property manufactured, produced,
or constructed by such corporation. Notably, Treasury regulations
provide two special manufacturing rules, often referred to as, the
``substantial transformation'' test and the ``component parts'' test.
See Sec. 1.954-3(a)(4)(ii) and (iii). Under the first test, if
property is ``substantially transformed'' by the CFC before sale, the
property sold is considered manufactured, produced, or constructed by
the selling corporation. Under the second test, a sale of property is
treated as the sale of a manufactured product, rather than the sale of
component parts, if the assembly or conversion of the component parts
into the final product by the selling corporation involves activities
that are substantial in nature and generally considered to constitute
the manufacture, production, or construction of property. A CFC is
deemed to have manufactured the product if its conversion costs
represent 20 percent or more of the total cost of goods sold.
In response to comments, the final regulations make several changes
to the rule for manufacturing, assembly, and other processing. The
final regulations clarify that general property is subject to a
physical and material change if it is substantially transformed and is
distinguishable from and cannot be readily returned to its original
state. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(1)(iii)(B). The final regulations also
provide a separate substantive rule for the component test and retain
the 20 percent threshold as a safe harbor. See Sec. 1.250(b)-
4(d)(1)(iii)(C). Under this substantive rule, general property is a
component incorporated into another product if the incorporation of the
general property into another product involves activities that are
substantial in nature and generally considered to constitute the
manufacture, assembly, or other processing of property based on all the
relevant facts and circumstances. Id. The final regulations also
clarify that general property is not considered a component
incorporated into another product if it is subject only to packaging,
repackaging, labeling, or minor assembly operations. See id. While the
structure and some of the mechanics of the rule share similarities with
the subpart F manufacturing component parts test, the rule is different
in terms of purpose and substance.
Finally, in response to comments, the final regulations revise the
safe harbor in the component test by specifying that the comparison
should be between the fair market value of the property sold by the
taxpayer and the fair market value of the final finished goods sold to
consumers. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(1)(iii)(C). Because some general
property could be incorporated into several different finished goods,
the final regulations provide that a reliable estimate of the fair
market value of the finished good could include the average fair market
value of a representative range of the finished goods that could
incorporate the component. An example of this is provided in Sec.
1.250(b)-4(d)(1)(v)(B)(1) (Example 1). The final regulations also
modify the aggregation rule so that it applies only if the seller sells
the property to the buyer and knows or has reason to know that the
components will be incorporated into a single item of property (for
example, where multiple components are sold as a kit). The final
regulations specify that a seller has reason to know that the
components will be incorporated into a single item of property if the
information received as part of the sales process contains information
that indicates that the components will be included in the same second
product or the nature of the components compels inclusion into the
second product. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(1)(iii)(C).
8. Manufacturing, Assembly, or Other Processing in the United States
Section 250(b)(5)(B)(i) provides that if a seller sells property to
another person (other than a related party) for further manufacture or
other modification within the United States, the property is not
treated as sold for a foreign use even if such other person
subsequently uses such property for a foreign use. Section
250(b)(5)(B)(i) could apply in the case of a sale directly to a person
that is a foreign person if the property is subject to further
manufacture or other modification in the United States after the sale
but before the property is delivered to the end user.
As described in the preamble to the proposed regulations, the
proposed regulations did not contain specific rules corresponding to
section 250(b)(5)(B)(i) because that rule is encompassed within the
general rules relating to FDDEI sales in the proposed regulations. The
proposed regulations generally provided that general property is not
for a foreign use if the property
[[Page 43057]]
is subject to a domestic use, which includes manufacture, assembly, or
other processing within the United States. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-
4(d)(2)(i) and (ii)(B).
Because the final regulations no longer define ``foreign use'' by
reference to whether the property is subject to a domestic use, the
rule in section 250(b)(5)(B)(i) is no longer encompassed within the
general rules in the regulations relating to FDDEI sales. Accordingly,
the final regulations include a rule that provides that if the seller
sells general property to a recipient (other than a related party, for
which separate rules apply) for manufacturing, assembly, or other
processing within the United States, such property is not sold for a
foreign use even if the requirements for foreign use are subsequently
satisfied. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(1)(iv). For consistency, the final
regulations cross reference the rules described in part VII.C.7 of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation of Revisions section for the
meaning of ``manufacturing, assembly, or other processing.''
9. Specific Substantiation for Foreign Use of General Property
The final regulations specifically require a taxpayer to
substantiate foreign use for general property for sales of general
property to resellers and manufacturers. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(3)(ii)
and (iii). In the case of sales to resellers, a taxpayer must maintain
and provide credible evidence upon request that the general property
will ultimately be sold to end users located outside the United States.
See part VII.C.4 of this Summary of Comments and Explanation of
Revisions section. This requirement is satisfied if the taxpayer
maintains evidence of foreign use such as the following: a binding
contract that limits sales to outside of the United States, proof that
the general property is suited only for a foreign market, or proof that
the shipping costs would be prohibitively expensive if sold back to the
United States. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(3)(ii)(A)-(C). Certain
information from the recipient or a taxpayer with corroborating
evidence that credibly supports the information will also suffice. See
Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(3)(ii)(D)-(E). With respect to manufacturing
outside the United States, the substantiation requirements are met if a
taxpayer maintains proof that the property is typically not sold to end
users without being subject to manufacture, assembly or other
processing, obtains credible information from a recipient, or, provides
a statement containing certain information with corroborating evidence.
See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(3)(iii).
D. Foreign Use of Intangible Property
1. In General
The proposed regulations provided that a sale of intangible
property (which includes a license or any transfer of such property in
which gain or income is recognized under section 367) is for a foreign
use to the extent revenue is earned from exploiting the intangible
property outside the United States. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-
4(e)(1). Where the revenue is considered earned is generally determined
based on the location of the end user. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-
4(e)(2). The seller of the intangible property must satisfy certain
documentation requirements showing foreign use and have no knowledge,
or reason to know, that the portion of the sale of the intangible
property for which the seller establishes foreign use is not for
foreign use. The proposed regulations also provided rules to determine
foreign use for the sale of intangible property to a foreign person in
exchange for periodic payments or a lump sum payment. See proposed
Sec. 1.250(b)-4(e)(2).
2. Substantiating Foreign Use of Intangible Property
Several comments recommended changes to the documentation rules. In
response to those comments, and as explained in part II of this Summary
of Comments and Explanation of Revisions section, the final regulations
adopt a more flexible approach to documentation, but require a taxpayer
to specifically substantiate foreign use for sales of intangible
property. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(3)(iv). A taxpayer must maintain and
provide credible evidence upon request that a sale of intangible
property will be used to earn revenue from end users located outside
the United States. A taxpayer may satisfy the substantiation
requirement by maintaining certain items as specified in the final
regulations. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(3)(iv). For example, a binding
contract providing that the intangible property can be exploited solely
outside the United States would generally satisfy the substantiation
requirements demonstrating foreign use of the intangible property. See
Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(3)(iv)(A). Certain information from the recipient
obtained or created in the ordinary course of business or corroborating
evidence maintained by the taxpayer that credibly supports the
information may also suffice. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(3)(iv)(B)-(C).
3. Determining Foreign Use of Intangible Property
Comments suggested that sales with respect to intangible property
be divided into several subcategories. One comment suggested dividing
intangibles into production and marketing categories, with income from
sales of production intangibles used in the development or manufacture
of products outside the United States being FDDEI sales regardless of
the location of the end user, and income from sales of marketing
intangibles analyzed based on the location of the end user. Another
comment suggested three subcategories of intangible sales: (i) Sales of
manufacturing intangibles to foreign unrelated parties, which would be
considered for a foreign use if manufacturing occurs outside the United
States; (ii) sales of manufacturing intangibles to related parties,
which would be considered for a foreign use if the end product is sold
to a foreign person for foreign use; and (iii) sales of marketing
intangibles, which would be considered for a foreign use if the end
user purchases the resulting product outside the United States.
Consistent with the proposed regulations, the final regulations
provide that foreign use of intangible property is determined based on
revenue earned from end users located within versus outside the United
States. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(i). The focus on the location of end
users is derived from the requirement in section 250(b)(5)(A) that
sales for a foreign use require ``use'' or ``consumption'' outside the
United States and the end user is the person that ultimately consumes
or uses the intangible property. In the case of legally protected
intangible property (such as patents or trademarks), the location in
which legal rights to the intangible property are granted and exploited
generally determines the location of the end users. Therefore, for
example, in the case of intangible property such as patents that
provide rights only for markets outside the United States, the end
users will generally be located solely outside the United States. In
the case of intangible property that allows for worldwide exploitation
(or intangible property that is not legally protected), a more specific
determination of end users will generally be necessary to determine the
portion of intangible property income that is for a foreign use versus
not for a foreign use.
In response to the comments received, the final regulations provide
more detailed guidance on determining where
[[Page 43058]]
revenue is earned from end users of the intangible property, including
rules for intangible property embedded in general property or used in
connection with the sale of general property, intangible property used
to provide services, and intangible property used in research and
development. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(ii). The final regulations also
include rules for determining revenue earned from sales of a
manufacturing method or process, which is similar to the separate rule
for ``production intangibles'' or ``manufacturing intangibles'' that
was suggested by comments.
Revenue is generally earned from intangible property used to
manufacture products or provide services through sales of such products
or services, or from limited use licenses of the intangible property,
whether those sales, services, or limited use licenses are executed by
an owner, licensee, or sub-licensee of the intangible property. Until
revenue is earned from sales, services, or limited-use licenses to the
end user that ultimately consumes the property or receives the service,
the intangible property is generally not ``exploited.'' Consistent with
this view, the final regulations generally place the location of use of
the intangible property with the location of the end user, which is
generally the person who ultimately uses the general property in which
the intangible property is embedded or associated with, or, if the
intangible property is used to provide a service, the service
recipient. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(ii)(A) and (B). These rules
provide the same determination of location of end user for sales or
licenses of intangible property used in research and development. See
Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(ii)(D).
4. Intangible Property Used in Manufacturing
The preamble to the proposed regulations requested comments
regarding whether to adopt a rule for intangible property similar to
proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(i)(B) (treating a sale of general
property as for a foreign use if the property is subject to
manufacturing, assembly, or other processing outside the United
States). Several comments supported a rule that treats the sale of
intangible property as for a foreign use where intangibles are used in
manufacturing that takes place outside the United States. Some of the
comments also suggested that footnote 1522 of the Conference Report to
the Act supported this position because that footnote did not specify
that its application is limited to only tangible property that is
subject to manufacturing, assembling, or other processing outside the
United States.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ See H. Rept. 115-466, at 625, fn. 1522 (2017) (Conf. Rept.)
(``If property is sold by a taxpayer to a person who is not a U.S.
person, and after such sale the property is subject to manufacture,
assembly, or other processing (including the incorporation of such
property, as a component, into a second product by means of
production, manufacture, or assembly) outside the United States by
such person, then the property is for a foreign use.'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Based on comments received, the final regulations provide a special
rule for sales to a foreign unrelated party of a manufacturing method
or process or for know-how used to put the manufacturing method or
process to use in manufacturing (the ``manufacturing method or process
rule''). See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(ii)(C). The final regulations
provide that when this rule applies, then the foreign unrelated party
is treated as an end user located outside the United States, unless the
seller knows or has reason to know that the manufacturing method or
process will be used in the United States, in which case the foreign
unrelated party is treated as an end user located within the United
States. For purposes of this rule, reason to know is determined based
on the information received from the recipient during the sales
process. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(ii)(C)(1).
The manufacturing method or process rule does not apply to sales or
licenses of a manufacturing method or process to an unrelated foreign
party for purposes of manufacturing products for or on behalf of the
seller of the manufacturing method or process or any of the seller's
affiliates. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(ii)(C)(2). Applying the
manufacturing method or process rule to determine the end user with
respect to such an arrangement, such as a contract or toll
manufacturing arrangement, is not appropriate because the seller or
related party to the seller is using the manufacturing method or
process in manufacturing for itself. Such use by the seller is
effectively a circular transfer of the intangible property back to the
seller. However, the sale of the manufactured products by the seller of
the manufacturing method or process or the seller's affiliates can
still qualify as a FDDEI sale under other provisions such as Sec.
1.250(b)-4(d)(1)(ii).
The manufacturing method or process rule applies only to certain
types of intangibles that are used in the manufacturing process. The
distinction between the types of intangibles that qualify for this rule
and other types of intangibles that may be used by manufacturers is
based on a distinction between use of a patented method or process and
use of other types of patented items. In all other cases, the foreign
use of intangible property is determined based on revenue earned from
end users located within versus outside the United States.
The manufacturing method or process rule applies only to sales to
unrelated parties (including sales made through related parties that
ultimately result in a sale of the manufacturing method or process to
an unrelated party). Section 250(b)(5)(C) provides that sales to
related parties are treated as for a foreign use only if the property
is ultimately sold or used in connection with property that is sold to
an unrelated party who is not a United States person. While Sec.
1.250(b)-6(c) gives effect to this rule by providing special rules for
sales of general property to related parties (which apply in the case
of sales of property to related parties for further manufacturing),
those rules do not apply to sales of intangible property. Under the
proposed regulations, a related party rule was not needed for sales of
intangible property, including property consisting of a manufacturing
method or process, because the proposed regulations generally provided
that intangible property used in the manufacture of a product is
treated as exploited at the location of the end user when the product
is sold to the end user. Proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-4(e)(2)(i). Under the
final regulations, limiting the manufacturing method or process rule to
unrelated party sales serves the purpose of ensuring that such sales
are FDDEI sales only to the extent contemplated by section
250(b)(5)(C). For example, if the taxpayer sells to a foreign related
party a manufacturing method used to produce general property, then the
sale of the manufacturing method is for a foreign use to the extent
that the foreign related party's sales of the general property are for
a foreign use under the rules applicable to sales of general property.
See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(ii)(A). This result is generally consistent
with the result if the related party sale had instead been of general
property that was used in manufacturing.
5. Bundled Intangible Property
One comment requested that where a taxpayer licenses a bundle of
intangibles, it should be allowed to elect the application of the
potentially applicable rules based either on the predominant feature of
the bundle or using any reasonable method. The Treasury Department and
the IRS recognize that intangible property is sometimes sold or
licensed as a bundle, such as the license of patents, copyrights,
trademarks, tradenames, and
[[Page 43059]]
know-how in a single transaction, without specifying the amount of
payment required for each item of intangible property. The final
regulations provide for a predominant character determination when a
transaction has multiple elements, such as a service and sale or a sale
of general property and intangible property, to determine whether to
apply the provisions for sales of general property, sales of intangible
property, or the provision of services. See Sec. 1.250(b)-3(d).
In the case of a sale or license of bundled intangible property,
the final regulations will generally base the location of exploitation
on the location of the end user who ultimately uses the general
property in which the intangible property is embedded or associated
with, or, if the intangible property is used to provide a service, the
location of the service recipient. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(ii)(A)-
(B), (D). Only in an unrelated party transaction involving the
manufacturing method or process rule will the end user location be
determined differently than a transaction involving intangible property
used with general property, services, or research and development.
However, the manufacturing method or process rule does not determine
the location of the end user of other intangible property bundled with
the manufacturing method or process. As a result, the final regulations
do not provide for an election to treat or characterize the sale or
license of bundled intangible property that includes manufacturing
method or process intangibles as well as other intangible property as
falling entirely within one of the categories of intangible property
specified in Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2).
6. Treatment of Product Intangibles as Components
One comment suggested that the final regulations include a rule
that would treat certain ``product intangibles'' as a component of the
finished product and provide a rule that is analogous to the rule for
sales of general property that is incorporated as a component of
another product outside the United States. See Sec. 1.250(b)-
4(d)(1)(iii)(A) and (C). The final regulations do not adopt this
comment. Intangible property has no physical properties, and therefore
cannot be incorporated into a finished good or otherwise be a
``component'' of the finished good in the same way as items of general
property that are considered to be components. See section 367(d)(4)
(defining intangible property). For example, a patent on an article of
manufacture is not a component of the finished product protected by the
patent. Similarly, while a trademark design may be placed on a
component of a finished product, the trademark itself is not a
component of the finished product. Therefore, the final regulations do
not provide a component rule for the sale or license of intangible
property. Instead, the general rule that use is determined based on
where the intangible property is exploited applies to these types of
sales.
7. Intangible Property Used To Enhance Other Intangible Property
One comment discussed intangibles that are sold to an unrelated
foreign person who enhances the intangible (for example, by adapting it
to local markets) or uses the intangible property to develop other
intangible property and subsequently sells such enhanced or newly
created intangible property outside the United States. In these
situations, the comment recommended that the sale of the original
intangible property should be presumed to be for foreign use if the
location of the research and development is outside the United States
and the recipient is unrelated to the original seller, and suggested
that footnote 1522 of the Conference Report supports such a rule.
The final regulations do not adopt the comment. As discussed in
part VII.D.3 of this Summary of Comments and Explanation of Revisions
section, revenue is generally earned from intangible property used to
manufacture products or provide services through sales of such products
or services, or from limited use licenses of the intangible property,
whether those sales, services, or limited use licenses are executed by
an owner, licensee, or sub-licensee of the intangible property. Until
revenue is earned from sales, services, or limited-use licenses to the
end user that ultimately consumes the property or receives the service,
the intangible property is generally not ``exploited.'' Although the
final regulations provide a limited exception from this end user
requirement for intangible property that consists of a manufacturing
method or process (see part VII.D.4 of this Summary of Comments and
Explanation of Revisions section), no exception is included for
intangible property used to enhance or create other intangible
property. The Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that the
activities described in the comment do not constitute ``use'' by end
users but rather are intermediate steps in the development of the
intangible property before being exploited and used. In addition,
nothing in the text of section 250 or footnote 1522 of the Conference
Report suggests that a different definition of foreign use should apply
in the case of research and development.
However, in response to comments, the final regulations clarify the
rule for sales of intangible property used to develop other intangible
property or to modify existing intangible property. See Sec. 1.250(b)-
4(d)(2)(ii)(D). In such a case, the end user of the intangible property
(primary IP) used to develop other intangible property or to modify
existing intangible property (secondary IP) is the end user of the
property in which the secondary IP is embedded. If the secondary IP is
used to provide a service, the end user is the unrelated party
recipient. If the secondary IP qualifies as a manufacturing method or
process (as described in part VII.D.4 of this Summary of Comments and
Explanation of Revisions section), then the rules applicable to sales
of a manufacturing method or process apply to determine if the sale of
the secondary IP is for a foreign use. See Sec. 1.250(b)-
4(d)(2)(ii)(C).
8. Intangible Property Used To Provide Services
One comment noted that intangible property may be sold to
recipients that provide services, rather than solely to recipients that
manufacture and sell goods, and that the proposed regulations did not
specifically address the sale of intangible property used to provide
services. For such sales, the comment recommended that the intangible
property be treated as exploited in the locations in which the
recipient receives legal rights to the intangible property under the
terms of the contract or other applicable law. Another comment
recommended that for sales of intangible property to unrelated persons
for use in the provision of services, the sales should be presumed to
be for foreign use if the services will be performed outside the United
States without regard to the location of the person or persons
receiving such services.
Revenue may be earned from intangible property through the
provision of services, but until that revenue is earned, the intangible
property is generally not used or ``exploited.'' Consistent with this
view, the final regulations generally place the location of use of the
intangible property with the location of the end user, which in the
case of intangible property used to provide a service, is the service
recipient. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2). These rules are generally
consistent with the location in which legal rights to the intangible
property
[[Page 43060]]
are granted and exploited, with exploitation generally being located
where the end user ultimately consumes the property or the services the
intangible property is used to provide. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(i).
The rules in Sec. 1.250(b)-5 for FDDEI services generally apply for
purposes of determining the location of the end user. Therefore, for
example, the location of the end user of intangible property that is
used to provide advertising services is determined based on the
location of the individuals viewing the advertisements. See Sec.
1.250(b)-5(e)(2)(ii).
However, the regulations do not provide a presumption that a sale
to a foreign unrelated party that uses that intangible property to
provide services outside the United States is presumed to be for
foreign use. Such a presumption could produce results that would be
inconsistent with the general approach for determining the location of
use of intangible property by reference to the location of exploitation
(which, in the case of intangible property used to provide services, is
generally the location of the person or persons receiving such
services), and the Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that
a departure is not warranted in this case.
9. Determination of Revenue
The proposed regulations provided that when intangible property is
sold in exchange for periodic payments, the extent to which the sale
qualifies for a foreign use is made annually based on actual revenue
earned by the recipient. Proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-4(e)(2)(ii). In the
case of a sale of intangible property in exchange for a lump sum
payment, the extent to which the sale qualifies for foreign use is
determined based on the ratio of total net present value the seller
would have reasonably expected to earn from exploiting the intangible
property outside the United States to total net present value the
seller reasonably expected to earn from exploiting the intangible
property worldwide. Proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-4(e)(2)(iii). However, for
purposes of satisfying the documentation requirements, the proposed
regulations provided that in the case of sales in exchange for periodic
payments that are not contingent on the revenue or profit of a foreign
unrelated party, a taxpayer may establish the extent to which a sale of
intangible property is for a foreign use using the principles
applicable to sales in exchange for a lump sum payment, except that the
taxpayer must make projections on an annual basis. See proposed Sec.
1.250(b)-4(d)(3)(ii). This rule recognized that if the recipient of the
intangible property makes periodic payments that are not contingent on
the recipient's sales or revenue, the recipient may not be willing to
provide information about the end users of the intangible property.
a. Periodic Payments
Like the proposed regulations, the final regulations provide that
for periodic payments (such as annual royalty payments or fixed
installment payments) in exchange for rights to intangible property,
other than intangible property consisting of a manufacturing method or
process that is sold to a foreign unrelated party, taxpayers may
estimate revenue earned by unrelated party recipients from any use of
the intangible property based on the principles for determining revenue
from lump sum sales, if actual revenue earned by the foreign party
cannot be obtained after reasonable efforts. See Sec. 1.250(b)-
4(d)(2)(iii)(A). While the proposed regulations required estimated
revenue to be determined on an annual basis when a taxpayer relies on
this rule, the final regulations eliminate this requirement. The
Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that when estimated
revenue earned by unrelated party recipients must be used, information
available at the time of the sale will be more reliable than
information available subsequently. In addition, eliminating the
requirement to determine estimated revenue annually reduces the
administrative burden on the taxpayer. See Sec. 1.250(b)-
4(d)(2)(iii)(A).
b. Lump Sum Payments
One comment recommended that the seller be allowed to use revenue
the recipient (rather than the seller) earns or expects to earn from
use of the intangible property to determine the extent to which a sale
of intangible property in exchange for a lump sum payment qualifies for
foreign use because using the recipient's expected or actual revenue is
more accurate for determining foreign use. The comment acknowledges the
administrative difficulty inherent in determining foreign use in the
case of sales of intangible property for a lump sum payment and in
obtaining actual or expected revenue data from the recipient.
In response to the comment, the final regulations allow taxpayers
to use net present values using reliable inputs, which may include net
present values of revenue that the recipient expected to earn from the
exploitation of the intangible property within and outside the United
States if the seller obtained such revenue data from the recipient near
the time of the sale and such revenue data was used to negotiate the
lump sum price paid for the intangible property. See Sec. 1.250(b)-
4(d)(2)(iii)(B). In determining whether such inputs are reliable, the
extent to which the inputs are used by the parties to determine the
sales price agreed to between the seller and a foreign unrelated party
purchasing the intangible property will be a factor. The final
regulations do not allow for use of actual revenue earned by the
recipient from the use of the intangible property in a lump sum sale
because actual revenue earned by the recipient for all the years the
recipient uses the intangible property will not be known when the
seller files its tax return for the tax year in which the sale of the
intangible property occurred.
c. Payments for Manufacturing Method or Process
With respect to sales to a foreign unrelated party of intangible
property consisting of a manufacturing method or process, the final
regulations provide that the revenue earned from the end user is equal
to the amount received from the recipient in exchange for the
manufacturing method or process. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(iii)(C). In
the case of a bundled sale of intangible property consisting of a
manufacturing method or process and other intangible property, the
value of the manufacturing method or process relative to the total
value of the intangible property must be determined using the
principles of section 482.
E. Treatment of Certain Hedging Transactions
Several comments recommended that gain or loss from certain hedging
transactions with respect to commodities be considered gain or loss
from sales of general property. In support, the comments noted that the
Federal income tax treatment of certain hedging transactions (for
example, character and timing) corresponds to the treatment of the
underlying physical transaction. Comments noted that these rules exist,
in part, because the combined value of the hedging transaction and the
underlying physical transaction generally reflects a taxpayer's true
economic exposure to the underlying physical commodity. Consistent with
that approach and rationale, these comments recommended a similar
approach for purposes of determining FDDEI sales income.
The Treasury Department and the IRS agree that certain hedging
transactions
[[Page 43061]]
should be treated in a manner that is similar to the treatment of the
commodities hedged by those transactions. Furthermore, the Treasury
Department and the IRS have determined that the adjustment for
qualified hedging transactions should apply to all general property,
rather than only commodities. Hedges of property other than commodities
have the same economic effect as hedges of commodities, such that the
rationale for determining FDDEI sales income from hedges by reference
to hedges of commodities applies equally to other types of property.
Accordingly, the final regulations generally provide that a
corporation's or partnership's gross income resulting from FDDEI sales
of general property is adjusted by reference to certain hedging
transactions. See Sec. 1.250(b)-4(f). The hedging transaction must
meet the requirements of Sec. 1.1221-2, including the identification
requirement under Sec. 1.1221-2(f), the transaction must hedge price
risk or currency fluctuation with respect to ordinary property, and the
property being hedged must be general property that is sold in a FDDEI
sale. The Treasury Department and the IRS are considering issuing more
detailed guidance on hedging transactions in the form of future
proposed regulations. Comments are requested on this topic.
VIII. Comments on and Revisions to Proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-5--FDDEI
Services
Section 250(b)(4)(B) provides that FDDEI includes income from
services provided by a domestic corporation to any person, or with
respect to property, not located within the United States. Section 250
does not prescribe rules for determining whether a person or property
is ``not located within the United States.'' Accordingly, proposed
Sec. 1.250(b)-5 provided rules for determining whether a service is
provided to a person, or with respect to property, located outside the
United States.
A. Categories of Services
The proposed regulations separated all services into five mutually
exclusive and comprehensive categories: general services provided to
consumers, general services provided to business recipients, proximate
services, property services, and transportation services. See proposed
Sec. 1.250(b)-5(b). Whether a service is a FDDEI service is determined
under the rules relevant to the applicable category.
One comment requested that the final regulations address how
``digital services'' are treated and classified under the FDDEI
services regulations, although no recommendation was provided. Another
comment requested more guidance on the application of the rules for
general services to business recipients in the software-as-a-service
context.
In response to these comments, the final regulations provide
additional guidance, as described in parts VIII.B.1 and VIII.B.2.c of
this Summary of Comments and Explanation of Revisions section, with
respect to services that are ``electronically supplied.'' Services that
are provided electronically typically will be categorized as general
services because they will not meet the definitions of proximate
services, property services, or transportation services. To provide
additional guidance for determining the location of the recipients of
services that are electronically supplied, the final regulations create
a new category of general services defined as ``electronically supplied
services,'' which includes general services (other than advertising
services, described in the following sentence) that are delivered over
the internet or an electronic network. See Sec. 1.250(b)-5(c)(5). In
addition, the final regulations create a new subcategory of general
services for advertising services, including advertising services to
display content via the internet, and provide additional guidance with
respect to these services as described in part VIII.B.2.c of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation of Revisions section. See Sec.
1.250(b)-5(c)(1).
B. General Services
1. General Services Provided to Consumers
The proposed regulations provided that a consumer is located where
the consumer resides when the service is provided and required
documentation to establish the place of residence. See proposed Sec.
1.250(b)-5(d)(2) and (3). Special rules for small transactions or small
taxpayers allowed the taxpayer to establish the consumer's location
using the taxpayer's billing address for the consumer. See proposed
Sec. 1.250(b)-5(d)(3)(ii).
Comments suggested that rather than limiting taxpayers to a finite
list of documentation, the rules should allow taxpayers to support the
status of the consumer as a person located outside the United States
using documentation that is collected in the ordinary course of the
taxpayer's trade or business.
As discussed in part II of this Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section, the final regulations adopt a more flexible
approach to documentation requirements compared to the proposed
regulations. While the final regulations include specific
substantiation requirements for certain elements of the regulations, no
such rules are provided for general services to consumers. Furthermore,
to minimize the burden associated with determining the residence of
consumers, the final regulations provide that if the renderer does not
have (or cannot after reasonable efforts obtain) the consumer's
location of residence when the service is provided, the consumer of a
general service is treated as residing outside the United States if the
consumer's billing address is outside of the United States. See Sec.
1.250(b)-5(d)(1). However, this rule does not apply if the renderer
knows or has reason to know that the consumer does not reside outside
the United States. The final regulations clarify that ``reason to
know'' is determined based only on whether the information received as
part of the provision of the service contains information that
indicates that the consumer resides in the United States. Because this
rule applies to all services provided to consumers (with the
modification for electronically supplied services described in the next
paragraph), the final regulations do not provide a special rule for
small transactions or small taxpayers.
With respect to electronically supplied services that are provided
to consumers, the final regulations provide that the consumer is deemed
to reside at the location of the device used to receive the service,
which may be an IP address, if available. However, if the renderer
cannot determine the location of that device after reasonable efforts,
the general rule based on billing address applies, subject to the
renderer not knowing or having reason to know that the consumer does
not reside outside the United States.
2. General Services Provided to Business Recipients
The proposed regulations determined the location of a business
recipient based on the location of its operations, and the operations
of any related party of the recipient, that receive a benefit (as
defined in Sec. 1.482-9(l)(3)) from such service. See proposed Sec.
1.250(b)-5(e)(2) and (4). The proposed regulations provided that a
service is generally provided to a business recipient located outside
the United States to the extent that the renderer's gross income from
providing the service is allocated to the business recipient's
operations outside the United States. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-
5(e)(2)(i). Where the service
[[Page 43062]]
confers a benefit on the operations of the business recipient in
specific locations, the proposed regulations provided that gross income
of the renderer is allocated based on the location of the operations in
specific locations that receive the benefit. See proposed Sec.
1.250(b)-5(e)(2)(i)(A). Where a service confers a benefit on the
recipient's business as a whole, or where reliable information about
the particular portion of the operations that specifically receive a
benefit from the service is unavailable, the proposed regulations
provided that the service is deemed to confer a benefit on all of the
business recipient's operations. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-
5(e)(2)(i)(A). For purposes of this rule, a business recipient is
treated as having operations in any location where it maintains an
office or other fixed place of business. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-
5(e)(2)(ii). The proposed regulations also required a taxpayer to
obtain documentation sufficient to establish the location of a business
recipient's operations that benefit from the service. See proposed
Sec. 1.250(b)-5(e)(1) and (3). Under the proposed regulations, special
rules for small transactions or small taxpayers allowed the taxpayer to
establish the consumer's location using the taxpayer's billing address
for the consumer. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-5(e)(3)(ii).
a. Operations of a Business Recipient of General Services
Several comments requested clarification regarding the definition
of a business recipient's operations. Some comments requested that the
rule be expanded to include operations performed outside of the
locations where the business recipient maintains an office or other
fixed place of business. For example, where business recipients operate
satellites or vessels, the comment suggested that business recipients
should be treated as having operations at the location of the satellite
or vessel.
The location of a business recipient's operations that benefit from
a general service is based on the geographical location where the
business recipient's activities are regular and continuous and is not
based on the current location of mobile property such as satellites or
vessels. Moreover, as noted in the next paragraph, the final
regulations clarify that an office or other fixed place of business is
a fixed facility through which the business recipient engages in a
trade or business. See Sec. 1.250(b)-5(e)(3)(i). In the case of
services performed with respect to a satellite, the location of the
business recipient that receives services with respect to the satellite
is based on where the business recipient remotely performs activities
with respect to the satellite (which could be within the United States
or in a foreign country), rather than in space. In addition, services
performed with respect to a vessel owned by a business recipient may
qualify as proximate services or property services, depending on the
nature of the services. Therefore, no further changes to the
regulations are necessary to respond to the comment.
One comment requested further clarification of the term ``fixed
place of business,'' such as whether it has the same meaning as it does
for section 864(c) purposes. The comment did not specify whether using
the meaning that the term has for section 864(c) purposes would be
appropriate. However, the Treasury Department and the IRS have
determined that it would not be appropriate to adopt the definition
that applies for purposes of section 864(c). Because the final
regulations define a business recipient as including all related
parties of the recipient, whereas section 864(c) applies on a taxpayer-
by-taxpayer basis, adopting the definition of an office or other fixed
place of business that is in Sec. 1.864-7 would cause confusion.
However, the final regulations clarify that an office or other fixed
place of business is a fixed facility, that is, a place, site,
structure, or other similar facility, through which the business
recipient engages in a trade or business. See Sec. 1.250(b)-
5(e)(3)(i). In addition, the final regulations provide that for
purposes of determining the location of the business recipient, the
renderer may make reasonable assumptions based on the information
available to it. The Treasury Department and the IRS recognize that
taxpayers may not be able to obtain precise information about unrelated
business recipients; therefore, the final regulations allow taxpayers
to make reliable assumptions based on the information available to
them. See id.
One comment requested guidance on how to determine the location of
operations of a business recipient that does not have an office or
fixed place of business. As an example, this could occur when the
business recipient is a partnership that does not itself have any
offices or employees but is managed by one or more of its partners. The
comment suggested that in these circumstances, the final regulations
presume that the business recipient has operations where it is formed
or incorporated.
To address this comment, the final regulations provide that if the
business recipient does not have an identifiable office or fixed place
of business (including the office of a principal manager or managing
owner), the business recipient is deemed to be located at its primary
billing address. See Sec. 1.250(b)-5(e)(3)(iii). The Treasury
Department and the IRS considered using place of formation or place of
incorporation, but determined that a business recipient's billing
address is generally available to the renderer and often bears a closer
connection to the business recipient's location of actual operations.
Finally, for the sake of concision, the final regulations expand
the definition of a ``business recipient'' to include all related
parties (as defined in Sec. 1.250(b)-1(c)(19)) of the recipient.
Compare Sec. 1.250(b)-5(c)(3) with proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-5(e)(4)
(the latter providing, in a separate paragraph, that a reference to a
business recipient includes a reference to any related party of the
business recipient). However, to avoid circularity in circumstances
where the business recipient is a related party of the taxpayer, in
these circumstances, the term ``business recipient'' does not include
the taxpayer. See Sec. 1.250(b)-5(c)(3).
b. The Meaning of ``Benefit''
One comment expressed concern that the proposed regulations'
reliance on the principles of Sec. 1.482-9(l)(3), which explains when
an activity is considered to provide a ``benefit'' to a recipient,
would be difficult to apply outside the related party context because
the renderer may not have the information necessary to perform a
detailed analysis of the recipient's operations. The comment suggests
that transfer pricing standards should not be applied to evaluate
transactions for purposes of section 250. The comment suggested that
the term ``benefit'' should retain the reference to Sec. 1.482-
9(l)(3), but that the regulations should include a presumption that a
general service provided to a foreign person benefits operations
located outside the United States.
The Treasury Department and the IRS do not intend that the
reference to Sec. 1.482-9(l)(3) in the definition of ``benefit'' be
interpreted as suggesting that taxpayers are required to perform a
transfer pricing-like analysis of the recipient's operations. Rather,
the reference is intended to clarify, using a concept that is based on
existing tax principles, that a service confers a benefit on operations
of a recipient only if an uncontrolled party with similar operations
would pay for the service under comparable circumstances. For example,
if a service benefits particular operations of a business recipient so
[[Page 43063]]
indirectly or remotely that an unrelated party with similar operations
would not pay for the service, the service does not confer a benefit on
those operations. See Sec. 1.482-9(l)(3)(ii). Accordingly, the final
regulations retain the reference to Sec. 1.482-9(l)(3) in defining
``benefit.''
One comment also requested clarification regarding the types of
benefits that must be considered in determining the location of the
business recipient of a general service. The comment gives the example
of a U.S. financial advisor providing advice to a foreign parent that
is expected to increase the value of the foreign parent's publicly
traded stock, which would also benefit any U.S. subsidiaries by making
their equity-based compensation more valuable. The implication of the
comment is that it is unclear whether the U.S. subsidiaries receive a
compensable benefit from the service provided because their employees
are also shareholders of the foreign parent.
As noted, the reference to Sec. 1.482-9(l)(3) in the definition of
``benefit'' is intended to provide clarity on the meaning of
``benefit'' using a concept that is based on existing tax principles.
As described in the previous paragraph, under Sec. 1.482-9(l)(3)(ii),
an activity is not considered to provide a ``benefit'' within the
meaning of Sec. 1.482-9(l)(3) if the benefit to the recipient is ``so
indirect or remote'' that the recipient would not be willing to pay an
uncontrolled party to perform a similar activity. Accordingly, in fact
patterns such as the one described in the comment (where the service
potentially confers a benefit on a related party of the recipient if
the employees of the related party are also shareholders of the
recipient), taxpayers must determine whether a related party with
employees that are shareholders of a company would generally pay a
financial advisor to provide advice to the company or whether the
benefit to the related party is too indirect or remote. Section 1.482-
9(l) provides comprehensive guidance, including twenty-one examples, to
assist taxpayers in understanding when an activity is considered to
confer a benefit on a party other than the direct recipient.
Accordingly, the comment is not adopted.
c. Determining the Locations of the Business Recipient's Operations
That Benefit From General Services
Several comments addressed the proposed regulations' rule for
determining the location of the recipient of general services that
benefits from the service. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-5(e)(2). One
comment suggested that the final regulations include language included
in the preamble to the proposed regulations stating that for purposes
of this rule, ``the location of residence, incorporation, or formation
of a business recipient is not relevant.'' The final regulations adopt
this comment. See Sec. 1.250(b)-5(e)(1).
Several comments indicated that it would be difficult, if not
impossible, for taxpayers to obtain information regarding which of a
business recipient's locations benefits from a service. While the
proposed regulations allowed taxpayers in these circumstances to assume
that the services will benefit all of the business recipient's
operations ratably, several comments suggested that this simplification
was not sufficient. Several comments stated that these difficulties
could be alleviated by making the transition rule in proposed Sec.
1.250-1(b) permanent or by making the rules applicable to small
businesses and small transactions available to all taxpayers. Several
comments requested that the final regulations incorporate certain
presumptions to simplify the rule, such as a presumption that any
operations of the service recipient that are not known to be (or
identifiable as) within the United States are presumed foreign or that
services provided to a foreign person are presumed to benefit
operations located outside the United States.
The final regulations retain the same general approach as the
proposed regulations for determining the location of the business
recipient, with some revisions for concision, by providing that a
service is provided to a business recipient located outside the United
States to the extent that the service confers a benefit on operations
of the business recipient that are located outside the United States.
See Sec. 1.250(b)-5(e)(1). Like the proposed regulations, the final
regulations provide that the determination of which operations of the
business recipient benefit from a general service is made under the
principles of Sec. 1.482-9. Further, the final regulations clarify
that in applying these principles, (1) the taxpayer, (2) the portions
of the business recipient's operations within the United States (if
any) that may benefit from the general service, and (3) the portions of
the business recipient's operations outside the United States that may
benefit from the general service, are treated as if they are each one
or more controlled taxpayers.
For purposes of applying the principles of Sec. 1.482-9, the final
regulations provide taxpayers with flexibility to determine the extent
to which a business recipient's operations within or outside of the
United States are treated as one or more separate controlled taxpayers,
given that taxpayers generally will not have complete information
regarding the operations of the business recipient. Any reasonable
method can be used for determining the set and scope of business
recipient operations that are treated as separate controlled taxpayers,
for example, by segregating the operations on a per entity or per
country basis, or by aggregating all of the business recipient's
operations outside the United States as one controlled taxpayer. For
example, if a business recipient has operations in the United States,
Country X, and Country Y, all of which may benefit from the taxpayer's
services, the business recipient's operations in the United States,
Country X, and Country Y may each be treated as separate controlled
taxpayers. Alternatively, the business recipient's operations in the
United States, and the business recipient's combined operations in
Country X and Country Y, could be treated as two separate controlled
taxpayers. The amount of the benefit conferred on each of the business
recipient's operations is determined under the principles of Sec.
1.482-9(k).
To simplify the rule, the final regulations remove the provision
stating that if a service benefits all of the business recipient's
operations, gross income of the renderer is allocated ratably to all of
the business locations of the recipient, as that provision was
redundant of the general rule. The final regulations also remove the
provision that gross income of the renderer is allocated ratably to all
of the business locations of the recipient if the renderer is unable to
obtain reliable information regarding the specific locations of the
operations of the business recipient to which a benefit is conferred.
The Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that it would be
inappropriate to allow a deduction that is not based on reliable
information.
Comments also suggested that the final regulations should define
foreign operations by negation such that a service is considered
provided to a business recipient outside the United States if that
service is not provided to a business recipient inside the United
States. These comments asserted that this would allow mobile activity
performed in outer space, international airspace, or international
water to qualify as FDDEI services. The Treasury Department and the IRS
have determined that evidence that services do not benefit a business
recipient's operations within the United States is
[[Page 43064]]
equivalent to demonstrating that the service benefits operations
outside the United States. Therefore, no changes to the regulations are
necessary. However, as explained in part VIII.B.2.a of this Summary of
Comments and Explanation of Revisions section, the location of a
business recipient's operations is determined based on whether its
activities are regular and continuous in a particular geographical
location, which generally would not include activities in outer space
or international space, but may include international water (for
example, in the case of a drilling rig).
Several comments requested clarity on how to determine the location
of operations that benefit from general services in the case of
services that are electronically supplied. In response, the final
regulations modify the general rule for determining the location of the
business recipient of electronically supplied services and advertising
services so that location will be determined based on information that
will generally be available to renderers of those types of services.
See Sec. 1.250(b)-5(e)(2)(ii) and (iii).
Advertising services are different from other general services: The
renderer will generally be able to determine where the advertisements
are viewed because the renderer controls where the advertisements are
displayed. The Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that
where the advertisement is viewed serves as a reliable proxy for the
locations of the business recipient that benefit from the service.
Generally, it will be in the business recipient's best interest to
advertise its products or services in the locations where it does
business. Therefore, the final regulations provide that with respect to
advertising services, the operations of the business recipient that
benefit from the advertising service are deemed to be located where the
advertisements are viewed by individuals. See Sec. 1.250(b)-
5(e)(2)(ii). The final regulations further provide that if advertising
services are displayed via the internet, the advertising services are
viewed at the location of the device on which the advertisements are
viewed. See id. For this purpose, the IP address may be used to
establish the location of that device. See id. The final regulations
also include a new example for advertising services. See Sec.
1.250(b)-5(e)(5)(ii)(C) (Example 3).
Electronically supplied services are also different from other
general services because the renderer will generally be able to
determine where the service is accessed by using the recipient's IP
address or through other means. The Treasury Department and the IRS
have determined that the point of access serves as a reliable proxy for
where the business recipient receives the benefit of the service.
Therefore, the final regulations provide that with respect to
electronically supplied services provided to a business recipient, the
operations of the business recipient that benefit from the general
service are deemed to be located where the general service is accessed.
See Sec. 1.250(b)-5(e)(2)(iii). The final regulations also provide
that if the location where the business recipient accesses the
electronically supplied service is unavailable (such as where the
location of access cannot be reliably determined using the location of
the IP address of the device used to receive the service), and the
gross receipts from all services with respect to the business recipient
(or any related party to the business recipient) are in the aggregate
less than $50,000, the operations of the business recipient that
benefit from the general service provided by the renderer are deemed to
be located at the recipient's billing address. Id. The final
regulations also include new examples for electronically supplied
services. See Sec. 1.250(b)-5(e)(5)(ii)(E) and (F) (Example 5 and 6).
d. Substantiating General Services Provided to Business Recipients
As discussed in part II of this Summary of Comments and Explanation
of Revisions section, the final regulations replace the documentation
requirements with new substantiation requirements for certain
transactions, including general services provided to business
recipients. The final regulations provide that a general service
provided to a business recipient is a FDDEI service only if the
taxpayer maintains sufficient substantiation to support its
determination of the extent to which the service benefits a business
recipient's operations outside the United States. See Sec. 1.250(b)-
5(e)(4). A taxpayer satisfies this requirement by either obtaining
credible evidence establishing the extent to which operations of the
business recipient benefit from the service or preparing a statement
that supports its determination with corroborating evidence. See Sec.
1.250(b)-5(e)(4). The final regulations explain that the determination
of the portion of the service that will benefit the business
recipient's operations located outside the United States may be based
on evidence obtained from the business recipient, such as statements
made by the recipient regarding the need for the service or data on the
sales of the business recipient's operations, or the taxpayer's own
records, such as time spent working with the business recipient's
different offices. See Sec. 1.250(b)-5(e)(4)(ii).
As explained in part VII.C.4 of this Summary of Comments and
Explanation of Revisions section, the Treasury Department and the IRS
have determined that it is unnecessary to delineate which specific
methods satisfy substantiation. If the taxpayer substantiates its
determination with evidence provided by the business recipient, the
final regulations do not specify what information must be included in
the statement beyond requiring that it must establish the extent to
which the service benefits operations located outside the United
States. See Sec. 1.250(b)-5(e)(4)(i). The Treasury Department and the
IRS understand that service recipients may not be willing to provide
information about their business to taxpayers. Accordingly, the final
regulations do not require the evidence to specify which of a business
recipient's locations benefit from a service (for example, the business
recipient's European operations rather than its Asian operations), just
the portion of the service that benefits operations outside the United
States generally.
C. Proximate Services
The proposed regulations provided that the provision of a proximate
service to a recipient located outside the United States is a FDDEI
service. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-5(f). The proposed regulations
defined a proximate service as a service, other than a property service
or transportation service, substantially all of which is performed in
the physical presence of the recipient or, in the case of a business
recipient, its employees. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-5(c)(6).
Comments requested that the final regulations expand the definition
of a proximate service in proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-5(c)(6) to include
services performed in the physical presence of additional persons
working for a business recipient, including that business's own
employees, the employees of a related party of the recipient, or the
recipient's contract workers or agents. In response to these comments,
the final regulations expand the definition of a proximate service to
provide that it means a service, other than a property service or a
transportation service, provided to a recipient, but only if
substantially all of the service is performed in the physical presence
of the recipient or persons working for the recipient such as
[[Page 43065]]
employees, contractors, or agents. See Sec. 1.250(b)-5(c)(8).
Comments also recommended that the final regulations provide that
income received for the provision of proximate services, which must be
performed outside the United States to qualify as a FDDEI service, is
not treated as foreign branch income for purposes of section 250. The
comments explained that taxpayers providing such services may
potentially be deemed to operate a branch in the country in which the
service occurs. The comments asserted that it is contrary to the
purpose of section 250 for income from a FDDEI service (a proximate
service provided outside the United States) to be excluded from FDDEI
because the income is also foreign branch income. The comments made
similar arguments with respect to property services, and one comment
suggested that this concern applies to all services.
As explained in part IV.B of this Summary of Comments and
Explanation of Revisions section, in response to comments, the final
regulations confirm that there is one consistent definition of foreign
branch income in both Sec. Sec. 1.250(b)-1(c)(11) and 1.904-4(f)(2).
The fact that the regulations under section 250 otherwise would treat
certain income as eligible for FDII is irrelevant for purposes of
determining whether the income is foreign branch income under section
904(d)(2)(J). Further, as acknowledged by the comments, providing a
proximate service (or any other service) outside the United States does
not necessarily create a foreign branch; therefore, not all income from
proximate services performed outside the United States will be foreign
branch income. Accordingly, the final regulations do not adopt these
comments.
D. Property Services
The proposed regulations provided that a property service is a
FDDEI service if it is provided with respect to tangible property
located outside the United States, but only if the property is located
outside the United States for the duration of the period the service is
performed. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-5(g).
1. Qualification of Property Services as FDDEI Services
Several comments recommended that the final regulations remove the
mutually exclusive categories of services in proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-
5(b) because, according to the comments, they are inconsistent with
section 250(b)(4)(B), which treats as FDDEI services those provided to
any person, or with respect to property, not located within the United
States. Comments asserted that the statute is disjunctive and requires
that a service with respect to property gives rise to FDDEI if the
service is provided to a person located outside the United States,
regardless of the location of the serviced property.
The final regulations do not adopt these comments. Section
250(b)(4)(B) refers to persons and property disjunctively, which
indicates that Congress intended for there to be a category of services
provided with respect to persons located outside the United States that
would be FDDEI services and a separate category of services provided
with respect to property located outside the United States that would
be FDDEI services. The proposed regulations gave effect to this intent.
The statute and legislative history are ambiguous, however, as to
whether Congress intended for all services provided with respect to
persons located outside the United States and all services provided
with respect to property located outside the United States to be
included within the scope of the statute.
The Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that property
services must be provided with respect to property located outside the
United States in order to qualify as FDDEI services. The purpose of the
section 250 deduction is to help neutralize the role that tax
considerations play when a taxpayer chooses the location of intangible
income attributable to foreign-market activity, that is, whether to
earn such income through its U.S.-based operations or through its CFCs.
See Senate Committee on the Budget, 115th Cong., ``Reconciliation
Recommendations Pursuant to H. Con. Res. 71,'' at 375 (Comm. Print
2017). Providing a FDII deduction for all property services performed
in the United States with respect to property with owners located
outside the United States, regardless of the property's connection to
foreign markets, would not further that purpose. Furthermore, even if
the statute required that property services provided to any person
located outside the United States could qualify as FDDEI services, the
statute does not specify how to determine the location of such person.
In the case of property services, the Treasury Department and the IRS
have determined that basing the location of such person on the location
of the property that the person owns is most consistent with the nature
of a property service and the location of the benefit that is being
provided. Therefore, even under the comment's alternative reading of
section 250(b)(4)(B), the Treasury Department and the IRS have
determined that property services should be limited to those services
provided to property located outside the United States.
However, in recognition of the fact that some property services
performed within the United States may nonetheless be connected to
foreign markets, as discussed in part VIII.D.2 of this Summary of
Comments and Explanation of Revisions section, the final regulations
expand the circumstances under which property services may qualify as
FDDEI services notwithstanding the fact that the services are performed
in the United States.
Several comments suggested that the final regulations clarify that
the property services rules apply only to services that the taxpayer
provides with respect to completed property that is in use by the
property's owner, and thus, that manufacturing-related services (such
as toll manufacturing) are not property services, but rather general
services. The comments suggested that if manufacturing services are
treated as property services, manufacturing services performed in the
United States will never give rise to FDDEI even if the sale of the
same property to a foreign person for a foreign use would have been a
FDDEI sale. In response to the comments, the final regulations specify
that manufacturing services are property services but allow property
services performed in the United States to qualify as FDDEI services
under some circumstances. See Sec. 1.250(b)-5(c)(7) and (g)(2). These
changes are described in part VIII.D.2 of this Summary of Comments and
Explanation of Revisions section. Taken together, these changes allow
manufacturing services performed in the United States to be FDDEI
services in some circumstances.
In addition, one comment suggested that the definition of
``property service'' should be modified to remove the condition that
only tangible property can be the subject of a property service. The
comment states that services can be provided with respect to intangible
property located outside the United States, and notes that the statute
does not distinguish between services provided with respect to tangible
and intangible property. The final regulations do not adopt this
recommendation. Intangible property cannot be ``located'' outside the
United States given that intangible property, by definition, does not
have physical properties. Accordingly, the Treasury Department and the
IRS determined that the general services rules, which look to the
location of the recipient, are a more
[[Page 43066]]
appropriate framework for analyzing these types of services.
2. Services Provided With Respect to Property Temporarily Located in
the United States
The proposed regulations provided that a property service is a
FDDEI service only if the tangible property with respect to which the
service is performed is located outside the United States for the
duration of the period of performance, but requested comments regarding
the treatment of property that is located in the United States only
temporarily.
Comments requested that the final regulations provide that a
property service is still a FDDEI service in part (or in full) if the
property enters the United States temporarily while the services are
performed, and included various recommendations for a safe harbor,
including treating a property service as a FDDEI service if the
property is present in the United States for a particular period while
the property is out of commercial service. Some comments also requested
that the types of property services that are FDDEI services should be
expanded to include toll manufacturing arrangements for foreign
persons. The comments pointed out that section 250(b)(4)(B) does not
specify when property must be located outside the United States. The
comments suggested that a special rule for property temporarily in the
United States would be consistent with Congress's objective in enacting
section 250, which they assert was to incentivize taxpayers to serve
the foreign market. In addition, one comment asserted that the proposed
regulations penalize a seller for entering into a services arrangement
(such as toll manufacturing) instead of a sales arrangement.
The final regulations generally adopt the comments. The Treasury
Department and the IRS agree that in certain circumstances, treating
property services as FDDEI services is appropriate even if the service
is provided within the United States. Accordingly, the final
regulations include an exception for property services performed with
respect to property that is temporarily located in the United States
and treats those services as being provided with respect to tangible
property located outside the United States if several conditions are
satisfied. See Sec. 1.250(b)-5(g)(2). Those conditions are that the
property must be temporarily located in the United States for the
purpose of receiving the property service; after the completion of the
service, the property will be primarily hangared, docked, stored, or
used outside the United States; the property is not used to generate
revenue in the United States at any point during the duration of the
service; and the property is owned by a foreign person that resides or
primarily operates outside the United States.
E. Transportation Services
The proposed regulations provided that the provision of a
transportation service is a FDDEI service if both the origin and the
destination of the service are outside the United States. See proposed
Sec. 1.250(b)-5(h). Where either the origin or destination (but not
both) are outside the United States, then 50 percent of the
transportation service is considered a FDDEI service. The proposed
regulations defined a transportation service as a service to transport
a person or property using aircraft, railroad rolling stock, vessel,
motor vehicle, or any similar mode of transportation. See proposed
Sec. 1.250(b)-5(c)(7).
Comments requested that the final regulations include elections
with respect to cross-border transportation services, including an
election for taxpayers to choose either (i) the 50-percent FDDEI
treatment provided in the proposed regulations, or (ii) a bifurcation
method under which the FDDEI treatment of income from the service is
based on actual time or mileage, or (iii) a predominant location method
in which all of the income from the service is FDDEI if the taxpayer
can demonstrate that more than 50-percent of the services were provided
to a person or with respect to property outside the United States on a
mileage basis. A comment also requested clarification on whether
intermediate domestic stops can be disregarded for purposes of
determining the origin and destination of a transportation service.
The final regulations retain the rule in the proposed regulations.
See Sec. 1.250(b)-5(h). The Treasury Department and the IRS have
determined that the primary benefit of the service relates to servicing
the origin or destination market. A 50/50 allocation rule thus provides
a simpler and more administrable rule for reflecting the value of each
market when the origin or destination is in the United States. In
addition, the Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that an
elective rule that allows different taxpayers to choose the rule most
favorable to their business models would result in inconsistent
treatment of similarly situated taxpayers and lead to whipsaw for the
IRS. In addition, the rule in the proposed regulations is clear that
only the locations of the origin and destination, and not intermediate
stops, are relevant to the determination. Accordingly, the final
regulations do not adopt these comments. However, the final regulations
clarify that freight forwarding and similar services are included
within the definition of ``transportation services.'' See Sec.
1.250(b)-5(c)(9).
IX. Comments on and Revisions to Proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-6--Related
Party Transactions
In the case of a sale of general property or a provision of a
general service to a related party, proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-6 provided
additional requirements that must be satisfied for the transaction to
qualify as a FDDEI sale or FDDEI service. These requirements must be
satisfied in addition to the general requirements that apply to such
sales and services as provided in proposed Sec. Sec. 1.250(b)-3
through 1.250(b)-5.
A. Related Party Sales
1. Amended Return Requirement
The proposed regulations provided two distinct rules for
determining whether a sale of property to a related party (related
party sale) is a FDDEI transaction. One rule applied when the related
party resells the purchased property in an unrelated party transaction,
either without modification or where the related party incorporates the
purchased property as a component of property that is then resold in an
unrelated transaction. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-6(c)(1)(i). A
different rule applied when the related party uses the property in an
unrelated transaction, either in connection with the sale of altogether
different property or to provide a service. See proposed Sec.
1.250(b)-6(c)(1)(ii).
The rule for resales in proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-6(c)(1)(i) required
that an unrelated party transaction actually occur before the taxpayer
can treat the original sale to the related party as a FDDEI
transaction. If an unrelated party transaction has not occurred by the
filing date of the return that includes the original sale (FDII filing
date), the taxpayer cannot immediately treat the sale to the related
party as a FDDEI transaction. Instead, in the subsequent year when the
unrelated party transaction occurs, the taxpayer can file an amended
return for the tax year of the original related party sale treating
that sale as a FDDEI transaction and determine its modified FDII
benefit accordingly, assuming the period of
[[Page 43067]]
limitations provided by section 6511 remains open when the unrelated
party transaction occurs.
In contrast to the resale rule of proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-
6(c)(1)(i), where a related party uses the property in an unrelated
party transaction (rather than resells that property), the taxpayer was
permitted under proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-6(c)(1)(ii) to treat that
related party sale as a FDDEI transaction so long as the taxpayer
reasonably expected, as of the FDII filing date, that one or more
unrelated party transactions will occur with respect to the property
sold to the related party and that more than 80 percent of the revenue
earned by the foreign related party will be earned from such unrelated
party transaction or transactions.
Several comments noted administrative difficulties with the amended
return requirement for resale transactions in proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-
6(c)(1)(i). Many comments questioned the requirement of filing an
amended return, arguing that it was administratively burdensome (for
taxpayers, the IRS, and even state tax authorities) to file or process
multiple amended returns. Some comments noted that because of long
production or sales cycles, an unrelated party transaction will often
not occur by the FDII filing date and might not occur until after the
period of limitations under section 6511 has closed so taxpayers would
no longer have the ability to treat the related party sale as a FDDEI
transaction. Other comments observed that a taxpayer cannot always
trace whether any particular sale to a related party leads to a
particular unrelated party transaction given that taxpayers often sell
products of a fungible nature or rely on accounting systems that track
inventory flows broadly rather than specifically identifying
transactions item by item. For such taxpayers, it would be impractical
to require tracing, whether at the FDII filing date or any other time.
The preamble to the proposed regulations invited comments on the
procedure for amending returns or suggestions for other alternatives
for accounting for information relating to foreign use acquired only
after the filing of a corporation's original return. In response,
several comments suggested allowing taxpayers to treat the sale to a
related party as a FDDEI transaction in the year the related party sale
occurred and, if an unrelated party transaction did not in fact occur
in a later year, the taxpayer could adjust its FDDEI in that later year
to recapture the FDII benefit it should not have claimed. Other
comments responded with a range of other alternatives to the amended
return requirement such as an election to defer the FDII benefit until
the tax year of the unrelated party transaction or a carryforward
mechanism for the amount of the original FDII benefit to the later year
when the unrelated party transaction occurs (which would be based on
the FDII that would have been available in the year of the related
party sale and could either take the form of a deduction or a credit in
the year of the unrelated transaction).
Some comments pointed out the different treatment of related party
sales and the related party use rules of proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-
6(c)(1)(ii). Under the related party use rules, a taxpayer could treat
a sale to a related party as a FDDEI transaction so long as the
taxpayer reasonably expected that an unrelated party transaction would
later occur, which would alleviate the administrative burdens of the
amended return requirement. Under this approach, a taxpayer need not
wait until the subsequent unrelated party transaction actually occurred
to claim a FDII benefit in the year of the original sale. One comment
noted that because the U.S. parent controls the process and all the
sellers are related, the taxpayers would generally be in a position to
know what products would be sold to foreign unrelated buyers for
foreign use. Comments suggested similar treatment for both related
party sales and related party use.
Comments further provided suggestions for how a taxpayer could
demonstrate it had a reasonable expectation as of the FDII filing date
that an unrelated party transaction would occur. Several comments
requested the ability to use market research such as inventory
turnover, statistical sampling, economic modelling or other similar
methods, with one comment suggesting that the fungible mass rule in
proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(3)(iii) also be adopted in this context.
One comment suggested that an unrelated party transaction exists
whenever the product sold is specifically designed for a foreign market
or can only be used outside of the United States. Another noted that in
some cases the related party buyer is contractually obligated to sell
products only to unrelated foreign parties. Comments also noted that
past practice could inform the reasonable expectation of unrelated
party transactions.
The Treasury Department and the IRS agree with the concerns
expressed by the comments about the administrative burdens that the
amended return requirement can cause for both taxpayers and tax
administrators. Therefore, the final regulations modify the resale rule
in proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-6(c)(1)(i) to allow a taxpayer to treat a
sale to a related party as a FDDEI transaction in the tax year of the
related party sale provided that an unrelated party transaction has
occurred or will occur in the ordinary course of business with respect
to the property sold to the related party, whether the property is a
completed product or a component of a different product. The unrelated
party sale can occur at any time in the future so that taxpayers with
long production or sales cycles are not unduly prevented from claiming
FDII benefits based on the period of limitations for filing an amended
return under section 6511. The condition that the unrelated party
transaction must be in the ordinary course of business is intended to
exclude situations in which the resale is tangential to the business of
the taxpayer and related party (for example, if the taxpayer sells a
machine to a related party for the related party's consumption, and the
machine is later sold by the related party for scrap or recycling).
The final regulations also remove the requirement that the FDII
filing date is determinative with respect to related party sales and
use of property in an unrelated party transaction. Taxpayers that
engage in related party transactions should generally be able to obtain
information after the FDII filing date that will confirm whether a
related party sale is in fact a FDDEI sale or service. A rule that
depends on the FDII filing date would create uncertainty during
examinations if the FDII filing date is inconsistent with actual post-
FDII filing date transactions. Therefore, if in fact, an unrelated
party transaction does not actually occur in a future year, the related
party sale would not be a FDDEI sale. This could also apply to related
party services where a substantially similar service that occurs in a
future year should be taken into account. See part IX.B.1. of this
Summary of Comments and Explanation of Revisions section.
The final regulations also include guidance on how a taxpayer can
demonstrate that an unrelated party sale will later occur. Taxpayers
can rely on contractual restrictions or historical practices indicating
that the related party only sells products to unrelated foreign
customers. Moreover, if the design of a product indicates that it is
destined only for foreign customers, taxpayers can establish that an
unrelated party sale will occur with respect to that product.
In light of the more flexible approach to demonstrate that an
unrelated party
[[Page 43068]]
transaction will occur, the final regulations do not include a de
minimis rule such as treating the entire fungible mass of sales as for
a foreign use if a seller obtains documentation establishing that 90
percent or more of the fungible mass is for a foreign use (or
conversely, no portion of the fungible mass is treated as for a foreign
use if the seller does not obtain documentation establishing that 10
percent or more of the fungible mass is for a foreign use) as explained
in part VII.C.4 of this Summary of Comments and Explanation of
Revisions section.
2. Intermediate Sales to a U.S. Related Party Before Eventual Sale to
an Unrelated Party
The proposed regulations provided that for purposes of determining
whether a related party sale is for a foreign use, all foreign related
parties of the seller are treated as if they were a single foreign
related party. Proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-6(c)(3). This rule gave effect
to section 250(b)(5)(C)(i)(I) (providing that a sale to a foreign
related party may be for a foreign use if the property is ultimately
sold by ``a'' foreign party to a foreign unrelated party) and allowed a
sale to a foreign related party to be a FDDEI sale even if the property
is resold to one or more other foreign related parties before the sale
to an unrelated foreign person.
One comment requested that the final regulations clarify how the
related party resale rule operates when the foreign related party buyer
purchases a semi-finished product from the U.S. parent (or another
domestic related party), finishes that product, and resells it to the
U.S. parent (or another domestic related party) for ultimate sale to an
unrelated person for a foreign use. The comment requested that the
related party sale rule should apply notwithstanding the intermediate
sale so long as the taxpayer can substantiate the ultimate sale of
property to the unrelated foreign party. The comment argued that such a
clarification would eliminate unwarranted disparate treatment for U.S.
companies that engage in multiple related-party sales as compared to
those that engage in just one step.
The Treasury Department and the IRS generally agree with this
comment and have modified Sec. 1.250(b)-6(c)(3) to provide that a U.S.
person (either the seller itself or another U.S. person that is a
related party of the seller) is treated as part of a single foreign
related party. This rule only applies for purposes of determining
whether the related party sale is for a foreign use; it does not modify
or eliminate the requirement that a seller must sell property to a
foreign person for the sale to be a FDDEI sale. However, the Treasury
Department and the IRS are concerned that U.S. persons that are members
of the same modified affiliated group, but not members of a
consolidated group, could use this rule to avoid the requirement that a
sale be made to a foreign person by inserting a foreign person, such as
a foreign partnership, as an intermediary in the sale from one U.S.
person to another U.S. person. The Treasury Department and the IRS have
determined that it would be inappropriate to use the related party
sales rules to expand the types of sales that are eligible to be
treated as FDDEI sales in this way. Therefore, the rule does not treat
a U.S. person as related to the seller if the U.S. person is not
related to the seller under the 80 percent or more standard for vote or
value in section 1504(a). See Sec. 1.250(b)-6(c)(3).
3. Rule for Use of Property in an Unrelated Party Transaction
For transactions other than the resale of purchased property, such
as where the foreign related party uses the purchased property to
produce other property that is sold in unrelated party transactions, or
where the foreign related party uses the property in the provision of a
service in an unrelated party transaction, the proposed regulations
provided that the sale of property does not qualify as a FDDEI sale
unless, as of the FDII filing date, the seller reasonably expects that
more than 80 percent of the revenue earned by the foreign related party
from the use of the property in all transactions will be earned from
unrelated party transactions that are FDDEI transactions (determined
without regard to the documentation requirements in Sec. 1.250(b)-4 or
Sec. 1.250(b)-5). See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-6(c)(1)(ii). One comment
expressed concern with the 80 percent rule of the proposed regulations
creating a cliff effect whereby a taxpayer would derive no FDII benefit
if its revenues fell below this threshold. That comment suggested
either lowering the threshold or replacing it with a sliding scale upon
a certain minimum level of revenues. It also noted that it is unclear
how revenue should be measured for purposes of this 80 percent rule,
such as whether it should be based on the price of all sales to end
user customers and whether it should just include sales to unrelated
customers or also related party sales.
The Treasury Department and the IRS agree with the comment that the
related party sale and related party use rules should have similar
standards. To make this rule consistent with the standard in Sec.
1.250(b)-6(c)(1)(i), the final regulations modify the rule to require
that one or more unrelated party transactions occurs with respect to
the property. The Treasury Department and the IRS expect that taxpayers
have sufficient control over the supply chain involving controlled
transactions to make this determination. In addition, to eliminate the
potential cliff effect described in the comment, the final regulations
remove the 80 percent rule and instead require the seller in the
related party transaction to allocate the buyer's revenues ratably
between related and unrelated party transactions based on revenues
reasonably expected to be earned as of the FDII filing date. The final
regulations also adopt the suggested clarification that revenue should
be measured for this purpose based on the price of all transactions
with unrelated parties.
Other comments requested clarifications and relevant examples
concerning the definition of a component under proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-
6(b)(5)(ii) and how a component can be distinguished from a sale of
property for use in connection with property sold to an unrelated party
under proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-6(b)(5)(iii). Several comments noted that
the preamble to the proposed regulations stated that the component rule
of proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(iii)(C) did not apply for purposes
of determining what is a component for purposes of proposed Sec.
1.250(b)-6(b)(5)(ii) and requested that this clarification be included
in the text of the final regulations. In response to the comments, the
final regulations remove the reference to ``component'' in Sec.
1.250(b)-6(b)(5)(ii) and replace it with ``constituent part'' to avoid
any implication that the component rule of Sec. 1.250(b)-
4(d)(1)(iii)(C) may apply. Further, the final regulations modify the
rule for a related party use transaction in Sec. 1.250(b)-6(b)(3)(iii)
to clarify that it does not include transactions in which the purchased
property is a constituent part of the product sold, to eliminate any
potential overlap with Sec. 1.250(b)-6(b)(5)(ii). Lastly, the final
regulations modify the example in Sec. 1.250(b)-6(c)(4) to clarify
that property that is used in connection with a sale to an unrelated
party means property that is not a constituent part of the product that
is ultimately sold.
B. Related Party Services
1. In General
The proposed regulations generally provided that a provision of a
general service to a business recipient that is a
[[Page 43069]]
related party qualifies as a FDDEI service only if the service is not
substantially similar to a service provided by the related party to
persons located within the United States. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-
6(d)(1). One comment noted that, unlike the related party sales rule,
the related party services rules of proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-6(d) did
not specify whether the substantially similar service needs to be
provided before the FDII filing date for the rule to apply. The comment
recommended a rule that is consistent with the related party sales
rules. It suggested that the final regulations provide that the service
to the related party is treated as a FDDEI transaction in the year
provided to the related party if the substantially similar service test
was not implicated in that year, but that taxpayers should be required
to amend that return to reverse the FDII benefit if a substantially
similar service occurs in a later year.
As discussed in part IX.A.1. of this Summary of Comments and
Explanation of Revisions section, the final regulations eliminate the
amended return requirement for related party sales and allow such sales
to be FDDEI sales as long as an unrelated party transaction will occur.
Accordingly, the final regulations do not adopt the suggestion to treat
a service as not being subject to the substantially similar service
test as long as there is no substantially similar service in the year
of the related party transaction. However, the Treasury Department and
the IRS agree with the recommendation that the related party sales and
services rules should be made consistent with respect to the timing
element of the unrelated transaction. Therefore, the final regulations
provide that a related party service is a FDDEI service only if the
related party service is not substantially similar to a service that
has been or will be provided by the related party to a person located
within the United States. The fact that a substantially similar service
will occur in a future year does not prevent that substantially similar
service from being considered in the determination of whether a related
party service is a FDDEI service.
2. Clarifications Related to Benefit and Price Tests
Under the proposed regulations, a service provided by a renderer to
a related party is ``substantially similar'' to a service provided by
the related party to a person located within the United States if the
renderer's service (or ``related party service'') is used by the
related party to provide a service to a person located within the
United States and either the ``benefit test'' of proposed Sec.
1.250(b)-6(d)(2)(i) or the ``price test'' of proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-
6(d)(2)(ii) is satisfied. The benefit test is satisfied if 60 percent
or more of the benefits conferred by the related party service are to
persons located within the United States. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-
6(d)(2)(i). Under the price test, a service provided by a renderer to a
related party is ``substantially similar'' to a service provided by the
related party to a person located within the United States if the
renderer's service is used by the related party to provide a service to
a person located within the United States and 60 percent or more of the
price that persons located within the United States pay for the service
provided by the related party is attributable to the renderer's
service. See proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-6(d)(2)(ii).
One comment supported these bright line tests for substantially
similar services as practicable but asserted it would be burdensome for
taxpayers to have to apply both tests, and therefore requested that the
final regulations only retain the price test, or alternatively should
apply the tests conjunctively so that only if both tests are met is a
service considered substantially similar to a service provided by a
related party to a person in the United States.
The Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that these two
tests consider distinct factors, both of which are relevant, and
therefore the final regulations do not adopt the suggestion that the
benefit test be eliminated or that the tests be made conjunctive. Both
tests address concerns with ``round tripping'' arrangements where the
provision of services primarily benefits persons within the United
States, but a related party located outside the United States is
interposed in order to qualify the initial transaction as a FDDEI
transaction. While the two tests may overlap, they also serve different
purposes and address different concerns. One example that implicates
the benefit test is when a related party bundles its own services that
provide minimal benefit to persons located outside the United States
with other services that primarily benefit persons located within the
United States. The price test addresses situations such as when a
taxpayer provides a broad range of services to a related party located
outside the United States but one component of the service is provided
unchanged to persons located within the United States and this is
reflected in the price charged to the U.S. customer compared to the
price charged to the related party. Consequently, in the absence of the
price test, a related party service that satisfies the benefit test
could qualify as a FDDEI transaction even if the related party service
accounts for 60 percent or more of the total price charged to customers
located within the United States. However, the final regulations
clarify that the benefit test is met only if 60 percent or more of the
benefits conferred by the related party service are directly used by
the related party to confer benefits on consumers or business
recipients within the United States. See Sec. 1.250(b)-6(d)(2)(i). For
example, if a business recipient located in the United States hires the
related party to provide a consulting service, and the related party
hires the taxpayer to perform research that is used by the related
party in performing the consulting service, the related party will have
directly used the taxpayer's research in performing the consulting
service for the business recipient located within the United States.
Services provided to the related party that will only indirectly
benefit the related party's service recipients (generally, when the
related party's service recipients would not be willing to pay for the
related party service) are not ``substantially similar'' to the
services provided by the related party. See Sec. 1.482-9(l)(3)(ii) for
an explanation of indirect or remote benefits.
Proposed Sec. 1.250(b)-6(d)(3) provided that for purposes of
applying the price and benefit tests, the location of a consumer or
business recipient with respect to a related party service is
determined under the principles that apply to FDDEI services. One
comment requested the addition of a clarifying sentence to proposed
Sec. 1.250(b)-6(d)(3) indicating that the benefits conferred and price
paid for the related party service that is provided to persons located
in the United States must be allocated based on the locations of the
business recipients that benefit from these services provided by the
related party. In response to this comment, the final regulations
clarify that if the related party provides a service to a business
recipient, the business recipient is treated as a person located within
the United States to the extent that the service confers a benefit on
the business recipient's operations located within the United States.
The price paid to the related party is allocated proportionally based
on the locations of the business recipient that benefit from the
services provided by the related party. See Sec. 1.250(b)-6(d)(3)(i).
The final regulations also clarify that for purposes of applying the
price test, if the benefits conferred by the related party service
[[Page 43070]]
are to persons located in the United States and outside the United
States, the price paid by the related party for the related party
service is allocated proportionally based on the locations of the
business recipient that benefit from the services provided by the
related party. See Sec. 1.250(b)-6(d)(3)(ii). In addition, the
examples have been revised to clarify the application of the rules. See
Sec. 1.250(b)-6(d)(4).
X. Comments on and Revisions to Proposed Sec. 1.962-1
Proposed Sec. 1.962-1(b)(1)(i) allowed individuals making an
election under section 962 to take into account the deduction for GILTI
under section 250. Specifically, proposed Sec. 1.962-1(b)(1)(i)(A)(2)
provided that ``taxable income'' for purposes of section 962 includes
GILTI inclusions, and proposed Sec. 1.962-1(b)(1)(i)(B)(3) specified
that the section 250 deduction for GILTI is permitted as a deduction to
arrive at ``taxable income.'' The final regulations retain these rules
without change.
One comment noted that the reference to section 960(a)(1) in Sec.
1.962-1(b)(2) was obsolete after the revisions to section 960 made by
the Act, and that the regulations lacked any reference to foreign tax
credits with respect to GILTI inclusions. The Treasury Department and
the IRS agree with this comment. Accordingly, Sec. 1.962-1(a)(2),
(b)(2), and (c) have been updated to replace obsolete cross-references
to section 960(a)(1) with cross-references to section 960(a); Sec.
1.962-1(b)(2) has been updated to clarify that foreign tax credits with
respect to GILTI inclusions under section 960(d) are available to
individuals making section 962 elections (subject to the limitations of
section 904(c) and 904(d)(1)(A)); and Sec. 1.962-1(c) has been updated
to provide a revised example illustrating the application of Sec.
1.962-1. The limitation on the section 11(c) surtax exemption (repealed
in 1978 \7\) provided in Sec. 1.962-1(b)(1)(ii) has also been struck
from Sec. 1.962-1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ Public Law 95-600, 92 Stat. 2763 (1978).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally, the Treasury Department and the IRS understand that there
is uncertainty regarding the situations in which individuals may make a
section 962 election on an amended return. The Treasury Department and
the IRS are considering issuing further guidance under section 962.
Until further guidance on this issue is published, individuals may make
an otherwise valid section 962 election on an amended return for the
2018 tax year and subsequent years, regardless of circumstance,
provided the interests of the government are not prejudiced by the
delay, as described in Sec. 301.9100-3(c). For example, the interests
of the government could be prejudiced when a section 962 election is
made on an amended return resulting in an overpayment in a year for
which the period to file a claim for refund is open under section 6511
and simultaneously increasing the amount of U.S. tax due in years for
which the assessment period under section 6501 has expired.
XI. Comments on and Revisions to Proposed Sec. Sec. 1.1502-12, 1.1502-
13, and 1.1502-50--Consolidated Section 250
Proposed Sec. 1.1502-50 provided that the section 250 deduction of
a member of a consolidated group (member) is determined by reference to
the relevant items of all members of the same consolidated group
(single-entity treatment). Single-entity treatment ensures that the
aggregate amount of section 250 deductions allowed to members
appropriately reflects the income, expenses, gains, losses, and
property of the consolidated group as a whole. To effectuate single-
entity treatment, proposed Sec. 1.1502-50 aggregated the DEI, FDDEI,
DTIR, and GILTI of all members, the amounts of which are used to
calculate an overall deduction amount for the consolidated group. See
proposed Sec. 1.1502-50(e) (providing definitions). The aggregate
deduction amount for the consolidated group is then allocated among the
members on the basis of their respective contributions to consolidated
FDDEI and consolidated GILTI. See proposed Sec. 1.1502-50(b).
A. Single-Entity Treatment
Two comments addressed the computation of a member's section 250
deduction. The comments generally supported single-entity treatment.
However, one comment recommended permitting a taxpayer to elect out of
single-entity treatment with respect to the section 250 deduction
attributable to GILTI. The comment expressed concern about applying the
taxable income limitation in section 250(a)(2) to companies with pre-
Act NOLs while also arguing that the NOLs of a consolidated group
should not affect the section 250 deduction attributable to GILTI of a
member that has not contributed to the NOLs. The Treasury Department
and the IRS decline to adopt this recommendation because single-entity
treatment ensures that a consolidated group's income tax liability is
clearly reflected, as required by section 1502. Permitting taxpayers to
elect out of single-entity treatment would incentivize inappropriate
planning with respect to the location of CFCs within the consolidated
group and undermine the policy behind the enactment of section 250.
B. Life-Nonlife Consolidated Groups
The second comment raised concerns that the proposed regulations
may be incompatible with the rules and framework of Sec. 1.1502-47 for
life-nonlife consolidated groups. The comment asserted that single-
entity treatment could result in an inappropriate permanent
disallowance of the section 250 deduction in a life-nonlife
consolidated group if the allocation of the section 250 deduction among
members is made on a subgroup basis. The comment recommended applying
the section 250 deduction based on the life-nonlife consolidated
group's consolidated taxable income, rather than taking the deduction
into account at the subgroup-level. Under the comment's recommended
approach, the section 250 deduction would be treated as a consolidated
deduction to determine whether it can be used against consolidated
taxable income before being allocated to a member. The Treasury
Department and the IRS are studying these concerns and request comments
on this topic.
C. Qualified Business Asset Investment
Proposed Sec. 1.1502-50(c)(1) provided that, for purposes of
determining a member's QBAI, the basis of specified tangible property
does not include an amount equal to any gain or loss realized with
respect to such property by another member in an intercompany
transaction, whether or not such gain or loss is deferred. This rule
was intended to negate the impact (whether positive or negative) of an
intercompany sale of property on the computation of DII, in accordance
with single-entity treatment. However, in most relevant cases, once an
intercompany item has been included in income, there are real, external
consequences to the group. For example, if gain has been included in
consolidated taxable income (and in the tax system), the group should
take the associated increase in tax basis into account. Therefore,
these final regulations limit the application of the rule negating the
impact of intercompany sales of property to the period during which the
intercompany gain or loss remains deferred under Sec. 1.1502-13. See
Sec. 1.1502-50(c)(1)(i).
The Treasury Department and the IRS are also concerned that single-
entity treatment is not achieved in certain intercompany transactions
involving the transfer of a partnership interest if such
[[Page 43071]]
transfers result in an increase or decrease in the basis of specified
tangible property under section 743(b) and thus impact the computation
of DII. The final regulations therefore provide that a member's
partner-specific QBAI basis includes a basis adjustment under section
743(b) resulting from an intercompany transaction only when, and to the
extent, gain or loss, if any, is recognized in the transaction and no
longer deferred under Sec. 1.1502-13. See Sec. 1.1502-50(c)(1)(ii).
XII. Applicability Dates
As proposed, proposed Sec. Sec. 1.250(a)-1 through 1.250(b)-6
would apply to taxable years ending on or after March 4, 2019. However,
the proposed regulations also provided that, for taxable years
beginning on or before March 4, 2019, taxpayers may use any reasonable
documentation maintained in the ordinary course of the taxpayer's
business that establishes that a recipient is a foreign person,
property is for a foreign use (within the meaning of proposed Sec.
1.250(b)-4(d) and (e)), or a recipient of a general service is located
outside the United States (within the meaning of proposed Sec.
1.250(b)-5(d)(2) and (e)(2)), as applicable, in lieu of the
documentation required in proposed Sec. Sec. 1.250(b)-4(c)(2), (d)(3),
and (e)(3) and 1.250(b)-5(d)(3) and (e)(3), provided that such
documentation meets the reliability requirements described in proposed
Sec. 1.250(b)-3(d). The proposed regulations also provided that
taxpayers may rely on proposed Sec. Sec. 1.250(a)-1 through 1.250(b)-6
for taxable years ending before March 4, 2019.
The final regulations modify the applicability dates in proposed
Sec. Sec. 1.250(a)-1 through 1.250(b)-6 as follows. Except for Sec.
1.250(b)-2(h), the rules in Sec. Sec. 1.250(a)-1 through 1.250(b)-6
apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2021. Section
1.250(b)-2(h), which contains an anti-abuse rule for certain transfers
of property, applies to taxable years ending on or after March 4, 2019,
consistent with the applicability date in the proposed regulations.
See, however, part V.C of this Summary of Comments and Explanation of
Revisions section for a transition rule relating to transfers that
occur before March 4, 2019.
However, taxpayers may choose to apply the final regulations to
taxable years beginning before January 1, 2021, provided that they
apply the final regulations in their entirety (other than the special
substantiation requirements in Sec. 1.250(b)-3(f) and the applicable
provisions in Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(3) or Sec. 1.250(b)-5(e)(4)). See
section 7805(b)(7). Taxpayers will be required to substantiate under
section 6001 that any sale or service qualifies for a section 250
deduction. Alternatively, taxpayers may rely on proposed Sec. Sec.
1.250(a)-1 through 1.250(b)-6 in their entirety for taxable years
beginning before January 1, 2021, except that taxpayers relying on the
proposed regulations may rely on the transition rule for documentation
for all taxable years beginning before January 1, 2021 (rather than
only for taxable years beginning on or before March 4, 2019). See also
part II of this Summary of Comments and Explanation of Revisions
section.
Section 1.962-1(b)(1)(i)(B)(3), which allows individuals making an
election under section 962 to take into account the section 250
deduction, applies to taxable years of a foreign corporation ending on
or after March 4, 2019, and with respect to a U.S. person, for the
taxable year in which or with which such taxable year of the foreign
corporation ends.
Proposed Sec. 1.962-1(b)(1)(i)(A)(2), which updated the
regulations to conform to the enactment of section 951A by providing
that ``taxable income'' for purposes of section 962 includes GILTI
inclusions, is proposed to apply beginning with the last taxable year
of a foreign corporation beginning before January 1, 2018, and with
respect to a U.S. person, for the taxable year in which or with which
such taxable year of the foreign corporation ends. The final
regulations provide that Sec. 1.962-1(b)(1)(i)(A)(2) applies to
taxable years of a foreign corporation ending on or after March 4,
2019, and with respect to a U.S. person, for the taxable year in which
or with which such taxable year of the foreign corporation ends. Under
section 951A(f)(1)(A), GILTI inclusions are treated in the same manner
as amounts included under section 951(a)(1)(A) for purposes of section
962. Accordingly, individuals making an election under section 962 were
required to include GILTI in ``taxable income'' for purposes of section
962 irrespective of this update to the regulations.
Section 1.962-1(a)(2), (b)(1)(ii), (b)(2)(i) through (iii), and
(c), which update obsolete cross-references to former section
960(a)(1), strike the section 11(c) surtax exemption limitation, update
rules on the allowance of foreign tax credits to individuals making an
election under section 962 (including with respect to the carryback and
carryover of such credits), and provide an updated example illustrating
the application of Sec. 1.962-1, apply to taxable years of a foreign
corporation ending on or after July 15, 2020, and with respect to a
U.S. person, for the taxable year in which or with which such taxable
year of the foreign corporation ends. With respect to foreign tax
credits, section 960(d) provides domestic corporations (which includes
individuals making an election under section 962) a credit for taxes
attributable to tested income, and section 904(c) and 904(d)(1)(A)
prohibit taxpayers from carrying back or carrying over any excess
foreign taxes attributable to tested income as a credit in their first
preceding taxable years and in any of their first 10 succeeding taxable
years. Accordingly, individuals making an election under section 962
that claimed foreign tax credits attributable to tested income were
subject to the limitations of sections 960(d), 904(c), and 904(d)(1)(A)
irrespective of the updates to the regulations.
One comment requested clarification that proposed Sec. 1.962-1 can
be applied for taxable years beginning in 2018. With respect to taxable
years before the relevant final regulations are applicable, the final
regulations provide that taxpayers may choose to apply the provisions
of Sec. 1.962-1(a)(2), (b)(1)(i)(A)(2), (b)(1)(i)(B)(3), (b)(1)(ii),
(b)(2)(i) through (iii), and (c) for taxable years of a foreign
corporation beginning on or after January 1, 2018, and with respect to
a U.S. person, for the taxable year in which or with which such taxable
year of the foreign corporation ends.
Proposed Sec. 1.1502-50 was proposed to apply to consolidated
return years ending on or after July 15, 2020. The final regulations
provide that Sec. 1.1502-50 applies to consolidated return years
beginning on or after January 1, 2021. Taxpayers that choose to apply
the final regulations under Sec. Sec. 1.250(a)-1 through 1.250(b)-6 to
taxable years beginning before January 1, 2021, must also apply the
provisions in Sec. 1.1502-50 to such years. Similarly, taxpayers that
rely on proposed Sec. Sec. 1.250(a)-1 through 1.250(b)-6 for taxable
years beginning before January 1, 2021, must also follow proposed Sec.
1.1502-50.
Proposed Sec. Sec. 1.6038-2(f)(15) and 1.6038A-2(b)(5)(iv) are
proposed to apply with respect to information for annual accounting
periods beginning on or after March 4, 2019. See sections 6038(a)(3)
and 7805(b)(1)(B). Proposed Sec. 1.6038-3(g)(4) is proposed to apply
to taxable years of a foreign partnership beginning on or after March
4, 2019. See section 7805(b)(1)(B). No changes were made to the
proposed applicability date in the final regulations.
[[Page 43072]]
XIII. Comment Regarding Special Analyses
One comment asserted that in issuing the proposed regulations, the
Treasury Department and the IRS did not comply with Executive Orders
12866 and 13563 because the costs and benefits analysis required under
the executive orders did not quantify the burden imposed by the
documentation requirements for larger business entities that were
ineligible for the small business and small transaction exceptions.
The Treasury Department and the IRS complied with the applicable
requirements under Executive Orders 12866 and 13563 when issuing the
proposed regulations. See 84 FR 8188, Special Analyses section. In
addition, an economic analysis of the impact of the substantiation
requirements of the final regulations is contained in part I.C.1.a.i of
the Special Analyses section. As required by the Regulatory Flexibility
Act, an analysis of the impact of the final regulations on small
businesses is contained in part III of the Special Analyses section.
Special Analyses
I. Regulatory Planning and Review--Economic Analysis
Executive Orders 13771, 13563, and 12866 direct agencies to assess
costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if
regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize
net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public
health and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity). Executive
Order 13563 emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and
benefits, of reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, and of promoting
flexibility. For purposes of Executive Order 13771, this final rule is
regulatory.
These final regulations have been designated as subject to review
under Executive Order 12866 pursuant to the Memorandum of Agreement
(April 11, 2018) between the Treasury Department and the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) regarding review of tax regulations. The
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has designated the
final rulemaking as significant under section 1(c) of the Memorandum of
Agreement. Accordingly, OMB has reviewed the final regulations.
A. Background
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the ``Act'') introduced new section 250
of the Internal Revenue Code, which provides a deduction for (1) a
portion of profits attributable to U.S. activities that serve foreign
markets and (2) a portion of profits of controlled foreign corporations
(``CFCs''). The deduction has the effect of reducing the role that U.S.
tax considerations play in a domestic corporation's decision about
whether to service foreign markets directly or through a CFC, and also
of protecting the U.S. tax base against base erosion incentives created
by the new participation exemption system established under section
245A.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ See Senate Explanation, at 370 (``[O]ffering similar . . .
rates for intangible income derived from markets, whether through
U.S.-based operations or through CFCs, reduces or eliminates the tax
incentive to locate or move intangible income abroad, thereby
limiting one margin where the Code distorts business investment
decisions.'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
At the most basic level, the section 250 deduction is available to
domestic corporations with respect to their ``excess return'' (that is,
their return in excess of a fixed return on tangible assets) derived
from serving foreign markets. This deduction results in a lower
effective rate of U.S. tax on the corporations' foreign-derived
intangible income (``FDII'') and global intangible low-taxed income
(``GILTI''). FDII is the portion of the ``excess return'' derived from
serving foreign markets directly from the United States, while GILTI is
the portion of the ``excess return'' derived through foreign
affiliates. FDII and GILTI are calculated based on formulas set out in
sections 250 and 951A, respectively. For taxable years between 2018 and
2025, section 250 generally allows a deduction equal to the sum of 37.5
percent of the corporation's FDII plus 50 percent of its GILTI
(thereafter, these deductions are reduced to 21.875 percent and 37.5
percent, respectively). These deduction rates are intended to produce
comparable tax rates on income earned from serving foreign markets,
regardless of whether such income is earned directly by a domestic
corporation or by its CFCs.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ See Joint Comm. on Taxation, General Explanation of Public
Law 115-97, at 377-383.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On March 6, 2019, the Treasury Department and the IRS published
proposed regulations relating to section 250 (``proposed
regulations'').
B. Need for Final Regulations
Regulations are needed to aid taxpayers in determining the amount
of their section 250 deduction. The final regulations are also needed
to respond to comments received on the proposed regulations.
C. Baseline
The economic analysis that follows compares the final regulations
to a no-action baseline reflecting anticipated Federal income tax-
related behavior in the absence of the final regulations. This no-
action baseline reflects the current environment including the existing
international tax regulations pursuant to the Act, prior to any
amendment by the final regulations.
D. Economic Analysis
The final regulations provide certainty and clarity to taxpayers
regarding the section 250 deduction. In the absence of such guidance,
the chance that different taxpayers would interpret the statute
differently would be exacerbated. Similarly situated taxpayers might
interpret the statutory rules pertaining to the treatment of particular
sales or services differently, with one taxpayer pursuing a sale that
another taxpayer might decline to make because of different
interpretations of how the income would be treated under section 250.
If this second taxpayer's activity were more profitable, an economic
loss is generated. Such situations are more likely to arise in the
absence of guidance. While no guidance can curtail all differential or
inaccurate interpretations of the statute, the final regulations
significantly mitigate the chance for differential or inaccurate
interpretations and thereby increase economic efficiency.
The Treasury Department and the IRS expect that in the absence of
this guidance taxpayers would undertake fewer eligible sales and
services. Thus, the final regulations will generally enhance sales and
services across certain eligible activities relative to the no-action
baseline. Because of the scale of U.S. economic activity generally
associated with foreign use (independent of any specific definition of
foreign use) and because of the general responsiveness of economic
activity to effective tax rates, which may be affected by the section
250 deduction, we project that the final regulations will have annual
economic effects greater than $100 million (2020 dollars) relative to
the no-action baseline.
The Treasury Department and the IRS have not made quantitative
estimates of the effects of these final regulations on the volume of
eligible sales and services or on the overall size or composition of
U.S. economic activity relative to the no-action baseline or regulatory
alternatives. The Treasury Department and the IRS have not undertaken
these estimates because we do not have sufficiently detailed data or
models for: (i) The costs to taxpayers of establishing that particular
transactions are eligible for the section 250 deduction
[[Page 43073]]
(``substantiation requirements'') under various standards of
substantiation; (ii) the effect of differences in substantiation
requirements on economic activity, including both activities that are
eligible for the section 250 deduction and activities not eligible for
the section 250 deduction under the final regulations versus regulatory
alternatives; and (iii) the economic effects of other clarifications in
the final regulations, including the treatment of military sales,
relative to the no-action baseline and regulatory alternatives. Each of
these items would be needed to provide sufficiently precise estimates
of the effects of these final regulations.
The Treasury Department and the IRS project that as many as 350,000
taxpayers may be potentially affected by the final regulations. This
estimate is based on International Trade Administration (``ITA'')
statistics of the number of companies engaged in export activities.\10\
No data derived from tax forms were available to provide an estimate of
potentially affected taxpayers because the section 250 deduction is new
and the transactions that would now give rise to a section 250
deduction were not previously separately reported on tax forms. No
comments were received on estimates of the number of affected taxpayers
provided in the proposed regulations. The Treasury Department and the
IRS plan to include estimates of the number of affected taxpayers in
analysis of any future regulatory guidance when possible.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ ITA data was accessed at https://tse.export.gov/EDB/SelectReports.aspx?DATA=ExporterDB in December, 2018.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The economic effects of major provisions of these final regulations
are discussed qualitatively in Part I.C and are separately categorized
depending on whether the provisions have been significantly revised
from the proposed regulations or are largely unchanged from the
proposed regulations.
The Treasury Department and the IRS solicit comments on the
economic effects of the regulations.
1. Economic Effects of Provisions Substantially Revised From the 2019
Section 250 Proposed Regulations
a. Documentation Requirements
The statute provides a section 250 deduction for certain income
derived by the taxpayer from serving foreign markets but it does not
provide detail regarding what it means to ``serve foreign markets'' or
how to document that fact. Many of the calculations needed for the
section 250 deduction are based on Foreign Derived Deduction Eligible
Income (FDDEI), which is certain income derived from sales of property
to foreign persons for ``foreign use'' and from the provision of
services to persons, or with respect to property, located outside the
United States. The statute is likewise silent on the meaning of
``foreign use.''
The proposed regulations defined terms and prescribed specific
documents that taxpayers were required to hold to establish that such
income was derived from serving foreign markets. Comments to the
proposed regulations, however, noted that the documentation
requirements were prohibitively burdensome because, contrary to the
original understanding of the Treasury Department and the IRS,
taxpayers frequently do not have ready access to those types of
documentation. Therefore, comments argued, the proposed regulations
frequently created compliance costs that were high relative to the
value of the deduction. In addition, comments explained that for
taxpayers that enter into long term contracts, it was difficult to
simultaneously satisfy the proposed regulations' requirements that the
documentation be obtained by the FDII filing date and also that it be
obtained no earlier than one year before the date of the sale or the
service. Commenters also noted that the Regulatory Flexibility Act
analysis for the proposed regulations provide an estimate of the
compliance burden for small entities but did not provide a comparable
estimate for larger entities, which could have had a considerably
higher burden.
Because of these difficulties, the Treasury Department and the IRS
adopt a different approach in the final regulations for the
substantiation of foreign use for purposes of the section 250
deduction. This approach is described in sections 3.a.i-3.a.iii. For
each of the items in 3.a.i-3.a.iii, the approach in the final
regulations is significantly more flexible than the specific
documentation requirements in the proposed regulations.
The Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that the
substantiation requirements in the final regulations provide a
reasonable balance of compliance costs and the administrative burden of
ensuring that the transactions are consistent with the intent and
purpose of the statute.
i. General Substantiation Versus Specific Substantiation
The statute generally provides a section 250 deduction for income
that is for foreign use and specifies that the Secretary should issue
regulations to specify how foreign use should be substantiated for
purposes of tax administration. To address the substantiation issue,
the Treasury Department and the IRS considered: (i) Which types of
transactions should be subject (only) to the general substantiation
rules that apply to all deductions, versus requiring specific
substantiation, and (ii) for those transactions for which more specific
substantiation will be required, what forms specific substantiation
should take.
The final regulations specify that for many types of sales and
services, eligibility for the section 250 deduction is subject only to
the general requirement under the Code that eligibility for deductions
must be supported by sufficient substantiation, including through the
use of available business records. The final regulations provide
substantiation requirements that are generally similar to the
substantiation requirements for other types of deductions, which helps
standardize deduction-related benefits in the Code and thereby
minimizes the risk of unintended complications across provisions of the
Code.
The Treasury Department and the IRS considered allowing general
substantiation for all types of transactions. However, the Treasury
Department and the IRS determined that certain types of transactions
pose a higher risk of being treated as eligible transactions (FDDEI
transactions) without the taxpayer having generated revenue from
serving foreign markets. For these certain transactions, the final
regulations provide specific substantiation requirements. These
requirements involve either (i) a specific document, (ii) information
from the recipient obtained or created in the ordinary course of
business, or (iii) a taxpayer statement with corroborating evidence
(where the taxpayer chooses the form of corroborating evidence). In
general, these requirements are substantially more flexible than the
documentation requirements set forth in the proposed regulations
because they allow taxpayers to choose the method of substantiation
among a set of options and because this set includes options that are
less onerous than in the proposed regulations. In addition, to further
reduce compliance burdens relative to the proposed regulations, and in
response to comments, the final regulations remove the requirement in
the proposed regulations that the substantiating documents must be
obtained no earlier than one year before the date of the sale or
service.
The main categories of transactions for which specific
substantiation is
[[Page 43074]]
required are: (i) Sales of intangible property; (ii) sales of general
property to resellers and manufacturers; and (iii) the provision of
general services to business recipients. These types of transactions
generally have a higher potential for mischaracterization than other
transactions for which general substantiation is required; for example,
intangible property is often used both within and without of the United
States, and without some specific substantiation documenting its use,
the foreign portion could easily be overstated. Similarly, if a U.S.
person sells a finished good to a foreign reseller, the final
regulations require the taxpayer to provide evidence that the reseller
will not immediately sell the property back into the United States;
otherwise, the taxpayer could claim the section 250 deduction for what
is effectively a sale for domestic use. The Treasury Department and the
IRS have determined that this latter activity would not be consistent
with the intent and purpose of the statute. In addition, in the case of
general services (such as consulting or accounting services) provided
to a business recipient that is an integrated multinational company
with operations within and outside the United States, without
substantiation the IRS would have difficulty verifying the extent to
which the business recipient's operations outside the United States
benefited from the service. Thus, the Treasury final regulations impose
more thorough substantiation requirements for such types of
transactions.
The specific substantiation requirements provide that a taxpayer
may substantiate that a sale of general property to a distributor is
for a foreign use by maintaining proof that property is specifically
designed, labeled, or adapted for a foreign market or proof that the
cost of shipping the property back to the United States relative to the
value of the property makes it impractical that the property will be
resold in the United States. Furthermore, in recognition of the fact
that some taxpayers may not be able to substantiate their deductions
with information already available to them, the specific substantiation
requirements do not apply to taxpayer years beginning before January 1,
2021. In addition, the specific substantiation requirements do not
apply to businesses with less than $25 million in gross receipts.
The Treasury Department and the IRS do not have readily available
data or models to provide sufficiently precise estimates of the
difference in compliance costs for these provisions between the final
regulations and regulatory alternatives such as the proposed
regulations.
ii. Removal of Specific References to Market Research
The proposed regulations contained specific rules regarding
appropriate methods of documenting foreign use for: (i) Fungible mass
property and (ii) general services provided to a business recipient
located outside the United States. In particular, the proposed
regulations provided that a seller could establish certain foreign use
through market research, including statistical sampling, economic
modeling and other similar methods. In light of the more flexible and
less prescriptive approach to documentation generally taken by the
final regulations relative to the proposed regulations, the Treasury
Department and the IRS have determined that prescribing specific
methods (such as market research) for determining the use of these
types of property is not necessary and have further determined that
general market research based on secondary sources could be misleading
in this circumstance.
The Treasury Department and the IRS do not have readily available
data or models to provide sufficiently precise estimates of the
difference in compliance costs for these items between the final
regulations and regulatory alternatives such as the proposed
regulations.
iii. Digital Content, Electronically Supplied Services, and Advertising
Services
The final regulations also clarify how to establish foreign use for
sales of digital content and how to establish a recipient's location
outside of the United States with respect to electronically supplied
services and advertising services. As noted in comments, the proposed
regulations did not clearly explain how foreign use should be
established for transfers of copyrighted articles that are delivered
electronically rather than on a physical medium. To clarify the
treatment of these sales, the final regulations specify that a sale of
a copyrighted article is evaluated under the general property rules
rather than the rules for foreign use of intangible property regardless
of how the copyrighted article is transferred. In addition, the final
regulations provide new rules for establishing whether a sale of
digital content, which may include a sale of a copyrighted article, is
for a foreign use. The final regulations define ``digital content'' as
a computer program or any other content in digital format. A sale of
general property that primarily contains digital content is generally a
FDDEI sale if the end user downloads or accesses the content on a
device located outside the United States.
In response to comments, the final regulations provide two new
subcategories of general services and provide more detailed guidance
regarding how to establish the location of recipients of these
services. First, the final regulations also provide a new subcategory
of general services for electronically supplied services. An
electronically supplied service is a general service (other than an
advertising service) that is delivered primarily over the internet or
an electronic network. As in the case of a digital content sale, an
electronically supplied service qualifies for the section 250 deduction
if the recipient accesses the service from a location outside the
United States. Thus, under the final regulations, the structure of
otherwise similar transactions (the sale of digital content and the
provision of an electronically supplied service) should generally not
affect whether the transaction qualifies for the section 250 deduction.
Second, the final regulations provide a new subcategory of general
services for advertising services. The final regulations assign the
location of the recipient of advertising services at the location where
the advertisements are viewed, since that location serves as a reliable
proxy for the location of the business recipient that benefits from the
service.
The Treasury Department and the IRS project that because taxpayers
typically know where digital content, electronically supplied services,
and advertising services are accessed or viewed, these provisions will
reduce taxpayer compliance costs relative to the proposed regulations.
The Treasury Department and the IRS do not have readily available
data or models to provide sufficiently precise estimates of the
difference in compliance costs for these items, between the final
regulations and regulatory alternatives such as the proposed
regulations.
b. Foreign Military Sales
Section 250 conditions eligibility on sales being made to a foreign
person and services being provided to a person located outside the
United States but does not include specific rules applicable to foreign
military sales or services. This silence may lead to inefficient
decisions by taxpayers because many sales of military equipment and
services by U.S. defense contractors to foreign governments are
[[Page 43075]]
structured (pursuant to the Arms Export Control Act) as sales and
services provided to the U.S. government. The equipment or services are
then sold or provided by the U.S. government to the foreign government;
in effect, the contractor is selling goods and services to a foreign
person but the sale is technically made to the U.S. government. The
Treasury Department and the IRS recognize that the statute is unclear
as to whether such sales and services can qualify for the section 250
deduction.
The Treasury Department and the IRS considered several options for
treating these sales and services. One option was not addressing this
issue in the final regulations. This option was rejected because the
Treasury Department and the IRS determined that it would perpetuate
uncertainty about the application of section 250 to foreign military
sales and services made through the U.S. government and could thus
result in inefficient economic activity if some taxpayers took the
position that these sales and services qualify for a section 250
deduction but other similarly-situated taxpayers took the position that
they do not qualify. Furthermore, to the extent that some taxpayers
took the position that these sales and services do not qualify, their
economic decisions would be inefficient when evaluated under the intent
and purpose of the statute.
A second option was to clarify that a foreign military sale or
service through the U.S. government does not qualify for a section 250
deduction. This option was rejected because the Treasury Department and
the IRS determined that this treatment would be inconsistent with the
intent and purpose of the statute, and thus economic activity would be
inefficient when evaluated under this standard.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ See Joint Comm. on Taxation, General Explanation of Public
Law 115-97, at, at 380 n. 1740.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A third option was to allow any sale or service to a U.S. person
that acts as an intermediary and does not take on the benefits and
burdens of ownership to generally qualify for a section 250 deduction
if there is an ultimate foreign recipient. This option was rejected
because the Treasury Department and the IRS determined that such a
broad exception could allow multiple section 250 deductions for the
same transaction if both the seller and the intermediary buyer were
U.S. taxpayers. Furthermore, determining whether a party is an
``intermediary'' for this purpose would require a complex facts-and-
circumstances analysis of whether the party had the benefits and
burdens of ownership.
A fourth option was the approach adopted in the proposed
regulations, which provided that sales of property or the provision of
a service to the U.S. government under the Arms Export Control Act is
treated as a sale of property or provision of a service to a foreign
government and thus generally eligible for the section 250 deduction.
The final regulations adopt the approach provided in the proposed
regulations but relax the proposed regulations' documentation
requirements. Instead, under the final regulations only the general
substantiation requirements apply to these transactions. Thus, the
final regulations provide that foreign military sales or services to
the U.S. government under the Arms Export Control Act are treated as an
eligible sale or service. This rule provides uniform tax treatment
between the defense sector and other sectors of the U.S. economy with
respect to sales and services that are clearly meant for a foreign use.
The final rule also results in lower compliance costs than the proposed
regulations because it requires no further substantiation beyond
compliance with the Arms Export Control Act rules.
The Treasury Department projects that this reduction in compliance
costs will increase foreign military sales and services. The Treasury
Department and the IRS have not estimated either the reduction in
compliance costs under the final regulations relative to the no-action
baseline or regulatory alternatives including the proposed regulations
or the change in foreign military sales and services that would result
from this reduction. They have not undertaken this estimation because
they do not have sufficiently detailed data or models of the costs to
taxpayers of establishing that particular transactions are eligible for
the section 250 deduction, or the responsiveness of such transactions
to compliance costs.
c. Additional Issues and Changes
The final regulations contain several additional changes that will
generally expand the situations in which a transaction will be a FDDEI
transaction relative to the proposed regulations.
The final regulations add an exception to the rule in the proposed
regulations that a property service is a FDDEI service only if the
property is located outside the United States for the duration of the
period the service is performed. The exception provides that a property
service may be a FDDEI service if it is provided with respect to
property that is temporarily located in the United States. This will
increase the number of property services that constitute FDDEI services
relative to the proposed regulations. The final regulations also
clarify that the toll manufacturing services are treated as property
services. Because of the new exception for property services with
respect to property temporarily in the United States, this
clarification should increase the number of toll manufacturing and
repair, maintenance, and overhaul services that will constitute FDDEI
services relative to the proposed regulations. This rule will also
mitigate incentives to restructure service contracts into sale
contracts (for example by having the property owner sell and buy back
the property that requires service) in order to qualify for FDII
benefits despite the lack of any economic efficiency gains from doing
so. The Treasury Department and the IRS have not estimated the effect
of these changes on compliance costs or on the volume of property
services or specifically toll manufacturing services that U.S.
businesses may undertake relative to the proposed regulations.
The final regulations revise the definition of transportation
services to include freight forwarding services because such services
are economically similar to the types of shipping services that are
already described in the definition of transportation services; this
will provide greater certainty to taxpayers that provide these services
because the test for determining whether a transportation service is a
FDDEI service (based on the origin and destination of the service) will
generally be clearer than the test for general services (based on the
location of the recipient). The Treasury Department and the IRS have
not estimated the effect of this clarification on compliance costs or
on the volume of freight forwarding services that U.S. businesses may
undertake relative to the proposed regulations.
The final regulations add an exception to the general rule in the
proposed regulations that intangible property used in manufacturing is
treated as for a foreign use outside the United States only to the
extent that the end users of the manufactured property are located
outside the United States. The exception allows that a sale of a
manufacturing method or process intangible to a foreign unrelated party
is for foreign use based on the location of manufacture rather than the
location of the ultimate end user. This provides a meaningful reduction
in compliance burden relative to the proposed regulations because it
does not require
[[Page 43076]]
the seller to track the product to its end user and instead relies on
information immediately knowable to the seller. The Treasury Department
and the IRS have not estimated the effect of this exception on
compliance costs or more generally on U.S. economic activity relative
to the proposed regulations because we do not have sufficiently precise
data on the number of potentially affected taxpayers or the volume of
affected activity.
The final regulations eliminate the requirement in the proposed
regulations that for sales of international transportation property to
be eligible for the section 250 deduction, the property must be located
outside the country more than 50 percent of the time and used outside
the country for more than 50 percent of the miles for the three-year
period after delivery. In the final regulations, the sale of
international transportation property is defined to be for a foreign
use depending on where it is registered (and in the case of
international transportation property not used for compensation or
hire, also taking into account where it is primarily hangared or
stored). This change in the definition eases the burden of compliance
relative to the proposed regulations. The Treasury Department and the
IRS have not undertaken quantitative estimates of the effect of this
change on compliance costs or on sales of transportation property
relative to the proposed regulations.
In response to comments, the final regulations clarify that the
definition of general property includes physical commodities that are
sold pursuant to derivative contracts. This revision addresses a
concern raised in comments that some physical commodities may be sold
pursuant to a forward or option contract that itself would not be
general property. Also in response to comments, the final regulations
provide that the amount of a taxpayer's income from a transaction that
is eligible for the section 250 deduction is increased by any gain, or
decreased by any loss, taken into account with respect to certain
hedging transactions related to the sales. This treatment more
accurately reflects the overall economic gain or loss realized with
respect to the hedged transactions, and will ensure that similarly-
situated taxpayers take consistent positions with respect to these
types of transactions. The Treasury Department and the IRS have not
estimated the effects of these clarifications relative to the proposed
regulations.
Finally, the final regulations remove a special rule from the
proposed regulations that a sale of an interest in a foreign branch is
treated as giving rise to foreign branch income, which would preclude
any income from these sales from giving rise to FDDEI. This change
respects the functional difference between income derived by a branch
(which generally reflects business activity of the branch) versus
income derived by the branch owner from selling the branch (which
generally reflects the owner's gain from appreciation in value of the
branch), and will allow more transactions to qualify as FDDEI
transactions. The Treasury Department and the IRS have not estimated
the effects of this change relative to the proposed regulations.
d. Ordering Rule
The Act introduced multiple Code provisions that simultaneously
limit the availability of a deduction based, directly or indirectly,
upon a taxpayer's taxable income. Because the deductions themselves
affect taxable income, the order in which taxpayers calculate deduction
limitations matters. The proposed regulations contained an example
outlining a possible approach to an ordering rule for these Code
provisions. Several comments suggested alternative ordering rules. The
Treasury Department and the IRS have decided to further study the most
appropriate ordering rule for computations across various provisions
that are based upon a taxpayer's taxable income. Therefore, the example
from the proposed regulations has been removed and the Treasury
Department and the IRS reserve on a final determination of the ordering
rule at this time. For now, taxpayers can generally use any reasonable
method to determine the ordering of rules that limit deductions based
upon taxable income. Because we have decided to study this issue
further, we have not yet estimated the economic effects of different
potential ordering rules.
2. Economic Effects of Provisions Not Substantially Revised From the
2019 Section 250 Proposed Regulations
a. Computation of the Ratio of FDDEI to DEI
The Act defines a corporation's FDII based on a set of calculations
that includes the ratio of its FDDEI to its Deduction Eligible Income
(``foreign-derived ratio''). The final regulations specify that, for
purposes of determining the numerator of the foreign-derived ratio, the
domestic corporation must allocate expenses to its gross FDDEI. The
Treasury Department and the IRS deemed this approach the most
consistent with the statute by providing what the Treasury Department
and the IRS have determined to be the most accurate measure of the
corporation's income that is ``foreign-derived,'' through matching of
expenses to gross income. In addition, the use of existing expense
allocation rules potentially reduces the burden on taxpayers and the
IRS relative to adopting a new set of expense allocation rules.
The Treasury Department and the IRS considered two other
approaches; one, in which the foreign-derived ratio would be computed
as the ratio of foreign versus U.S. gross receipts and another in which
the ratio would be computed as foreign versus U.S. gross income. The
Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that both of these
approaches would result in a less accurate measure of foreign-derived
net income. The Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that
these alternative approaches could also reward low margin (or even
loss-leading) sales or services to foreign markets by allowing a
section 250 deduction due to positive gross receipts or income from
foreign sources, even if the net income from foreign sources after
allocated expenses is zero or negative.
The Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that the chosen
alternative generally provides the most accurate computation of FDII.
We have not estimated the economic effects of including these
alternative, less accurate computations of FDII in the calculation of
taxpayers' foreign-derived ratios.
b. Section 962
The section 250 deduction for FDII and GILTI is available only to
domestic corporations. However, Congress enacted section 962 in Public
Law 89-834 (1962) to ensure that individuals' tax burdens with respect
to undistributed foreign earnings of their CFCs are comparable with
their tax burdens if they had held their CFCs through a domestic
corporation. See S. Rept. 1881, 87th Cong., 2d Sess. 92 (1962).
To address this divergence, the Treasury Department and the IRS
considered two options with respect to extending the section 250
deduction to individuals (which include, for this purpose, individual
partners in partnerships and individual shareholders in S corporations)
that make an election under section 962. The first option was to not
allow the deduction for individuals. Not allowing the section 250
deduction would require that individuals that currently own their CFCs
directly (or indirectly through a partnership or S corporation)
transfer the stock of their CFCs to new U.S.
[[Page 43077]]
corporations in order to obtain the benefit of the section 250
deduction. The Treasury Department and the IRS determined that such
reorganization would be economically costly, both in terms of legal
fees and substantive economic costs related to organizing and operating
new corporate entities with no general economic benefit relative to the
second option.
The second option was to allow individuals to claim a section 250
deduction with respect to their GILTI if they make the section 962
election. The Treasury Department and the IRS determined that allowing
individuals the section 250 deduction would improve economic efficiency
by preventing the need for costly legal restructuring solely for the
purpose of tax savings. Allowing a section 250 deduction with respect
to GILTI of an individual (including an individual that is a
shareholder of an S corporation or a partner in a partnership) that
makes an election under section 962 provides comparable treatment for
this income.
This is the option adopted by the Treasury Department and the IRS
in the final regulations.
The Treasury Department and the IRS have not estimated the
difference in economic effects between these two regulatory
alternatives.
II. Paperwork Reduction Act
The regulations provide the authority for the IRS to require
taxpayers to file certain forms with the IRS to obtain the benefit of
the section 250 deduction. Pursuant to the regulations, all taxpayers
with a section 250 deduction are required to file one new form (Form
8993). The regulations also authorize the IRS to request additional
information on several existing forms (Forms 1065 (Schedule K-1), 5471,
5472, 8865, and other forms as needed) if the filer of the form has a
deduction under section 250. In 2018, the IRS released and invited
comments on drafts of these forms in order to give members of the
public advance notice and an opportunity to submit comments. The IRS
received no comments on the portions of the forms that relate to
section 250 during the comment period. Consequently, the IRS made the
forms available in late 2018 for use by the public.
The information collection burdens under the Paperwork Reduction
Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. (``PRA'') from these final regulations are
in Sec. Sec. 1.250(a)-1(d), 1.250(b)-1(e)(2), 1.6038-2(f)(15), 1.6038-
3(g)(4), and 1.6038A-2(b)(5)(iv). For purposes of the PRA, the
reporting burden associated with these collections of information will
be reflected in the PRA submission for Form 8993, Form 1065, Form 5471,
Form 8865, and Form 5472 (see chart at the end of this part II for OMB
control numbers).
The tax forms that were created or revised as a result of the
information collections in these final regulations, as well as the
estimated number of respondents, are as follows:
Related New or Revised Tax Forms
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of
New Revision of respondents
existing form (estimated)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Form 8993.................................................. [check] ............... 75,000-350,000
Form 1065, Schedule K-1 (for corporate partners only, ............... [check] 15,000-45,000
revision starting TY2021).................................
Form 5471.................................................. ............... [check] 10,000-20,000
Form 8865.................................................. ............... [check] <10,000
Form 5472.................................................. ............... [check] 50,000-80,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: RAAS:CDW and ITA.
The numbers of respondents in the Related New or Revised Tax Forms
table were estimated by the Research, Applied Analytics and Statistics
Division (``RAAS'') of the IRS from the Compliance Data Warehouse
(``CDW''), using tax years 2014 through 2017; as well as based on
export data from the International Trade Administration (``ITA'') for
2015 and 2016. Tax data for 2018 are not yet available due to extended
filing dates. Data for Form 8993 represent preliminary estimates of the
total number of taxpayers that may be required to file the new Form
8993. Data for each of the Forms 1065, 5471, 5472, and 8865 represent
preliminary estimates of the total number of taxpayers that are
expected to file these revised forms regardless of whether that
taxpayer must also file Form 8993.
The current status of the PRA submissions related to the tax forms
that will be revised as a result of the information collections in the
section 250 regulations is provided in the accompanying table. The
reporting burdens associated with the information collections in the
regulations are included in the aggregated burden estimates for OMB
control numbers 1545-0123 (which represents a total estimated burden
time for all forms and schedules for corporations of 3.344 billion
hours and total estimated monetized costs of $61.558 billion ($2019)),
1545-0074 (which represents a total estimated burden time, including
all other related forms and schedules for individuals, of 1.717 billion
hours and total estimated monetized costs of $33.267 billion ($2019)),
and 1545-1668 (which represents a total estimated burden time for all
related forms and schedules for other filers, in particular trusts and
estates, of 281,974 hours and total estimated monetized costs of
$25.107 million ($2018)). The overall burden estimates provided for the
OMB control numbers below are aggregate amounts that relate to the
entire package of forms associated with the applicable OMB control
number and will in the future include, but not isolate, the estimated
burden of the tax forms that will be created or revised as a result of
the information collections in the regulations. These numbers are
therefore unrelated to the calculations needed to assess the burden
imposed by the regulations. These burdens have been reported for other
regulations related to the taxation of cross-border income and the
Treasury Department and the IRS urge readers to recognize that these
numbers are duplicates and to guard against overestimating the burden
of the international tax provisions. No burden estimates specific to
the forms affected by the regulations are currently available. The
Treasury Department and the IRS have not estimated the burden,
including that of any new information collections, related to the
requirements under the regulations. The Treasury Department and the IRS
estimate PRA burdens on a taxpayer-type basis rather than a provision-
specific basis. Those estimates would capture both changes made by the
Act and those that arise out of discretionary authority exercised in
the final regulations.
The Treasury Department and the IRS request comments on all aspects
of
[[Page 43078]]
information collection burdens related to the final regulations,
including estimates for how much time it would take to comply with the
paperwork burdens described above for each relevant form and ways for
the IRS to minimize the paperwork burden. Proposed revisions (if any)
to these forms that reflect the information collections contained in
these final regulations will be made available for public comment at
https://www.irs.gov/draftforms and will not be finalized until after
these forms have been approved by OMB under the PRA.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Form Type of filer OMB No(s) Status
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Form 8993 (NEW).................... Business (NEW Model).. 1545-0123............. Published in the Federal
Register Notice (FRN) on 9/
30/19. Public Comment
period closed on 11/29/19.
Approved by OMB through 12/
31/20.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Link: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/09/30/2019-21068/proposed-collection-comment-request-for-forms-1065-1066-1120-1120-c-1120-f-1120-h-1120-nd-1120-s.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Individual (NEW Model) 1545-0074............. Published in the Federal
Register on 9/30/19.
Public Comment period
closed on 11/29/19.
Approved by OMB through 12/
31/20.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Link: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/09/30/2019-21066/proposed-collection-comment-request-for-form-1040-form-1040nr-form-1040nr-ez-form-1040x-1040-sr-and-u.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Form 1065, Schedule K-1............ Business (NEW Model).. 1545-0123............. Published in the Federal
Register on 9/30/19.
Public Comment period
closed on 11/29/19.
Approved by OMB through 12/
31/20.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Link: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/09/30/2019-21068/proposed-collection-comment-request-for-forms-1065-1066-1120-1120-c-1120-f-1120-h-1120-nd-1120-s.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Form 5471.......................... Business (NEW Model).. 1545-0123............. Published in the Federal
Register on 9/30/19.
Public Comment period
closed on 11/29/19.
Approved by OMB through 12/
31/20.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Link: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/09/30/2019-21068/proposed-collection-comment-request-for-forms-1065-1066-1120-1120-c-1120-f-1120-h-1120-nd-1120-s.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Form 8865.......................... All other filers 1545-1668............. Published in the Federal
(mainly trusts and Register on 10/01/18.
estates) (Legacy Public Comment period
system). closed on 11/30/18.
Approved by OMB through 12/
31/21.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Link: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/10/01/2018-21288/proposed-collection-comment-request-for-regulation-project.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Form 5472.......................... Business (NEW Model).. 1545-0123............. Published in the Federal
Register on 9/30/19.
Public Comment period
closed on 11/29/19.
Approved by OMB through 12/
31/20.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Link: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/09/30/2019-21068/proposed-collection-comment-request-for-forms-1065-1066-1120-1120-c-1120-f-1120-h-1120-nd-1120-s.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
III. Regulatory Flexibility Act
It is hereby certified that this final regulation will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities
within the meaning of section 601(6) of the Regulatory Flexibility Act
(5 U.S.C. chapter 6). The Treasury Department and the IRS have
determined that the regulations may affect a substantial number of
small entities, but have also concluded that the economic impact on
small entities as a result of the collections of information in this
regulation is not expected to be significant.
The small business entities that are subject to section 250 and
these final regulations are small domestic corporations claiming a
deduction under section 250 based on their FDII and GILTI. Pursuant to
Sec. 1.250(a)-1(d), taxpayers are required to file new Form 8993 to
compute the amount of the eligible deduction for FDII and GILTI under
section 250. The Treasury Department and the IRS estimate that there
are between 75,000 and 350,000 respondents of all sizes that are likely
to file Form 8993. Additionally, under Sec. 1.250(b)-1(e), a
partnership that has one or more direct or indirect partners that are
domestic corporations and that is required to file a return under
section 6031 must furnish on Schedule K-1 (Form 1065) certain
information that would allow the partner to accurately calculate its
FDII. The Treasury Department and the IRS estimate the number of
domestic corporations that are direct or indirect partners in a
partnership affected by Sec. 1.250(b)-1(e) is between 15,000 and
45,000.
As discussed in the Summary of Comments and Explanation of
Revisions section of this preamble, the Treasury Department and the IRS
have determined that requiring specific documentation in every case is
challenging given the variations in industry practices. Accordingly,
the final regulations adopt a more flexible approach to the
documentation requirements in the proposed regulations and, for certain
of these regulatory requirements, instead provide substantiation rules
that are more flexible with respect to the types of corroborating
evidence that may be used to determine that a transaction is a FDDEI
transaction. A transaction is a FDDEI transaction only if the taxpayer
[[Page 43079]]
substantiates its determination of foreign use (in the case of sales of
general property to non-end users and sales of intangible property) or
location outside the United States (in the case of general services
provided to a business recipient) as described in the applicable
paragraph of Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(3) or Sec. 1.250(b)-5(e)(4). Similar
to the exception for small businesses from the documentation
requirements in the proposed regulations, the final regulations provide
that the new specific substantiation requirements do not apply to a
taxpayer if the taxpayer and all related parties of the taxpayer
received less than $25,000,000 in gross receipts in the prior taxable
year. The Treasury Department and the IRS anticipate that a substantial
share of small entities claiming a section 250 deduction will qualify
for the small business exception, thereby significantly reducing the
overall burden of the final regulations on small entities. Although the
rule will alleviate burden on many small entities, the Small Business
Administration's small business size standards (13 CFR part 121)
identify as small entities several industries with annual revenues
above $25 million.
For the rules in the final regulations for which there are no
specific substantiation requirements, taxpayers will continue to be
required to substantiate deductions under section 250 pursuant to
section 6001. Small business entities are expected to experience 0 to 5
minutes, with an average of 2.5 minutes, of recordkeeping per
transaction recipient. The hourly estimates include all associated
activities: Recordkeeping, tax planning, learning about the law,
gathering tax materials, form completion and submissions, and time with
a tax preparer or use of tax software. The estimated monetized burden
for small business entities for compliance is $53.12 per hour, a figure
computed from the IRS Business Taxpayer Burden model which assigns each
firm in the micro data a monetization rate based on total revenue and
assets reported on their tax return. See ``Tax Compliance Burden''
(John Guyton et al., July 2018) at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/d13315.pdf. The assigned monetization rates include, in addition to
wages, employer non-wage costs such as employment taxes, benefits, and
overhead. The reporting burden for completing Form 8993 is estimated to
average 21 hours for all affected entities, regardless of size. The
reporting burden on small entities (those with receipts below $25
million in RAAS calculations) is estimated to average 17.1 hours. Based
on the monetized hourly burden reported above, the annual per-entity
reporting burden for small entities will be $908.
For these reasons, the Treasury Department and the IRS have
determined that the requirements in Sec. Sec. 1.250(a)-1(d), 1.250(b)-
4(d)(3), and 1.250(b)-5(e)(4) will not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities.
The small business entities that are subject to Sec. 1.6038-
2(f)(15), Sec. 1.6038-3(g)(4), or Sec. 1.6038A-2(b)(5)(iv) are
domestic small business entities that claim a deduction under section
250 by reason of having FDII that are either controlling U.S.
shareholders of a foreign corporation, controlling fifty-percent
partners or controlling ten-percent partners of a foreign partnership,
or at least 25-percent foreign-owned, by vote or value, respectively.
The data to assess the number of small entities potentially affected by
Sec. 1.6038-2(f)(15), Sec. 1.6038-3(g)(4), or Sec. 1.6038A-
2(b)(5)(iv) are not readily available. However, businesses that are
controlling U.S. shareholders of a foreign corporation, controlling
fifty-percent partners or controlling ten-percent partners of a foreign
partnership, or at least 25-percent foreign-owned, by vote or value are
generally not small businesses for the reasons described in part III of
the Special Analyses section in the proposed regulation (REG-104464-18,
84 FR 8188 (March 6, 2019)). Consequently, the Treasury Department and
the IRS have determined that Sec. Sec. 1.6038-2(f)(15), 1.6038-
3(g)(4), and 1.6038A-2(b)(5)(iv) will not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities.
Pursuant to section 7805(f) of the Code, the proposed regulations
preceding these final regulations were submitted to the Chief Counsel
for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration for comment on its
impact on small businesses. No comments were received.
IV. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
Section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 requires
that agencies assess anticipated costs and benefits and take certain
other actions before issuing a final rule that includes any Federal
mandate that may result in expenditures in any one year by a state,
local, or tribal government, in the aggregate, or by the private
sector, of $100 million in 1995 dollars, updated annually for
inflation. This rule does not include any Federal mandate that may
result in expenditures by state, local, or tribal governments, or by
the private sector in excess of that threshold.
V. Executive Order 13132: Federalism
Executive Order 13132 (entitled ``Federalism'') prohibits an agency
from publishing any rule that has federalism implications if the rule
either imposes substantial, direct compliance costs on state and local
governments, and is not required by statute, or preempts state law,
unless the agency meets the consultation and funding requirements of
section 6 of the Executive Order. These regulations do not have
federalism implications and do not impose substantial direct compliance
costs on state and local governments or preempt state law within the
meaning of the Executive Order.
VI. Congressional Review Act
The Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs of OMB has determined that this Treasury decision is a major
rule for purposes of the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et
seq.) (``CRA''). Under section 801(a)(3) of the CRA, a major rule
generally may not take effect until 60 days after the rule is published
in the Federal Register. Accordingly, the Treasury Department and IRS
are adopting these final regulations with the delayed effective date
generally prescribed under the Congressional Review Act.
Drafting Information
The principal authors of the regulations are Kenneth Jeruchim, Brad
McCormack, and Lorraine Rodriguez of the Office of Associate Chief
Counsel (International). However, other personnel from the Treasury
Department and the IRS participated in the development of the
regulations.
Statement of Availability of IRS Documents
IRS Revenue Procedures, Revenue Rulings, Notices, and other
guidance cited in this document are published in the Internal Revenue
Bulletin and are available from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S.
Government Publishing Office, Washington, DC 20402, or by visiting the
IRS website at https://www.irs.gov.
List of Subjects in 26 CFR Part 1
Income taxes, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Adoption of Amendments to the Regulations
Accordingly, 26 CFR part 1 is amended as follows:
[[Page 43080]]
PART 1--INCOME TAXES
0
Paragraph 1. The authority citation for part 1 is amended by adding
entries in numerical order for Sec. Sec. 1.250-0, 1.250-1, 1.250(a)-1,
1.250(b)-1, 1.250(b)-2, 1.250(b)-3, 1.250(b)-4, 1.250(b)-5, 1.250(b)-6,
and Sec. 1.1502-50 and revising the entries for Sec. Sec. 1.1502-12
and 1.1502-13 to read in part as follows:
Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805 * * *
* * * * *
Section 1.250-0 also issued under 26 U.S.C. 250(c).
Section 1.250-1 also issued under 26 U.S.C. 250(c).
Section 1.250(a)-1 also issued under 26 U.S.C. 250(c) and 6001.
Section 1.250(b)-1 also issued under 26 U.S.C. 250(c) and 6001.
Section 1.250(b)-2 also issued under 26 U.S.C. 250(c).
Section 1.250(b)-3 also issued under 26 U.S.C. 250(c).
Section 1.250(b)-4 also issued under 26 U.S.C. 250(c).
Section 1.250(b)-5 also issued under 26 U.S.C. 250(c).
Section 1.250(b)-6 also issued under 26 U.S.C. 250(c).
* * * * *
Section 1.1502-12 also issued under 26 U.S.C. 250(c) and 1502.
Section 1.1502-13 also issued under 26 U.S.C. 250(c) and 1502.
* * * * *
Section 1.1502-50 also issued under 26 U.S.C. 250(c) and 1502.
* * * * *
0
Par. 2. Sections 1.250-0, 1.250-1, 1.250(a)-1, and 1.250(b)-1 through
1.250(b)-6 are added to read as follows:
Sec.
* * * * *
1.250-0 Table of contents.
1.250-1 Introduction.
1.250(a)-1 Deduction for foreign-derived intangible income (FDII)
and global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI).
1.250(b)-1 Computation of foreign-derived intangible income (FDII).
1.250(b)-2 Qualified business asset investment (QBAI).
1.250(b)-3 Foreign-derived deduction eligible income (FDDEI)
transactions.
1.250(b)-4 Foreign-derived deduction eligible income (FDDEI) sales.
1.250(b)-5 Foreign-derived deduction eligible income (FDDEI)
services.
1.250(b)-6 Related party transactions.
* * * * *
Sec. 1.250-0 Table of contents.
This section contains a listing of the headings for Sec. Sec.
1.250-1, 1.250(a)-1, and 1.250(b)-1 through 1.250(b)-6.
Sec. 1.250-1 Introduction.
(a) Overview.
(b) Applicability dates.
Sec. 1.250(a)-1 Deduction for foreign-derived intangible income
(FDII) and global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI).
(a) Scope.
(b) Allowance of deduction.
(1) In general.
(2) Taxable income limitation.
(3) Reduction in deduction for taxable years after 2025.
(4) Treatment under section 4940.
(c) Definitions.
(1) Domestic corporation.
(2) Foreign-derived intangible income (FDII).
(3) Global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI).
(4) Section 250(a)(2) amount.
(5) Taxable income.
(i) In general.
(ii) [Reserved]
(d) Reporting requirement.
(e) Determination of deduction for consolidated groups.
(f) Example: Application of the taxable income limitation.
Sec. 1.250(b)-1 Computation of foreign-derived intangible income
(FDII).
(a) Scope.
(b) Definition of FDII.
(c) Definitions.
(1) Controlled foreign corporation.
(2) Deduction eligible income.
(3) Deemed intangible income.
(4) Deemed tangible income return.
(5) Dividend.
(6) Domestic corporation.
(7) Domestic oil and gas extraction income.
(8) FDDEI sale.
(9) FDDEI service.
(10) FDDEI transaction.
(11) Foreign branch income.
(12) Foreign-derived deduction eligible income.
(13) Foreign-derived ratio.
(14) Gross RDEI.
(15) Gross DEI.
(16) Gross FDDEI.
(17) Modified affiliated group.
(i) In general.
(ii) Special rule for noncorporate entities.
(iii) Definition of control.
(18) Qualified business asset investment.
(19) Related party.
(20) United States shareholder.
(d) Treatment of cost of goods sold and allocation and
apportionment of deductions.
(1) Cost of goods sold for determining gross DEI and gross
FDDEI.
(2) Deductions properly allocable to gross DEI and gross FDDEI.
(i) In general.
(ii) Determination of deductions to allocate.
(3) Examples.
(e) Domestic corporate partners.
(1) In general.
(2) Reporting requirement for partnership with domestic
corporate partners.
(3) Examples.
(f) Determination of FDII for consolidated groups.
(g) Determination of FDII for tax-exempt corporations.
Sec. 1.250(b)-2 Qualified business asset investment (QBAI).
(a) Scope.
(b) Definition of qualified business asset investment.
(c) Specified tangible property.
(1) In general.
(2) Tangible property.
(d) Dual use property.
(1) In general.
(2) Definition of dual use property.
(3) Dual use ratio.
(4) Example.
(e) Determination of adjusted basis of specified tangible
property.
(1) In general.
(2) Effect of change in law.
(3) Specified tangible property placed in service before
enactment of section 250.
(f) Special rules for short taxable years.
(1) In general.
(2) Determination of when the quarter closes.
(3) Reduction of qualified business asset investment.
(4) Example.
(g) Partnership property.
(1) In general.
(2) Determination of partnership QBAI.
(3) Determination of partner adjusted basis.
(i) In general.
(ii) Sole use partnership property.
(A) In general.
(B) Definition of sole use partnership property.
(iii) Dual use partnership property.
(A) In general.
(B) Definition of dual use partnership property.
(4) Determination of proportionate share of the partnership's
adjusted basis in partnership specified tangible property.
(i) In general.
(ii) Proportionate share ratio.
(5) Definition of partnership specified tangible property.
(6) Determination of partnership adjusted basis.
(7) Determination of partner-specific QBAI basis.
(8) Examples.
(h) Anti-avoidance rule for certain transfers of property.
(1) In general.
(2) Rule for structured arrangements.
(3) Per se rules for certain transactions.
(4) Definitions related to anti-avoidance rule.
(i) Disqualified period.
(ii) FDII-eligible related party.
(iii) Specified related party.
(iv) Transfer.
(5) Transactions occurring before March 4, 2019.
(6) Examples.
Sec. 1.250(b)-3 Foreign-derived deduction eligible income (FDDEI)
transactions.
(a) Scope.
(b) Definitions.
(1) Digital content.
(2) End user.
(3) FDII filing date.
(4) Finished goods.
(5) Foreign person.
(6) Foreign related party.
(7) Foreign retail sale.
(8) Foreign unrelated party.
(9) Fungible mass of general property.
(10) General property.
(11) Intangible property.
(12) International transportation property.
(13) IP address.
[[Page 43081]]
(14) Recipient.
(15) Renderer.
(16) Sale.
(17) Seller.
(18) United States.
(19) United States person.
(20) United States territory.
(c) Foreign military sales and services.
(d) Transactions with multiple elements.
(e) Treatment of partnerships.
(1) In general.
(2) Examples.
(f) Substantiation for certain FDDEI transactions.
(1) In general.
(2) Exception for small businesses.
(3) Treatment of certain loss transactions.
(i) In general.
(ii) Reason to know.
(A) Sales to a foreign person for a foreign use.
(B) General services provided to a business recipient located
outside the United States.
(iii) Multiple transactions.
(iv) Example.
Sec. 1.250(b)-4 Foreign-derived deduction eligible income (FDDEI)
sales.
(a) Scope.
(b) Definition of FDDEI sale.
(c) Presumption of foreign person status.
(1) In general.
(2) Sales of property.
(d) Foreign use.
(1) Foreign use for general property.
(i) In general.
(ii) Rules for determining foreign use.
(A) Sales that are delivered to an end user by a carrier or
freight forwarder.
(B) Sales to an end user without the use of a carrier or freight
forwarder.
(C) Sales for resale.
(D) Sales of digital content.
(E) Sales of international transportation property used for
compensation or hire.
(F) Sales of international transportation property not used for
compensation or hire.
(iii) Sales for manufacturing, assembly, or other processing.
(A) In general.
(B) Property subject to a physical and material change.
(C) Property incorporated into a product as a component.
(iv) Sales of property subject to manufacturing, assembly, or
other processing in the United States
(v) Examples.
(2) Foreign use for intangible property.
(i) In general.
(ii) Determination of end users and revenue earned from end
users.
(A) Intangible property embedded in general property or used in
connection with the sale of general property.
(B) Intangible property used in providing a service.
(C) Intangible property consisting of a manufacturing method or
process.
(1) In general.
(2) Exception for certain manufacturing arrangements.
(3) Manufacturing method or process.
(D) Intangible property used in research and development.
(iii) Determination of revenue for periodic payments versus lump
sums.
(A) Sales in exchange for periodic payments.
(B) Sales in exchange for a lump sum.
(C) Sales to a foreign unrelated party of intangible property
consisting of a manufacturing method or process.
(iv) Examples.
(3) Foreign use substantiation for certain sales of property.
(i) In general.
(ii) Substantiation of foreign use for resale.
(iii) Substantiation of foreign use for manufacturing, assembly,
or other processing. outside the United States.
(iv) Substantiation of foreign use of intangible property.
(v) Examples.
(e) Sales of interests in a disregarded entity.
(f) FDDEI sales hedging transactions.
(1) In general.
(2) FDDEI sales hedging transaction.
Sec. 1.250(b)-5 Foreign-derived deduction eligible income (FDDEI)
services.
(a) Scope.
(b) Definition of FDDEI service.
(c) Definitions.
(1) Advertising service.
(2) Benefit.
(3) Business recipient.
(4) Consumer.
(5) Electronically supplied service.
(6) General service.
(7) Property service.
(8) Proximate service.
(9) Transportation service.
(d) General services provided to consumers.
(1) In general.
(2) Electronically supplied services.
(3) Example.
(e) General services provided to business recipients.
(1) In general.
(2) Determination of business operations that benefit from the
service.
(i) In general.
(ii) Advertising services.
(iii) Electronically supplied services.
(3) Identification of business recipient's operations.
(i) In general.
(ii) Advertising services and electronically supplied services.
(iii) No office or fixed place of business.
(4) Substantiation of the location of a business recipient's
operations outside the United States.
(5) Examples.
(f) Proximate services.
(g) Property services.
(1) In general.
(2) Exception for service provided with respect to property
temporarily in the United States.
(h) Transportation services.
Sec. 1.250(b)-6 Related party transactions.
(a) Scope.
(b) Definitions.
(1) Related party sale.
(2) Related party service.
(3) Unrelated party transaction.
(c) Related party sales.
(1) In general.
(i) Sale of property in an unrelated party transaction.
(ii) Use of property in an unrelated party transaction.
(2) Treatment of foreign related party as seller or renderer.
(3) Transactions between related parties.
(4) Example.
(d) Related party services.
(1) In general.
(2) Substantially similar services.
(3) Special rules.
(i) Rules for determining the location of and price paid by
recipients of a service provided by a related party.
(ii) Rules for allocating the benefits provided by and priced
paid to the renderer of a related party service.
(4) Examples.
Sec. 1.250-1 Introduction.
(a) Overview. Sections 1.250(a)-1 and 1.250(b)-1 through 1.250(b)-6
provide rules to determine a domestic corporation's section 250
deduction. Section 1.250(a)-1 provides rules to determine the amount of
a domestic corporation's deduction for foreign-derived intangible
income and global intangible low-taxed income. Section 1.250(b)-1
provides general rules and definitions regarding the computation of
foreign-derived intangible income. Section 1.250(b)-2 provides rules
for determining a domestic corporation's qualified business asset
investment. Section 1.250(b)-3 provides general rules and definitions
regarding the determination of gross foreign-derived deduction eligible
income. Section 1.250(b)-4 provides rules regarding the determination
of gross foreign-derived deduction eligible income from the sale of
property. Section 1.250(b)-5 provides rules regarding the determination
of gross foreign-derived deduction eligible income from the provision
of a service. Section 1.250(b)-6 provides rules regarding the sale of
property or provision of a service to a related party.
(b) Applicability dates. Except as provided in the next sentence,
Sec. Sec. 1.250(a)-1 and 1.250(b)-1 through 1.250(b)-6 apply to
taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2021. Section 1.250(b)-
2(h) applies to taxable years ending on or after March 4, 2019.
However, taxpayers may choose to apply Sec. Sec. 1.250(a)-1 and
1.250(b)-1 through 1.250(b)-6 for taxable years beginning on or after
January 1, 2018, and before January 1, 2021, provided they apply the
regulations in their entirety (other than Sec. 1.250(b)-3(f) and the
applicable provisions in Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(3) or Sec. 1.250(b)-
5(e)(4)).
Sec. 1.250(a)-1 Deduction for foreign-derived intangible income
(FDII) and global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI).
(a) Scope. This section provides rules for determining the amount
of a domestic corporation's deduction for
[[Page 43082]]
foreign-derived intangible income (FDII) and global intangible low-
taxed income (GILTI). Paragraph (b) of this section provides general
rules for determining the amount of the deduction. Paragraph (c) of
this section provides definitions relevant for determining the amount
of the deduction. Paragraph (d) of this section provides reporting
requirements for a domestic corporation claiming the deduction.
Paragraph (e) of this section provides a rule for determining the
amount of the deduction of a member of a consolidated group. Paragraph
(f) of this section provides examples illustrating the application of
this section.
(b) Allowance of deduction--(1) In general. A domestic corporation
is allowed a deduction for any taxable year equal to the sum of--
(i) 37.5 percent of its foreign-derived intangible income for the
year; and
(ii) 50 percent of--
(A) Its global intangible low-taxed income for the year; and
(B) The amount treated as a dividend received by the corporation
under section 78 which is attributable to its GILTI for the year.
(2) Taxable income limitation. In the case of a domestic
corporation with a section 250(a)(2) amount for a taxable year, for
purposes of applying paragraph (b)(1) of this section for the year--
(i) The corporation's FDII for the year (if any) is reduced (but
not below zero) by an amount that bears the same ratio to the
corporation's section 250(a)(2) amount that the corporation's FDII for
the year bears to the sum of the corporation's FDII and GILTI for the
year; and
(ii) The corporation's GILTI for the year (if any) is reduced (but
not below zero) by the excess of the corporation's section 250(a)(2)
amount over the amount of the reduction described in paragraph
(b)(2)(i) of this section.
(3) Reduction in deduction for taxable years after 2025. For any
taxable year of a domestic corporation beginning after December 31,
2025, paragraph (b)(1) of this section applies by substituting--
(i) 21.875 percent for 37.5 percent in paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this
section; and
(ii) 37.5 percent for 50 percent in paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this
section.
(4) Treatment under section 4940. For purposes of section
4940(c)(3)(A), a deduction under section 250(a) is not treated as an
ordinary and necessary expense paid or incurred for the production or
collection of gross investment income.
(c) Definitions. The following definitions apply for purposes of
this section.
(1) Domestic corporation. The term domestic corporation has the
meaning set forth in section 7701(a), but does not include a regulated
investment company (as defined in section 851), a real estate
investment trust (as defined in section 856), or an S corporation (as
defined in section 1361).
(2) Foreign-derived intangible income (FDII). The term foreign-
derived intangible income or FDII has the meaning set forth in Sec.
1.250(b)-1(b).
(3) Global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI). The term global
intangible low-taxed income or GILTI means, with respect to a domestic
corporation for a taxable year, the corporation's GILTI inclusion
amount under Sec. 1.951A-1(c) for the taxable year.
(4) Section 250(a)(2) amount. The term section 250(a)(2) amount
means, with respect to a domestic corporation for a taxable year, the
excess (if any) of the sum of the corporation's FDII and GILTI
(determined without regard to section 250(a)(2) and paragraph (b)(2) of
this section), over the corporation's taxable income. For a corporation
that is subject to the unrelated business income tax under section 511,
taxable income is determined only by reference to that corporation's
unrelated business taxable income defined under section 512.
(5) Taxable income--(i) In general. The term taxable income has the
meaning set forth in section 63(a) determined without regard to the
deduction allowed under section 250 and this section.
(ii) [Reserved]
(d) Reporting requirement. Each domestic corporation (or individual
making an election under section 962) that claims a deduction under
section 250 for a taxable year must make an annual return on Form 8993,
``Section 250 Deduction for Foreign-Derived Intangible Income (FDII)
and Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income (GILTI)'' (or any successor
form) for such year, setting forth the information, in such form and
manner, as Form 8993 (or any successor form) or its instructions
prescribe. Returns on Form 8993 (or any successor form) for a taxable
year must be filed with the domestic corporation's (or in the case of a
section 962 election, the individual's) income tax return on or before
the due date (taking into account extensions) for filing the
corporation's (or in the case of a section 962 election, the
individual's) income tax return.
(e) Determination of deduction for consolidated groups. A member of
a consolidated group (as defined in Sec. 1.1502-1(h)) determines its
deduction under section 250(a) and this section under the rules
provided in Sec. 1.1502-50(b).
(f) Example: Application of the taxable income limitation. The
following example illustrates the application of this section. For
purposes of the example, it is assumed that DC is a domestic
corporation that is not a member of a consolidated group and the
taxable year of DC begins after 2017 and before 2026.
(1) Facts. For the taxable year, without regard to section
250(a)(2) and paragraph (b)(2) of this section, DC has FDII of $100x
and GILTI of $300x. DC's taxable income (without regard to section
250(a) and this section) is $300x.
(2) Analysis. DC has a section 250(a)(2) amount of $100x, which
is equal to the excess of the sum of DC's FDII and GILTI of $400x
($100x + $300x) over its taxable income of $300x. As a result, DC's
FDII and GILTI are reduced, in the aggregate, by $100x under section
250(a)(2) and paragraph (b)(2) of this section for purposes of
calculating DC's deduction allowed under section 250(a)(1) and
paragraph (b)(1) of this section. DC's FDII is reduced by $25x, the
amount that bears the same ratio to the section 250(a)(2) amount
($100x) as DC's FDII ($100x) bears to the sum of DC's FDII and GILTI
($400x). DC's GILTI is reduced by $75x, which is the remainder of
the section 250(a)(2) amount ($100x-$25x). Therefore, for purposes
of calculating its deduction under section 250(a)(1) and paragraph
(b)(1) of this section, DC's FDII is $75x ($100x-$25x) and its GILTI
is $225x ($300x-$75x). Accordingly, DC is allowed a deduction for
the taxable year under section 250(a)(1) and paragraph (b)(1) of
this section of $140.63x ($75x x 0.375 + $225x x 0.50).
Sec. 1.250(b)-1 Computation of foreign-derived intangible income
(FDII).
(a) Scope. This section provides rules for computing FDII.
Paragraph (b) of this section defines FDII. Paragraph (c) of this
section provides definitions that are relevant for computing FDII.
Paragraph (d) of this section provides rules for computing gross income
and allocating and apportioning deductions for purposes of computing
deduction eligible income (DEI) and foreign-derived deduction eligible
income (FDDEI). Paragraph (e) of this section provides rules for
computing the DEI and FDDEI of a domestic corporate partner. Paragraph
(f) of this section provides a rule for computing the FDII of a member
of a consolidated group. Paragraph (g) of this section provides a rule
for computing the FDII of a tax-exempt corporation.
(b) Definition of FDII. Subject to the provisions of this section,
the term FDII means, with respect to a domestic corporation for a
taxable year, the corporation's deemed intangible income for the year
multiplied by the
[[Page 43083]]
corporation's foreign-derived ratio for the year.
(c) Definitions. This paragraph (c) provides definitions that apply
for purposes of this section and Sec. Sec. 1.250(b)-2 through
1.250(b)-6.
(1) Controlled foreign corporation. The term controlled foreign
corporation has the meaning set forth in section 957(a) and Sec.
1.957-1(a).
(2) Deduction eligible income. The term deduction eligible income
or DEI means, with respect to a domestic corporation for a taxable
year, the excess (if any) of the corporation's gross DEI for the year
over the deductions properly allocable to gross DEI for the year, as
determined under paragraph (d)(2) of this section.
(3) Deemed intangible income. The term deemed intangible income
means, with respect to a domestic corporation for a taxable year, the
excess (if any) of the corporation's DEI for the year over the
corporation's deemed tangible income return for the year.
(4) Deemed tangible income return. The term deemed tangible income
return means, with respect to a domestic corporation and a taxable
year, 10 percent of the corporation's qualified business asset
investment for the year.
(5) Dividend. The term dividend has the meaning set forth in
section 316, and includes any amount treated as a dividend under any
other provision of subtitle A of the Internal Revenue Code or the
regulations in this part (for example, under section 78, 356(a)(2),
367(b), or 1248).
(6) Domestic corporation. The term domestic corporation has the
meaning set forth in Sec. 1.250(a)-1(c)(1).
(7) Domestic oil and gas extraction income. The term domestic oil
and gas extraction income means income described in section 907(c)(1),
substituting ``within the United States'' for ``without the United
States.''
(8) FDDEI sale. The term FDDEI sale has the meaning set forth in
Sec. 1.250(b)-4(b).
(9) FDDEI service. The term FDDEI service has the meaning set forth
in Sec. 1.250(b)-5(b).
(10) FDDEI transaction. The term FDDEI transaction means a FDDEI
sale or a FDDEI service.
(11) Foreign branch income. The term foreign branch income has the
meaning set forth in section 904(d)(2)(J) and Sec. 1.904-4(f)(2).
(12) Foreign-derived deduction eligible income. The term foreign-
derived deduction eligible income or FDDEI means, with respect to a
domestic corporation for a taxable year, the excess (if any) of the
corporation's gross FDDEI for the year, over the deductions properly
allocable to gross FDDEI for the year, as determined under paragraph
(d)(2) of this section.
(13) Foreign-derived ratio. The term foreign-derived ratio means,
with respect to a domestic corporation for a taxable year, the ratio
(not to exceed one) of the corporation's FDDEI for the year to the
corporation's DEI for the year. If a domestic corporation has no FDDEI
for a taxable year, the corporation's foreign-derived ratio is zero for
the taxable year.
(14) Gross RDEI. The term gross RDEI means, with respect to a
domestic corporation or a partnership for a taxable year, the portion
of the corporation or partnership's gross DEI for the year that is not
included in gross FDDEI.
(15) Gross DEI. The term gross DEI means, with respect to a
domestic corporation or a partnership for a taxable year, the gross
income of the corporation or partnership for the year determined
without regard to the following items of gross income--
(i) Amounts included in gross income under section 951(a)(1);
(ii) GILTI (as defined in Sec. 1.250(a)-1(c)(3));
(iii) Financial services income (as defined in section 904(d)(2)(D)
and Sec. 1.904-4(e)(1)(ii));
(iv) Dividends received from a controlled foreign corporation with
respect to which the corporation or partnership is a United States
shareholder;
(v) Domestic oil and gas extraction income; and
(vi) Foreign branch income.
(16) Gross FDDEI. The term gross FDDEI means, with respect to a
domestic corporation or a partnership for a taxable year, the portion
of the gross DEI of the corporation or partnership for the year which
is derived from all of its FDDEI transactions.
(17) Modified affiliated group--(i) In general. The term modified
affiliated group means an affiliated group as defined in section
1504(a) determined by substituting ``more than 50 percent'' for ``at
least 80 percent'' each place it appears, and without regard to section
1504(b)(2) and (3).
(ii) Special rule for noncorporate entities. Any person (other than
a corporation) that is controlled by one or more members of a modified
affiliated group (including one or more persons treated as a member or
members of a modified affiliated group by reason of this paragraph
(c)(17)(ii)) or that controls any such member is treated as a member of
the modified affiliated group.
(iii) Definition of control. For purposes of paragraph (c)(17)(ii)
of this section, the term control has the meaning set forth in section
954(d)(3).
(18) Qualified business asset investment. The term qualified
business asset investment or QBAI has the meaning set forth in Sec.
1.250(b)-2(b).
(19) Related party. The term related party means, with respect to
any person, any member of a modified affiliated group that includes
such person.
(20) United States shareholder. The term United States shareholder
has the meaning set forth in section 951(b) and Sec. 1.951-1(g).
(d) Treatment of cost of goods sold and allocation and
apportionment of deductions--(1) Cost of goods sold for determining
gross DEI and gross FDDEI. For purposes of determining the gross income
included in gross DEI and gross FDDEI of a domestic corporation or a
partnership, the cost of goods sold of the corporation or partnership
is attributed to gross receipts with respect to gross DEI or gross
FDDEI under any reasonable method that is applied consistently. Cost of
goods sold must be attributed to gross receipts with respect to gross
DEI or gross FDDEI regardless of whether certain costs included in cost
of goods sold can be associated with activities undertaken in an
earlier taxable year (including a year before the effective date of
section 250). A domestic corporation or partnership may not segregate
cost of goods sold with respect to a particular product into component
costs and attribute those component costs disproportionately to gross
receipts with respect to amounts excluded from gross DEI or gross
FDDEI, as applicable.
(2) Deductions properly allocable to gross DEI and gross FDDEI--(i)
In general. For purposes of determining a domestic corporation's
deductions that are properly allocable to gross DEI and gross FDDEI,
the corporation's deductions are allocated and apportioned to gross DEI
and gross FDDEI under the rules of Sec. Sec. 1.861-8 through 1.861-14T
and 1.861-17 by treating section 250(b) as an operative section
described in Sec. 1.861-8(f). In allocating and apportioning
deductions under Sec. Sec. 1.861-8 through 1.861-14T and 1.861-17,
gross FDDEI and gross RDEI are treated as separate statutory groupings.
The deductions allocated and apportioned to gross DEI equal the sum of
the deductions allocated and apportioned to gross FDDEI and gross RDEI.
All items of gross income described in paragraphs (c)(15)(i) through
(vi) of this section are in the residual grouping.
[[Page 43084]]
(ii) Determination of deductions to allocate. For purposes of
determining the deductions of a domestic corporation for a taxable year
properly allocable to gross DEI and gross FDDEI, the deductions of the
corporation for the taxable year are determined without regard to
sections 163(j), 170(b)(2), 172, 246(b), and 250.
(3) Examples. The following examples illustrate the application of
this paragraph (d).
(i) Assumed facts. The following facts are assumed for purposes of
the examples--
(A) DC is a domestic corporation that is not a member of a
consolidated group.
(B) All sales and services are provided to persons that are not
related parties.
(C) All sales and services to foreign persons qualify as FDDEI
transactions.
(ii) Examples--
(A) Example 1: Allocation of deductions--(1) Facts. For a
taxable year, DC manufactures products A and B in the United States.
DC sells products A and B and provides services associated with
products A and B to United States and foreign persons. DC's QBAI for
the taxable year is $1,000x. DC has $300x of deductible interest
expense allowed under section 163. DC has assets with a tax book
value of $2,500x. The tax book value of DC's assets used to produce
products A and B and services is split evenly between assets that
produce gross FDDEI and assets that produce gross RDEI. DC has $840x
of supportive deductions, as defined in Sec. 1.861-8(b)(3),
attributable to general and administrative expenses incurred for the
purpose of generating the class of gross income that consists of
gross DEI. DC apportions the $840x of deductions on the basis of
gross income in accordance with Sec. 1.861-8T(c)(1). For purposes
of determining gross FDDEI and gross DEI under paragraph (d)(1) of
this section, DC attributes $200x of cost of goods sold to Product A
and $400x of cost of goods sold to Product B, and then attributes
the cost of goods sold for each product ratably between the gross
receipts of such product sold to foreign persons and the gross
receipts of such product sold to United States persons. The manner
in which DC attributes the cost of goods sold is a reasonable
method. DC has no other items of income, loss, or deduction. For the
taxable year, DC has the following income tax items relevant to the
determination of its FDII:
Table 1 to Paragraph (d)(3)(ii)(A)(1)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product A Product B Services Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross receipts from U.S. persons................ $200x $800x $100x $1,100x
Gross receipts from foreign persons............. 200x 800x 100x 1,100x
Total gross receipts............................ 400x 1,600x 200x 2,200x
Cost of goods sold for gross receipts from U.S. 100x 200x 0 300x
persons........................................
Cost of goods sold for gross receipts from 100x 200x 0 300x
foreign persons................................
Total cost of goods sold........................ 200x 400x 0 600x
Gross income.................................... 200x 1,200x 200x 1,600x
Tax book value of assets used to produce 500x 500x 1,500x 2,500x
products/services..............................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(2) Analysis--(i) Determination of gross FDDEI and gross RDEI.
Because DC does not have any income described in section
250(b)(3)(A)(i)(I) through (VI) and paragraphs (c)(15)(i) through
(vi) of this section, none of its gross income is excluded from
gross DEI. DC's gross DEI is $1,600x ($2,200x total gross receipts
less $600x total cost of goods sold). DC's gross FDDEI is $800x
($1,100x of gross receipts from foreign persons minus attributable
cost of goods sold of $300x).
(ii) Determination of foreign-derived deduction eligible income.
To calculate its FDDEI, DC must determine the amount of its
deductions that are allocated and apportioned to gross FDDEI and
then subtract those amounts from gross FDDEI. DC's interest
deduction of $300x is allocated and apportioned to gross FDDEI on
the basis of the average total value of DC's assets in each
grouping. DC has assets with a tax book value of $2,500x split
evenly between assets that produce gross FDDEI and assets that
produce gross RDEI. Accordingly, an interest expense deduction of
$150x is apportioned to DC's gross FDDEI. With respect to DC's
supportive deductions of $840x that are related to DC's gross DEI,
DC apportions such deductions between gross FDDEI and gross RDEI on
the basis of gross income. Accordingly, supportive deductions of
$420x are apportioned to DC's gross FDDEI. Thus, DC's FDDEI is
$230x, which is equal to its gross FDDEI of $800x less $150x of
interest expense deduction and $420x of supportive deductions.
(iii) Determination of deemed intangible income. DC's deemed
tangible income return is $100x, which is equal to 10 percent of its
QBAI of $1,000x. DC's DEI is $460x, which is equal to its gross DEI
of $1,600x less $300x of interest expense deductions and $840x of
supportive deductions. Therefore, DC's deemed intangible income is
$360x, which is equal to the excess of its DEI of $460x over its
deemed tangible income return of $100x.
(iv) Determination of foreign-derived intangible income. DC's
foreign-derived ratio is 50 percent, which is the ratio of DC's
FDDEI of $230x to DC's DEI of $460x. Therefore, DC's FDII is $180x,
which is equal to DC's deemed intangible income of $360x multiplied
by its foreign-derived ratio of 50 percent.
(B) Example 2: Allocation of deductions with respect to a
partnership--(1) Facts--(i) DC's operations. DC is engaged in the
production and sale of products consisting of two separate product
groups in three-digit Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)
Industry Groups, hereafter referred to as Group AAA and Group BBB.
All of the gross income of DC is included in gross DEI. DC incurs
$250x of research and experimental (R&E) expenditures in the United
States that are deductible under section 174. None of the R&E is
included in cost of goods sold. For purposes of determining gross
FDDEI and gross DEI under paragraph (d)(1) of this section, DC
attributes $210x of cost of goods sold to Group AAA products and
$900x of cost of goods sold to Group BBB products, and then
attributes the cost of goods sold with respect to each such product
group ratably between the gross receipts with respect to such
product group sold to foreign persons and the gross receipts with
respect to such product group not sold to foreign persons. The
manner in which DC attributes the cost of goods sold is a reasonable
method. For the taxable year, DC has the following income tax items
relevant to the determination of its FDII:
Table 2 to (d)(3)(ii)(B)(1)(i)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Group AAA Group BBB
products products Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross receipts from U.S. persons................................ $200x $800x $1,000x
Gross receipts from foreign persons............................. 100x 400x 500x
Total gross receipts............................................ 300x 1,200x 1,500x
Cost of goods sold for gross receipts from U.S. persons......... 140x 600x 740x
Cost of goods sold for gross receipts from foreign persons...... 70x 300x 370x
Total cost of goods sold........................................ 210x 900x 1,110x
[[Page 43085]]
Gross income.................................................... 90x 300x 390x
R&E deductions.................................................. 40x 210x 250x
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(ii) PRS's operations. In addition to its own operations, DC is
a partner in PRS, a partnership that also produces products
described in SIC Group AAA. DC is allocated 50 percent of all
income, gain, loss, and deductions of PRS. During the taxable year,
PRS sells Group AAA products solely to foreign persons, and all of
its gross income is included in gross DEI. PRS has $400 of gross
receipts from sales of Group AAA products for the taxable year and
incurs $100x of research and experimental (R&E) expenditures in the
United States that are deductible under section 174. None of the R&E
is included in cost of goods sold. For purposes of determining gross
FDDEI and gross DEI under paragraph (d)(1) of this section, PRS
attributes $200x of cost of goods sold to Group AAA products, and
then attributes the cost of goods sold with respect to such product
group ratably between the gross receipts with respect to such
product group sold to foreign persons and the gross receipts with
respect to such product group not sold to foreign persons. The
manner in which PRS attributes the cost of goods sold is a
reasonable method. DC's distributive share of PRS taxable items is
$100x of gross income and $50x of R&E deductions, and DC's share of
PRS's gross receipts from sales of Group AAA products for the
taxable year is $200x under Sec. 1.861-17(f)(3).
(iii) Application of the sales method to allocate and apportion
R&E. DC applies the sales method to apportion its R&E deductions
under Sec. 1.861-17. Neither DC nor PRS licenses or sells its
intangible property to controlled or uncontrolled corporations in a
manner that necessitates including the sales by such corporations
for purposes of apportioning DC's R&E deductions.
(2) Analysis--(i) Determination of gross DEI and gross FDDEI.
Under paragraph (e)(1) of this section, DC's gross DEI, gross FDDEI,
and deductions allocable to those amounts include its distributive
share of gross DEI, gross FDDEI, and deductions of PRS. Thus, DC's
gross DEI for the year is $490x ($390x attributable to DC and $100x
attributable to DC's interest in PRS). DC's gross income from sales
of Group AAA products to foreign persons is $30x ($100x of gross
receipts minus attributable cost of goods sold of $70x). DC's gross
income from sales of Group BBB products to foreign persons is $100x
($400x of gross receipts minus attributable cost of goods sold of
$300x). DC's gross FDDEI for the year is $230x ($30x from DC's sale
of Group AAA products plus $100x from DC's sale of Group BBB
products plus DC's distributive share of PRS's gross FDDEI of
$100x).
(ii) Allocation and apportionment of R&E deductions. To
determine FDDEI, DC must allocate and apportion its R&E expense of
$300x ($250x incurred directly by DC and $50x incurred indirectly
through DC's interest in PRS). In accordance with Sec. 1.861-17,
R&E expenses are first allocated to a class of gross income related
to a three-digit SIC group code. DC's R&E expenses related to
products in Group AAA are $90x ($40x incurred directly by DC and
$50x incurred indirectly through DC's interest in PRS) and its
expenses related to Group BBB are $210x. See paragraph (d)(2)(i) of
this section. Accordingly, all R&E expense attributable to a
particular SIC group code is apportioned on the basis of the amounts
of sales within that SIC group code. Total sales within Group AAA
were $500x ($300x directly by DC and $200x attributable to DC's
interest in PRS), $300x of which were made to foreign persons ($100x
directly by DC and $200x attributable to DC's interest in PRS).
Therefore, the $90x of R&E expense related to Group AAA is
apportioned $54x to gross FDDEI ($90x x $300x/$500x) and $36x to
gross RDEI ($90x x $200x/$500x). Total sales within Group BBB were
$1,200x, $400x of which were made to foreign persons. Therefore, the
$210x of R&E expense related to products in Group BBB is apportioned
$70x to gross FDDEI ($210x x $400x/$1,200x) and $140x to gross RDEI
($210x x $800x/$1,200x). Accordingly, DC's FDDEI for the tax year is
$106x ($230x gross FDDEI minus $124x of R&E ($54x + $70x) allocated
and apportioned to gross FDDEI).
(e) Domestic corporate partners--(1) In general. A domestic
corporation's DEI and FDDEI for a taxable year are determined by taking
into account the corporation's share of gross DEI, gross FDDEI, and
deductions of any partnership (whether domestic or foreign) in which
the corporation is a direct or indirect partner. For purposes of the
preceding sentence, a domestic corporation's share of each such item of
a partnership is determined in accordance with the corporation's
distributive share of the underlying items of income, gain, deduction,
and loss of the partnership that comprise such amounts. See Sec.
1.250(b)-2(g) for rules on calculating the increase to a domestic
corporation's QBAI by the corporation's share of partnership QBAI.
(2) Reporting requirement for partnership with domestic corporate
partners. A partnership that has one or more direct partners that are
domestic corporations and that is required to file a return under
section 6031 must furnish to each such partner on or with such
partner's Schedule K-1 (Form 1065 or any successor form) by the due
date (including extensions) for furnishing Schedule K-1 the partner's
share of the partnership's gross DEI, gross FDDEI, deductions that are
properly allocable to the partnership's gross DEI and gross FDDEI, and
partnership QBAI (as determined under Sec. 1.250(b)-2(g)) for each
taxable year in which the partnership has gross DEI, gross FDDEI,
deductions that are properly allocable to the partnership's gross DEI
or gross FDDEI, or partnership specified tangible property (as defined
in Sec. 1.250(b)-2(g)(5)). In the case of tiered partnerships where
one or more partners of an upper-tier partnership are domestic
corporations, a lower-tier partnership must report the amount specified
in this paragraph (e)(2) to the upper-tier partnership to allow
reporting of such information to any partner that is a domestic
corporation. To the extent that a partnership cannot determine the
information described in the first sentence of this paragraph (e)(2),
the partnership must instead furnish to each partner its share of the
partnership's attributes that a partner needs to determine the
partner's gross DEI, gross FDDEI, deductions that are properly
allocable to the partner's gross DEI and gross FDDEI, and the partner's
adjusted bases in partnership specified tangible property.
(3) Examples. The following examples illustrate the application of
this paragraph (e).
(i) Assumed facts. The following facts are assumed for purposes of
the examples--
(A) DC, a domestic corporation, is a partner in PRS, a partnership.
(B) FP and FP2 are foreign persons.
(C) FC is a foreign corporation.
(D) The allocations under PRS's partnership agreement satisfy the
requirements of section 704.
(E) No partner of PRS is a related party of DC.
(F) DC, PRS, and FC all use the calendar year as their taxable
year.
(G) PRS has no items of income, loss, or deduction for its taxable
year, except the items of income described.
(ii) Examples--
(A) Example 1: Sale by partnership to foreign person--(1) Facts.
Under the terms of the partnership agreement, DC is allocated 50
percent of all income, gain, loss, and deductions of PRS. For the
taxable year, PRS recognizes $20x of gross income on the sale of
general property (as defined in Sec. 1.250(b)-
[[Page 43086]]
3(b)(10)) to FP, a foreign person (as determined under Sec.
1.250(b)-4(c)), for a foreign use (as determined under Sec.
1.250(b)-4(d)). The gross income recognized on the sale of property
is not described in section 250(b)(3)(A)(I) through (VI) or
paragraphs (c)(15)(i) through (vi) of this section.
(2) Analysis. PRS's sale of property to FP is a FDDEI sale as
described in Sec. 1.250(b)-4(b). Therefore, the gross income
derived from the sale ($20x) is included in PRS's gross DEI and
gross FDDEI, and DC's share of PRS's gross DEI and gross FDDEI
($10x) is included in DC's gross DEI and gross FDDEI for the taxable
year.
(B) Example 2: Sale by partnership to foreign person
attributable to foreign branch--(1) Facts. The facts are the same as
in paragraph (e)(3)(ii)(A)(1) of this section (the facts in Example
1), except the income from the sale of property to FP is
attributable to a foreign branch of PRS.
(2) Analysis. PRS's sale of property to FP is excluded from
PRS's gross DEI under section 250(b)(3)(A)(VI) and paragraph
(c)(15)(vi) of this section. Accordingly, DC's share of PRS's gross
income of $10x from the sale is not included in DC's gross DEI or
gross FDDEI for the taxable year.
(C) Example 3: Partnership with a loss in gross FDDEI--(1)
Facts. The facts are the same as in paragraph (e)(3)(ii)(A)(1) of
this section (the facts in Example 1), except that in the same
taxable year, PRS also sells property to FP2, a foreign person (as
determined under Sec. 1.250(b)-4(c)), for a foreign use (as
determined under Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)). After taking into account
both sales, PRS has a gross loss of $30x.
(2) Analysis. Both the sale of property to FP and the sale of
property to FP2 are FDDEI sales because each sale is described in
Sec. 1.250(b)-4(b). DC's share of PRS's gross loss ($15x) from the
sales is included in DC's gross DEI and gross FDDEI.
(D) Example 4: Sale by partnership to foreign related party of
the partnership--(1) Facts. Under the terms of the partnership
agreement, DC has 25 percent of the capital and profits interest in
the partnership and is allocated 25 percent of all income, gain,
loss, and deductions of PRS. PRS owns 100 percent of the single
class of stock of FC. In the taxable year, PRS has $20x of gain on
the sale of general property (as defined in Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(10))
to FC, and FC makes a physical and material change to the property
within the meaning of Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(1)(iii)(B) outside the
United States before selling the property to customers in the United
States.
(2) Analysis. The sale of property by PRS to FC is described in
Sec. 1.250(b)-4(b) without regard to the application of Sec.
1.250(b)-6, since the sale is to a foreign person (as determined
under Sec. 1.250(b)-4(c)) for a foreign use (as determined under
Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)). However, FC is a foreign related party of PRS
within the meaning of section 250(b)(5)(D) and Sec. 1.250(b)-
3(b)(6), because FC and PRS are members of a modified affiliated
group within the meaning of paragraph (c)(17) of this section.
Therefore, the sale by PRS to FC is a related party sale within the
meaning of Sec. 1.250(b)-6(b)(1). Under section 250(b)(5)(C)(i) and
Sec. 1.250(b)-6(c), because FC did not sell the property, or use
the property in connection with other property sold or the provision
of a service, to a foreign unrelated party before the property was
subject to a domestic use, the sale by PRS to FC is not a FDDEI
sale. See Sec. 1.250(b)-6(c)(1). Accordingly, the gain from the
sale ($20x) is included in PRS's gross DEI but not its gross FDDEI,
and DC's share of PRS's gain ($5x) is included in DC's gross DEI but
not gross FDDEI. This is the result notwithstanding that FC is not a
related party of DC because FC and DC are not members of a modified
affiliated group within the meaning of paragraph (c)(17) of this
section.
(f) Determination of FDII for consolidated groups. A member of a
consolidated group (as defined in Sec. 1.1502-1(h)) determines its
FDII under the rules provided in Sec. 1.1502-50.
(g) Determination of FDII for tax-exempt corporations. The FDII of
a corporation that is subject to the unrelated business income tax
under section 511 is determined only by reference to that corporation's
items of income, gain, deduction, or loss, and adjusted bases in
property, that are taken into account in computing the corporation's
unrelated business taxable income (as defined in section 512). For
example, if a corporation that is subject to the unrelated business
income tax under section 511 has tangible property used in the
production of both unrelated business income and gross income that is
not unrelated business income, only the portion of the basis of such
property taken into account in computing the corporation's unrelated
business taxable income is taken into account in determining the
corporation's QBAI. Similarly, if a corporation that is subject to the
unrelated business income tax under section 511 has tangible property
that is used in both the production of gross DEI and the production of
gross income that is not gross DEI, only the corporation's unrelated
business income is taken into account in determining the corporation's
dual use ratio with respect to such property under Sec. 1.250(b)-
2(d)(3).
Sec. 1.250(b)-2 Qualified business asset investment (QBAI).
(a) Scope. This section provides general rules for determining the
qualified business asset investment of a domestic corporation for
purposes of determining its deemed tangible income return under Sec.
1.250(b)-1(c)(4). Paragraph (b) of this section defines qualified
business asset investment (QBAI). Paragraph (c) of this section defines
tangible property and specified tangible property. Paragraph (d) of
this section provides rules for determining the portion of property
that is specified tangible property when the property is used in the
production of both gross DEI and gross income that is not gross DEI.
Paragraph (e) of this section provides rules for determining the
adjusted basis of specified tangible property. Paragraph (f) of this
section provides rules for determining QBAI of a domestic corporation
with a short taxable year. Paragraph (g) of this section provides rules
for increasing the QBAI of a domestic corporation by reason of property
owned through a partnership. Paragraph (h) of this section provides an
anti-avoidance rule that disregards certain transfers when determining
the QBAI of a domestic corporation.
(b) Definition of qualified business asset investment. The term
qualified business asset investment (QBAI) means the average of a
domestic corporation's aggregate adjusted bases as of the close of each
quarter of the domestic corporation's taxable year in specified
tangible property that is used in a trade or business of the domestic
corporation and is of a type with respect to which a deduction is
allowable under section 167. In the case of partially depreciable
property, only the depreciable portion of the property is of a type
with respect to which a deduction is allowable under section 167.
(c) Specified tangible property--(1) In general. The term specified
tangible property means, with respect to a domestic corporation for a
taxable year, tangible property of the domestic corporation used in the
production of gross DEI for the taxable year. For purposes of the
preceding sentence, tangible property of a domestic corporation is used
in the production of gross DEI for a taxable year if some or all of the
depreciation or cost recovery allowance with respect to the tangible
property is either allocated and apportioned to the gross DEI of the
domestic corporation for the taxable year under Sec. 1.250(b)-1(d)(2)
or capitalized to inventory or other property held for sale, some or
all of the gross income or loss from the sale of which is taken into
account in determining DEI of the domestic corporation for the taxable
year.
(2) Tangible property. The term tangible property means property
for which the depreciation deduction provided by section 167(a) is
eligible to be determined under section 168 without regard to section
168(f)(1), (2), or (5), section 168(k)(2)(A)(i)(II), (IV), or (V), and
the date placed in service.
(d) Dual use property--(1) In general. The amount of the adjusted
basis in dual use property of a domestic corporation for a taxable year
that is treated as adjusted basis in specified tangible property for
the taxable year is
[[Page 43087]]
the average of the domestic corporation's adjusted basis in the
property multiplied by the dual use ratio with respect to the property
for the taxable year.
(2) Definition of dual use property. The term dual use property
means, with respect to a domestic corporation and a taxable year,
specified tangible property of the domestic corporation that is used in
both the production of gross DEI and the production of gross income
that is not gross DEI for the taxable year. For purposes of the
preceding sentence, specified tangible property of a domestic
corporation is used in the production of gross DEI and the production
of gross income that is not gross DEI for a taxable year if less than
all of the depreciation or cost recovery allowance with respect to the
property is either allocated and apportioned to the gross DEI of the
domestic corporation for the taxable year under Sec. 1.250(b)-1(d)(2)
or capitalized to inventory or other property held for sale, the gross
income or loss from the sale of which is taken into account in
determining the DEI of the domestic corporation for the taxable year.
(3) Dual use ratio. The term dual use ratio means, with respect to
dual use property, a domestic corporation, and a taxable year, a ratio
(expressed as a percentage) calculated as--
(i) The sum of--
(A) The depreciation deduction or cost recovery allowance with
respect to the property that is allocated and apportioned to the gross
DEI of the domestic corporation for the taxable year under Sec.
1.250(b)-1(d)(2); and
(B) The depreciation or cost recovery allowance with respect to the
property that is capitalized to inventory or other property held for
sale, the gross income or loss from the sale of which is taken into
account in determining the DEI of the domestic corporation for the
taxable year; divided by
(ii) The sum of--
(A) The total amount of the domestic corporation's depreciation
deduction or cost recovery allowance with respect to the property for
the taxable year; and
(B) The total amount of the domestic corporation's depreciation or
cost recovery allowance with respect to the property capitalized to
inventory or other property held for sale, the gross income or loss
from the sale of which is taken into account in determining the income
or loss of the domestic corporation for the taxable year.
(4) Example. The following example illustrates the application of
this paragraph (d).
(i) Facts. DC, a domestic corporation, owns a machine that
produces both gross DEI and income that is not gross DEI. The
average adjusted basis of the machine for the taxable year in the
hands of DC is $4,000x. The depreciation with respect to the machine
for the taxable year is $400x, $320x of which is capitalized to
inventory of Product A, gross income or loss from the sale of which
is taken into account in determining DC's gross DEI for the taxable
year, and $80x of which is capitalized to inventory of Product B,
gross income or loss from the sale of which is not taken into
account in determining DC's gross DEI for the taxable year. DC also
owns an office building for its administrative functions with an
average adjusted basis for the taxable year of $10,000x. DC does not
capitalize depreciation with respect to the office building to
inventory or other property held for sale. DC's depreciation
deduction with respect to the office building is $1,000x for the
taxable year, $750x of which is allocated and apportioned to gross
DEI under Sec. 1.250(b)-1(d)(2), and $250x of which is allocated
and apportioned to income other than gross DEI under Sec. 1.250(b)-
1(d)(2).
(ii) Analysis--(A) Dual use property. The machine and office
building are property for which the depreciation deduction provided
by section 167(a) is eligible to be determined under section 168
(without regard to section 168(f)(1), (2), or (5), section
168(k)(2)(A)(i)(II), (IV), or (V), and the date placed in service).
Therefore, under paragraph (c)(2) of this section, the machine and
office building are tangible property. Furthermore, because the
machine and office building are used in the production of gross DEI
for the taxable year within the meaning of paragraph (c)(1) of this
section, the machine and office building are specified tangible
property. Finally, because the machine and office building are used
in both the production of gross DEI and the production of gross
income that is not gross DEI for the taxable year within the meaning
of paragraph (d)(2) of this section, the machine and office building
are dual use property. Therefore, under paragraph (d)(1) of this
section, the amount of DC's adjusted basis in the machine and office
building that is treated as adjusted basis in specified tangible
property for the taxable year is determined by multiplying DC's
adjusted basis in the machine and office building by DC's dual use
ratio with respect to the machine and office building determined
under paragraph (d)(3) of this section.
(B) Depreciation not capitalized to inventory. Because none of
the depreciation with respect to the office building is capitalized
to inventory or other property held for sale, DC's dual use ratio
with respect to the office building is determined entirely by
reference to the depreciation deduction with respect to the office
building. Therefore, under paragraph (d)(3) of this section, DC's
dual use ratio with respect to the office building for Year 1 is 75
percent, which is DC's depreciation deduction with respect to the
office building that is allocated and apportioned to gross DEI under
Sec. 1.250(b)-1(d)(2) for Year 1 ($750x), divided by the total
amount of DC's depreciation deduction with respect to the office
building for Year 1 ($1000x). Accordingly, under paragraph (d)(1) of
this section, $7,500x ($10,000x x 0.75) of DC's average adjusted
bases in the office building is taken into account under paragraph
(b) of this section in determining DC's QBAI for the taxable year.
(C) Depreciation capitalized to inventory. Because all of the
depreciation with respect to the machine is capitalized to
inventory, DC's dual use ratio with respect to the machine is
determined entirely by reference to the depreciation with respect to
the machine that is capitalized to inventory and included in cost of
goods sold. Therefore, under paragraph (d)(3) of this section, DC's
dual use ratio with respect to the machine for the taxable year is
80 percent, which is DC's depreciation with respect to the machine
that is capitalized to inventory of Product A, the gross income or
loss from the sale of which is taken into account in determining in
DC's DEI for the taxable year ($320x), divided by DC's depreciation
with respect to the machine that is capitalized to inventory, the
gross income or loss from the sale of which is taken into account in
determining DC's income for Year 1 ($400x). Accordingly, under
paragraph (d)(1) of this section, $3,200x ($4,000x x 0.8) of DC's
average adjusted basis in the machine is taken into account under
paragraph (b) of this section in determining DC's QBAI for the
taxable year.
(e) Determination of adjusted basis of specified tangible
property--(1) In general. The adjusted basis in specified tangible
property for purposes of this section is determined by using the cost
capitalization methods of accounting used by the domestic corporation
for purposes of determining the gross income and deductions of the
domestic corporation and the alternative depreciation system under
section 168(g), and by allocating the depreciation deduction with
respect to such property for the domestic corporation's taxable year
ratably to each day during the period in the taxable year to which such
depreciation relates. For purposes of the preceding sentence, the
period in the taxable year to which such depreciation relates is
determined without regard to the applicable convention under section
168(d).
(2) Effect of change in law. The adjusted basis in specified
tangible property is determined without regard to any provision of law
enacted after December 22, 2017, unless such later enacted law
specifically and directly amends the definition of QBAI under section
250 or section 951A.
(3) Specified tangible property placed in service before enactment
of section 250. The adjusted basis in specified tangible property
placed in service before December 22, 2017, is determined using the
alternative depreciation system under section 168(g), as if this system
had applied from the date that the property was placed in service.
[[Page 43088]]
(f) Special rules for short taxable years--(1) In general. In the
case of a domestic corporation that has a taxable year that is less
than twelve months (a short taxable year), the rules for determining
the QBAI of the domestic corporation under this section are modified as
provided in paragraphs (f)(2) and (3) of this section with respect to
the taxable year.
(2) Determination of when the quarter closes. For purposes of
determining when the quarter closes, in determining the QBAI of a
domestic corporation for a short taxable year, the quarters of the
domestic corporation for purposes of this section are the full quarters
beginning and ending within the short taxable year (if any),
determining quarter length as if the domestic corporation did not have
a short taxable year, plus one or more short quarters (if any).
(3) Reduction of qualified business asset investment. The QBAI of a
domestic corporation for a short taxable year is the sum of--
(i) The sum of the domestic corporation's aggregate adjusted bases
in specified tangible property as of the close of each full quarter (if
any) in the domestic corporation's taxable year divided by four; plus
(ii) The domestic corporation's aggregate adjusted bases in
specified tangible property as of the close of each short quarter (if
any) in the domestic corporation's taxable year multiplied by the sum
of the number of days in each short quarter divided by 365.
(4) Example. The following example illustrates the application of
this paragraph (f).
(i) Facts. A, an individual, owns all of the stock of DC, a
domestic corporation. A owns DC from the beginning of the taxable
year. On July 15 of the taxable year, A sells DC to USP, a domestic
corporation that is unrelated to A. DC becomes a member of the
consolidated group of which USP is the common parent and as a
result, under Sec. 1.1502-76(b)(2)(ii), DC's taxable year is
treated as ending on July 15. USP and DC both use the calendar year
as their taxable year. DC's aggregate adjusted bases in specified
tangible property for the taxable year are $250x as of March 31,
$300x as of June 30, $275x as of July 15, $500x as of September 30,
and $450x as of December 31.
(ii) Analysis--(A) Determination of short taxable years and
quarters. DC has two short taxable years during the year. The first
short taxable year is from January 1 to July 15, with two full
quarters (January 1 through March 31 and April 1 through June 30)
and one short quarter (July 1 through July 15). The second taxable
year is from July 16 to December 31, with one short quarter (July 16
through September 30) and one full quarter (October 1 through
December 31).
(B) Calculation of qualified business asset investment for the
first short taxable year. Under paragraph (f)(2) of this section,
for the first short taxable year, DC has three quarter closes (March
31, June 30, and July 15). Under paragraph (f)(3) of this section,
the QBAI of DC for the first short taxable year is $148.80x, the sum
of $137.50x (($250x + $300x)/4) attributable to the two full
quarters and $11.30x ($275x x 15/365) attributable to the short
quarter.
(C) Calculation of qualified business asset investment for the
second short taxable year. Under paragraph (f)(2) of this section,
for the second short taxable year, DC has two quarter closes
(September 30 and December 31). Under paragraph (f)(3) of this
section, the QBAI of DC for the second short taxable year is
$217.98x, the sum of $112.50x ($450x/4) attributable to the one full
quarter and $105.48x ($500x x 77/365) attributable to the short
quarter.
(g) Partnership property--(1) In general. If a domestic corporation
holds an interest in one or more partnerships during a taxable year
(including indirectly through one or more partnerships that are
partners in a lower-tier partnership), the QBAI of the domestic
corporation for the taxable year (determined without regard to this
paragraph (g)(1)) is increased by the sum of the domestic corporation's
partnership QBAI with respect to each partnership for the taxable year.
(2) Determination of partnership QBAI. For purposes of paragraph
(g)(1) of this section, the term partnership QBAI means, with respect
to a partnership, a domestic corporation, and a taxable year, the sum
of the domestic corporation's partner adjusted basis in each
partnership specified tangible property of the partnership for each
partnership taxable year that ends with or within the taxable year. If
a partnership taxable year is less than twelve months, the principles
of paragraph (f) of this section apply in determining a domestic
corporation's partnership QBAI with respect to the partnership.
(3) Determination of partner adjusted basis--(i) In general. For
purposes of paragraph (g)(2) of this section, the term partner adjusted
basis means the amount described in paragraph (g)(3)(ii) of this
section with respect to sole use partnership property or paragraph
(g)(3)(iii) of this section with respect to dual use partnership
property. The principles of section 706(d) apply to this determination.
(ii) Sole use partnership property--(A) In general. The amount
described in this paragraph (g)(3)(ii), with respect to sole use
partnership property, a partnership taxable year, and a domestic
corporation, is the sum of the domestic corporation's proportionate
share of the partnership adjusted basis in the sole use partnership
property for the partnership taxable year and the domestic
corporation's partner-specific QBAI basis in the sole use partnership
property for the partnership taxable year.
(B) Definition of sole use partnership property. The term sole use
partnership property means, with respect to a partnership, a
partnership taxable year, and a domestic corporation, partnership
specified tangible property of the partnership that is used in the
production of only gross DEI of the domestic corporation for the
taxable year in which or with which the partnership taxable year ends.
For purposes of the preceding sentence, partnership specified tangible
property of a partnership is used in the production of only gross DEI
for a taxable year if all the domestic corporation's distributive share
of the partnership's depreciation deduction or cost recovery allowance
with respect to the property (if any) for the partnership taxable year
that ends with or within the taxable year is allocated and apportioned
to the domestic corporation's gross DEI for the taxable year under
Sec. 1.250(b)-1(d)(2) and, if any of the partnership's depreciation or
cost recovery allowance with respect to the property is capitalized to
inventory or other property held for sale, all the domestic
corporation's distributive share of the partnership's gross income or
loss from the sale of such inventory or other property for the
partnership taxable year that ends with or within the taxable year is
taken into account in determining the DEI of the domestic corporation
for the taxable year.
(iii) Dual use partnership property--(A) In general. The amount
described in this paragraph (g)(3)(iii), with respect to dual use
partnership property, a partnership taxable year, and a domestic
corporation, is the sum of the domestic corporation's proportionate
share of the partnership adjusted basis in the property for the
partnership taxable year and the domestic corporation's partner-
specific QBAI basis in the property for the partnership taxable year,
multiplied by the domestic corporation's dual use ratio with respect to
the property for the partnership taxable year determined under the
principles of paragraph (d)(3) of this section, except that the ratio
described in paragraph (d)(3) of this section is determined by
reference to the domestic corporation's distributive share of the
amounts described in paragraph (d)(3) of this section.
(B) Definition of dual use partnership property. The term dual use
partnership property means partnership specified tangible property
other than sole use partnership property.
[[Page 43089]]
(4) Determination of proportionate share of the partnership's
adjusted basis in partnership specified tangible property--(i) In
general. For purposes of paragraph (g)(3) of this section, the domestic
corporation's proportionate share of the partnership adjusted basis in
partnership specified tangible property for a partnership taxable year
is the partnership adjusted basis in the property multiplied by the
domestic corporation's proportionate share ratio with respect to the
property for the partnership taxable year. Solely for purposes of
determining the proportionate share ratio under paragraph (g)(4)(ii) of
this section, the partnership's calculation of, and a partner's
distributive share of, any income, loss, depreciation, or cost recovery
allowance is determined under section 704(b).
(ii) Proportionate share ratio. The term proportionate share ratio
means, with respect to a partnership, a partnership taxable year, and a
domestic corporation, the ratio (expressed as a percentage) calculated
as--
(A) The sum of--
(1) The domestic corporation's distributive share of the
partnership's depreciation deduction or cost recovery allowance with
respect to the property for the partnership taxable year; and
(2) The amount of the partnership's depreciation or cost recovery
allowance with respect to the property that is capitalized to inventory
or other property held for sale, the gross income or loss from the sale
of which is taken into account in determining the domestic
corporation's distributive share of the partnership's income or loss
for the partnership taxable year; divided by
(B) The sum of--
(1) The total amount of the partnership's depreciation deduction or
cost recovery allowance with respect to the property for the
partnership taxable year; and
(2) The total amount of the partnership's depreciation or cost
recovery allowance with respect to the property capitalized to
inventory or other property held for sale, the gross income or loss
from the sale of which is taken into account in determining the
partnership's income or loss for the partnership taxable year.
(5) Definition of partnership specified tangible property. The term
partnership specified tangible property means, with respect to a
domestic corporation, tangible property (as defined in paragraph (c)(2)
of this section) of a partnership that is--
(i) Used in the trade or business of the partnership;
(ii) Of a type with respect to which a deduction is allowable under
section 167; and
(iii) Used in the production of gross income included in the
domestic corporation's gross DEI.
(6) Determination of partnership adjusted basis. For purposes of
this paragraph (g), the term partnership adjusted basis means, with
respect to a partnership, partnership specified tangible property, and
a partnership taxable year, the amount equal to the average of the
partnership's adjusted basis in the partnership specified tangible
property as of the close of each quarter in the partnership taxable
year determined without regard to any adjustments under section 734(b)
except for adjustments under section 734(b)(1)(B) or section
734(b)(2)(B) that are attributable to distributions of tangible
property (as defined in paragraph (c)(2) of this section) and for
adjustments under section 734(b)(1)(A) or 734(b)(2)(A). The principles
of paragraphs (e) and (h) of this section apply for purposes of
determining a partnership's adjusted basis in partnership specified
tangible property and the proportionate share of the partnership's
adjusted basis in partnership specified tangible property.
(7) Determination of partner-specific QBAI basis. For purposes of
this paragraph (g), the term partner-specific QBAI basis means, with
respect to a domestic corporation, a partnership, and partnership
specified tangible property, the amount that is equal to the average of
the basis adjustment under section 743(b) that is allocated to the
partnership specified tangible property of the partnership with respect
to the domestic corporation as of the close of each quarter in the
partnership taxable year. For this purpose, a negative basis adjustment
under section 743(b) is expressed as a negative number. The principles
of paragraphs (e) and (h) of this section apply for purposes of
determining the partner-specific QBAI basis with respect to partnership
specified tangible property.
(8) Examples. The following examples illustrate the rules of this
paragraph (g).
(i) Assumed facts. Except as otherwise stated, the following facts
are assumed for purposes of the examples:
(A) DC, DC1, DC2, and DC3 are domestic corporations.
(B) PRS is a partnership and its allocations satisfy the
requirements of section 704.
(C) All properties are partnership specified tangible property.
(D) All persons use the calendar year as their taxable year.
(E) There is no partner-specific QBAI basis with respect to any
property.
(ii) Example 1: Sole use partnership property--(A) Facts. DC is
a partner in PRS. PRS owns two properties, Asset A and Asset B. The
average of PRS's adjusted basis as of the close of each quarter of
PRS's taxable year in Asset A is $100x and in Asset B is $500x. In
Year 1, PRS's section 704(b) depreciation deduction is $10x with
respect to Asset A and $5x with respect to Asset B, and DC's section
704(b) distributive share of the depreciation deduction is $8x with
respect to Asset A and $1x with respect to Asset B. None of the
depreciation with respect to Asset A or Asset B is capitalized to
inventory or other property held for sale. DC's entire distributive
share of the depreciation deduction with respect to Asset A and
Asset B is allocated and apportioned to DC's gross DEI for Year 1
under Sec. 1.250(b)-1(d)(2).
(B) Analysis--(1) Sole use partnership property. Because all of
DC's distributive share of the depreciation deduction with respect
to Asset A and B is allocated and apportioned to gross DEI for Year
1, Asset A and Asset B are sole use partnership property within the
meaning of paragraph (g)(3)(ii)(B) of this section. Therefore, under
paragraph (g)(3)(ii)(A) of this section, DC's partner adjusted basis
in Asset A and Asset B is equal to the sum of DC's proportionate
share of PRS's partnership adjusted basis in Asset A and Asset B for
Year 1 and DC's partner-specific QBAI basis in Asset A and Asset B
for Year 1, respectively.
(2) Proportionate share. Under paragraph (g)(4)(i) of this
section, DC's proportionate share of PRS's partnership adjusted
basis in Asset A and Asset B is PRS's partnership adjusted basis in
Asset A and Asset B for Year 1, multiplied by DC's proportionate
share ratio with respect to Asset A and Asset B for Year 1,
respectively. Because none of the depreciation with respect to Asset
A or Asset B is capitalized to inventory or other property held for
sale, DC's proportionate share ratio with respect to Asset A and
Asset B is determined entirely by reference to the depreciation
deduction with respect to Asset A and Asset B. Therefore, DC's
proportionate share ratio with respect to Asset A for Year 1 is 80
percent, which is the ratio of DC's section 704(b) distributive
share of PRS's section 704(b) depreciation deduction with respect to
Asset A for Year 1 ($8x), divided by the total amount of PRS's
section 704(b) depreciation deduction with respect to Asset A for
Year 1 ($10x). DC's proportionate share ratio with respect to Asset
B for Year 1 is 20 percent, which is the ratio of DC's section
704(b) distributive share of PRS's section 704(b) depreciation
deduction with respect to Asset B for Year 1 ($1x), divided by the
total amount of PRS's section 704(b) depreciation deduction with
respect to Asset B for Year 1 ($5x). Accordingly, under paragraph
(g)(4)(i) of this section, DC's proportionate share of PRS's
partnership adjusted basis in Asset A is $80x ($100x x 0.8), and
DC's proportionate share of PRS's partnership adjusted basis in
Asset B is $100x ($500x x 0.2).
(3) Partner adjusted basis. Because DC has no partner-specific
QBAI basis with respect to Asset A and Asset B, DC's partner
adjusted basis in Asset A and Asset B is determined
[[Page 43090]]
entirely by reference to its proportionate share of PRS's
partnership adjusted basis in Asset A and Asset B. Therefore, under
paragraph (g)(3)(ii)(A) of this section, DC's partner adjusted basis
in Asset A is $80x, DC's proportionate share of PRS's partnership
adjusted basis in Asset A, and DC's partner adjusted basis in Asset
B is $100x, DC's proportionate share of PRS's partnership adjusted
basis in Asset B.
(4) Partnership QBAI. Under paragraph (g)(2) of this section,
DC's partnership QBAI with respect to PRS is $180x, the sum of DC's
partner adjusted basis in Asset A ($80x) and DC's partner adjusted
basis in Asset B ($100x). Accordingly, under paragraph (g)(1) of
this section, DC increases its QBAI for Year 1 by $180x.
(iii) Example 2: Dual use partnership property--(A) Facts. DC
owns a 50 percent interest in PRS. All section 704(b) and tax items
are identical and are allocated equally between DC and its other
partner. PRS owns three properties, Asset C, Asset D, and Asset E.
PRS sells two products, Product A and Product B. All of DC's
distributive share of the gross income or loss from the sale of
Product A is taken into account in determining DC's DEI, and none of
DC's distributive share of the gross income or loss from the sale of
Product B is taken into account in determining DC's DEI.
(1) Asset C. The average of PRS's adjusted basis as of the close
of each quarter of PRS's taxable year in Asset C is $100x. In Year
1, PRS's depreciation is $10x with respect to Asset C, none of which
is capitalized to inventory or other property held for sale. DC's
distributive share of the depreciation deduction with respect to
Asset C is $5x ($10x x 0.5), $3x of which is allocated and
apportioned to DC's gross DEI under Sec. 1.250(b)-1(d)(2).
(2) Asset D. The average of PRS's adjusted basis as of the close
of each quarter of PRS's taxable year in Asset D is $500x. In Year
1, PRS's depreciation is $50x with respect to Asset D, $10x of which
is capitalized to inventory of Product A and $40x is capitalized to
inventory of Product B. None of the $10x depreciation with respect
to Asset D capitalized to inventory of Product A is capitalized to
ending inventory. However, of the $40x capitalized to inventory of
Product B, $10x is capitalized to ending inventory. Therefore, the
amount of depreciation with respect to Asset D capitalized to
inventory of Product A that is taken into account in determining
DC's distributive share of the income or loss of PRS for Year 1 is
$5x ($10x x 0.5), and the amount of depreciation with respect to
Asset D capitalized to inventory of Product B that is taken into
account in determining DC's distributive share of the income or loss
of PRS for Year 1 is $15x ($30x x 0.5).
(3) Asset E. The average of PRS's adjusted basis as of the close
of each quarter of PRS's taxable year in Asset E is $600x. In Year
1, PRS's depreciation is $60x with respect to Asset E. Of the $60x
depreciation with respect to Asset E, $20x is allowed as a
deduction, $24x is capitalized to inventory of Product A, and $16x
is capitalized to inventory of Product B. DC's distributive share of
the depreciation deduction with respect to Asset E is $10x ($20x x
0.5), $8x of which is allocated and apportioned to DC's gross DEI
under Sec. 1.250(b)-1(d)(2). None of the $24x depreciation with
respect to Asset E capitalized to inventory of Product A is
capitalized to ending inventory. However, of the $16x depreciation
with respect to Asset E capitalized to inventory of Product B, $10x
is capitalized to ending inventory. Therefore, the amount of
depreciation with respect to Asset E capitalized to inventory of
Product A that is taken into account in determining DC's
distributive share of the income or loss of PRS for Year 1 is $12x
($24x x 0.5), and the amount of depreciation with respect to Asset E
capitalized to inventory of Product B that is taken into account in
determining DC's distributive share of the income or loss of PRS for
Year 1 is $3x ($6x x 0.5).
(B) Analysis. Because Asset C, Asset D, and Asset E are not used
in the production of only gross DEI in Year 1 within the meaning of
paragraph (g)(3)(ii)(B) of this section, Asset C, Asset D, and Asset
E are dual use partnership property within the meaning of paragraph
(g)(3)(iii)(B) of this section. Therefore, under paragraph
(g)(3)(iii)(A) of this section, DC's partner adjusted basis in Asset
C, Asset D, and Asset E is the sum of DC's proportionate share of
PRS's partnership adjusted basis in Asset C, Asset D, and Asset E,
respectively, for Year 1, and DC's partner-specific QBAI basis in
Asset C, Asset D, and Asset E, respectively, for Year 1, multiplied
by DC's dual use ratio with respect to Asset C, Asset D, and Asset
E, respectively, for Year 1, determined under the principles of
paragraph (d)(3) of this section, except that the ratio described in
paragraph (d)(3) of this section is determined by reference to DC's
distributive share of the amounts described in paragraph (d)(3) of
this section.
(1) Asset C--(i) Proportionate share. Under paragraph (g)(4)(i)
of this section, DC's proportionate share of PRS's partnership
adjusted basis in Asset C is PRS's partnership adjusted basis in
Asset C for Year 1, multiplied by DC's proportionate share ratio
with respect to Asset C for Year 1. Because none of the depreciation
with respect to Asset C is capitalized to inventory or other
property held for sale, DC's proportionate share ratio with respect
to Asset C is determined entirely by reference to the depreciation
deduction with respect to Asset C. Therefore, DC's proportionate
share ratio with respect to Asset C is 50 percent, which is the
ratio calculated as the amount of DC's section 704(b) distributive
share of PRS's section 704(b) depreciation deduction with respect to
Asset C for Year 1 ($5x), divided by the total amount of PRS's
section 704(b) depreciation deduction with respect to Asset C for
Year 1 ($10x). Accordingly, under paragraph (g)(4)(i) of this
section, DC's proportionate share of PRS's partnership adjusted
basis in Asset C is $50x ($100x x 0.5).
(ii) Dual use ratio. Because none of the depreciation with
respect to Asset C is capitalized to inventory or other property
held for sale, DC's dual use ratio with respect to Asset C is
determined entirely by reference to the depreciation deduction with
respect to Asset C. Therefore, DC's dual use ratio with respect to
Asset C is 60 percent, which is the ratio calculated as the amount
of DC's distributive share of PRS's depreciation deduction with
respect to Asset C that is allocated and apportioned to DC's gross
DEI under Sec. 1.250(b)-1(d)(2) for Year 1 ($3x), divided by the
total amount of DC's distributive share of PRS's depreciation
deduction with respect to Asset C for Year 1 ($5x).
(iii) Partner adjusted basis. Because DC has no partner-specific
QBAI basis with respect to Asset C, DC's partner adjusted basis in
Asset C is determined entirely by reference to DC's proportionate
share of PRS's partnership adjusted basis in Asset C, multiplied by
DC's dual use ratio with respect to Asset C. Under paragraph
(g)(3)(iii)(A) of this section, DC's partner adjusted basis in Asset
C is $30x, DC's proportionate share of PRS's partnership adjusted
basis in Asset C for Year 1 ($50x), multiplied by DC's dual use
ratio with respect to Asset C for Year 1 (60 percent).
(2) Asset D--(i) Proportionate share. Under paragraph (g)(4)(i)
of this section, DC's proportionate share of PRS's partnership
adjusted basis in Asset D is PRS's partnership adjusted basis in
Asset D for Year 1, multiplied by DC's proportionate share ratio
with respect to Asset D for Year 1. Because all of the depreciation
with respect to Asset D is capitalized to inventory, DC's
proportionate share ratio with respect to Asset D is determined
entirely by reference to the depreciation with respect to Asset D
that is capitalized to inventory and included in cost of goods sold.
Therefore, DC's proportionate share ratio with respect to Asset D is
50 percent, which is the ratio calculated as the amount of PRS's
section 704(b) depreciation with respect to Asset D capitalized to
Product A and Product B that is taken into account in determining
DC's section 704(b) distributive share of PRS's income or loss for
Year 1 ($20x), divided by the total amount of PRS's section 704(b)
depreciation with respect to Asset D capitalized to Product A and
Product B that is taken into account in determining PRS's section
704(b) income or loss for Year 1 ($40x). Accordingly, under
paragraph (g)(4)(i) of this section, DC's proportionate share of
PRS's partnership adjusted basis in Asset D is $250x ($500x x 0.5).
(ii) Dual use ratio. Because all of the depreciation with
respect to Asset D is capitalized to inventory, DC's dual use ratio
with respect to Asset D is determined entirely by reference to the
depreciation with respect to Asset D that is capitalized to
inventory and included in cost of goods sold. Therefore, DC's dual
use ratio with respect to Asset D is 25 percent, which is the ratio
calculated as the amount of depreciation with respect to Asset D
capitalized to inventory of Product A and Product B that is taken
into account in determining DC's DEI for Year 1 ($5x), divided by
the total amount of depreciation with respect to Asset D capitalized
to inventory of Product A and Product B that is taken into account
in determining DC's income or loss for Year 1 ($20x).
(iii) Partner adjusted basis. Because DC has no partner-specific
QBAI basis with respect
[[Page 43091]]
to Asset D, DC's partner adjusted basis in Asset D is determined
entirely by reference to DC's proportionate share of PRS's
partnership adjusted basis in Asset D, multiplied by DC's dual use
ratio with respect to Asset D. Under paragraph (g)(3)(iii)(A) of
this section, DC's partner adjusted basis in Asset D is $62.50x,
DC's proportionate share of PRS's partnership adjusted basis in
Asset D for Year 1 ($250x), multiplied by DC's dual use ratio with
respect to Asset D for Year 1 (25 percent).
(3) Asset E--(i) Proportionate share. Under paragraph (g)(4)(i)
of this section, DC's proportionate share of PRS's partnership
adjusted basis in Asset E is PRS's partnership adjusted basis in
Asset E for Year 1, multiplied by DC's proportionate share ratio
with respect to Asset E for Year 1. Because the depreciation with
respect to Asset E is partly deducted and partly capitalized to
inventory, DC's proportionate share ratio with respect to Asset E is
determined by reference to both the depreciation that is deducted
and the depreciation that is capitalized to inventory and included
in cost of goods sold. Therefore, DC's proportionate share ratio
with respect to Asset E is 50 percent, which is the ratio calculated
as the sum ($25x) of the amount of DC's section 704(b) distributive
share of PRS's section 704(b) depreciation deduction with respect to
Asset E for Year 1 ($10x) and the amount of PRS's section 704(b)
depreciation with respect to Asset E capitalized to inventory of
Product A and Product B that is taken into account in determining
DC's section 704(b) distributive share of PRS's income or loss for
Year 1 ($15x), divided by the sum ($50x) of the total amount of
PRS's section 704(b) depreciation deduction with respect to Asset E
for Year 1 ($20x) and the total amount of PRS's section 704(b)
depreciation with respect to Asset E capitalized to inventory of
Product A and Product B that is taken into account in determining
PRS's section 704(b) income or loss for Year 1 ($30x). Accordingly,
under paragraph (g)(4)(i) of this section, DC's proportionate share
of PRS's partnership adjusted basis in Asset E is $300x ($600x x
0.5).
(ii) Dual use ratio. Because the depreciation with respect to
Asset E is partly deducted and partly capitalized to inventory, DC's
dual use ratio with respect to Asset E is determined by reference to
the depreciation that is deducted and the depreciation that is
capitalized to inventory and included in cost of goods sold.
Therefore, DC's dual use ratio with respect to Asset E is 80
percent, which is the ratio calculated as the sum ($20x) of the
amount of DC's distributive share of PRS's depreciation deduction
with respect to Asset E that is allocated and apportioned to DC's
gross DEI under Sec. 1.250(b)-1(d)(2) for Year 1 ($8x) and the
amount of depreciation with respect to Asset E capitalized to
inventory of Product A and Product B that is taken into account in
determining DC's DEI for Year 1 ($12x), divided by the sum ($25x) of
the total amount of DC's distributive share of PRS's depreciation
deduction with respect to Asset E for Year 1 ($10x) and the total
amount of depreciation with respect to Asset E capitalized to
inventory of Product A and Product B that is taken into account in
determining DC's income or loss for Year 1 ($15x).
(iii) Partner adjusted basis. Because DC has no partner-specific
QBAI basis with respect to Asset E, DC's partner adjusted basis in
Asset E is determined entirely by reference to DC's proportionate
share of PRS's partnership adjusted basis in Asset E, multiplied by
DC's dual use ratio with respect to Asset E. Under paragraph
(g)(3)(iii)(A) of this section, DC's partner adjusted basis in Asset
E is $240x, DC's proportionate share of PRS's partnership adjusted
basis in Asset E for Year 1 ($300x), multiplied by DC's dual use
ratio with respect to Asset E for Year 1 (80 percent).
(4) Partnership QBAI. Under paragraph (g)(2) of this section,
DC's partnership QBAI with respect to PRS is $332.50x, the sum of
DC's partner adjusted basis in Asset C ($30x), DC's partner adjusted
basis in Asset D ($62.50x), and DC's partner adjusted basis in Asset
E ($240x). Accordingly, under paragraph (g)(1) of this section, DC
increases its QBAI for Year 1 by $332.50x.
(iv) Example 3: Sole use partnership specified tangible
property; section 743(b) adjustments--(A) Facts. The facts are the
same as in paragraph (g)(8)(ii)(A) of this section (the facts in
Example 1), except that there is an average of $40x positive
adjustment to the adjusted basis in Asset A as of the close of each
quarter of PRS's taxable year with respect to DC under section
743(b) and an average of $20x negative adjustment to the adjusted
basis in Asset B as of the close of each quarter of PRS's taxable
year with respect to DC under section 743(b).
(B) Analysis. Under paragraph (g)(3)(ii)(A) of this section,
DC's partner adjusted basis in Asset A is $120x, which is the sum of
$80x (DC's proportionate share of PRS's partnership adjusted basis
in Asset A as illustrated in paragraph (g)(8)(ii)(B)(2) of this
section (the analysis in Example 1)) and $40x (DC's partner-specific
QBAI basis in Asset A). Under paragraph (g)(3)(ii)(A) of this
section, DC's partner adjusted basis in Asset B is $80x, the sum of
$100x (DC's proportionate share of the partnership adjusted basis in
the property as illustrated in paragraph (g)(8)(ii)(B)(2) of this
section (the analysis in Example 1)) and (-$20x) (DC's partner-
specific QBAI basis in Asset B). Therefore, under paragraph (g)(2)
of this section, DC's partnership QBAI with respect to PRS is $200x
($120x + $80x). Accordingly, under paragraph (g)(1) of this section,
DC increases its QBAI for Year 1 by $200x.
(v) Example 4: Sale of partnership interest before close of
taxable year--(A) Facts. DC1 owns a 50 percent interest in PRS on
January 1 of Year 1. PRS does not have an election under section 754
in effect. On July 1 of Year 1, DC1 sells its entire interest in PRS
to DC2. PRS owns Asset G. The average of PRS's adjusted basis as of
the close of each quarter of PRS's taxable year in Asset G is $100x.
DC1's section 704(b) distributive share of the depreciation
deduction with respect to Asset G is 25 percent with respect to
PRS's entire year. DC2's section 704(b) distributive share of the
depreciation deduction with respect to Asset G is also 25 percent
with respect to PRS's entire year. Both DC1's and DC2's entire
distributive shares of the depreciation deduction with respect to
Asset G are allocated and apportioned under Sec. 1.250(b)-1(d)(2)
to DC1's and DC2's gross DEI, respectively, for Year 1. PRS's
allocations satisfy section 706(d).
(B) Analysis--(1) DC1. Because DC1 owns an interest in PRS
during DC1's taxable year and receives a distributive share of
partnership items of the partnership under section 706(d), DC1 has
partnership QBAI with respect to PRS in the amount determined under
paragraph (g)(2) of this section. Under paragraph (g)(3)(i) of this
section, DC1's partner adjusted basis in Asset G is $25x, the
product of $100x (the partnership's adjusted basis in the property)
and 25 percent (DC1's section 704(b) distributive share of
depreciation deduction with respect to Asset G). Therefore, DC1's
partnership QBAI with respect to PRS is $25x. Accordingly, under
paragraph (g)(1) of this section, DC1 increases its QBAI by $25x for
Year 1.
(2) DC2. DC2's partner adjusted basis in Asset G is also $25x,
the product of $100x (the partnership's adjusted basis in the
property) and 25 percent (DC2's section 704(b) distributive share of
depreciation deduction with respect to Asset G). Therefore, DC2's
partnership QBAI with respect to PRS is $25x. Accordingly, under
paragraph (g)(1) of this section, DC2 increases its QBAI by $25x for
Year 1.
(vi) Example 5: Partnership adjusted basis; distribution of
property in liquidation of partnership interest--(A) Facts. DC1,
DC2, and DC3 are equal partners in PRS, a partnership. DC1 and DC2
each has an adjusted basis of $100x in its partnership interest. DC3
has an adjusted basis of $50x in its partnership interest. PRS has a
section 754 election in effect. PRS owns Asset H with a fair market
value of $50x and an adjusted basis of $0, Asset I with a fair
market value of $100x and an adjusted basis of $100x, and Asset J
with a fair market value of $150x and an adjusted basis of $150x.
Asset H and Asset J are tangible property, but Asset I is not
tangible property. PRS distributes Asset I to DC3 in liquidation of
DC3's interest in PRS. None of DC1, DC2, DC3, or PRS recognizes gain
on the distribution. Under section 732(b), DC3's adjusted basis in
Asset I is $50x. PRS's adjusted basis in Asset H is increased by
$50x to $50x under section 734(b)(1)(B), which is the amount by
which PRS's adjusted basis in Asset I immediately before the
distribution exceeds DC3's adjusted basis in Asset I.
(B) Analysis. Under paragraph (g)(6) of this section, PRS's
adjusted basis in Asset H is determined without regard to any
adjustments under section 734(b) except for adjustments under
section 734(b)(1)(B) or section 734(b)(2)(B) that are attributable
to distributions of tangible property and for adjustments under
section 734(b)(1)(A) or 734(b)(2)(A). The adjustment to the adjusted
basis in Asset H is under section 734(b)(1)(B) and is attributable
to the distribution of Asset I, which is not tangible property.
Accordingly, for purposes of applying paragraph (g)(1) of this
section, PRS's adjusted basis in Asset H is $0.
[[Page 43092]]
(h) Anti-avoidance rule for certain transfers of property--(1) In
general. If, with a principal purpose of decreasing the amount of its
deemed tangible income return, a domestic corporation transfers
specified tangible property (transferred property) to a specified
related party of the domestic corporation and, within the disqualified
period, the domestic corporation or an FDII-eligible related party of
the domestic corporation leases the same or substantially similar
property from any specified related party, then, solely for purposes of
determining the QBAI of the domestic corporation under paragraph (b) of
this section, the domestic corporation is treated as owning the
transferred property from the later of the beginning of the term of the
lease or date of the transfer of the property until the earlier of the
end of the term of the lease or the end of the recovery period of the
property.
(2) Rule for structured arrangements. For purposes of paragraph
(h)(1) of this section, a transfer of specified tangible property to a
person that is not a related party or lease of property from a person
that is not a related party is treated as a transfer to or lease from a
specified related party if the transfer or lease is pursuant to a
structured arrangement. A structured arrangement exists only if either
paragraph (h)(2)(i) or (ii) of this section is satisfied.
(i) The reduction in the domestic corporation's deemed tangible
income return is priced into the terms of the arrangement with the
transferee.
(ii) Based on all the facts and circumstances, the reduction in the
domestic corporation's deemed tangible income return is a principal
purpose of the arrangement. Facts and circumstances that indicate the
reduction in the domestic corporation's deemed tangible income return
is a principal purpose of the arrangement include--
(A) Marketing the arrangement as tax-advantaged where some or all
of the tax advantage derives from the reduction in the domestic
corporation's deemed tangible income return;
(B) Primarily marketing the arrangement to domestic corporations
which earn FDDEI;
(C) Features that alter the terms of the arrangement, including the
return, in the event the reduction in the domestic corporation's deemed
tangible income return is no longer relevant; or
(D) A below-market return absent the tax effects or benefits
resulting from the reduction in the domestic corporation's deemed
tangible income return.
(3) Per se rules for certain transactions. For purposes of
paragraph (h)(1) of this section, a transfer of property by a domestic
corporation to a specified related party (including a party deemed to
be a specified related party under paragraph (h)(2) of this section)
followed by a lease of the same or substantially similar property by
the domestic corporation or an FDII-eligible related party from a
specified related party (including a party deemed to be a specified
related party under paragraph (h)(2) of this section) is treated per se
as occurring pursuant to a principal purpose of decreasing the amount
of the domestic corporation's deemed tangible income return if both the
transfer and the lease occur within a six-month period.
(4) Definitions related to anti-avoidance rule. The following
definitions apply for purpose of this paragraph (h).
(i) Disqualified period. The term disqualified period means, with
respect to a transfer, the period beginning one year before the date of
the transfer and ending the earlier of the end of the remaining
recovery period (under the system described in section 951A(d)(3)(A))
of the property or one year after the date of the transfer.
(ii) FDII-eligible related party. The term FDII-eligible related
party means, with respect to a domestic corporation, a member of the
same consolidated group as the domestic corporation or a partnership
with respect to which at least 80 percent of the interests in
partnership capital and profits are owned, directly or indirectly, by
the domestic corporation or one or more members of the consolidated
group that includes the domestic corporation.
(iii) Specified related party. The term specified related party
means, with respect to a domestic corporation, a related party other
than an FDII-eligible related party.
(iv) Transfer. The term transfer means any disposition, exchange,
contribution, or distribution of property, and includes an indirect
transfer. For example, a transfer of an interest in a partnership is
treated as a transfer of the assets of the partnership. In addition, if
paragraph (h)(1) of this section applies to treat a domestic
corporation as owning specified tangible property by reason of a lease
of property, the termination or lapse of the lease of the property is
treated as a transfer of the specified tangible property by the
domestic corporation to the lessor.
(5) Transactions occurring before March 4, 2019. Paragraph (h)(1)
of this section does not apply to a transfer of property that occurs
before March 4, 2019.
(6) Examples. The following examples illustrate the application of
this paragraph (h).
(i) Example 1: Sale-leaseback with a related party--(A) Facts.
DC, a domestic corporation, owns Asset A, which is specified
tangible property. DC also owns all the single class of stock of DS,
a domestic corporation, and FS1 and FS2, each a controlled foreign
corporation. DC and DS are members of the same consolidated group.
On January 1, Year 1, DC sells Asset A to FS1. At the time of the
sale, Asset A had a remaining recovery period of 10 years under the
alternative depreciation system. On February 1, Year 1, FS2 leases
Asset B, which is substantially similar to Asset A, to DS for a
five-year term ending on January 31, Year 6.
(B) Analysis. Because DC transfers specified tangible property
(Asset A), to a specified related party of DC (FS1), and, within a
six month period (January 1, Year 1 to February 1, Year 1), an FDII-
eligible related party of DC (DS) leases a substantially similar
property (Asset B) from a specified related party (FS2), DC's
transfer of Asset A and lease of Asset B are treated as per se
occurring pursuant to a principal purpose of decreasing the amount
of its deemed tangible income return. Accordingly, for purposes of
determining DC's QBAI, DC is treated as owning Asset A from February
1, Year 1, the later of the date of the transfer of Asset A (January
1, Year 1) and the beginning of the term of the lease of Asset B
(February 1, Year 1), until January 31, Year 6, the earlier of the
end of the term of the lease of Asset B (January 31, Year 6) or the
remaining recovery period of Asset A (December 31, Year 10).
(ii) Example 2: Sale-leaseback with a related party; lapse of
initial lease--(A) Facts. The facts are the same as in paragraph
(h)(6)(i)(A) of this section (the facts in Example 1). In addition,
DS allows the lease of Asset B to expire on February 1, Year 6. On
June 1, Year 6, DS and FS2 renew the lease for a five-year term
ending on May 31, Year 11.
(B) Analysis. Because DC is treated as owning Asset A under
paragraph (h)(1) of this section, the lapse of the lease of Asset B
is treated as a transfer of Asset A to FS2 on February 1, Year 6,
under paragraph (h)(4)(iv) of this section. Further, because DC is
deemed to transfer specified tangible property (Asset A) to a
specified related party (FS2) upon the lapse of the lease, and
within a six month period (February 1, Year 6 to June 1, Year 6), an
FDII-eligible related party of DC (DS) leases a substantially
similar property (Asset B), DC's deemed transfer of Asset A under
paragraph (h)(4)(iv) of this section and lease of Asset B are
treated as per se occurring pursuant to a principal purpose of
decreasing the amount of its deemed tangible income return.
Accordingly, for purposes of determining DC's QBAI, DC is treated as
owning Asset A from June 1, Year 6, the later of the date of the
deemed transfer of Asset A (February 1, Year 6) and the beginning of
the term of the lease of Asset B (June 1, Year 6), until December
31, Year 10, the earlier of the end of the term of the lease
[[Page 43093]]
of Asset B (May 31, Year 11) or the remaining recovery period of
Asset A (December 31, Year 10).
Sec. 1.250(b)-3 Foreign-derived deduction eligible income (FDDEI)
transactions.
(a) Scope. This section provides rules related to the determination
of whether a sale of property or provision of a service is a FDDEI
transaction. Paragraph (b) of this section provides definitions related
to the determination of whether a sale of property or provision of a
service is a FDDEI transaction. Paragraph (c) of this section provides
rules regarding a sale of property or provision of a service to a
foreign government or an agency or instrumentality thereof. Paragraph
(d) of this section provides a rule for characterizing a transaction
with both sales and services elements. Paragraph (e) of this section
provides a rule for determining whether a sale of property or provision
of a service to a partnership is a FDDEI transaction. Paragraph (f) of
this section provides rules for substantiating certain FDDEI
transactions.
(b) Definitions. This paragraph (b) provides definitions that apply
for purposes of this section and Sec. Sec. 1.250(b)-4 through
1.250(b)-6.
(1) Digital content. The term digital content means a computer
program or any other content in digital format. For example, digital
content includes books in digital format, movies in digital format, and
music in digital format. For purposes of this section, a computer
program is a set of statements or instructions to be used directly or
indirectly in a computer or other electronic device in order to bring
about a certain result, and includes any media, user manuals,
documentation, data base, or similar item if the media, user manuals,
documentation, data base, or other similar item is incidental to the
operation of the computer program.
(2) End user. Except as modified by Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)(ii), the
term end user means the person that ultimately uses or consumes
property or a person that acquires property in a foreign retail sale. A
person that acquires property for resale or otherwise as an
intermediary is not an end user.
(3) FDII filing date. The term FDII filing date means, with respect
to a sale of property by a seller or provision of a service by a
renderer, the date, including extensions, by which the seller or
renderer is required to file an income tax return (or in the case of a
seller or renderer that is a partnership, a return of partnership
income) for the taxable year in which the gross income from the sale of
property or provision of a service is included in the gross income of
the seller or renderer.
(4) Finished goods. The term finished goods means general property
that is acquired by an end user.
(5) Foreign person. The term foreign person means a person (as
defined in section 7701(a)(1)) that is not a United States person and
includes a foreign government or an international organization.
(6) Foreign related party. The term foreign related party means,
with respect to a seller or renderer, any foreign person that is a
related party of the seller or renderer.
(7) Foreign retail sale. The term foreign retail sale means a sale
of general property to a recipient that acquires the general property
at a physical retail location (such as a store or warehouse) outside
the United States.
(8) Foreign unrelated party. The term foreign unrelated party
means, with respect to a seller, a foreign person that is not a related
party of the seller.
(9) Fungible mass of general property. The term fungible mass of
general property means multiple units of property for sale with similar
or identical characteristics for which the seller does not know the
specific identity of the recipient or the end user for a particular
unit.
(10) General property. The term general property means any property
other than: Intangible property (as defined in paragraph (b)(11) of
this section); a security (as defined in section 475(c)(2)); an
interest in a partnership, trust, or estate; a commodity described in
section 475(e)(2)(A) that is not a physical commodity; or a commodity
described in section 475(e)(2)(B) through (D). A physical commodity
described in section 475(e)(2)(A) is treated as general property,
including if it is sold pursuant to a forward or option contract
(including a contract described in section 475(e)(2)(C), but not a
section 1256 contract as defined in section 1256(b) or other similar
contract that is traded on a U.S. or non-U.S. regulated exchange and
cleared by a central clearing organization in a manner similar to a
section 1256 contract) that is physically settled by delivery of the
commodity (provided that the taxpayer physically settled the contract
pursuant to a consistent practice adopted for business purposes of
determining whether to cash or physically settle such contracts under
similar circumstances).
(11) Intangible property. The term intangible property has the
meaning set forth in section 367(d)(4). For purposes of section 250,
intangible property does not include a copyrighted article as defined
in Sec. 1.861-18(c)(3).
(12) International transportation property. The term international
transportation property means aircraft, railroad rolling stock, vessel,
motor vehicle, or similar property that provides a mode of
transportation and is capable of traveling internationally.
(13) IP address. The term IP address means a device's internet
Protocol address.
(14) Recipient. The term recipient means a person that purchases
property or services from a seller or renderer.
(15) Renderer. The term renderer means a person that provides a
service to a recipient.
(16) Sale. The term sale means any sale, lease, license,
sublicense, exchange, or other disposition of property, and includes
any transfer of property in which gain or income is recognized under
section 367. In addition, the term sell (and any form of the word sell)
means any transfer by sale.
(17) Seller. The term seller means a person that sells property to
a recipient.
(18) United States. The term United States has the meaning set
forth in section 7701(a)(9), as expanded by section 638(1) with respect
to mines, oil and gas wells, and other natural deposits.
(19) United States person. The term United States person has the
meaning set forth in section 7701(a)(30), except that the term does not
include an individual that is a bona fide resident of a United States
territory within the meaning of section 937(a).
(20) United States territory. The term United States territory
means American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico,
or the U.S. Virgin Islands.
(c) Foreign military sales and services. If a sale of property or a
provision of a service is made to the United States or an
instrumentality thereof pursuant to 22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq. under which
the United States or an instrumentality thereof purchases the property
or service for resale or on-service to a foreign government or agency
or instrumentality thereof, then the sale of property or provision of a
service is treated as a FDDEI sale or FDDEI service without regard to
Sec. 1.250(b)-4 or Sec. 1.250(b)-5.
(d) Transactions with multiple elements. A transaction is
classified according to its overall predominant character for purposes
of determining whether the transaction is a FDDEI sale under Sec.
1.250(b)-4 or a FDDEI service under Sec. 1.250(b)-5. For example,
whether a transaction that includes both
[[Page 43094]]
a sales component and a service component is subject to Sec. 1.250(b)-
4 or Sec. 1.250(b)-5 is determined based on whether the overall
predominant character, taking into account all relevant facts and
circumstances, is a sale or service. In addition, whether a transaction
that includes both a sale of general property and a sale of intangible
property is subject to Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(1) or Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2)
is determined based on whether the overall predominant character,
taking into account all relevant facts and circumstances, is a sale of
general property or a sale of intangible property.
(e) Treatment of partnerships--(1) In general. For purposes of
determining whether a sale of property to or by a partnership or a
provision of a service to or by a partnership is a FDDEI transaction, a
partnership is treated as a person. Accordingly, for example, a
partnership may be a seller, renderer, recipient, or related party,
including a foreign related party (as defined in paragraph (b)(6) of
this section).
(2) Examples. The following examples illustrate the application of
this paragraph (e).
(i) Example 1: Domestic partner sale to foreign partnership with
a foreign branch--(A) Facts. DC, a domestic corporation, is a
partner in PRS, a foreign partnership. DC and PRS are not related
parties. PRS has a foreign branch within the meaning of Sec. 1.904-
4(f)(3)(iii). DC and PRS both use the calendar year as their taxable
year. For the taxable year, DC recognizes $20x of gain on the sale
of general property to PRS for a foreign use (as determined under
Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)). During the same taxable year, PRS recognizes
$20x of gain on the sale of other general property to a foreign
person for a foreign use (as determined under Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)).
PRS's income on the sale of the property is attributable to its
foreign branch.
(B) Analysis. DC's sale of property to PRS, a foreign
partnership, is a FDDEI sale because it is a sale to a foreign
person for a foreign use. Therefore, DC's gain of $20x on the sale
to PRS is included in DC's gross DEI and gross FDDEI. However, PRS's
gain of $20x is not included in the gross DEI or gross FDDEI of PRS
because the gain is foreign branch income within the meaning of
Sec. 1.250(b)-1(c)(11). Accordingly, none of PRS's gain on the sale
of property is included in DC's gross DEI or gross FDDEI under Sec.
1.250(b)-1(e)(1).
(ii) Example 2: Domestic partner sale to domestic partnership
without a foreign branch--(A) Facts. The facts are the same as in
paragraph (e)(2)(i)(A) of this section (the facts in Example 1),
except PRS is a domestic partnership that does not have a foreign
branch within the meaning of Sec. 1.904-4(f)(3)(iii).
(B) Analysis. DC's sale of property to PRS, a domestic
partnership, is not a FDDEI sale because the sale is to a United
States person. Therefore, the gross income from DC's sale to PRS is
included in DC's gross DEI but is not included in its gross FDDEI.
However, PRS's sale of other general property is a FDDEI sale, and
therefore the gain of $20x is included in the gross DEI and gross
FDDEI of PRS. Accordingly, DC includes its distributive share of
PRS's gain from the sale in determining DC's gross DEI and gross
FDDEI for the taxable year under Sec. 1.250(b)-1(e)(1).
(f) Substantiation for certain FDDEI transactions--(1) In general.
Except as provided in paragraph (f)(2) of this section, for purposes of
Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(1)(ii)(C) (foreign use for sale of general property
for resale), Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(1)(iii) (foreign use for sale of
general property subject to manufacturing, assembly, or processing
outside the United States), Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(2) (foreign use for
sale of intangible property), and Sec. 1.250(b)-5(e) (general services
provided to business recipients located outside the United States), a
transaction is a FDDEI transaction only if the taxpayer substantiates
its determination of foreign use (in the case of sales of property) or
location outside the United States (in the case of general services
provided to a business recipient) as described in the applicable
paragraph of Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(3) or Sec. 1.250(b)-5(e)(4). The
substantiating documents must be in existence as of the FDII filing
date with respect to the FDDEI transaction, and a taxpayer must provide
the required substantiating documents within 30 days of a request by
the Commissioner or another period as agreed between the Commissioner
and the taxpayer.
(2) Exception for small businesses. Paragraph (f)(1) of this
section, and the specific substantiation requirements described in the
applicable paragraph of Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(3) or Sec. 1.250(b)-
5(e)(4), do not apply to a taxpayer if the taxpayer and all related
parties of the taxpayer, in the aggregate, receive less than
$25,000,000 in gross receipts during the taxable year prior to the
FDDEI transaction. If the taxpayer's prior taxable year was less than
12 months (a short period), gross receipts are annualized by
multiplying the gross receipts for the short period by 365 and dividing
the result by the number of days in the short period.
(3) Treatment of certain loss transactions--(i) In general. If a
domestic corporation fails to satisfy the substantiation requirements
described in the applicable paragraph of Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(3) or
Sec. 1.250(b)-5(e)(4) with respect to a transaction (including in
connection with a related party transaction described in Sec.
1.250(b)-6), the gross income from the transaction will be treated as
gross FDDEI if--
(A) In the case of a sale of property, the seller knows or has
reason to know that property is sold to a foreign person for a foreign
use (within the meaning of Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(1) or (2));
(B) In the case of the provision of a general service to a business
recipient, the renderer knows or has reason to know that a service is
provided to a business recipient located outside the United States; and
(C) Not treating the transaction as a FDDEI transaction would
increase the amount of the corporation's FDDEI for the taxable year
relative to its FDDEI that would be determined if the transaction were
treated as a FDDEI transaction.
(ii) Reason to know--(A) Sales to a foreign person for a foreign
use. For purposes of paragraph (f)(3)(i)(A) of this section, a seller
has reason to know that a sale is to a foreign person for a foreign use
if the information received as part of the sales process contains
information that indicates that the recipient is a foreign person or
that the sale is for a foreign use, and the seller fails to obtain
evidence establishing that the recipient is not in fact a foreign
person or that the sale is not in fact for a foreign use. Information
that indicates that a recipient is a foreign person or that the sale is
for a foreign use includes, but is not limited to, a foreign phone
number, billing address, shipping address, or place of residence; and,
with respect to an entity, evidence that the entity is incorporated,
formed, or managed outside the United States.
(B) General services provided to a business recipient located
outside the United States. For purposes of paragraph (f)(3)(i)(B) of
this section, a renderer has reason to know that the provision of a
general service is to a business recipient located outside the United
States if the information received as part of the sales process
contains information that indicates that the recipient is a business
recipient located outside the United States and the seller fails to
obtain evidence establishing that the recipient is not in fact a
business recipient located outside the United States. Information that
indicates that a recipient is a business recipient includes, but is not
limited to, indicia of a business status (such as ``LLC'' or
``Company,'' or similar indicia under applicable domestic or foreign
law, in the name) or statements by the recipient indicating that it is
a business. Information that indicates that a business recipient is
located outside the United States includes, but is not limited to, a
foreign phone number, billing address, and evidence that the entity or
business is incorporated, formed, or managed outside the United States.
[[Page 43095]]
(iii) Multiple transactions. If a seller or renderer engages in
more than one transaction described in paragraph (f)(3)(i) of this
section in a taxable year, paragraph (f)(3)(i) of this section applies
by comparing the corporation's FDDEI if each such transaction were not
treated as a FDDEI transaction to its FDDEI if each such transaction
were treated as a FDDEI transaction.
(iv) Example. The following example illustrates the application of
this paragraph (f)(3).
(A) Facts. During a taxable year, DC, a domestic corporation,
manufactures products A and B in the United States. DC sells product
A and product B to Y, a foreign person that is a distributor, for
$200x and $800x, respectively. DC knows or has reason to know that
all of its sales of product A and product B will ultimately be sold
to end users located outside the United States. Y provides DC with a
statement that satisfies the substantiation requirement of paragraph
(f)(1) of this section and Sec. 1.250(b)-4(d)(3)(ii) that
establishes that its sales of product B are for a foreign use but
does not obtain substantiation establishing that any sales of
product A are for a foreign use. DC's cost of goods sold is $450x.
For purposes of determining gross FDDEI, under Sec. 1.250(b)-
1(d)(1) DC attributes $250x of cost of goods sold to product A and
$200x of cost of goods sold to product B, and then attributes the
cost of goods sold for each product ratably between the gross
receipts of such product sold to foreign persons and the gross
receipts of such product not sold to foreign persons. The manner in
which DC attributes the cost of goods sold is a reasonable method.
DC has no other items of income, loss, or deduction.
Table 1 to Paragraph (f)(3)(iv)(A)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product A Product B Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross receipts.................................................. $200x $800x $1,000x
Cost of Goods Sold.............................................. 250x 200x 450x
Gross Income (Loss)............................................. (50x) 600x 550x
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(B) Analysis. By not treating the sales of product A as FDDEI
sales, the amount of DC's FDDEI would increase by $50x relative to
its FDDEI if the sales of product A were treated as FDDEI sales.
Accordingly, because DC knows or has reason to know that its sales
of product A are to foreign persons for a foreign use, the sales of
product A constitute FDDEI sales under paragraph (f)(3) of this
section, and thus the $50x loss from the sale of product A is
included in DC's gross FDDEI.
Sec. 1.250(b)-4 Foreign-derived deduction eligible income (FDDEI)
sales.
(a) Scope. This section provides rules for determining whether a
sale of property is a FDDEI sale. Paragraph (b) of this section defines
a FDDEI sale. Paragraph (c) of this section provides rules for
determining whether a recipient is a foreign person. Paragraph (d) of
this section provides rules for determining whether property is sold
for a foreign use. Paragraph (e) of this section provides a special
rule for the sale of interests in a disregarded entity. Paragraph (f)
of this section provides a rule regarding certain hedging transactions
with respect to FDDEI sales.
(b) Definition of FDDEI sale. Except as provided in Sec. 1.250(b)-
6(c), the term FDDEI sale means a sale of general property or
intangible property to a recipient that is a foreign person (see
paragraph (c) of this section for presumption rules relating to
determining foreign person status) and that is for a foreign use (as
determined under paragraph (d) of this section). A sale of any property
other than general property or intangible property is not a FDDEI sale.
(c) Presumption of foreign person status--(1) In general. The sale
of property is presumed to be to a recipient that is a foreign person
for purposes of paragraph (b) of this section if the sale is described
in paragraph (c)(2) of this section. However, this presumption does not
apply if the seller knows or has reason to know that the sale is not to
a foreign person. A seller has reason to know that a sale is not to a
foreign person if the information received as part of the sales process
contains information that indicates that the recipient is not a foreign
person and the seller fails to obtain evidence establishing that the
recipient is in fact a foreign person. Information that indicates that
a recipient is not a foreign person include, but are not limited to, a
United States phone number, billing address, shipping address, or place
of residence; and, with respect to an entity, evidence that the entity
is incorporated, formed, or managed in the United States.
(2) Sales of property. A sale of a property is described in this
paragraph (c)(2) if:
(i) The sale is a foreign retail sale;
(ii) In the case of a sale of general property that is not a
foreign retail sale and the general property is delivered (such as
through a commercial carrier) to the recipient or an end user, the
shipping address of the recipient or end user is outside the United
States;
(iii) In the case of a sale of general property that is not
described in either paragraph (c)(2)(i) or (ii) of this section, the
billing address of the recipient is outside the United States; or
(iv) In the case of a sale of intangible property, the billing
address of the recipient is outside the United States.
(d) Foreign use--(1) Foreign use for general property--(i) In
general. The sale of general property is for a foreign use for purposes
of paragraph (b) of this section if the seller determines that the sale
is for a foreign use under the rules of paragraph (d)(1)(ii) or (iii)
of this section and the exception in paragraph (d)(1)(iv) of this
section does not apply.
(ii) Rules for determining foreign use--(A) Sales that are
delivered to an end user by a carrier or freight forwarder. Except as
otherwise provided in this paragraph (d)(1)(ii)(A), a sale of general
property (other than a sale of general property described in paragraphs
(d)(1)(ii)(D) through (F) of this section) that is delivered through a
carrier or freight forwarder to a recipient that is an end user is for
a foreign use if the end user receives delivery of the general property
outside the United States. However, a sale described in the preceding
sentence is not treated as a sale to an end user for a foreign use if
the sale is made with a principal purpose of having the property
transported from its location outside the United States to a location
within the United States for ultimate use or consumption.
(B) Sales to an end user without the use of a carrier or freight
forwarder. With respect to sales that are not delivered through the use
of a carrier or freight forwarder, a sale of general property (other
than a sale of general property described in paragraphs (d)(1)(ii)(D)
through (F) of this section) to a recipient that is an end user is for
a foreign use if the property is located outside the United States at
the time of the sale (including as part of foreign retail sales).
(C) Sales for resale. A sale of general property (other than a sale
of general property described in paragraphs (d)(1)(ii)(D) through (F)
of this section) to a recipient (such as a distributor or retailer)
that will resell the general property is for a foreign use if the
[[Page 43096]]
general property will ultimately be sold to end users outside the
United States (including in foreign retail sales) and such sales to end
users outside the United States are substantiated under paragraph
(d)(3)(ii) of this section. In the case of sales of a fungible mass of
general property, the taxpayer may presume that the proportion of its
sales that are ultimately sold to end users outside the United States
is the same as the proportion of the recipient's resales of that
fungible mass to end users outside the United States.
(D) Sales of digital content. A sale of general property that
primarily contains digital content that is transferred electronically
rather than in a physical medium is for a foreign use if the end user
downloads, installs, receives, or accesses the purchased digital
content on the end user's device outside the United States (see Sec.
1.250(b)-5(d)(2) and (e)(2)(iii) for rules that apply in the case of
digital content that is not purchased in a sale but is electronically
supplied as a service). If information about where the digital content
is downloaded, installed, received, or accessed (such as the device's
IP address) is unavailable, and the gross receipts from all sales with
respect to the end user (which may be a business) are in the aggregate
less than $50,000, a sale of general property described in the
preceding sentence is for a foreign use if it is to an end user that
has a billing address located outside the United States.
(E) Sales of international transportation property used for
compensation or hire. A sale of international transportation property
used for compensation or hire is for a foreign use if the end user
registers the property with a foreign jurisdiction.
(F) Sales of international transportation property not used for
compensation or hire. A sale of international transportation property
not used for compensation or hire is for a foreign use if the end user
registers the property in a foreign jurisdiction and hangars or stores
the property primarily outside the United States.
(iii) Sales for manufacturing, assembly, or other processing--(A)
In general. A sale of general property is for a foreign use if the sale
is to a foreign unrelated party that subjects the property to
manufacture, assembly, or other processing outside the United States
and such manufacturing, assembly, or other processing outside the
United States is substantiated under paragraph (d)(3)(iii) of this
section. Property is subject to manufacture, assembly, or other
processing only if the property is physically and materially changed
(as described in paragraph (d)(1)(iii)(B) of this section) or the
property is incorporated as a component into another product (as
described in paragraph (d)(1)(iii)(C) of this section).
(B) Property subject to a physical and material change. The
determination of whether general property is subject to a physical and
material change is made based on all the relevant facts and
circumstances. General property is subject to a physical and material
change if it is substantially transformed and is distinguishable from
and cannot be readily returned to its original state.
(C) Property incorporated into a product as a component. General
property is a component incorporated into another product if the
incorporation of the general property into another product involves
activities that are substantial in nature and generally considered to
constitute the manufacture, assembly, or processing of property based
on all the relevant facts and circumstances. However, general property
is not considered a component incorporated into another product if it
is subject only to packaging, repackaging, labeling, or minor assembly
operations. In addition, general property is treated as a component if
the seller expects, using reliable estimates, that the fair market
value of the property when it is delivered to the recipient will
constitute no more than 20 percent of the fair market value of the
finished good into which the general property is directly or indirectly
incorporated when the finished good is sold to end users (the ``20-
percent rule''). If the property could be incorporated into a number of
different finished goods, a reliable estimate of the fair market value
of the finished good may include the average fair market value of a
representative range of such goods. For purposes of the 20-percent
rule, all general property that is sold by the seller and incorporated
into the finished good is treated as a single item of property if the
seller sells the property to the recipient and the seller knows or has
reason to know that the components will be incorporated into a single
item of property (for example, where multiple components are sold as a
kit). A seller knows or has reason to know that the components will be
incorporated into a single item of property if the information received
as part of the sales process indicates that the components will be
included in the same second product or the nature of the components
compels inclusion into the second product and the seller fails to
obtain evidence to the contrary.
(iv) Sales of property subject to manufacturing, assembly, or other
processing in the United States. If the seller sells general property
to a recipient (other than a related party) for manufacturing,
assembly, or other processing within the United States, such property
is not sold for a foreign use even if the requirements of paragraph
(d)(1)(ii) or (iii) of this section are subsequently satisfied. See
Sec. 1.250(b)-6(c) for rules governing sales of general property to a
foreign person that is a related party. Property is subject to
manufacture, assembly, or other processing only if the property is
physically and materially changed (as described in paragraph
(d)(1)(iii)(B) of this section) or the property is incorporated as a
component into another product (as described in paragraph
(d)(1)(iii)(C) of this section).
(v) Examples. The following examples illustrate the application of
this paragraph (d)(1).
(A) Assumed facts. The following facts are assumed for purposes of
the examples--
(1) DC is a domestic corporation.
(2) FP is a foreign person that is a foreign unrelated party with
respect to DC.
(3) To the extent a sale is for a foreign use, any applicable
substantiation requirements described in paragraph (d)(3)(ii) or (iii)
of this section are satisfied.
(B) Examples--
(1) Example 1: Manufacturing outside the United States--(i)
Facts. DC sells batteries for $18x to FP. DC expects that FP will
insert the batteries into tablets as part of the process of
assembling tablets outside the United States. While the tablets are
manufactured in a way that end users would not easily be able to
remove the batteries, the batteries could be removed from the
tablets and would resemble their original state following the
removal. The finished tablets will be sold to end users within and
outside the United States. DC's batteries are used in two types of
tablets, Tablet A and Tablet B. Based on an economic analysis, DC
determines that the fair market value of Tablet A is $90x and the
fair market value of Tablet B is $110x. FP informs DC that the
number of sales of Tablet A is approximately equal to the number of
sales of Tablet B.
(ii) Analysis. Because the batteries could be removed from the
tablets and be returned to their original state, the insertion of
the batteries into the tablets does not constitute a physical and
material change described in paragraph (d)(1)(iii)(B) of this
section. However, the average fair market value of a representative
range of tablets that incorporate the batteries is $100x (the
average of $90x for Tablet A and $110x for Tablet B because their
sales are approximately equal), and $18x is less than 20 percent of
$100x. Therefore, the batteries are considered components of the
tablets and treated as subject to manufacture, assembly, or other
processing outside the United States. See paragraphs (d)(1)(iii)(A)
and (C) of this section. As a result, notwithstanding that
[[Page 43097]]
some tablets incorporating the batteries may be sold to an end user
in the United States, DC's sale of batteries is considered for a
foreign use. Accordingly, DC's sale of batteries to FP is for a
foreign use under paragraph (d)(1)(iii)(A) and (C) of this section,
and the sale is a FDDEI sale.
(2) Example 2: Manufacturing outside the United States--(i)
Facts. The facts are the same as in paragraph (d)(1)(v)(B)(1) of
this section (the facts in Example 1), except FP purchases the
batteries from DC for $25x. In addition, FP purchased other
components of tablets from other parties. FP has a substantial
investment in machinery and tools that are used to assemble tablets.
(ii) Analysis. Even though the fair market value of the
batteries that FP purchases from DC and incorporates into the
tablets exceeds 20 percent of the fair market value of the tablets,
because the batteries are used by FP in activities that are
substantial in nature and generally considered to constitute the
manufacture, assembly or other processing of property, the batteries
are components of the tablets. As a result, DC's sale of property to
FP is still for a foreign use under paragraph (d)(1)(iii)(A) and (C)
of this section, and the sale is a FDDEI sale.
(3) Example 3: Sale of products to distributor outside the
United States--(i) Facts. DC sells smartphones to FP, a distributor
of electronics located within Country A. The sales contract between
DC and FP provides that FP may sell the smartphones it purchases
from DC only to specified retailers located within Country A. The
specified retailers only sell electronics, including smartphones, in
foreign retail sales.
(ii) Analysis. Although FP does not sell the smartphones it
purchases from DC to end users, FP sells to retailers that sell the
smartphones in foreign retail sales. All of the sales of smartphones
from DC to FP are sales of general property for a foreign use under
paragraph (d)(1)(ii)(C) of this section because FP is only allowed
to sell the smartphones to retailers who sell such property in
foreign retail sales. As a result, DC's sales of smartphones to FP
are FDDEI sales.
(4) Example 4: Sale of a fungible mass of products--(i) Facts.
DC and persons other than DC sell multiple units of printer paper
that is considered fungible general property to FP during the
taxable year. FP is a distributor that sells paper to retail stores
within and outside the United States. FP informs DC that
approximately 25 percent of FP's sales of the paper are to retail
stores located outside of the United States for foreign retail
sales.
(ii) Analysis. The sale of paper to FP is for a foreign use to
the extent that the paper will be sold to end users located outside
the United States under paragraph (d)(1)(ii)(C) of this section.
Because a portion of DC's sales to FP are not for a foreign use, DC
must determine the amount of paper that is sold for a foreign use.
Based on the information provided by FP about its own sales, DC
determines under paragraph (d)(1)(ii)(C) of this section that 25
percent of the total units of paper that is fungible general
property that FP purchased from all persons in the taxable year will
ultimately be sold to end users located outside the United States.
Accordingly, DC satisfies the test for a foreign use under paragraph
(d)(1)(ii)(C) of this section with respect to 25 percent of its
sales of the paper to FP.
(5) Example 5: Limited use license of copyrighted computer
software--(i) Facts. DC provides FP with a limited use license to
copyrighted computer software in exchange for an annual fee of
$100x. The limited use license restricts FP's use of the computer
software to 100 of FP's employees, who download the software onto
their computers. The limited use license prohibits FP from using the
computer software in any way other than as an end user, which
includes prohibiting sublicensing, selling, reverse engineering, or
modifying the computer software. All of FP's employees download the
software onto computers that are physically located outside the
United States.
(ii) Analysis. The software licensed to FP is digital content as
defined in Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(1), and is downloaded by an end user
as defined in Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(2). Accordingly, because the
software is downloaded solely onto computers outside the United
States, DC's license to FP is for a foreign use and therefore a
FDDEI sale under paragraph (d)(1)(ii)(D) of this section. The entire
$100x of the license fee is included in DC's gross FDDEI for the
taxable year.
(6) Example 6: Limited use license of copyrighted computer
software used within and outside the United States--(i) Facts. The
facts are the same as in paragraph (d)(1)(v)(B)(5) of this section
(the facts in Example 5), except that FP has offices both within and
outside the United States, and DC's internal records indicates that
50 percent of the downloads of the software are onto computers
located outside the United States.
(ii) Analysis. Because 50 percent of the downloads of the
software are onto computers located outside the United States, a
portion of DC's license to FP is for a foreign use and therefore
such portion is a FDDEI sale. The $50x of license fee derived with
respect to such portion is included in DC's gross FDDEI for the
taxable year.
(7) Example 7: Sale of a copyrighted article--(i) Facts. DC
sells copyrighted music available for download on its website. Once
downloaded, the recipient listens to the music on electronic devices
that do not need to be connected to the internet. DC has data that
an individual accesses the website to purchase a song for download
on a device located outside the United States. The terms of the sale
permit the recipient to use the song for personal use, but convey no
other rights to the copyrighted music to the recipient.
(ii) Analysis. The music acquired through download is digital
content as defined in Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(1). Because the recipient
acquires no ownership in copyright rights to the music, the sale is
considered a sale of a copyrighted article, and thus is a sale of
general property. See Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(10) and (11). As a result,
the sale is considered for a foreign use under paragraph
(d)(1)(ii)(D) of this section because the digital content was
installed, received, or accessed on the end user's device outside
the United States. The income derived with respect to the sale of
the music is included in DC's gross FDDEI for the taxable year. See
Sec. 1.250(b)-5(d)(3) for an example of digital content provided to
consumers as a service rather than as a sale.
(2) Foreign use for intangible property--(i) In general. A sale of
rights to exploit intangible property solely outside the United States
is for a foreign use. A sale of rights to exploit intangible property
solely within the United States is not for a foreign use. A sale of
rights to exploit intangible property worldwide is partially for a
foreign use and partially not for a foreign use. Whether intangible
property is exploited within versus outside the United States is
determined based on revenue earned from end users located within versus
outside the United States. Therefore, a sale of rights to exploit
intangible property both within and outside the United States is for a
foreign use in proportion to the revenue earned from end users located
outside the United States over the total revenue earned from the
exploitation of the intangible property. A sale of intangible property
will be treated as a FDDEI sale only if the substantiation requirements
of paragraph (d)(3)(iv) of this section are satisfied. For rules
specific to determining end users and revenue earned from end users for
intangible property used in sales of general property, provision of
services, research and development, or consisting of a manufacturing
method or process, see paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of this section.
(ii) Determination of end users and revenue earned from end users--
(A) Intangible property embedded in general property or used in
connection with the sale of general property. If intangible property is
embedded in general property that is sold, or used in connection with a
sale of general property, then the end user of the intangible property
is the end user of the general property. Revenue is earned from the end
user of the general property outside the United States to the extent
the sale of the general property is for a foreign use under paragraph
(d)(1)(ii) of this section.
(B) Intangible property used in providing a service. If intangible
property is used to provide a service, then the end user of that
intangible property is the recipient, consumer, or business recipient
of the service or, in the case of a property service or a
transportation service that involves the transportation of property,
the end user is the owner of the property on which such service is
being performed. Such end users are treated as located outside the
United States only to the extent the service qualifies as a FDDEI
service
[[Page 43098]]
under Sec. 1.250(b)-5. Therefore, in the case of a recipient of a sale
of intangible property that uses such intangible property to provide a
property service that qualifies as a FDDEI service to another person,
that person is the end user and is treated as located outside the
United States.
(C) Intangible property consisting of a manufacturing method or
process--(1) In general. Except as provided in paragraph
(d)(2)(ii)(C)(2) of this section, if intangible property consists of a
manufacturing method or process (as defined in paragraph
(d)(2)(ii)(C)(3) of this section) and is sold to a foreign unrelated
party (including in a sale by a foreign related party), then the
foreign unrelated party is treated as an end user located outside the
United States, unless the seller knows or has reason to know that the
manufacturing method or process will be used in the United States, in
which case the foreign unrelated party is treated as an end user
located within the United States. A seller has reason to know that the
manufacturing method or process will be used in the United States if
the information received from the recipient as part of the sales
process contains information that indicates that the recipient intends
to use the manufacturing method or process in the United States and the
seller fails to obtain evidence establishing that the recipient does
not intend to use the manufacturing method or process in the United
States.
(2) Exception for certain manufacturing arrangements. A sale of
intangible property consisting of a manufacturing method or process
(including a sale by a foreign related party) to a foreign unrelated
party for use in manufacturing products for or on behalf of the seller
or any person related to the seller does not qualify as a sale to a
foreign unrelated party for purposes of determining the end user under
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(1) of this section.
(3) Manufacturing method or process. For purposes of this section,
a manufacturing method or process consists of a sequence of actions or
steps that comprise an overall method or process that is used to
manufacture a product or produce a particular manufacturing result,
which may be in the form of a patent or know-how. Intangible property
consisting of the right to make and sell an item of property is not a
manufacturing method or process, whereas intangible property consisting
of the right to apply a series of actions or steps to be performed to
achieve a particular manufacturing result is a manufacturing method or
process. For example, a utility or design patent on an article of
manufacture, machine, composition of matter, design, or providing the
right to sell equipment to perform a process is not a manufacturing
method or process, whereas a utility patent covering a method or
process of manufacturing is a manufacturing method or process for
purposes of this section.
(D) Intangible property used in research and development. If
intangible property (primary IP) is used to develop new or modify other
intangible property (secondary IP), then the end user of the primary IP
is the end user (applying paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A), (B), or (C) of this
section) of the secondary IP.
(iii) Determination of revenue for periodic payments versus lump
sums--(A) Sales in exchange for periodic payments. In the case of a
sale of intangible property, other than intangible property consisting
of a manufacturing method or process that is sold to a foreign
unrelated party, to a recipient in exchange for periodic payments, the
extent to which the sale is for a foreign use is determined annually
based on the actual revenue earned by the recipient from any use of the
intangible property for the taxable year in which a periodic payment is
received. If actual revenue earned by the recipient cannot be obtained
after reasonable efforts, then estimated revenue earned by a recipient
that is not a related party of the seller from the use of the
intangible property may be used based on the principles of paragraph
(d)(2)(iii)(B) of this section.
(B) Sales in exchange for a lump sum. In the case of a sale of
intangible property, other than intangible property consisting of a
manufacturing method or process that is sold to a foreign unrelated
party, for a lump sum, the extent to which the sale is for a foreign
use is determined based on the ratio of the total net present value of
revenue the seller would have expected to earn from the exploitation of
the intangible property outside the United States to the total net
present value of revenue the seller would have expected to earn from
the exploitation of the intangible property. In the case of a recipient
that is a foreign unrelated party, net present values of revenue that
the recipient expected to earn from the exploitation of the intangible
property within and outside the United States may also be used if the
seller obtained such revenue data from the recipient near the time of
the sale and such revenue data was used to negotiate the lump sum price
paid for the intangible property. Net present values must be determined
using reliable inputs including, but not limited to, reliable revenue,
expenses, and discount rates. The extent to which the inputs are used
by the parties to determine the sales price agreed to between the
seller and a foreign unrelated party purchasing the intangible property
will be a factor in determining whether such inputs are reliable. If
the intangible property is sold to a foreign related party, the
reliability of the inputs used to determine net present values and the
net present values are determined under section 482.
(C) Sales to a foreign unrelated party of intangible property
consisting of a manufacturing method or process. In the case of a sale
to an unrelated foreign party of intangible property consisting of a
manufacturing method or process, the revenue earned from the end user
is equal to the amount received from the recipient in exchange for the
manufacturing method or process. In the case of a bundled sale of
intangible property consisting of a manufacturing method or process and
intangible property not consisting of a manufacturing method or
process, the revenue earned from the intangible property consisting of
the manufacturing method or process equals the total amount paid for
the bundled sale multiplied by the proportion that the value of the
manufacturing method or process bears to the total value of the
intangible property. The value of the manufacturing method or process
to the total value of the intangible property must be determined using
the principles of section 482.
(iv) Examples. The following examples illustrate the application of
this paragraph (d)(2).
(A) Assumed facts. The following facts are assumed for purposes of
the examples--
(1) DC is a domestic corporation.
(2) Except as otherwise provided, FP and FP2 are foreign persons
that are foreign unrelated parties with respect to DC.
(3) All of DC's income is DEI.
(4) Except as otherwise provided, the substantiation requirements
described in paragraph (d)(3)(iv) of this section are satisfied.
(5) Except as otherwise provided, inputs used to determine the net
present values of the revenue are reliable.
(B) Examples--
(1) Example 1: License of worldwide rights with actual revenue
data from recipient--(i) Facts. DC licenses to FP worldwide rights
to the copyright to composition A in exchange for annual royalties
of 60 percent of revenue from FP's sales of composition A. FP sells
composition A to customers through digital downloads from servers.
In the taxable year, FP earns $100x in revenue from sales of
[[Page 43099]]
copies of composition A to customers, of which $60x is from
customers located in the United States and the remaining $40x is
from customers located outside the United States. FP provides DC
with reliable records showing the amount of revenue earned in the
taxable year from sales of composition A to establish the royalties
owed to DC. These records also provide DC with the amount of revenue
earned from sales of composition A to customers located within the
United States.
(ii) Analysis. FP is not the end user of the copyright to
composition A under paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section because
the copyright is used in the sale of general property (the sale of
copyrighted articles to customers). The customers that purchase a
copy of composition A from FP are the end users (as defined in Sec.
1.250(b)-3(b)(2) and paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section)
because those customers are the recipients of composition A when
sold as general property. Based on the actual revenue earned by FP
from sales of composition A, 40 percent ($40x/$100x) of the revenue
generated by the copyright during the taxable year is earned outside
the United States. Accordingly, a portion of DC's license to FP is
for a foreign use under paragraph (d)(2) of this section and
therefore such portion is a FDDEI sale. The $24x of royalty (0.40 x
$60x of total royalties owed to DC during the taxable year) derived
with respect to such portion is included in DC's gross FDDEI for the
taxable year.
(2) Example 2: Fixed annual payments for worldwide rights
without actual revenue data from recipient--(i) Facts. The facts are
the same as in paragraph (d)(2)(iv)(B)(1)(i) of this section (the
facts in Example 1), except FP pays DC a fixed annual payment of
$60x each year for the worldwide rights to the copyright to
composition A and does not provide DC with data showing how much
revenue FP earned from sales of composition A, even after DC
requests that FP provide it with such information. DC also is unable
to determine how much revenue FP earned from sales of composition A
to customers within the United States from the data it has with
respect to FP and publicly available data with respect to FP.
However, DC's economic analysis of the revenue DC expected it could
earn annually from use of composition A as part of determining the
annual payments DC would receive from FP from the license of
composition A supports a determination that 40 percent of sales of
composition A during the tax year would be to customers located
outside the United States. During an examination of DC's return for
the taxable year, DC provides the IRS with data explaining the
economic analysis, inputs, and results from its valuation of
composition A used in determining the amount of annual payments
agreed to by DC and FP.
(ii) Analysis. For the same reasons provided in paragraph
(d)(2)(iv)(B)(1)(ii) of this section (the analysis in Example 1),
the customers that purchase copies of composition A from FP are the
end users. DC is allowed to use reliable economic analysis to
estimate revenue earned by FP from the use of the copyright to
composition A under paragraph (d)(2)(iii)(A) of this section because
DC was unable to obtain actual revenue earned by FP from use of the
copyright to composition A during the taxable year after reasonable
efforts to obtain the actual revenue data. Based on DC's economic
analysis, a portion of DC's license to FP is for a foreign use under
paragraph (d)(2) of this section and therefore such portion is a
FDDEI sale. $24x of the $60x fixed payment to DC (0.40 x $60x) is
included in DC's gross FDDEI for the taxable year.
(3) Example 3: Sale of patent rights protected in the United
States and other countries; use of financial projections in sale to
foreign unrelated party--(i) Facts. DC owns a patent for an active
pharmaceutical ingredient (``API'') approved for treatment of
disease A (``indication A'') in the United States and in Countries
A, B, and C. The patent is registered in the United States and in
Countries A, B, and C. DC sells to FP all of its patent rights to
the API for indication A for a lump sum payment of $1,000x. DC has
no basis in the patent rights. To determine the sales price for the
patent rights, DC projected that the net present value of the
revenue it would earn from selling a pharmaceutical product
incorporating the API for indication A was $5,000x, with 15 percent
of the net present value of revenue earned from sales within the
United States and 85 percent of the net present value of revenue
earned from sales outside the United States. DC did not obtain
revenue projections from the recipient.
(ii) Analysis. FP is not the end user of the patent under
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section because the patent is used
in the sale of general property (the sale of pharmaceutical products
to customers) and FP is not the recipient of that general property.
The unrelated party customers that purchase the finished
pharmaceutical product from FP are the end users (as defined in
Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(2) and paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section)
because those customers are the unrelated party recipients of the
pharmaceutical product when sold as general property. Based on the
financial projections DC used to determine the sales price of the
patent that FP purchased, a portion of DC's sale to FP is for a
foreign use under paragraph (d)(2) of this section and such portion
is a FDDEI sale. The $850x (85 percent x $1,000x) of gain derived
with respect to such portion is included in DC's gross FDDEI for the
taxable year.
(4) Example 4: Sale of patent rights protected in the United
States and other countries; use of financial projections in sale to
foreign related party--(i) Facts. The facts are the same as in
paragraph (d)(2)(iv)(B)(3)(i) of this section (the facts in Example
3), except that FP is a foreign related party with respect to DC,
and DC projected that the net present value of the revenue it would
earn from selling a pharmaceutical product incorporating the API for
indication A would result in 1 percent of the revenue earned from
sales within the United States and 99 percent of the revenue earned
from sales outside the United States. During the examination of DC's
return for the taxable year, the IRS determines that DC's
substantiation allocating the projected revenue from sales within
the United States and outside the United States does not reflect
reliable inputs to determine the net present values of revenues
under section 482, but determines that the total lump sum price FP
paid for DC's patent rights is an arm's length price. The IRS
determines that the most reliable net present values of revenue DC
would have earned from sales within the United States and outside
the United States is $750x and $4250x, respectively.
(ii) Analysis. For the same reasons provided in paragraph
(d)(2)(iv)(B)(3)(ii) of this section (the analysis in Example 3),
the customers that purchase the finished pharmaceutical product from
FP are the end users. Under paragraph (d)(2)(iii)(B) of this
section, the reliability of the inputs DC used to determine the net
present values and the net present values are determined under
section 482. Based on the sales price of the patent that FP
purchased and the IRS-determined net present values of revenue DC
would have earned from sales within the United States and outside
the United States, a portion of DC's sale to FP is for a foreign use
under paragraph (d)(2) of this section and such portion is a FDDEI
sale. DC is allowed to include $850x (($4250x divided by $5000x) x
$1,000x) of gain in DC's gross FDDEI for the taxable year.
(5) Example 5: Sale of patent of manufacturing method or process
protected in the United States and other countries; foreign
unrelated party--(i) Facts. DC owns the worldwide rights to a patent
covering a process for refining crude oil. DC sells to FP the right
to DC's patented process for refining crude oil for a lump sum
payment of $100x. DC has no basis in the patent rights. DC does not
know or have reason to know that FP will use the patented process to
refine crude oil within the United States or will sell or license
the rights to the patent to a person to refine crude oil within the
United States.
(ii) Analysis. DC's patent covering a process for refining crude
oil is a manufacturing method or process as defined in paragraph
(d)(2)(ii)(C)(3) of this section. Under paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(1)
of this section, FP is treated as the end user of the patent, and is
treated as located outside the United States because FP is a foreign
unrelated party and DC does not know or have reason to know that the
patented process will be used in the United States. As a result, all
of the sale to FP is for a foreign use under paragraph (d)(2) of
this section and therefore is a FDDEI sale. The entire $100x lump
sum payment is included in DC's gross FDDEI for the taxable year.
(6) Example 6: License of intangible property that includes a
patented manufacturing method or process protected in the United
States and other countries; foreign unrelated party--(i) Facts. DC
owns worldwide rights to patents, know-how, and a trademark and
tradename for product Z. The patents consist of: a patent covering
the right to make, use, and sell product Z (article of manufacture),
a patent covering the rights to make, use, and sell a composition of
substances used in certain components of product Z (composition of
matter), and a patent covering the right to use a manufacturing
process consisting of a series
[[Page 43100]]
of manufacturing steps to manufacture product Z (manufacturing
method or process as defined in paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(3) of this
section) and to sell the product Z that FP manufactures using the
manufacturing method or process. The know-how consists entirely of
manufacturing know-how used to implement the manufacturing steps
that comprise the manufacturing method or process. DC licenses the
worldwide rights to the patents, know-how, and the trademark and
tradename for product Z to FP in exchange for annual royalties of 60
percent of revenue from sales of product Z. FP manufactures product
Z in country X and sells product Z to DC2, a domestic corporation
and unrelated party to DC and FP, for resale to customers located
within the United States. FP also sells product Z to FP2, a foreign
unrelated party with respect to DC and FP, for resale to customers
located outside the United States. During the taxable year, FP sells
to DC2 $140x of product Z. Also, during the taxable year, FP sells
to FP2 $60x of product Z. DC determines under the principles of
section 482 that the licensed know-how and the patented
manufacturing method or process comprise 10 percent of the arm's
length price of the intangible property DC licenses to FP.
(ii) Analysis--(A) End users. Under paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(1)
of this section, FP is treated as the end user of the patent
covering the right to use the manufacturing process and the
manufacturing know-how used to implement the manufacturing method or
process, and is treated as located outside the United States because
FP is a foreign unrelated party and DC does not know or have reason
to know that the patented process and know-how will be used in the
United States. DC2, FP, and FP2 are not the end users of the
remaining intangible property under paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this
section because that intangible property is used in the sale of
general property (the sale of product Z) and DC2, FP, and FP2 are
not the end users of that general property. The unrelated party
customers that purchase product Z from DC2 and FP2 are the end users
(as defined in Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(2) and paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of
this section) because those customers are the unrelated party
recipients of product Z.
(B) Foreign use. Under paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section,
revenue from royalties paid for the intangible property other than
the manufacturing method or process is earned from end users outside
the United States to the extent the sale of the general property is
for a foreign use under paragraph (d)(1) of this section. FP2 is a
reseller of product Z to end users outside the United States, so all
sales of product Z to FP2 are for a foreign use under paragraph
(d)(1)(ii)(C) of this section. Because DC has determined that 10
percent of the value of the intangible property consists of a
manufacturing method or process (as defined in paragraph
(d)(2)(ii)(C)(3) of this section) used to manufacture product Z,
$12x of the $120x royalty FP pays to DC during the taxable year is
for foreign use ($120x total royalty x 0.10) based on the location
of FP's manufacturing utilizing the know-how or all of the sequence
of actions that comprise the manufacturing method or process under
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(3) of this section. Based on the sales of
product Z within and outside the United States, $32.4x of the
royalties FP pays DC for rights to the licensed intangible property
during the taxable year (($60x of revenue from sales to FP2 for
resale to customers located outside the United States divided by
$200x total worldwide sales revenue FP receives from DC2 and FP2) x
($120x total royalties less $12 of those royalties attributable to
the manufacturing method or process)) qualifies as income earned
from the sale of intangible property for a foreign use under
paragraph (d)(2) of this section and therefore such portion is a
FDDEI sale. As a result, $44.40x of royalties ($12x + $32.40x) is
included in DC's gross FDDEI for the taxable year.
(7) Example 7: License of intangible property that includes a
patented manufacturing method or process protected in the United
States and other countries; foreign related party with third-party
manufacturer--(i) Facts. The facts are the same as in paragraph
(d)(2)(iv)(B)(6)(i) of this section (the facts in Example 6), except
that FP is a foreign related party with respect to DC and FP engages
FP2, a foreign unrelated party, to manufacture product Z. FP
sublicenses to FP2 the rights to the intangible property FP licenses
from DC solely to manufacture product Z and sell product Z to FP.
FP2 manufactures product Z in country Y and sells all of product Z
it manufactures to FP. During the taxable year, FP sold $80x of
product Z to DC2, which DC2 resold to customers located within the
United States. Also, during the taxable year, FP sold $120x of
product Z to customers located outside the United States.
(ii) Analysis--(A) End users. Under paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(1)
of this section, FP is not treated as the end user of the patent
covering the right to use the manufacturing process and the
manufacturing know-how used to implement the manufacturing method or
process because FP is a foreign related party with respect to DC.
Under paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(2) of this section, FP2 is also not
treated as the end user of the patent covering the right to use the
manufacturing process and the manufacturing know-how used to
implement the manufacturing method or process because FP2 is using
that intangible property to manufacture product Z for FP. DC2 is
also not treated as the end user of the patent covering the right to
use the manufacturing process and the manufacturing know-how used to
implement the manufacturing method or process because DC2 does not
use the patent or know-how in manufacturing. DC2, FP, and FP2 are
not the end users of the remaining intangible property under
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section because that intangible
property is used in the sale of general property (the sale of
product Z) and DC2, FP, and FP2 are not the end users of that
general property. The unrelated party customers that purchase the
Product Z from DC2 and FP are the end users (as defined in Sec.
1.250(b)-3(b)(2) and paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section) of the
intangible property because those customers are the persons that
ultimately use or consume product Z.
(B) Foreign use. Based on the sales of product Z to customers
located within and outside the United States, $72x of the royalties
FP pays DC for rights to the licensed intangible property during the
taxable year (($120x of revenue from sales to customers located
outside the United States divided by $200x total worldwide sales
revenue) x $120x total royalties) qualifies as income earned from
the sale of intangible property for a foreign use under paragraph
(d)(2) of this section and therefore such portion is a FDDEI sale.
As a result, $72x of royalties is included in DC's gross FDDEI for
the taxable year.
(8) Example 8: Deemed sale in exchange for contingent payments
under section 367(d)--(i) Facts. DC owns 100 percent of the stock of
FP, a foreign related party with respect to DC. FP manufactures and
sells product A. For the taxable year, DC contributes to FP
exclusive worldwide rights to patents, trademarks, know-how,
customer lists, and goodwill and going concern value (collectively,
intangible property) related to product A in an exchange described
in section 351. DC is required to report an annual income inclusion
on its Federal income tax return based on the productivity, use, or
disposition of the contributed intangible property under section
367(d). DC includes a percentage of FP's revenue in its gross income
under section 367(d) each year. In the current taxable year, FP
earns $1,000x of revenue from sales of product A. Based on reliable
sales records kept by FP for the taxable year, $300x of FP's revenue
is earned from sales of product A to customers within the United
States, and $700x of its revenue is earned from sales of product A
to customers outside the United States.
(ii) Analysis. DC's deemed sale of the intangible property to FP
in exchange for payments contingent upon the productivity, use, or
disposition of the intangible property related to product A under
section 367(d) is a sale for purposes of section 250 and this
section. See Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(16). Based on FP's sales records
for the taxable year, 70 percent of DC's deemed sale to FP is for a
foreign use, and 70 percent of DC's income inclusion under section
367(d) derived with respect to such portion is included in DC's
gross FDDEI for the taxable year.
(9) Example 9: License of intangible property followed by a sale
of general property in which the intangible property is embedded;
unrelated parties--(i) Facts. DC owns the worldwide rights to a
patent on a silicon chip used in computers, tablets, and
smartphones. The patent does not qualify as a manufacturing method
or process (as defined in paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(3) of this
section). DC licenses the worldwide rights to the patent to FP in
exchange for annual royalties of 30 percent of revenue from sales of
the silicon chips. During the taxable year, FP manufactures silicon
chips protected by the patent and sells all of those chips to FP2
for $1,000x. FP2 also purchases similar silicon chips from other
suppliers. FP2 uses the silicon chips in computers, tablets,
smartphones, and motherboards that FP2 manufactures in country X and
sells to its customers located within the United States and foreign
countries. For purposes of this
[[Page 43101]]
example, FP2's manufacturing qualifies as subjecting the silicon
chips to manufacture, assembly, or other processing outside the
United States as provided in paragraph (d)(1)(iii) of this section.
(ii) Analysis. FP is not the end user or treated as an end user
(as defined in Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(2) and paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of
this section) because FP is not the unrelated party recipient of the
general property in which the patent is embedded, and the patent
does not qualify as a manufacturing method or process. Under
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section, revenue from royalties paid
for the patent is earned from end users outside the United States to
the extent the sale of the general property is for a foreign use
under paragraph (d)(1) of this section. Because FP2 is subjecting
the silicon chips to manufacture, assembly, or other processing
outside the United States, the revenue from royalties FP pays to DC
qualifies for foreign use based on the location of FP2's
manufacturing and qualifies as a FDDEI sale. As a result, the entire
$300x of annual royalties paid by FP to DC during the taxable year
is included in DC's gross FDDEI for the taxable year.
(10) Example 10: License of intangible property followed by a
sale of general property in which the intangible property is
embedded; related parties--(i) Facts. The facts are the same as in
paragraph (d)(2)(iv)(B)(9)(i) of this section (the facts in Example
9), except that FP and FP2 are foreign related parties with respect
to DC. FP2 sells and ships computers, tablets, and smartphones it
manufactures with the silicon chips it purchases from FP to
unrelated party wholesalers located within and outside the United
States. The wholesalers within the United States only sell to
retailers located within the United States and the wholesalers
outside the United States only sell to retailers located outside the
United States. The retailers within the United States only sell to
customers located within the United States and the retailers located
outside the United States only sell to customers located outside the
United States. FP2 earns $15,000x of revenue from sales to unrelated
party wholesalers located outside the United States and $10,000x of
revenue from sales to unrelated party wholesalers located within the
United States. FP2 also sells and ships motherboards with the
silicon chips it purchases from FP to unrelated party manufacturers
located outside the United States. FP2 does not sell motherboards
with the silicon chips it purchases from FP to unrelated party
manufacturers located within the United States. FP2 earns $5,000x of
revenue from the sales of these motherboards to manufacturers
located outside the United States. For purposes of this example,
these manufacturers subject the motherboards to manufacture,
assembly, or other processing outside the United States as provided
in paragraph (d)(1)(iii) of this section.
(ii) Analysis. FP is not the end user or treated as an end user
(as defined in Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(2) and paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of
this section) of the intangible property because FP is not the end
user of the general property in which the patent is embedded (the
silicon chips). FP2 is also not the end user (as defined in Sec.
1.250(b)-3(b)(2) and paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section) of the
intangible property because FP2 is not the end user of the silicon
chips. Under paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section, the customers
of the retailers that purchase from the unrelated party wholesalers
are the end users. Because the wholesalers located outside the
United States only sell to retailers located outside the United
States that sell to end users located outside the United States, the
location of the wholesalers is a reliable basis for determining the
location of the end users. Revenue from royalties paid for the
patent is earned from end users outside the United States to the
extent the sale of the general property is for a foreign use under
paragraph (d)(1) of this section. A portion of the sales to the
unrelated party wholesalers qualify as foreign use under paragraph
(d)(1) of this section and the sales to the unrelated party
manufacturers qualify as foreign use under paragraph (d)(1)(iii) of
this section. Accordingly, revenue from royalties FP pays to DC is
from a FDDEI sale to the extent of such sales to the unrelated party
manufacturers and such potion of sales to unrelated party
wholesalers that qualify for foreign use. As a result, $200x of
annual royalties paid by FP to DC during the taxable year
((($15,000x of sales to wholesalers located outside the United
States plus $5,000x of sales to manufacturers located outside the
United States) divided by $30,000x total sales) x $300x) is included
in DC's gross FDDEI for the taxable year.
(11) Example 11: License of intangible property followed by a
sale of general property that incorporates the intangible property;
unrelated parties with manufacturing within the United States--(i)
Facts. The facts are the same as in paragraph (d)(2)(iv)(B)(9)(i) of
this section (the facts in Example 9), except that FP2 manufactures
its computers, tablets, smartphones, and motherboards in the United
States.
(ii) Analysis. FP is not the end user or treated as an end user
(as defined in Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(2) and paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of
this section) because FP is not the unrelated party recipient of the
general property in which the patent is embedded (the silicon chips)
and the patent does not qualify as a manufacturing method or
process. Under paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section, revenue from
royalties paid for the patent is earned from end users outside the
United States to the extent the sale of the general property is for
a foreign use under paragraph (d)(1) of this section. Because FP2 is
subjecting the silicon chips to manufacture, assembly, or other
processing within the United States, the revenue from royalties FP
pays to DC does not qualify as foreign use based on the location of
FP2's manufacturing and therefore does not qualify as a FDDEI sale.
As a result, none of the $300x of annual royalties paid by FP to DC
during the taxable year is included in DC's gross FDDEI for the
taxable year.
(12) Example 12: License of intangible property used to provide
a service--(i) Facts. DC licenses to FP worldwide rights to the
copyrights on movies in exchange for an annual royalty of $100x. FP
also licenses copyrights on movies from persons other than DC. FP
provides a streaming service that meets the definition of an
electronically supplied service in Sec. 1.250(b)-5(c)(5) to its
customers within the United States and foreign countries. FP's
streaming service provides its customers a catalog of movies to
choose to stream. These movies include the copyrighted movies FP
licenses from DC. FP does not provide DC with data showing how much
revenue FP earned from streaming services during the taxable year,
even after DC requests that FP provide it with such information. DC
also is unable to determine how much revenue FP earned from
streaming services to customers within the United States from the
data it has with respect to FP and publicly available data with
respect to FP. However, DC's economic analysis of the revenue DC
expected it could earn annually from use of the copyrights as part
of determining the annual payments DC would receive from FP from the
license of the copyrights supports a determination that $10,000x of
revenue would be earned during the taxable year from customers
worldwide, and that 40 percent of that revenue would be earned from
customers located outside the United States. During an examination
of DC's return for the taxable year, DC provides the IRS with data
explaining the economic analysis, inputs, and results from its
valuation of the copyrights used in determining the amount of annual
payments agreed to by DC and FP.
(ii) Analysis. Under paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(B) of this section,
FP's customers are the end users of the copyrights FP licenses from
DC because FP uses those copyrights to provide the general service
to FP's customers. Under paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(B) of this section,
revenue from royalties paid for the copyrights is earned from end
users outside the United States to the extent the service qualifies
as a FDDEI service under Sec. 1.250(b)-5. DC is allowed to use
reliable economic analysis to estimate revenue earned by FP from
streaming the licensed movies under paragraph (d)(2)(iii)(A) of this
section because DC was unable to obtain actual revenue earned by FP
from use of the copyrights during the taxable year after reasonable
efforts to obtain the actual revenue data. Based on DC's reliable
economic analysis, $40x of the annual royalty payment to DC (0.40 x
$100x total annual royalty payment) is included in DC's gross FDDEI
for the taxable year.
(13) Example 13: License of intangible property used to in
research and development of other intangible property--(i) Facts. DC
owns a patent (``patent A'') for an active pharmaceutical ingredient
(``API'') approved for treatment of disease A in the United States
and in foreign countries. DC licenses to FP worldwide rights to
patent A for an annual royalty of $100x. FP uses patent A in
research and development of a new API for treatment of disease B.
Patent A does not consist of a manufacturing method or process (as
defined in paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(3) of this section). FP's
research and development is successful, resulting in FP obtaining
both a patent for the new API for treatment of disease B and
approval for use in the United States and foreign countries. FP does
not earn any revenue from
[[Page 43102]]
sales of finished pharmaceutical products containing the API during
years 1 through 4 of the license of patent A. In year 5 of the
license of patent A, FP earns $800x of revenue from sales of
finished pharmaceutical products containing the API to customers
located within the United States and $200x of revenue from sales to
customers located in foreign countries.
(ii) Analysis. FP is not the end user (as defined in Sec.
1.250(b)-3(b)(2) and paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(D) of this section) of
patent A because FP is not the end user described in paragraph
(d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section of the product in which the API that
was developed from patent A is embedded. The unrelated party
customers that purchase the finished pharmaceutical product from FP
are the end users (as defined in Sec. 1.250(b)-3(b)(2) and
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(D) of this section) because those customers are
the end users described in paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section
of the pharmaceutical product in which the newly developed patent is
embedded. During the taxable years that include years 1 through 4 of
the license of patent A, FP earns no revenue from sales of the API
to a foreign person for a foreign use. Under paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(D)
of this section, none of the $100x annual royalty payments to DC for
each of the tax years that include years 1 through 4 of the license
of patent A is included in DC's gross FDDEI. Based on FP's sales of
the API during the tax year that includes year 5 of the license of
patent A, $20x of the annual royalty payment to DC ($200x of revenue
from sales of API to customers located outside the United States
divided by $1,000x total worldwide revenue earned from sales of the
API) x $100x annual royalty) is included in DC's gross FDDEI for the
taxable year.
(3) Foreign use substantiation for certain sales of property--(i)
In general. Except as provided in Sec. 1.250(b)-3(f)(3) (relating to
certain loss transactions), a sale of property described in paragraphs
(d)(1)(ii)(C) of this section (foreign use for sale of general property
for resale), (d)(1)(iii) of this section (foreign use for sale of
general property subject to manufacturing, assembly, or processing
outside the United States), or (d)(2) of this section (foreign use for
sale of intangible property) is a FDDEI transaction only if the
taxpayer satisfies the substantiation requirements described in
paragraphs (d)(3)(ii), (iii), or (iv) of this section, as applicable.
(ii) Substantiation of foreign use for resale. A seller satisfies
the substantiation requirements with respect to a sale of property
described in paragraph (d)(1)(ii)(C) of this section (sales of general
property for resale) only if the seller maintains one or more of the
following items--
(A) A binding contract that specifically limits subsequent sales to
sales outside the United States;
(B) Proof that property is specifically designed, labeled, or
adapted for a foreign market;
(C) Proof that the cost of shipping the property back to the United
States relative to the value of the property makes it impractical that
the property will be resold in the United States;
(D) Credible evidence obtained or created in the ordinary course of
business from the recipient evidencing that property will be sold to an
end user outside the United States (or, in the case of sales of
fungible mass property, stating what portion of the property will be
sold to end users outside the United States); or
(E) A written statement prepared by the seller containing the
information described in paragraphs (d)(3)(ii)(E)(1) through (7) of
this section corroborated by evidence that is credible and sufficient
to support the information provided.
(1) The name and address of the recipient;
(2) The date or dates the property was shipped or delivered to the
recipient;
(3) The amount of gross income from the sale;
(4) A full description of the property subject to resale;
(5) A description of the method of sales to the end users, such as
direct sales by the recipient or sales by the recipient to retail
stores;
(6) If known, a description of the end users; and
(7) A description of how the seller determined that property will
be ultimately sold to an end user outside the United States (or, in the
case of sales of fungible mass property, of how the taxpayer determined
what portion of the property that will ultimately be sold to end users
outside the United States).
(iii) Substantiation of foreign use for manufacturing, assembly, or
other processing outside the United States. A seller satisfies the
substantiation requirements with respect to a sale of property
described in paragraph (d)(1)(iii) of this section (sales of general
property subject to manufacturing, assembly, or other processing
outside the United States) if the seller maintains one or more of the
following items--
(A) Credible evidence that the property has been sold to a foreign
unrelated party that is a manufacturer and such property generally
cannot be sold to end users without being subject to a physical and
material change (for example, the sale of raw materials that cannot be
used except in a manufacturing process);
(B) Credible evidence obtained or created in the ordinary course of
business from the recipient to support that the product purchased will
be subject to manufacture, assembly, or other processing outside the
United States within the meaning of paragraph (d)(1)(iii) of this
section; or
(C) A written statement prepared by the seller containing the
information described in paragraphs (d)(3)(iii)(C)(1) through (7) of
this section corroborated by evidence that is credible and sufficient
to support the information provided.
(1) The name and address of the manufacturer of the property;
(2) The date or dates the property was shipped or delivered to the
recipient;
(3) The amount of gross income from the sale;
(4) A full description of the general property sold and the type or
types of finished goods that will incorporate the general property the
taxpayer sold;
(5) A description of the manufacturing, assembly, or other
processing operations, including the location or locations of
manufacture, assembly, or other processing; how the general property
will be used in the finished good; and the nature of the finished
good's manufacturing, assembly, or other processing operations as
compared to the process used to make the general property used to make
the finished good;
(6) A description of how the seller determined the general property
was substantially transformed or the activities were substantial in
nature within the meaning of paragraph (d)(1)(iii)(B) or (C) of this
section, whichever the case may be; and,
(7) If the seller is relying on the rule described in paragraph
(d)(1)(iii)(C) of this section (that the fair market value of the
general property be no more than twenty percent of the fair market
value when incorporated into the finished goods sold to end users), an
explanation of how the seller satisfies the requirements in that
paragraph.
(iv) Substantiation of foreign use of intangible property. A
taxpayer satisfies the substantiation requirements with respect to a
sale of property described in paragraph (d)(2) of this section (foreign
use for intangible property) if the seller maintains one or more of the
following items--
(A) A binding contract that specifically provides that the
intangible property can be exploited solely outside the United States;
(B) Credible evidence obtained or created in the ordinary course of
business from the recipient establishing the portion of its revenue for
a taxable year that was derived from exploiting the intangible property
outside the United States; or
(C) A written statement prepared by the seller containing the
information described in paragraphs (d)(3)(iv)(C)(1)
[[Page 43103]]
through (9) of this section corroborated by evidence that is credible
and sufficient to support the information provided.
(1) The name and address of the recipient;
(2) The date of the sale;
(3) The amount of gross income from the sale;
(4) A description of the intangible property;
(5) An explanation of how the intangible property will be used by
the recipient (embedded in general property, used to provide a service,
used as a manufacturing method or process, or used in research and
development);
(6) An explanation of how the seller determined what portion of the
sale is a FDDEI sale;
(7) If the intangible property consists of a manufacturing method
or process, an explanation of how the elements of paragraph
(d)(2)(ii)(C) of this section are satisfied;
(8) If the sale is for periodic payments, an explanation of how the
seller determined the extent of foreign use based on the actual revenue
earned by the recipient from the use of the intangible property for the
taxable year in which a periodic payment is received as required by
paragraph (d)(2)(iii)(A) of this section, or, if actual revenue cannot
be obtained after reasonable efforts, an explanation of why actual
revenue is unavailable and how the seller determined the extent of
foreign use based on estimated revenue; and
(9) If the sale is for a lump sum, an explanation of how the seller
determined the total net present value of revenue it expected to earn
from the exploitation of the intangible property outside the United
States and the total net present value of revenue it expected to earn
from the exploitation of the intangible property as required by
paragraph (d)(2)(iii)(B) of this section.
(v) Examples. The following examples illustrate the application of
this paragraph (d)(3).
(A) Assumed facts. The following facts are assumed for purposes of
the examples--
(1) DC is a domestic corporation.
(2) FP is a foreign person located within Country A that is a
foreign unrelated party with respect to DC.
(3) All of DC's income is DEI.
(4) Except as otherwise provided, the substantive rule for foreign
use as described in paragraphs (d)(1) and (2) of this section are
satisfied.
(B) Examples--
(1) Example 1: Substantiation by seller of sale of products to
distributor outside the United States with taxpayer statement and
corroborating evidence--(i) Facts. DC sells smartphones to FP, a
distributor of electronics that sells property to end users. As part
of their regular business process and pursuant to DC's terms and
conditions of sales, DC issues commercial invoices to FP that
contain a condition that any subsequent sales must be to end users
outside the United States. At or near the time of the FDII filing
date, DC prepares a statement containing the information required in
paragraph (d)(3)(ii)(E) of this section. During an examination of
DC's return for the taxable year, the IRS requests substantiation
information of foreign use. DC submits the commercial invoices
issued to FP as supporting information that FP's customers are end
users outside the United States and all other corroborating evidence
to the IRS.
(ii) Analysis. DC's sale to FP is a sale of general property for
resale subject to the substantiation requirements of paragraph
(d)(3)(ii) of this section. DC satisfies the substantiation
requirement by providing the statement that satisfies the
requirements of paragraph (d)(3)(ii)(E) of this section. The
commercial invoices issued pursuant to the terms and conditions of
sales sufficiently corroborate DC's statement that the smartphones
will ultimately be sold to end users outside of the United States.
(2) Example 2: Substantiation of sale of products to distributor
outside the United States with recipient provided information--(i)
Facts. DC sells cameras to FP, a distributor of electronics that
sells property to end users outside the United States. FP issues
sales invoices to its end users. The invoices contain detailed
information about the nature of the subsequent sales of the cameras
and the location of the end users for value added tax (VAT)
purposes. DC is able to obtain copies of FP's VAT invoices with
respect to the camera sales that were maintained and submitted
pursuant to Country A law. Rather than prepare a statement described
in paragraph (d)(3)(ii)(E) of this section, DC submits FP's invoices
to the IRS as substantiation of foreign use.
(ii) Analysis. DC's sale to FP is a sale of general property for
resale subject to the substantiation requirements of paragraph
(d)(3)(ii) of this section. DC satisfies the substantiation
requirements by providing the invoices that satisfy the requirements
of paragraph (d)(3)(ii)(D) of this section. The VAT invoices issued
by FP pursuant to Country A law constitute credible evidence from FP
that ultimate sales are to end users located outside the United
States.
(e) Sales of interests in a disregarded entity. Under Federal
income tax principles, the sale of any interest in an entity that is
disregarded for Federal income tax purposes is considered the sale of
the assets of that entity, and this section applies to the sale of each
such asset that is general property or intangible property for purposes
of determining whether such sale qualifies as a FDDEI sale.
(f) FDDEI sales hedging transactions--(1) In general. The amount of
a corporation's or partnership's gross FDDEI from FDDEI sales of
general property in a taxable year is increased by any gain, or
decreased by any loss, taken into account in that taxable year with
respect to any FDDEI sales hedging transactions (determined by taking
into account the applicable Federal income tax accounting rules,
including Sec. 1.446-4).
(2) FDDEI sales hedging transaction--The term FDDEI sales hedging
transaction means a transaction that meets the requirements of Sec.
1.1221-2(a) through (e) and that is identified in accordance with the
requirements of Sec. 1.1221-2(f), except that the transaction must
manage risk of price changes or currency fluctuations with respect to
ordinary property, as provided in Sec. 1.1221-2(b)(1), and the
ordinary property whose price risk is being hedged must be general
property that is sold in a FDDEI sale.
Sec. 1.250(b)-5 Foreign-derived deduction eligible income (FDDEI)
services.
(a) Scope. This section provides rules for determining whether a
provision of a service is a FDDEI service. Paragraph (b) of this
section defines a FDDEI service. Paragraph (c) of this section provides
definitions relevant for determining whether a provision of a service
is a FDDEI service. Paragraph (d) of this section provides rules for
determining whether a general service is provided to a consumer located
outside the United States. Paragraph (e) of this section provides rules
for determining whether a general service is provided to a business
recipient located outside the United States. Paragraph (f) of this
section provides rules for determining whether a proximate service is
provided to a recipient located outside the United States. Paragraph
(g) of this section provides rules for determining whether a service is
provided with respect to property located outside the United States.
Paragraph (h) of this section provides rules for determining whether a
transportation service is provided to a recipient, or with respect to
property, located outside the United States.
(b) Definition of FDDEI service. Except as provided in Sec.
1.250(b)-6(d), the term FDDEI service means a provision of a service
described in any one of paragraphs (b)(1) through (5) of this section.
If only a portion of a service is treated as provided to a person, or
with respect to property, outside the United States, the provision of
the service is a FDDEI service only to the extent of the gross income
derived with respect to such portion.
(1) The provision of a general service to a consumer located
outside the United States (as determined under paragraph (d) of this
section).
[[Page 43104]]
(2) The provision of a general service to a business recipient
located outside the United States (as determined under paragraph (e) of
this section).
(3) The provision of a proximate service to a recipient located
outside the United States (as determined under paragraph (f) of this
section).
(4) The provision of a property service with respect to tangible
property located outside the United States (as determined under
paragraph (g) of this section).
(5) The provision of a transportation service to a recipient, or
with respect to property, located outside the United States (as
determined under paragraph (h) of this section).
(c) Definitions. This paragraph (c) provides definitions that apply
for purposes of this section and Sec. 1.250(b)-6.
(1) Advertising service. The term advertising service means a
general service that consists primarily of transmitting or displaying
content (including via the internet) to consumers with a purpose to
generate revenue based on the promotion of a product or service.
(2) Benefit. The term benefit has the meaning set forth in Sec.
1.482-9(l)(3).
(3) Business recipient. The term business recipient means a
recipient other than a consumer and includes all related parties of the
recipient. However, if the recipient is a related party of the
taxpayer, the term does not include the taxpayer.
(4) Consumer. The term consumer means a recipient that is an
individual that purchases a general service for personal use.
(5) Electronically supplied service. The term electronically
supplied service means, with respect to a general service other than an
advertising service, a service that is delivered primarily over the
internet or an electronic network. Electronically supplied services
include the provision of access to digitized products (such as
streaming content without downloading the content); on-demand network
access to computing resources, such as networks, servers, storage, and
software; the provision or support of a business or personal presence
on a network (such as a website or a web page); services automatically
generated from a computer via the internet or other network in response
to data input by the recipient; the provision of information
electronically; and similar services.
(6) General service. The term general service means any service
other than a property service, proximate service, or transportation
service. The term general service includes advertising services and
electronically supplied services.
(7) Property service. The term property service means a service,
other than a transportation service, provided with respect to tangible
property, but only if substantially all of the service is performed at
the location of the property and results in physical manipulation of
the property such as through manufacturing, assembly, maintenance, or
repair. Substantially all of a service is performed at the location of
property only if the renderer spends more than 80 percent of the time
providing the service at or near the location of the property.
(8) Proximate service. The term proximate service means a service,
other than a property service or a transportation service, provided to
a consumer or business recipient, but only if substantially all of the
service is performed in the physical presence of the consumer or, in
the case of a business recipient, substantially all of the service is
performed in the physical presence of persons working for the business
recipient such as employees, contractors, or agents. Substantially all
of a service is performed in the physical presence of a consumer or
persons working for a business recipient only if the renderer spends
more than 80 percent of the time providing the service in the physical
presence of such persons.
(9) Transportation service. The term transportation service means a
service to transport a person or property using aircraft, railroad
rolling stock, vessel, motor vehicle, or any other mode of
transportation. Transportation services include freight forwarding and
similar services.
(d) General services provided to consumers--(1) In general. A
general service is provided to a consumer located outside the United
States if the consumer of a general service resides outside of the
United States when the service is provided. Except as provided in
paragraph (d)(2) of this section, if the renderer does not have or
cannot after reasonable efforts obtain the consumer's location of
residence when the service is provided, the consumer of a general
service is treated as residing at the location of the consumer's
billing address. However, the rule in the preceding sentence allowing
for the use of a consumer's billing address does not apply if the
renderer knows or has reason to know that the consumer does not reside
outside the United States. A renderer has reason to know that the
consumer does not reside outside the United States if the information
received as part of the provision of the service indicates that the
consumer resides in the United States and the renderer fails to obtain
evidence establishing that the consumer resides outside the United
States.
(2) Electronically supplied services. The consumer of an
electronically supplied service is deemed to reside at the location of
the device used to receive the service. Such location may be determined
based on the location of the IP address when the electronically
supplied service is provided. However, if the renderer does not have or
cannot after reasonable efforts obtain the consumer's device location,
then the location of the device is treated as being outside the United
States if the renderer's billing address for the consumer is outside of
the United States, subject to the knowledge and reason to know
standards described in paragraph (d)(1) of this section.
(3) Example. The following example illustrates the application of
paragraph (d) of this section.
(i) Facts. DC, a domestic corporation, provides a streaming
movie service on its website. The terms of the service allow
consumers to watch movies over the internet. The terms of the
service permit the consumer to view the movies for personal use, but
convey no ownership of movies to the consumers.
(ii) Analysis. The streaming service is a FDDEI service under
paragraph (d)(1) of this section to the extent that the service is
provided to consumers that reside outside the United States. The
service that DC provides is a general service, provided to consumers
that is an electronically supplied service under paragraph (c)(5) of
this section. Therefore, the consumers are deemed to reside at the
location of the devices used to receive the service under paragraph
(d)(2) of this section. However, if the renderer cannot reasonably
obtain the consumers' device location (such as IP addresses), the
device location is treated as being outside the United States if
their billing addresses are outside the United States. See Sec.
1.250(b)-4(d)(1)(v)(B)(7) for an example of digital content provided
to consumers as a sale rather than a service.
(e) General services provided to business recipients--(1) In
general. A general service is provided to a business recipient located
outside the United States to the extent that the service confers a
benefit on the business recipient's operations outside the United
States under the rules in paragraph (e)(2) of this section. The
location of residence, incorporation, or formation of a business
recipient is not relevant to determining the location of the business
recipient's operations that benefit from a general service.
(2) Determination of business operations that benefit from the
service--(i) In general. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph
(e)(2)(ii) and (iii) of this section, the
[[Page 43105]]
determination of which operations of the business recipient located
outside the United States benefit from a general service, and the
extent to which such operations benefit, is made under the principles
of Sec. 1.482-9 by treating the taxpayer as one controlled taxpayer,
the portions of the business recipient's operations within the United
States (if any) that may benefit from the general service as one or
more controlled taxpayers, and the portions of the business recipient's
operations outside the United States (if any) that may benefit from the
general service, each as one or more controlled taxpayers. The extent
to which a business recipient's operations within or outside of the
United States are treated as one or more separate controlled taxpayers
is determined under any reasonable method (for example, separate
controlled taxpayers may be determined on a per entity or per country
basis, or by aggregating all of the business recipient's operations
outside the United States as one controlled taxpayer). The
determination of the amount of the benefit conferred on the business
recipient's operations that are treated as controlled taxpayers is
determined under a reasonable method consistent with the principles of
Sec. 1.482-9(k), treating the renderer's gross income from the
services provided to the business recipient as if it were a ``cost'' as
that term is used in Sec. 1.482-9(k). Reasonable methods may include,
for example, allocations based on time spent or costs incurred by the
renderer or sales, profits, or assets of the business recipient. The
determination is made when the service is provided based on information
obtained from the business recipient or on the renderer's own records
(such as time spent working with the business recipient's offices
located outside the United States).
(ii) Advertising services. With respect to advertising services,
the operations of the business recipient that benefit from the
advertising service provided by the renderer are deemed to be located
where the advertisements are viewed by individuals. If advertising
services are displayed via the internet, the advertising services are
viewed at the location of the device on which the advertisements are
viewed. For this purpose, the IP address may be used to establish the
location of a device on which an advertisement is viewed.
(iii) Electronically supplied services. With respect to an
electronically supplied service, the operations of the business
recipient that benefit from that service provided by the renderer are
deemed to be located where the business recipient (including employees,
contractors, or agents) accesses the service. If it cannot be
determined whether the location is within or outside the United States
(such as where the location of access cannot be reliably determined
using the location of the IP address of the device used to receive the
service), and the gross receipts from all services with respect to the
business recipient are in the aggregate less than $50,000 for the
renderer's taxable year, the operations of the business recipient that
benefit from the service provided by the renderer are deemed to be
located at the recipient's billing address; otherwise, the operations
of the business recipient that benefit is deemed to be located in the
United States. If the renderer provides a service that is partially an
electronically supplied service and partially a general service that is
not an electronically supplied service (such as a service that is
performed partially online and partially by mail or in person), the
location of the business recipient is determined using the rule for
electronically supplied services in this paragraph (e)(2)(iii) if the
primary purpose of the service is to provide electronically supplied
services; otherwise, the rule for general services described in
paragraph (e)(2)(i) of this section applies.
(3) Identification of business recipient's operations--(i) In
general. For purposes of this paragraph (e), except with respect to
advertising services and electronically supplied services, a business
recipient is treated as having operations where it maintains an office
or other fixed place of business. In general, an office or other fixed
place of business is a fixed facility, that is, a place, site,
structure, or other similar facility, through which the business
recipient engages in a trade or business. For purposes of making the
determination in this paragraph (e)(3)(i), the renderer may make
reliable assumptions based on the information available to it.
(ii) Advertising services and electronically supplied services. The
location of a business recipient that receives advertising services or
electronically supplied services will be determined under the rules of
paragraph (e)(2)(ii) and (iii) of this section, respectively, even if
the business recipient does not maintain an office or other fixed place
of business in the locations where the advertisements are viewed (in
the case of advertising services) or where the general service is
accessed (in the case of electronically supplied services).
(iii) No office or fixed place of business. In the case of general
services other than advertising services and other than electronically
supplied services, if the business recipient does not have an
identifiable office or fixed place of business (including the office of
a principal manager or managing owner), the business recipient is
deemed to be located at its primary billing address.
(4) Substantiation of the location of a business recipient's
operations outside the United States. Except as provided in Sec.
1.250(b)-3(f)(3) (relating to certain loss transactions), a general
service provided to a business recipient is treated as a FDDEI service
only if the renderer substantiates its determination of the extent to
which the service benefits a business recipient's operations outside
the United States. A renderer satisfies the preceding sentence if the
renderer maintains one or more of the following items--
(i) Credible evidence obtained or created in the ordinary course of
business from the business recipient establishing the extent to which
operations of the business recipient outside the United States benefit
from the service; or
(ii) A written statement prepared by the renderer containing the
information described in paragraphs (e)(4)(ii)(A) through (F) of this
section corroborated by evidence that is credible and sufficient to
support the information provided.
(A) The name of the business recipient;
(B) The date or dates of the service;
(C) The amount of gross income from the service;
(D) A full description of the service;
(E) A description of how the service will benefit the business
recipient; and
(F) An explanation of how the renderer determined what portion of
the service will benefit the business recipient's operations located
outside the United States.
(5) Examples. The following examples illustrate the application of
this paragraph (e).
(i) Assumed facts. The following facts are assumed for purposes of
the examples--
(A) DC is a domestic corporation.
(B) A and R are not related parties of DC.
(C) Except as otherwise provided, the substantiation requirements
described in paragraph (e)(4) of this section are satisfied.
(ii) Examples--
(A) Example 1: Determination of business operations that benefit
from the service--(1) Facts. For the taxable year, DC provides a
consulting service to R, a company that operates restaurants within
and outside of
[[Page 43106]]
the United States, in exchange for $150x. Fifty percent of the sales
earned by R and its related parties are from customers located
outside of the United States. However, the consulting service that
DC provides relates specifically to a single chain of fast food
restaurants that R operates. Sales information that R provides to DC
indicates that 70 percent of the sales of the fast food restaurant
chain are from locations within the United States and 30 percent of
the sales are from Country X. DC determines that the use of sales is
a reasonable method under the principles of Sec. 1.482-9(k) to
allocate the benefit of the consulting service among R's fast food
operations.
(2) Analysis. Under paragraph (e)(1) of this section, DC's
service is provided to a person located outside the United States to
the extent that DC's service confers a benefit to R's operations
outside the United States. Under paragraph (e)(2)(i) of this
section, DC, R's fast food operations within the United States, and
R's fast food operations in Country X, are treated as if they were
controlled taxpayers because only these operations may benefit from
DC's service. The principles of Sec. 1.482-9(k) apply to determine
the amount of DC's service that benefits R's operations outside the
United States. DC's gross income is allocated based on the sales of
the fast food chain of restaurants that benefits from DC's service
because using sales is a reasonable method. Therefore, 30 percent of
the provision of the consulting service is treated as the provision
of a service to a person located outside the United States and a
FDDEI service under paragraph (b)(2) of this section. Accordingly,
$45x ($150x x 0.30) of DC's gross income from the provision of the
consulting service is included in DC's gross FDDEI for the taxable
year.
(B) Example 2: Determination of business operations that benefit
from the service; alternative facts--(1) Facts. The facts are the
same as in paragraph (e)(5)(ii)(A)(1) of this section (the facts in
Example 1), except that DC provides an information technology
service to R that benefits R's entire business. DC determines that
the use of sales is a reasonable method under the principles of
Sec. 1.482-9(k) to allocate the benefit of the information
technology service among R's entire business.
(2) Analysis. DC, R's operations within the United States, and
R's operations in Country X, are treated as if they were controlled
taxpayers because the service that DC provides relates to R's entire
business. DC's gross income is allocated based on sales of the
entire business because using sales is a reasonable method to
determine the amount of DC's service that benefits R's operations
outside the United States under the principles of Sec. 1.482-9(k).
Therefore, 50 percent of the provision of the information technology
service is treated as a service to a person located outside the
United States and a FDDEI service under paragraph (b)(2) of this
section. Accordingly, $75x ($150x x 0.50) of DC's gross income from
the provision of the information technology service is included in
DC's gross FDDEI for the taxable year.
(C) Example 3: Advertising services--(1) Facts. The facts are
the same as in paragraph (e)(5)(ii)(A)(1) of this section (the facts
in Example 1), except that DC provides an advertising service to R.
DC displays advertisements for R's restaurant chain on its social
media website and smartphone application. Based on the IP addresses
of the devices on which the advertisements are viewed, 20 percent of
the views of the advertisements were from devices located outside
the United States.
(2) Analysis. Because the service that DC provides is an
advertising service, under paragraph (e)(2)(i) of this section, as
modified by paragraph (e)(2)(ii) of this section, R's operations
that benefit from DC's advertising service are deemed to be where
the advertisements are viewed. Therefore, 20 percent of the
provision of the advertising service is treated as a service to a
person located outside the United States and a FDDEI service under
paragraph (b)(2) of this section. Accordingly, $30x ($150x x 0.20)
of DC's gross income from the provision of the advertising service
is included in DC's gross FDDEI for the taxable year.
(D) Example 4: No reliable information about which operations
benefit from the service or publicly available information--(1)
Facts. For the taxable year, DC provides a consulting service to R,
a business-facing company that does not advertise its business. All
of DC's interaction with R is through R's employees that report to
an office in the United States. Statements made by R's employees
indicate that the service will benefit R's business operations
located within and outside the United States, but do not provide
information that would allow DC to reliably determine the extent to
which its service will confer a benefit on R's business operations
located outside the United States.
(2) Analysis. DC is unable to determine the extent to which its
service will confer a benefit on R's business operations located
outside the United States under paragraph (e)(2)(i) of this section.
Accordingly, DC cannot substantiate a determination of the extent to
which the service benefits a business recipient's operations outside
the United States under paragraph (e)(4) of this section. Therefore,
no portion of DC's service is a FDDEI service.
(E) Example 5: Electronically supplied services that are
accessed by the business recipient's employees--(1) Facts. DC
provides payroll services for R. As part of this service, DC
maintains a website through which R can enter payroll information
for its employees and through which R's employees can enter and
change their personal information. DC also causes R's employees'
paychecks to be directly deposited into their bank accounts and pays
R's employment taxes on R's behalf. The primary purpose of the
service is to pay R's employees. R has 100 user accounts that access
DC's website. Sixty of the user accounts that access DC's website
access the website from devices that are located outside the United
States and forty of the user accounts access the website from
devices that are located inside the United States.
(2) Analysis. Under paragraph (e)(1) of this section, DC's
service is provided to a person located outside the United States to
the extent that DC's service confers a benefit to R's operations
outside the United States. The service that DC provides to R is an
electronically supplied service under paragraph (c)(5) of this
section. Accordingly, under paragraph (e)(2)(i) of this section, as
modified by paragraph (e)(2)(iii) of this section, R's operations
that benefit from DC's services are deemed to be located where R
accesses the service, which is where R's employees access the
website. See paragraph (e)(2)(iii) of this section. Accordingly, the
portion of the payroll service that is treated as a service to a
person located outside the United States and a FDDEI service under
paragraph (b)(2) of this section is determined based on the extent
to which the locations where R accesses the website are located
outside the United States. Because 60 percent (60/100) of user
accounts access DC's website from locations outside the United
States, 60 percent of the provision of the payroll service is
treated as a service to a person located outside the United States
and a FDDEI service under paragraph (b)(2) of this section.
(F) Example 6: Electronically supplied services that are
accessed by the business recipient's customers--(1) Facts. DC
maintains a website for R, a company that sells consumer goods
online. R's offices are in the United States, but R sells its
products to customers both within and outside the United States.
Based on the IP addresses of the devices on which the website is
accessed, 30 percent of the devices that accessed the website during
the taxable year were located outside the United States.
(2) Analysis. Under paragraph (e)(1) of this section, DC's
service is provided to a person located outside the United States to
the extent that DC's service confers a benefit to R's operations
outside the United States. The service that DC provides to R is an
electronically supplied service under paragraph (c)(5) of this
section. Accordingly, under paragraph (e)(2)(i) of this section, as
modified by paragraph (e)(2)(iii) of this section, R's operations
that benefit from DC's services are deemed to be located where the
service is accessed, which is where R's website is accessed in this
example. Therefore, 30 percent of the provision of the website
maintenance service is treated as a service to a person located
outside the United States and a FDDEI service under paragraph (b)(2)
of this section.
(G) Example 7: Service provided to a domestic person--(1) Facts.
A, a domestic corporation that operates solely in the United States,
enters into a services agreement with R, a company that operates
solely outside the United States. Under the agreement, A agrees to
perform a consulting service for R. A hires DC to provide a service
to A that A will use in the provision of a consulting service to R.
(2) Analysis. Because DC provides a service to A, a person
located within the United States, DC's provision of the service to A
is not a FDDEI service under paragraph (b)(2) of this section, even
though the service is used by A in providing a service to R, a
person located outside the United States. See also section
250(b)(5)(B)(ii). However, A's provision of the consulting service
to R may be a FDDEI service, in which case A's gross income from the
provision of such service would be included in A's gross FDDEI.
[[Page 43107]]
(f) Proximate services. A proximate service is provided to a
recipient located outside the United States if the proximate service is
performed outside the United States. In the case of a proximate service
performed partly within the United States and partly outside of the
United States, a proportionate amount of the service is treated as
provided to a recipient located outside the United States corresponding
to the portion of time the renderer spends providing the service
outside of the United States.
(g) Property services--(1) In general. Except as provided in
paragraph (g)(2) of this section, a property service is provided with
respect to tangible property located outside the United States only if
the property is located outside the United States for the duration of
the period the service is performed.
(2) Exception for services provided with respect to property
temporarily in the United States. A property service is deemed to be
provided with respect to tangible property located outside the United
States if the following conditions are satisfied--
(i) The property is temporarily in the United States for the
purpose of receiving the property service;
(ii) After the completion of the service, the property will be
primarily hangared, stored, or used outside the United States;
(iii) The property is not used to generate revenue in the United
States at any point during the duration of the service; and
(iv) The property is owned by a foreign person that resides or
primarily operates outside the United States.
(h) Transportation services. Except as provided in this paragraph
(h), a transportation service is provided to a recipient, or with
respect to property, located outside the United States only if both the
origin and the destination of the service are outside of the United
States. However, in the case of a transportation service provided to a
recipient, or with respect to property, where either the origin or the
destination of the service is outside of the United States, but not
both, then 50 percent of the gross income from the transportation
service is considered derived from services provided to a recipient, or
with respect to property, located outside the United States.
Sec. 1.250(b)-6 Related party transactions.
(a) Scope. This section provides rules for determining whether a
sale of property or a provision of a service to a related party is a
FDDEI transaction. Paragraph (b) of this section provides definitions
relevant for determining whether a sale of property or a provision of a
service to a related party is a FDDEI transaction. Paragraph (c) of
this section provides rules for determining whether a sale of general
property to a foreign related party is a FDDEI sale. Paragraph (d) of
this section provides rules for determining whether the provision of a
general service to a business recipient that is a related party is a
FDDEI service.
(b) Definitions. This paragraph (b) provides definitions that apply
for purposes of this section.
(1) Related party sale. The term related party sale means a sale of
general property to a foreign related party. See Sec. 1.250(b)-
1(e)(3)(ii)(D) (Example 4) for an illustration of a related party sale
in the case of a seller that is a partnership.
(2) Related party service. The term related party service means a
provision of a general service to a business recipient that is a
related party of the renderer and that is described in Sec. 1.250(b)-
5(b)(2) without regard to paragraph (d) of this section.
(3) Unrelated party transaction. The term unrelated party
transaction means, with respect to property purchased by a foreign
related party (the ``purchased property'') in a related party sale from
a seller--
(i) A sale of the purchased property by the foreign related party
in the ordinary course of its business to a foreign unrelated party
with respect to the seller;
(ii) A sale of property by the foreign related party to a foreign
unrelated party with respect to the seller, if the purchased property
is a constituent part of the property sold to the foreign unrelated
party;
(iii) A sale of property by the foreign related party to a foreign
unrelated party with respect to the seller, if the purchased property
is not a constituent part of the product sold to the foreign unrelated
party but rather is used in connection with producing the property sold
to the foreign unrelated party; or
(iv) A provision of a service by the foreign related party to a
foreign unrelated party with respect to the seller, if the purchased
property was used in connection with the provision of the service.
(c) Related party sales--(1) In general. A related party sale of
general property is a FDDEI sale only if the requirements described in
either paragraph (c)(1)(i) or (ii) of this section are satisfied with
respect to the related party sale. This paragraph (c) does not apply in
determining whether a sale of intangible property to a foreign related
party is a FDDEI sale.
(i) Sale of property in an unrelated party transaction. A related
party sale is a FDDEI sale if an unrelated party transaction described
in paragraph (b)(3)(i) or (ii) of this section occurs with respect to
the property purchased in the related party sale and such unrelated
party transaction is described in Sec. 1.250(b)-4(b) (definition of
FDDEI sale). The seller in the related party sale may establish that an
unrelated party transaction will occur with respect to the property, or
what portion of the property will be sold in an unrelated party
transaction in the case of sale of a fungible mass of general property,
based on contractual terms (including, for example, that the related
party is contractually bound to only sell the product to foreign
unrelated parties), past practices of the foreign related party (such
as practices to only sell products to foreign unrelated parties), a
showing that the product sold is designed specifically for a foreign
market, or books and records otherwise evidencing that sales will be
made to foreign unrelated parties.
(ii) Use of property in an unrelated party transaction. A related
party sale is a FDDEI sale if one or more unrelated party transactions
described in paragraph (b)(3)(iii) or (iv) of this section occurs with
respect to the property purchased in the related party sale and such
unrelated party transaction or transactions would be described in Sec.
1.250(b)-4(b) or Sec. 1.250(b)-5(b) (definition of FDDEI service). If
the property purchased in the related party sale will be used in
unrelated party transactions described in the preceding sentence and
other transactions, the amount of gross income from the related party
sale that is attributable to a FDDEI sale is equal to the gross income
from the related party sale multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of
which is the revenue that the related party reasonably expects (as of
the FDII filing date) to earn from all unrelated party transactions
with respect to the property purchased in the related party sale that
would be described in Sec. 1.250(b)-4(b) or Sec. 1.250(b)-5(b) and
the denominator of which is the total revenue that the related party
reasonably expects (as of the FDII filing date) to earn from all
transactions with respect to the property purchased in the related
party sale.
(2) Treatment of foreign related party as seller or renderer. For
purposes of determining whether a sale of property or provision of a
service by a foreign related party is, or would be, described in Sec.
1.250(b)-4(b) or Sec. 1.250(b)-5(b), the foreign related party that
sells the property or provides the service is
[[Page 43108]]
treated as a seller or renderer, as applicable, and the foreign
unrelated party is treated as the recipient.
(3) Transactions between related parties. For purposes of
determining whether an unrelated party sale has occurred and satisfies
the requirements of paragraphs (c)(1) or (2) of this section with
respect to a sale to a foreign related party (and not for purposes of
determining whether a sale is to a foreign person as required by Sec.
1.250(b)-4(b)), all related parties of the seller are treated as if
they are part of a single foreign related party. For purposes of the
preceding sentence, in determining whether a United States person is a
member of the seller's modified affiliated group, and therefore a
related party of the seller, the definition of the term modified
affiliated group in Sec. 1.250(b)-1(c)(17) applies without the
substitution of ``more than 50 percent'' for ``at least 80 percent''
each place it appears. Accordingly, if a foreign related party sells or
uses property purchased in a related party sale in a transaction with a
second related party of the seller, transactions between the second
related party and an unrelated party may be treated as an unrelated
party transaction for purposes of applying paragraph (c)(1) of this
section to a related party sale.
(4) Example. The following example illustrates the application of
this paragraph (c).
(i) Facts. DC, a domestic corporation, sells a machine to FC, a
foreign related party of DC in a transaction described in Sec.
1.250(b)-4(b) (without regard to this paragraph (c)). FC uses the
machine solely to manufacture product A. As of the FDII filing date
for the taxable year, 75 percent of future revenue from sales by FC
to unrelated parties of product A will be from sales that would be
described in Sec. 1.250(b)-4(b).
(ii) Analysis. The sale by DC to FC is a related party sale.
Because FC uses the machine to make product A, but the machine is
not a constituent part of product A because FC does not undertake
further manufacturing with respect to the machine itself, FC's sale
of product A is an unrelated party transaction described in
paragraph (b)(3)(iii) of this section. Therefore, DC's sale of the
machine is only a FDDEI sale if the requirements of paragraph
(c)(1)(ii) of this section are satisfied. Because 75 percent of the
revenue from future sales of product A will be from unrelated party
transactions that would be described in Sec. 1.250(b)-4(b), 75
percent of the revenues from DC's sale of the machine to FC
constitute FDDEI sales.
(d) Related party services--(1) In general. Except as provided in
this paragraph (d)(1), a related party service is a FDDEI service only
if the related party service is not substantially similar to a service
that has been provided or will be provided by the related party to a
person located within the United States. However, if a related party
service is substantially similar to a service provided (in whole or in
part) by the related party to a person located in the United States
solely by reason of paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of this section, the amount of
gross income from the related party service attributable to a FDDEI
service is equal to the difference between the gross income from the
related party service and the amount of the price paid by persons
located within the United States that is attributable to the related
party service. Section 250(b)(5)(C)(ii) and this paragraph (d)(1) apply
only to a general service provided to a related party that is a
business recipient and are not applicable with respect to any other
service provided to a related party.
(2) Substantially similar services. A related party service is
substantially similar to a service provided by the related party to a
person located within the United States only if the related party
service is used by the related party in whole or part to provide a
service to a person located within the United States and either--
(i) 60 percent or more of the benefits conferred by the related
party service are directly used by the related party to confer benefits
on consumers or business recipients located within the United States;
or
(ii) 60 percent or more of the price paid by consumers or business
recipients located within the United States for the service provided by
the related party is attributable to the related party service.
(3) Special rules. For purposes of paragraph (d) of this section,
the rules in paragraphs (d)(3)(i) and (ii) of this section apply.
(i) Rules for determining the location of and price paid by
recipients of a service provided by a related party. The location of a
consumer or business recipient with respect to services provided by the
related party is determined under Sec. 1.250(b)-5(d) and (e)(2),
respectively, but treating the related party as the renderer.
Accordingly, if the related party provides a service to a business
recipient, the related party is treated as conferring benefits on a
person located within the United States to the extent that the service
confers a benefit on the business recipient's operations located within
the United States. Similarly, for purposes of applying paragraph
(d)(2)(ii) of this section with respect to business recipients, the
price paid by a business recipient to the related party for services is
allocated proportionally based on the locations of the business
recipient that benefit from the services provided by the related party.
(ii) Rules for allocating the benefits provided by and price paid
to the renderer of a related party service. For purposes of applying
paragraph (d)(2)(i) of this section with respect to benefits that are
directly used by the related party to confer benefits on its
recipients, the benefits provided by the renderer to the related party
are allocated to the related party's consumers or business recipients
within the United States based on the proportion of benefits conferred
by the related party on consumers or business recipients located within
the United States. For purposes of determining the amount of the price
paid by persons located within the United States that is attributable
to the related party service in applying paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of this
section, if the related party provides services that confer benefits on
persons located within the United States and outside the United States,
the price paid for the related party service by the related party to
the renderer is allocated proportionally based on the benefits
conferred on each location by the related party to its recipients.
(4) Examples. The following examples illustrate the application of
this paragraph (d).
(i) Assumed facts. The following facts are assumed for purposes of
the examples--
(A) DC is a domestic corporation.
(B) FC is a foreign corporation and a foreign related party of DC
that operates solely outside the United States.
(C) The service DC provides to FC is a general service provided to
a business recipient located outside the United States as described in
Sec. 1.250(b)-5(b)(2) without regard to the application of paragraph
(d) of this section.
(D) The benefits conferred by DC's service to FC's customers are
not indirect or remote within the meaning of Sec. 1.482-9(l)(3)(ii).
(ii) Examples--
(A) Example 1: Services that are substantially similar services
under paragraph (d)(2)(i) of this section--(1) Facts. FC enters into
a services agreement with R, a company that operates restaurant
chains within and outside the United States. Under the agreement, FC
agrees to furnish a design for the renovation of a chain of
restaurants that R owns; the design will include architectural
plans. FC hires DC to provide an architectural service to FC that FC
will use in the provision of its design service to R. The
architectural service that DC provides to FC will serve no other
purpose than to enable FC to provide its service to R. The service
that FC provides will benefit only R's operations within the United
States. FC pays an arm's length price of $50x to DC for the
[[Page 43109]]
architectural service and DC recognizes $50x of gross income from
the service. FC incurs additional costs to add additional design
elements to the plans and charges R a total of $100x for its
service.
(2) Analysis. All of the service that DC provides to FC is
directly used in the provision of a service to R because FC uses
DC's architectural service to provide its design service to R, and
the architectural service that DC provides to FC will serve no
purpose other than to enable FC to provide its service to R. In
addition, FC is treated as conferring benefits only to persons
located within the United States under paragraph (d)(3)(i) of this
section because only R's operations within the United States benefit
from the service provided by FC that used the service provided by
DC. Therefore, the service provided by DC to FC is substantially
similar to the service provided by FC to R under paragraph (d)(2)(i)
of this section. Accordingly, DC's provision of the architectural
service to FC is not a FDDEI service under paragraph (d)(1) of this
section, and DC's gross income from the architectural service ($50x)
is not included in its gross FDDEI.
(B) Example 2: Services that are not substantially similar
services under paragraph (d)(2)(i) of this section--(1) Facts. The
facts are the same as paragraph (d)(4)(ii)(A)(1) of this section
(the facts in Example 1), except that 90 percent of R's operations
that will benefit from FC's service are located outside the United
States.
(2) Analysis--(i) Analysis under paragraph (d)(2)(i) of this
section. All of the service that DC provides to FC is directly used
in the provision of a service to R. However, because 90 percent of
R's operations that will benefit from FC's service are located
outside the United States under paragraph (d)(3)(i) of this section,
only 10 percent of the benefits of FC's service are conferred on
person's located within the United States. Further, because FC's
service confers a benefit on R's operations located within and
outside the United States, the benefit provided by DC to FC is
allocated proportionately based on the locations of R that benefit
from the services provided by FC under paragraph (d)(3)(ii) of this
section. Therefore, only 10 percent of DC's architectural service
are directly used by FC to confer benefits on persons located within
the United States under paragraph (d)(3)(ii) of this section.
Therefore, the architectural service provided by DC to FC is not
substantially similar to the design service provided by FC to
persons located within the United States under paragraph (d)(2)(i)
of this section.
(C) Example 3: Services that are substantially similar services
under paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of this section--(1) Facts. The facts are
the same as paragraph (d)(4)(ii)(B)(1) of this section (the facts in
Example 2), except that FC pays an arm's length price of $75x to DC
for the architectural service and DC recognizes $75x of gross income
from the service. As in paragraph (d)(4)(ii)(A)(1) and
(d)(4)(ii)(B)(1) of this section (the facts in Example 1 and Example
2), FC charges R a total of $100x for its service.
(2) Analysis--(i) Price paid by persons located within the
United States. Under paragraph (d)(3)(i) of this section, FC is
treated as conferring benefits on a person located within the United
States to the extent that R's operations that will benefit from FC's
service are located within the United States. Further, because FC's
service confers a benefit on R's operations located within and
outside the United States, the price paid by R to FC ($100x) is
allocated proportionately based on the locations of R that benefit
from the services provided by FC under paragraph (d)(3)(i) of this
section. Accordingly, because 10 percent of the R's operations that
will benefit from FC's services are located within the United
States, persons located within the United States are treated as
paying $10x ($100x x 0.10) for FC's services for purposes of
applying the test in paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of this section.
(ii) Amount attributable to the related party service. The
service that FC provides to R is attributable in part to DC's
service because FC uses the architectural plans that DC provides to
provide a service to R. Under paragraph (d)(3)(ii) of this section,
because the benefits of the service provided by FC are conferred on
persons located within the United States and outside the United
States, a proportionate amount (10 percent) of the price paid to DC
for the related party service ($75x), or $7.5x, is treated as
attributable to the services provided to persons located within the
United States.
(iii) Application of test in paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of this
section. For purposes of applying the test described in paragraph
(d)(2)(ii) of this section, the price paid by persons located within
the United States for the service provided by the related party (FC)
is $10x, as determined in paragraph (d)(4)(ii)(C)(2)(i) of this
section (the analysis of this Example 3). The amount of the price
that is attributable to DC's service is $7.5x, as determined in
paragraph (d)(4)(ii)(C)(2)(ii) of this section (the analysis of this
Example 3). Accordingly, of the price treated as paid to FC by
persons located within the United States, 75 percent ($7.5x/$10x) is
attributable to the related party service. Because more than 60
percent of the price treated as paid by persons within the United
States for FC's service is attributable to DC's service, the service
provided by DC to FC is substantially similar to the design service
provided by FC to persons located within the United States under
paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of this section.
(iv) Conclusion. Under paragraph (d)(1) of this section, because
the related party service provided by DC is substantially similar to
the service provided by FC to a person located in the United States
solely by reason of paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of this section, the
difference between DC's gross income from the related party service
and the amount of the price paid by persons located within the
United States that is attributable to the related party service is
treated as a FDDEI service. Accordingly, $67.5x ($75x--$7.5x) of
DC's gross income from the provision of the service to FC is treated
as a FDDEI service.
0
Par. 3. Section 1.861-8 is amended by revising the last sentence of
paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(C)(1) and adding paragraph (f)(1)(vi)(N) as
follows:
Sec. 1.861-8 Computation of taxable income from sources within the
United States and from other sources and activities.
* * * * *
(d) * * *
(2) * * *
(ii) * * *
(C) * * *
(1) * * * The term gross foreign-derived deduction eligible income,
or gross FDDEI, has the meaning provided in Sec. 1.250(b)-1(c)(16).
* * * * *
(f) * * *
(1) * * *
(vi) * * *
(N) Deduction eligible income and foreign-derived deduction
eligible income under section 250(b).
* * * * *
0
Par. 4. Section 1.962-1 is amended by:
0
1. Revising paragraph (a)(2).
0
2. Adding paragraphs (b)(1)(i)(A)(2) and (b)(1)(i)(B)(3).
0
3. Removing and reserving paragraph (b)(1)(ii).
0
4. Revising paragraphs (b)(2)(i) through (iii), (c), and (d)
The revisions and additions read as follows:
Sec. 1.962-1 Limitation of tax for individuals on amounts included
in gross income under section 951(a).
(a) * * *
(2) For purposes of applying sections 960(a) and 960(d) (relating
to foreign tax credit) such amounts shall be treated as if received by
a domestic corporation (as provided in paragraph (b)(2) of this
section).
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(1) * * *
(i) * * *
(A) * * *
(2) His GILTI inclusion amount (as defined in Sec. 1.951A-1(c)(1))
for the taxable year; plus
* * * * *
(B) * * *
(3) The portion of the deduction under section 250 and Sec.
1.250(a)-1 that would be allowed to a domestic corporation equal to the
percentage applicable to global intangible low-taxed income for the
taxable year under section 250(a)(1)(B) (including as modified by
section 250(a)(3)(B)) multiplied by the sum of the amount described in
paragraph (b)(1)(i)(A)(2) of this section and the amount described in
paragraph (b)(1)(i)(A)(3) of this section that is attributable to the
amount described in paragraph (b)(1)(i)(A)(2) of this section.
* * * * *
[[Page 43110]]
(2) * * *
(i) In general. Subject to the applicable limitation of section 904
and to the provisions of this paragraph (b)(2), there shall be allowed
as a credit against the United States tax on the amounts described in
paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section the foreign income, war profits,
and excess profits taxes deemed paid under section 960(a) or section
960(d) by the electing United States shareholder with respect to such
amounts.
(ii) Application of sections 960(a) and 960(d). In applying
sections 960(a) and 960(d) for purposes of this paragraph (b)(2) in the
case of an electing United States shareholder, the term ``domestic
corporation'' as used in sections 960(a), 960(d), and 78, and the term
``corporation'' as used in sections 901 and 960(d)(2)(A) and (B), are
treated as referring to such shareholder with respect to the amounts
described in paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section.
(iii) Carryback and carryover of excess tax deemed paid. For
purposes of this paragraph (b)(2), other than with respect to section
951A category income (as defined in Sec. 1.904-4(g)) (including
section 951A category income that is reassigned to a separate category
for income resourced under a treaty), any amount by which the foreign
income, war profits, and excess profits taxes deemed paid by the
electing United States shareholder for any taxable year under section
960 exceed the limitation determined under paragraph (b)(2)(iv)(A) of
this section is treated as a carryback and carryover of excess tax paid
under section 904(c), except that in no case will excess tax paid be
deemed paid in another taxable year under section 904(c) if an election
under section 962 by the shareholder does not apply for such taxable
year. Such carrybacks and carryovers are applied only against the
United States tax on amounts described in paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this
section.
* * * * *
(c) Example. The application of this section may be illustrated by
the following example.
(1) Facts--(i) Individual A is a U.S. resident who owns all of
the shares of the one class of stock in CFC, a controlled foreign
corporation. A and CFC each use the calendar year as their U.S. and
foreign taxable years and the U.S. dollar as their functional
currency. A owns no direct or indirect interest in any other
controlled foreign corporation.
(ii) For the 2019 taxable year, CFC has $6,000,000 of pre-
foreign tax earnings with respect to which it accrues and pays
$1,000,000 of foreign income tax, leaving $5,000,000 of after-tax
net income. Of this amount, $3,000,000 is general category tested
income as defined in section 951A(c)(2), and $2,000,000 is passive
category subpart F income described in sections 952 and 904(d)(1)(C)
that is all in a single subpart F income group under Sec. Sec.
1.954-1(c)(1)(iii) and 1.960-1(d)(2)(ii)(B)(2)(i). Of the $1,000,000
of foreign income taxes paid or accrued by CFC, $600,000 is
allocated and apportioned to its general category tested income
group and $400,000 is allocated and apportioned to its passive
category subpart F income group under Sec. 1.960-1(d)(3)(ii).
(iii) For the 2019 taxable year, A includes under section
951A(a) all $3,000,000 of the tested income of CFC as A's GILTI
inclusion amount, as defined in Sec. 1.951A-1(c)(1). In addition, A
includes under section 951(a)(1) the $2,000,000 of passive category
subpart F income of CFC.
(iv) For the 2019 taxable year, A earns $1,000,000 of foreign
source passive category gross income and $3,000,000 of U.S. source
gross income. A pays $100,000 of foreign withholding taxes with
respect to the $1,000,000 of foreign source passive category gross
income. A incurs $1,000,000 of deductible expenses for the 2019
taxable year that are definitely related to all of A's gross income
and are properly allocated and apportioned under Sec. Sec. 1.861-
8(b)(5) and 1.861-8T(c)(1) among the section 904 statutory and
residual groupings on the basis of the relative amounts of gross
income in each grouping.
(v) A elects to apply section 962 and chooses to claim credits
under section 901 for the 2019 taxable year.
(2) Analysis with respect to section 962 taxable income--(i)
Section 962(a)(1) and Sec. 1.962-1(a)(1) provide that when an
individual United States shareholder elects to apply section 962 for
a taxable year, the U.S. tax imposed with respect to amounts that
the individual includes under section 951(a) (the ``section 951(a)
inclusions'') equals the tax that would be imposed under section 11
if the amounts were included by a domestic corporation under section
951(a). For purposes of section 962, an amount included under
section 951A is treated as an inclusion under section 951(a). See
section 951A(f)(1)(A). Therefore, A has total section 951(a)
inclusions of $5,000,000: a $2,000,000 passive category subpart F
inclusion and a $3,000,000 GILTI inclusion amount. A is taxed at the
corporate rates under section 11 with respect to these inclusions.
(ii) Section 962(a)(2), Sec. 1.962-1(a)(2), and Sec. 1.962-
1(b)(2) provide that sections 960(a) and 960(d) apply to the section
951(a) inclusions of an electing individual United States
shareholder as though the inclusions were received by a domestic
corporation, and the electing individual United States shareholder
is allowed a credit against the U.S. tax imposed with respect to the
section 951(a) inclusions.
(iii) Section 960(a) deems a domestic corporation that is a
United States shareholder of a controlled foreign corporation to pay
the foreign income taxes paid or accrued by the foreign corporation
that are properly attributable to the foreign corporation's items of
income included in the domestic corporation's income under section
951(a). The foreign income taxes of a CFC that are properly
attributable to such items are the domestic corporation's
proportionate share of the taxes that are allocated and apportioned
to the relevant subpart F income group. See Sec. 1.960-1(c) and
Sec. 1.960-2(b). A owns 100 percent of CFC, and includes all of its
subpart F income, which is in a single subpart F income group.
Therefore, all of the $400,000 of foreign income taxes that are
allocable to CFC's subpart F income are properly attributable to the
section 951(a) inclusion of A, and A is deemed to pay these taxes.
(iv) Section 960(d) provides that a domestic corporation that
has an inclusion in income under section 951A is deemed to pay an
amount of foreign income taxes equal to 80 percent of the product of
the domestic corporation's inclusion percentage multiplied by the
sum of all tested foreign income taxes. Tested foreign income taxes
are the foreign income taxes of a controlled foreign corporation
that are properly attributable to its tested income that the
domestic corporation takes into account under section 951A. The
foreign income taxes that are properly attributable to the tested
income taken into account by a domestic corporation are the domestic
corporation's proportionate share of the controlled foreign
corporation's foreign income taxes that are allocated and
apportioned to the relevant tested income. See Sec. 1.960-1(c) and
Sec. 1.960-2(c). Because A owns 100% of CFC and takes all
$3,000,000 of CFC's tested income into account in computing A's
GILTI inclusion amount, all $600,000 of the foreign income taxes
that are allocated and apportioned to the general category tested
income group of CFC are tested foreign income taxes. A has an
inclusion percentage of 100 percent because A's GILTI inclusion
amount equals all of A's share of the tested income of CFC. A is
therefore deemed to pay under section 960(d) 80 percent of the
$600,000 of tested foreign income taxes of CFC, or $480,000 of the
tested foreign income taxes.
(v) Section 1.962-1(b)(1)(i)(A) provides that, for purposes of
computing taxable income under section 962, gross income includes
amounts that would be included under section 78 if the shareholder
with the section 951(a) inclusions were a domestic corporation.
Section 78 requires a domestic corporation to include in its gross
income the foreign income taxes that it is deemed to pay under
section 960, computed without regard to the 80 percent limitation
under section 960(d), and to which the benefits of section 901
apply. See section 78. A therefore includes in gross income the
$600,000 of foreign income taxes that A is deemed to pay under
section 960(d), computed without regard to the 80 percent
limitation, and the $400,000 of taxes that A is deemed to pay under
section 960(a).
(vi) Section 1.962-1(b)(1)(i)(B)(3) provides that, for purposes
of computing taxable income under section 962, gross income is
reduced only by specified deductions, which include the deduction
allowed to a domestic corporation under section 250 and Sec.
1.250(a)-1 equal to 50 percent of the sum of the GILTI inclusion
amount and the
[[Page 43111]]
inclusion under section 78 with respect to the GILTI inclusion
amount. See section 250(a). A is therefore allowed a deduction under
section 250 equal to 50 percent of $3,600,000 (the $3,000,000 GILTI
inclusion amount plus the $600,000 inclusion under section 78), or
$1,800,000.
(vii) A's taxable income and pre-credit U.S. tax liability with
respect to the section 951(a) inclusions are computed as follows:
Table 1 to Paragraph (c)(2)(vii)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Section 951(a) inclusions with respect to CFC........... $5,000,000
Section 78 inclusions................................... 1,000,000
Deduction under section 250............................. (1,800,000)
Taxable income under section 962........................ 4,200,000
Pre-credit U.S. tax (0.21 x $4,200,000)................. 882,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(viii) Section 962 and Sec. 1.962-1(b)(2) provide that, in
computing the section 904 limitation on the credit for foreign
income taxes that an electing individual United States shareholder
is deemed to pay under sections 960(a) and (d), the individual's
taxable income for a taxable year is considered to consist only of
section 951(a) inclusions and the deductions allowed under section
962. Section 904 limits the credit that a taxpayer may claim for the
taxes that it pays or accrues, or is deemed to pay, to the amount of
its U.S. tax that is attributable to the taxpayer's foreign source
income, and applies this limitation separately with respect to each
separate category of income. The limitation amount is computed by
multiplying the taxpayer's total pre-credit U.S. tax by the ratio of
the taxpayer's foreign source taxable income in a separate category
for the taxable year to the taxpayer's total taxable income for the
taxable year. See section 904(a) and Sec. 1.904-1(a).
(ix) A must compute the limitation on the credit for the foreign
income taxes deemed paid under section 960(d) separately with
respect to A's taxable income in the separate category described in
section 904(d)(1)(A) (the ``GILTI category''), namely, taxable
income attributable to the GILTI inclusion amount. The limitation is
computed using only A's 2019 taxable income under section 962 and
the pre-credit U.S. tax of $882,000 on this income. A therefore
computes the limitation by multiplying $882,000 by the ratio of A's
foreign source GILTI category taxable income under section 962 to
A's total taxable income under section 962, as follows:
Table 2 to Paragraph (c)(2)(ix)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GILTI inclusion amount.................................. $3,000,000
Section 78 inclusion.................................... $600,000
Section 250 deduction................................... ($1,800,000)
Total GILTI category taxable income under section 962... $1,800,000
Ratio of GILTI category taxable income to total taxable 42.86%
income under section 962 (1,800,000/$4,200,000)........
Limitation amount (pre-credit U.S. tax of $882,000 x $378,000
($1,800,000/$4,200,000))...............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(x) A also must compute the limitation on the credit for the
foreign income taxes deemed paid under section 960(a) separately
with respect to the foreign source passive category taxable income
under section 962, namely, A's taxable income attributable to the
subpart F inclusion. A computes the limitation by multiplying A's
pre-credit U.S. tax of $882,000 by the ratio of A's foreign source
passive category taxable income under section 962 to A's total
taxable income under section 962, as follows:
Table 3 to Paragraph (c)(2)(x)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subpart F inclusion..................................... $2,000,000
Section 78 inclusion.................................... $400,000
Total foreign source passive category taxable income.... $2,400,000
Ratio of foreign source passive category taxable income 57.14%
to total taxable income under section 962 ($2,400,000/
$4,200,000)............................................
Limitation amount (pre-credit U.S. tax of $882,000 x $504,000
($2,400,000/$4,200,000))...............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(xi) A may claim a foreign tax credit for $378,000 of the
$480,000 of foreign income taxes deemed paid under section 960(d),
and a foreign tax credit for all $400,000 of the foreign income
taxes deemed paid under section 960(a), for a total foreign tax
credit of $778,000. The U.S. tax on A's 2019 taxable income with
respect to CFC under section 962 is reduced from $882,000 to
$104,000 ($882,000 minus $778,000).
(3) Analysis with respect to other income--(i) A's taxable
income and pre-credit U.S. tax liability with respect to A's other
income is computed as follows:
Table 4 to Paragraph (c)(3)(i)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross income............................................ $4,000,000
Deductions.............................................. 1,000,000
Taxable Income.......................................... 3,000,000
Pre-credit U.S. tax computed under section 1(j)......... 1,074,988
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(ii) A must compute a separate limitation on the credit for the
foreign withholding taxes paid with respect to A's other foreign
source passive category taxable income. Under Sec. 1.962-
1(b)(2)(iv)(B), A's section 904 limitation on this income is
computed on the basis of A's taxable income other than the amounts
taken into account under Sec. 1.962-1(b)(1)(i). Accordingly,
$250,000 of A's deductions ($1,000,000 x $1,000,000/$4,000,000) are
apportioned to A's $1,000,000 of other foreign source passive
category gross income, and $750,000 of deductions ($1,000,000 x
$3,000,000/$4,000,000) are apportioned to A's $3,000,000 of U.S.
source gross income, resulting in $750,000 of other foreign source
passive category taxable income and $2,250,000 of U.S. source
taxable income A computes the limitation by multiplying A's pre-
credit U.S. tax on A's other income of
[[Page 43112]]
$1,074,988 by the ratio of A's other foreign source passive category
taxable income to A's other total taxable income, as follows:
Table 5 to Paragraph (c)(3)(ii)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total other foreign source passive category taxable $750,000
income.................................................
Ratio of other foreign source passive category taxable 25%
income to total other taxable income ($750,000/
$3,000,000)............................................
Limitation amount (pre-credit U.S. tax of $1,074,988 x $268,747
($750,000/$3,000,000)).................................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(iii) A may claim a foreign tax credit under section 901 for all
$100,000 of the foreign withholding taxes on the other passive
income. The U.S. tax on A's $3,000,000 of other taxable income is
reduced from $1,074,988 to $974,988 ($1,074,88 minus $100,000).
(d) Applicability dates. Except as otherwise provided in this
paragraph (d), paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section applies beginning
the last taxable year of a foreign corporation that begins before
January 1, 2018, and with respect to a United States person, for the
taxable year in which or with which such taxable year of the foreign
corporation ends. Paragraphs (b)(1)(i)(A)(2) and (b)(1)(i)(B)(3) of
this section apply to taxable years of a foreign corporation that end
on or after March 4, 2019, and with respect to a United States person,
for the taxable year in which or with which such taxable year of the
foreign corporation ends. Paragraphs (a)(2), (b)(1)(ii), (b)(2)(i)
through (iii), and (c) of this section apply to taxable years of a
foreign corporation that end on or after July 15, 2020, and with
respect to a United States person, for the taxable year in which or
with which such taxable year of the foreign corporation ends. For
taxable years that precede the applicability dates described in the
preceding two sentences, taxpayers may choose to apply the provisions
of paragraphs (a)(2), (b)(1)(i)(A)(2), (b)(1)(i)(B)(3), (b)(1)(ii),
(b)(2)(i) through (iii), and (c) of this section for taxable years of a
foreign corporation beginning on or after January 1, 2018, and with
respect to a United States person, for the taxable year in which or
with which such taxable year of the foreign corporation ends.
0
Par. 5. Section 1.1502-12 is amended by adding paragraph (t) to read as
follows:
Sec. 1.1502-12 Separate taxable income.
* * * * *
(t) See Sec. 1.1502-50 for rules relating to the computation of a
member's deduction under section 250.
* * * * *
0
Par. 6. Section 1.1502-13 is amended by:
0
1. In paragraph (a)(6)(ii), under the heading ``Matching rule. (Sec.
1.1502-13(c)(7)(ii))'', designating Examples 1 through 17 as entries
(A) through (Q).
0
2. In paragraph (a)(6)(ii), under the heading ``Matching rule. (Sec.
1.1502-13(c)(7)(ii))'', adding entry (R).
0
3. In paragraph (c)(7)(ii), Examples 1 through 17 are designated as
paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(A) through (Q), respectively.
0
4. Redesignating newly designated paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(A)(a) through
(i) as paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(A)(1) through (9).
0
5. Redesignating newly designated paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(B)(a) and (b)
as paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(B)(1) and (2).
0
6. Redesignating newly designated paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(C)(a) through
(d) as paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(C)(1) through (4).
0
7. Redesignating newly designated paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(D)(a) through
(e) as paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(D)(1) through (5).
0
8. Redesignating newly designated paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(E)(a) through
(f) as paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(E)(1) through (6).
0
9. Redesignating newly designated paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(F)(a) through
(d) as paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(F)(1) through (4).
0
10. Redesignating newly designated paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(G)(a) through
(d) as paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(G)(1) through (4).
0
11. Redesignating newly designated paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(I)(a) through
(e) as paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(I)(1) through (5).
0
12. Redesignating newly designated paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(J)(a) through
(d) as paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(J)(1) through (4).
0
13. Redesignating newly designated paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(K)(a) through
(d) as paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(K)(1) through (4).
0
14. Redesignating newly designated paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(L)(a) and (b)
as paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(L)(1) and (2).
0
15. Redesignating newly designated paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(N)(a) through
(c) as paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(N)(1) through (3).
0
16. Redesignating newly designated paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(O)(a) through
(d) as paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(O)(1) through (4).
0
17. Redesignating newly designated paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(P)(a) and (b)
as paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(P)(1) and (2).
0
18. Redesignating newly designated paragraphs (c)(7)(ii)(Q)(a) through
(c) as paragraphs (c)(7)(Q)(1) through (3).
0
19. In the table in this paragraph, for each newly redesignated
paragraph listed in the ``Paragraph'' column, remove the text indicated
in the ``Remove'' column and add in its place the text indicated in the
``Add'' column:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paragraph Remove Add
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(c)(7)(ii)(A)(5)............. paragraph (a) of Example 1 in paragraph
this Example 1. (c)(7)(ii)(A)(1) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(A)(5)............. paragraphs (c) Example 1 in
and (d) of this paragraphs
Example 1. (c)(7)(ii)(A)(3) and
(4) of this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(A)(6)............. paragraph (a) of Example 1 in paragraph
this Example 1. (c)(7)(ii)(A)(1) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(A)(7)............. paragraph (a) of Example 1 in paragraph
this Example 1. (c)(7)(ii)(A)(1) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(A)(8)............. paragraph (a) of Example 1 in paragraph
this Example 1. (c)(7)(ii)(A)(1) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(A)(9)............. paragraph (a) of Example 1 in paragraph
this Example 1. (c)(7)(ii)(A)(1) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(C)(3)............. paragraph (a) of Example 3 in paragraph
this Example 3. (c)(7)(ii)(C)(1) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(C)(4)............. paragraph (c) of Example 3 in paragraph
this Example 3. (c)(7)(ii)(C)(3) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(C)(4)............. paragraph (b) of Example 3 in paragraph
this Example 3. (c)(7)(ii)(C)(2) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(D)(5)............. paragraph (a) of Example 4 in paragraph
this Example 4. (c)(7)(ii)(D)(1) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(D)(5)............. paragraphs (c) Example 4 in
and (d) of this paragraphs
Example 4. (c)(7)(ii)(D)(3) and
(4) of this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(E)(3)............. paragraph (a) of Example 5 in paragraph
this Example 5. (c)(7)(ii)(E)(1) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(E)(4)............. paragraph (a) of Example 5 in paragraph
this Example 5. (c)(7)(ii)(E)(1) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(E)(5)............. paragraph (a) of Example 5 in paragraph
this Example 5. (c)(7)(ii)(E)(1) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(E)(6)............. paragraph (a) of Example 5 in paragraph
this Example 5. (c)(7)(ii)(E)(1) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(F)(3)............. paragraph (a) of Example 6 in paragraph
this Example 6. (c)(7)(ii)(F)(1) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(F)(4)............. paragraph (a) of Example 6 in paragraph
this Example 6. (c)(7)(ii)(F)(1) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(G)(4)............. paragraph (a) of Example 7 in paragraph
this Example 7. (c)(7)(ii)(G)(1) of
this section.
[[Page 43113]]
(c)(7)(ii)(G)(4)............. paragraph (c) of Example 7 in paragraph
this Example 7. (c)(7)(ii)(G)(3) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(I)(3)............. paragraph (a) of Example 9 in paragraph
this Example 9. (c)(7)(ii)(I)(1) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(I)(4)............. paragraph (a) of Example 9 in paragraph
this Example 9. (c)(7)(ii)(I)(1) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(I)(5)............. paragraph (d) of Example 9 in paragraph
this Example 9. (c)(7)(ii)(I)(4) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(J)(3)............. paragraph (a) of Example 10 in
this Example 10. paragraph
(c)(7)(ii)(J)(1) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(J)(4)............. paragraph (a) of Example 10 in
this Example 10. paragraph
(c)(7)(ii)(J)(1) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(K)(4)............. paragraph (a) of Example 11 in
this Example 11. paragraph
(c)(7)(ii)(K)(1) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(N)(2)............. paragraph (a) of Example 14 in
this Example 14. paragraph
(c)(7)(ii)(N)(1) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(O)(4)............. paragraph (a) of Example 15 in
this Example 15. paragraph
(c)(7)(ii)(O)(1) of
this section.
(c)(7)(ii)(Q)(1)............. Example 16....... Example 16 in
paragraph
(c)(7)(ii)(P) of this
section.
(c)(7)(ii)(Q)(2)............. paragraph (f)(7), Example 2 in paragraph
Example 2 of (f)(7) of this
this section. section.
(c)(7)(iii)(A)............... Paragraphs Paragraphs
(c)(6)(ii)(C), (c)(6)(ii)(C) and (D)
(c)(6)(ii)(D), of this section,
and (c)(7)(ii), Example 16 in
Examples 16 and paragraph
17 of this (c)(7)(ii)(P) of this
section. section, and Example
17 in paragraph
(c)(7)(ii)(Q) of this
section.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0
20. Adding paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(R).
The additions read as follows:
Sec. 1.1502-13 Intercompany transactions.
(a) * * *
(6) * * *
(ii) * * *
Matching rule. (Sec. 1.1502-13(c)(7)(ii))
* * * * *
(R) Example 18. Redetermination of attributes for section 250
purposes.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(7) * * *
(ii) * * *
(R) Example 18: Redetermination of attributes for section 250
purposes--(1) Facts. S manufactures equipment in the United States
and recognizes $75 of gross income included in gross DEI (as defined
in Sec. 1.250(b)-1(c)(15)) on the sale of Asset, which is not
depreciable property, to B in Year 1 for $100. In Year 2, B sells
Asset to X for $125 and recognizes $25 of gross income. The sale is
a FDDEI sale (as defined in Sec. 1.250(b)-1(c)(8)), and thus the
$25 of income is included in B's gross FDDEI (as defined in Sec.
1.250(b)-1(c)(16)) for Year 2.
(2) Timing and attributes. S's $75 of intercompany income is
taken into account in Year 2 under the matching rule to reflect the
$75 difference between B's $25 corresponding item taken into account
(based on B's $100 cost basis in Asset) and the recomputed
corresponding item (based on the $25 basis that B would have if S
and B were divisions of a single corporation and B's basis were
determined by reference to S's basis). In determining whether S's
gross income included in gross DEI from the sale of Asset is
included in gross FDDEI, S and B are treated as divisions of a
single corporation. See paragraph (a)(6) of this section. In
determining the amount of income included in gross DEI that is
included in gross FDDEI, the attributes of S's intercompany item and
B's corresponding item may be redetermined to the extent necessary
to produce the same effect on consolidated taxable income (and
consolidated tax liability) as if S and B were divisions of a single
corporation. See paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section. Applying
section 250 and Sec. 1.1502-50 on a single entity basis, all $100
of income included in gross DEI would be gross FDDEI. On a separate
entity basis, S would have $75 of gross income included in gross DEI
that is included in gross RDEI (as defined in Sec. 1.250(b)-
1(c)(14)) and B would have $25 of gross income included in gross DEI
that is included in gross FDDEI. Thus, on a separate entity basis, S
and B would have, in the aggregate, $100 of gross income included in
gross DEI, of which only $25 is included gross FDDEI. Accordingly,
under single entity treatment, $75 that would be treated as gross
income included in gross DEI that is included in gross RDEI on a
separate entity basis is redetermined to be included in gross FDDEI.
(3) Intercompany sale for loss. The facts are the same as in
paragraph (c)(7)(ii)(R)(1) of this section (the facts in Example
18), except that S recognizes $25 of loss on the sale of Asset. S's
$25 of intercompany loss is taken into account under the matching
rule to reflect the $25 difference between B's $25 corresponding
item taken into account (based on B's $100 cost basis in Asset) and
the recomputed corresponding item (based on the $125 basis that B
would have if S and B were divisions of a single corporation and B's
basis were determined by reference to S's $125 of costs). Applying
section 250 and Sec. 1.1502-50 on a single entity basis, $0 of
income would be included in gross DEI. In order to reflect this
result, under the matching rule, S's $25 loss is allocated and
apportioned solely to B's $25 of gross income from the sale of Asset
for purposes of determining B's DEI and FDDEI. Furthermore, B's $25
of gross income is not taken into account for purposes of
apportioning any other deductions under section 861 and the
regulations under that section for purposes of determining any
member's DEI or FDDEI.
* * * * *
0
Par. 7. Section 1.1502-50 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 1.1502-50 Consolidated section 250.
(a) In general--(1) Scope. This section provides rules for applying
section 250 and Sec. Sec. 1.250-1 through 1.250(b)-6 (the section 250
regulations) to a member of a consolidated group (member). Paragraph
(b) of this section provides rules for the determination of the amount
of the deduction allowed to a member under section 250(a)(1). Paragraph
(c) of this section provides rules governing the impact of intercompany
transactions on the determination of a member's qualified business
asset investment (QBAI) and the effect of intercompany transactions on
the determination of a member's foreign-derived deduction eligible
income (FDDEI). Paragraph (d) of this section provides rules governing
basis adjustments to member stock resulting from the application of
paragraph (b)(1) of this section. Paragraph (e) of this section
provides definitions. Paragraph (f) of this section provides examples
illustrating the rules of this section. Paragraph (g) of this section
provides an applicability date.
(2) Overview. The rules of this section ensure that the aggregate
amount of deductions allowed under section 250 to members appropriately
reflects the income, expenses, gains, losses, and property of all
members. Paragraph (b) of this section allocates the consolidated
group's overall deduction amount under section 250 to each member on
the basis of its contribution to the consolidated foreign-derived
deduction eligible income (consolidated FDDEI) and consolidated global
intangible low-taxed income (consolidated GILTI). The definitions in
paragraph (e) of this section provide for the aggregation of the
deduction eligible income (DEI), FDDEI, deemed tangible income return,
and global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) of all members in order
to calculate the consolidated group's overall deduction amount under
section 250.
(b) Allowance of deduction--(1) In general. A member is allowed a
deduction for a consolidated return year under section 250. See Sec.
1.250(a)-1(b). The amount of the deduction is equal to the sum of--
(i) The product of the consolidated FDII deduction amount and the
member's FDII deduction allocation ratio; and
[[Page 43114]]
(ii) The product of the consolidated GILTI deduction amount and the
member's GILTI deduction allocation ratio.
(2) Consolidated taxable income limitation. For purposes of
applying the limitation described in Sec. 1.250(a)-1(b)(2) to the
determination of the consolidated FDII deduction amount and the
consolidated GILTI deduction amount of a consolidated group for a
consolidated return year--
(i) The consolidated foreign-derived intangible income
(consolidated FDII) (if any) is reduced (but not below zero) by an
amount which bears the same ratio to the consolidated section 250(a)(2)
amount that such consolidated FDII bears to the sum of the consolidated
FDII and the consolidated GILTI; and
(ii) The consolidated GILTI (if any) is reduced (but not below
zero) by the excess of the consolidated section 250(a)(2) amount over
the reduction described in paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section.
(c) Impact of intercompany transactions--(1) Impact on qualified
business asset investment determination--(i) In general. For purposes
of determining a member's QBAI, the basis of specified tangible
property does not include an amount equal to any gain or loss
recognized with respect to such property by another member in an
intercompany transaction (as defined in Sec. 1.1502-13(b)(1)) until
the time that such gain or loss is no longer deferred under Sec.
1.1502-13. Thus, for example, if a selling member owns specified
tangible property with an adjusted basis (within the meaning of section
1011) of $60x and an adjusted basis (for purposes of calculating QBAI)
of $80x, and sells it for $50x to the purchasing member (and the
intercompany loss remains deferred), the basis of such property for
purposes of computing the purchasing member's QBAI is $80x.
(ii) Partner-specific QBAI basis. A member's partner-specific QBAI
basis (as defined in Sec. 1.250(b)-2(g)(7)) includes a basis
adjustment under section 743(b) resulting from an intercompany
transaction only at the time, and to the extent, gain or loss, if any,
is recognized in the transaction and no longer deferred under Sec.
1.1502-13.
(2) Impact on foreign-derived deduction eligible income
characterization. For purposes of redetermining attributes of members
from an intercompany transaction as FDDEI, see Sec. 1.1502-13(c)(1)(i)
and (c)(7)(ii)(R) (Example 18).
(d) Adjustments to the basis of a member. For adjustments to the
basis of a member related to paragraph (b)(1) of this section, see
Sec. 1.1502-32(b)(3)(ii)(B).
(e) Definitions. The following definitions apply for purposes of
this section.
(1) Consolidated deduction eligible income (consolidated DEI). With
respect to a consolidated group for a consolidated return year, the
term consolidated deduction eligible income or consolidated DEI means
the greater of the sum of the DEI (whether positive or negative) of all
members or zero.
(2) Consolidated deemed intangible income. With respect to a
consolidated group for a consolidated return year, the term
consolidated deemed intangible income means the excess (if any) of the
consolidated DEI, over the consolidated deemed tangible income return.
(3) Consolidated deemed tangible income return. With respect to a
consolidated group for a consolidated return year, the term
consolidated deemed tangible income return means the sum of the deemed
tangible income return of all members.
(4) Consolidated FDII deduction amount. With respect to a
consolidated group for a consolidated return year, the term
consolidated FDII deduction amount means the product of the FDII
deduction rate and the consolidated FDII, as adjusted by paragraph
(b)(2) of this section.
(5) Consolidated foreign-derived deduction eligible income
(consolidated FDDEI). With respect to a consolidated group for a
consolidated return year, the term consolidated foreign-derived
deduction eligible income or consolidated FDDEI means the greater of
the sum of the FDDEI (whether positive or negative) of all members or
zero.
(6) Consolidated foreign-derived intangible income (consolidated
FDII). With respect to a consolidated group for a consolidated return
year, the term consolidated foreign-derived intangible income or
consolidated FDII means the product of the consolidated deemed
intangible income and the consolidated foreign-derived ratio.
(7) Consolidated foreign-derived ratio. With respect to a
consolidated group for a consolidated return year, the term
consolidated foreign-derived ratio means the ratio (not to exceed one)
of--
(i) The consolidated FDDEI; to
(ii) The consolidated DEI.
(8) Consolidated GILTI deduction amount. With respect to a
consolidated group for a consolidated return year, the term
consolidated GILTI deduction amount means the product of the GILTI
deduction rate and the sum of the consolidated GILTI, as adjusted by
paragraph (b)(2) of this section, and the amounts treated as dividends
received by the members under section 78 which are attributable to
their GILTI for the consolidated return year.
(9) Consolidated global intangible low-taxed income (consolidated
GILTI). With respect to a consolidated group for a consolidated return
year, the term consolidated global intangible low-taxed income or
consolidated GILTI means the sum of the GILTI of all members.
(10) Consolidated section 250(a)(2) amount. With respect to a
consolidated group for a consolidated return year, the term
consolidated section 250(a)(2) amount means the excess (if any) of the
sum of the consolidated FDII and the consolidated GILTI (determined
without regard to section 250(a)(2) and paragraph (b)(2) of this
section), over the consolidated taxable income of the consolidated
group (within the meaning of Sec. 1.1502-11).
(11) Deduction eligible income (DEI). With respect to a member for
a consolidated return year, the term deduction eligible income or DEI
means the member's gross DEI for the year (within the meaning of Sec.
1.250(b)-1(c)(15)) reduced (including below zero) by the deductions
properly allocable to gross DEI for the year (as determined under Sec.
1.250(b)-1(d)(2)).
(12) Deemed tangible income return. With respect to a member for a
consolidated return year, the term deemed tangible income return means
an amount equal to 10 percent of the member's QBAI, as adjusted by
paragraph (c)(1) of this section.
(13) FDII deduction allocation ratio. With respect to a member for
a consolidated return year, the term FDII deduction allocation ratio
means the ratio of--
(i) The member's positive FDDEI (if any); to
(ii) The sum of the positive FDDEI of all members.
(14) FDII deduction rate. The term FDII deduction rate means 37.5
percent for consolidated return years beginning before January 1, 2026,
and 21.875 percent for consolidated return years beginning after
December 31, 2025.
(15) Foreign-derived deduction eligible income (FDDEI). With
respect to a member for a consolidated return year, the term foreign-
derived deduction eligible income or FDDEI means the member's gross
FDDEI for the year (within the meaning of Sec. 1.250(b)-1(c)(16))
reduced (including below zero) by the deductions properly allocable to
gross FDDEI for the year (as determined under Sec. 1.250(b)-1(d)(2)).
(16) GILTI deduction allocation ratio. With respect to a member for
a consolidated return year, the term GILTI
[[Page 43115]]
deduction allocation ratio means the ratio of--
(i) The sum of the member's GILTI and the amount treated as a
dividend received by the member under section 78 which is attributable
to its GILTI for the consolidated return year; to
(ii) The sum of consolidated GILTI and the amounts treated as
dividends received by the members under section 78 which are
attributable to their GILTI for the consolidated return year.
(17) GILTI deduction rate. The term GILTI deduction rate means 50
percent for consolidated return years beginning before January 1, 2026,
and 37.5 percent for consolidated return years beginning after December
31, 2025.
(18) Global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI). With respect to a
member for a consolidated return year, the term global intangible low-
taxed income or GILTI means the sum of the member's GILTI inclusion
amount under Sec. 1.1502-51(b) and the member's distributive share of
any domestic partnership's GILTI inclusion amount under Sec. 1.951A-
5(b)(2).
(19) Qualified business asset investment (QBAI). The term qualified
business asset investment or QBAI has the meaning provided in Sec.
1.250(b)-2(b).
(20) Specified tangible property. The term specified tangible
property has the meaning provided in Sec. 1.250(b)-2(c)(1).
(f) Examples. The following examples illustrate the rules of
this section.
(1) Example 1: Calculation of deduction attributable to FDII--
(i) Facts. P is the common parent of the P group and owns all of the
only class of stock of subsidiaries USS1 and USS2. The consolidated
return year of all persons is the calendar year. In 2018, P has DEI
of $400x, FDDEI of $0, and QBAI of $0; USS1 has DEI of $200x, FDDEI
of $200x, and QBAI of $600x; and USS2 has DEI of -$100x, FDDEI of
$100x, and QBAI of $400x. The P group has consolidated taxable
income that is sufficient to make inapplicable the limitation in
paragraph (b)(2) of this section. No member of the P group has
GILTI.
(ii) Analysis--(A) Consolidated DEI. Under paragraph (e)(1) of
this section, the P group's consolidated DEI is $500x, the greater
of the sum of the DEI (whether positive or negative) of all members
($400x + $200x-$100x) or zero.
(B) Consolidated FDDEI. Under paragraph (e)(5) of this section,
the P group's consolidated FDDEI is $300x, the greater of the sum of
the FDDEI (whether positive or negative) of all members ($0 + $200x
+ $100x) or zero.
(C) Consolidated deemed tangible income return. Under paragraph
(e)(12) of this section, a member's deemed tangible income return is
10 percent of its QBAI. Therefore, P's deemed tangible income return
is $0 (0.10 x $0), USS1's deemed tangible income return is $60x
(0.10 x $600x), and USS2's deemed tangible income return is $40x
(0.10 x $400x). Under paragraph (e)(3) of this section, the P
group's consolidated deemed tangible income return is $100x, the sum
of the deemed tangible income return of all members ($0 + $60x +
$40x).
(D) Consolidated deemed intangible income. Under paragraph
(e)(2) of this section, the P group's consolidated deemed intangible
income is $400x, the excess of its consolidated DEI over its
consolidated deemed tangible income return ($500x -$100x).
(E) Consolidated FDII. Under paragraph (e)(7) of this section,
the P group's consolidated foreign-derived ratio is 0.60, the ratio
of its consolidated FDDEI to its consolidated DEI ($300x/$500x).
Under paragraph (e)(6) of this section, the P group's consolidated
FDII is $240x, the product of its consolidated deemed intangible
income and its consolidated foreign-derived ratio ($400x x 0.60).
(F) Consolidated FDII deduction amount. Under paragraph (e)(4)
of this section, the P group's consolidated FDII deduction amount is
$90x, the product of the FDII deduction rate and the consolidated
FDII (0.375 x $240x).
(G) Member's deduction attributable to consolidated FDII
deduction amount. Under paragraph (b)(1) of this section, a member
is allowed a deduction equal, in part, to the product of the
consolidated FDII deduction amount of the consolidated group to
which the member belongs and the member's FDII deduction allocation
ratio. Under paragraph (e)(13) of this section, a member's FDII
deduction allocation ratio is the ratio of its positive FDDEI to the
sum of each member's positive FDDEI for such consolidated return
year. As a result, the FDII deduction allocation ratios of P, USS1,
and USS2 are 0 ($0/$300x), \2/3\ ($200x/$300x), and \1/3\ ($100x/
$300x), respectively. Therefore, P, USS1, and USS2 are permitted
deductions under paragraph (b)(1) of this section in the amount of
$0 (0 x $90x), $60x (\2/3\ x $90x), and $30x (\1/3\ x $90x),
respectively.
(2) Example 2: Limitation on consolidated foreign-derived
deduction eligible income--(i) Facts. The facts are the same as in
paragraph (f)(1)(i) of this section (the facts in Example 1), except
that P's FDDEI is $300x.
(ii) Analysis--(A) Consolidated DEI and consolidated deemed
tangible income return. As in paragraphs (f)(1)(ii)(A) and (C) of
this section (the analysis in Example 1), the P group's consolidated
DEI is $500x and the P group's consolidated deemed tangible income
return is $100x.
(B) Consolidated FDDEI. Under paragraph (e)(5) of this section,
the P group's consolidated FDDEI is $600x, the greater of the sum of
the FDDEI (whether positive or negative) of all members ($300x +
$200x + $100x) or zero.
(C) Consolidated deemed intangible income and consolidated FDII.
Under paragraph (e)(2) of this section, the P group's consolidated
deemed intangible income is $400x ($500x - $100x). Under paragraph
(e)(7) of this section, the P group's consolidated foreign-derived
ratio is 1.00 ($600x/$500x, but not in excess of one). Under
paragraph (e)(6) of this section, the P group's consolidated FDII is
$400x ($400x x 1.00).
(D) Consolidated FDII deduction amount and member's deduction
attributable to consolidated FDII deduction amount. Under paragraph
(e)(4) of this section, the P group's consolidated FDII deduction
amount is $150x (0.375 x $400x). Under paragraph (e)(13) of this
section, the FDII deduction allocation ratios of P, USS1, and USS2
are \1/2\ ($300/$600x), \1/3\ ($200x/$600x), and \1/6\ ($100x/
$600x), respectively. Therefore, P, USS1, and USS2 are permitted
deductions under paragraph (b)(1) of this section in the amounts of
$75x (\1/2\ x $150x), $50x (\1/3\ x $150x), and $25x (\1/6\ x
$150x), respectively.
(3) Example 3: Member with negative FDDEI--(i) Facts. The facts
are the same as in paragraph (f)(1)(i) of this section (the facts in
Example 1), except that P's FDDEI is -$100x.
(ii) Analysis--(A) Consolidated DEI and consolidated deemed
tangible income return. As in paragraphs (f)(1)(ii)(A) and (C) of
this section (the facts in Example 1), the P group's consolidated
DEI is $500x and the P group's consolidated deemed tangible income
return is $100x.
(B) Consolidated FDDEI. Under paragraph (e)(5) of this section,
the P group's consolidated FDDEI is $200x, the greater of the sum of
the FDDEI (whether positive or negative) of all members (-$100x +
$200x + $100x) or zero.
(C) Consolidated deemed intangible income and consolidated FDII.
Under paragraphs (e)(2) and (6) of this section, the P group's
consolidated deemed intangible income is $400x ($500x -$100x), and
the P group's consolidated FDII is $160x ($400x x ($200x/$500x)).
(D) Consolidated FDII deduction amount and member's deduction
attributable to consolidated FDII deduction amount. Under paragraph
(e)(4) of this section, the P group's consolidated FDII deduction
amount is $60x (0.375 x $160x). Under paragraph (e)(13) of this
section, the FDII deduction allocation ratios of P, USS1, and USS2
are 0 ($0/$300x), \2/3\ ($200x/$300x), and \1/3\ ($100x/$300x),
respectively. Therefore, P, USS1, and USS2 are permitted deductions
under paragraph (b)(1) of this section in the amounts of $0 (0 x
$60x), $40x (\2/3\ x $60x), and $20x (\1/3\ x $60x), respectively.
(4) Example 4: Calculation of deduction attributable to GILTI--
(i) Facts. The facts are the same as in paragraph (f)(1)(i) of this
section (the facts in Example 1), except that USS1 owns CFC1 and
USS2 owns CFC2. USS1 and USS2 have GILTI of $65x and $20x,
respectively, and amounts treated as dividends received under
section 78 attributable to their GILTI of $10x and $5x,
respectively.
(ii) Analysis--(A) Consolidated GILTI. Under paragraph (e)(9) of
this section, the P group's consolidated GILTI is $85x, the sum of
the GILTI of all members ($0 + $65x + $20x).
(B) Consolidated GILTI deduction amount. Under paragraph (e)(8)
of this section, the P group's consolidated GILTI deduction amount
is $50x, the product of the GILTI deduction rate and the sum of its
consolidated GILTI and the amounts treated as dividends received by
the members under section 78 which are attributable to their
[[Page 43116]]
GILTI for the consolidated return year (0.50 x ($85x + $10x + $5x)).
(C) Member's deduction attributable to consolidated GILTI
deduction amount. Under paragraph (b)(1) of this section, a member
is allowed a deduction equal, in part, to the product of the
consolidated GILTI deduction amount of the consolidated group to
which the member belongs and the member's GILTI deduction allocation
ratio. Under paragraph (e)(16) of this section, a member's GILTI
deduction allocation ratio is the ratio of the sum of its GILTI and
the amount treated as a dividend received by the member under
section 78 which is attributable to its GILTI for the consolidated
return year to the sum of the consolidated GILTI and the amounts
treated as dividends received by the members under section 78 which
are attributable to their GILTI for the consolidated return year. As
a result, the GILTI deduction allocation ratios of P, USS1, and USS2
are 0 ($0/($85x + $10x + $5x)), \3/4\ (($65x + $10x)/($85x + $10x +
$5x)), and \1/4\ (($20x + $5x)/($85x + $10x + $5x)), respectively.
Therefore, P, USS1, and USS2 are permitted deductions of $0 (0 x
$50x), $37.50x (\3/4\ x $50x), and $12.50x (\1/4\ x $50x),
respectively.
(D) Member's deduction under section 250. Under paragraph (b)(1)
of this section, a member is allowed a deduction equal to the sum of
the member's deduction attributable to the consolidated FDII
deduction amount and the member's deduction attributable to the
consolidated GILTI deduction amount. As a result P, USS1, and USS2
are entitled to deductions under paragraph (b)(1) of this section of
$0 ($0 + $0), $97.50x ($60x + $37.50x), and $42.50x ($30x +
$12.50x), respectively.
(5) Example 5: Taxable income limitation--(i) Facts. The facts
are the same as in paragraph (f)(4)(i) of this section (the facts in
Example 4), except that the P group's consolidated taxable income
(within the meaning of paragraph (e)(10) of this section) is $300x.
(ii) Analysis--(A) Determination of whether the limitation
described in paragraph (b)(2) of this section applies. Under
paragraph (b)(2) of this section, in the case of a consolidated
group with a consolidated section 250(a)(2) amount for a
consolidated year, the amount of the consolidated FDII and the
consolidated GILTI otherwise taken into account in the determination
of the consolidated FDII deduction amount and the consolidated GILTI
deduction amount are subject to reduction. As in paragraph
(f)(1)(ii)(E) of this section (the facts in Example 1), the P
group's consolidated FDII is $240x. As in paragraph (f)(4)(ii)(A) of
this section (the analysis in Example 4), the P group's consolidated
GILTI is $85x. The P group's consolidated taxable income is $300x.
Under paragraph (e)(10) of this section, the P group's consolidated
section 250(a)(2) amount is $25x (($240x + $85x) - $300x), the
excess of the sum of the consolidated FDII and the consolidated
GILTI, over the P group's consolidated taxable income. Therefore,
the limitation described in paragraph (b)(2) of this section
applies.
(B) Allocation of reduction. Under paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this
section, the P group's consolidated FDII is reduced by an amount
which bears the same ratio to the consolidated section 250(a)(2)
amount as the consolidated FDII bears to the sum of the consolidated
FDII and consolidated GILTI, and the P group's consolidated GILTI is
reduced by the excess of the consolidated section 250(a)(2) amount
over the reduction described in paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section.
Therefore, for purposes of determining the P group's consolidated
FDII deduction amount and consolidated GILTI deduction amount, its
consolidated FDII is reduced to $221.54x ($240x -($25x x ($240x/
$325x))) and its consolidated GILTI is reduced to $78.46x ($85x -
($25x -($25x x ($240x/$325x)))).
(C) Calculation of consolidated FDII deduction amount and
consolidated GILTI deduction amount. Under paragraph (e)(4) of this
section, the P group's consolidated FDII deduction amount is $83.08x
($221.54x x 0.375). Under paragraph (e)(8) of this section, the P
group's consolidated GILTI deduction amount is $46.73x (($78.46x +
10x + 5x) x 0.50).
(D) Member's deduction attributable to the consolidated FDII
deduction amount. As in paragraph (f)(1)(ii)(G) of this section (the
analysis in Example 1), the FDII deduction allocation ratios of P,
USS1, and USS2 are 0, \2/3\, and \1/3\, respectively. Therefore, P,
USS1, and USS2 are permitted deductions attributable to the
consolidated FDII deduction amount of $0 (0 x $83.08x), $55.39x (\2/
3\ x $83.08x), and $27.69x (\1/3\ x $83.08x), respectively.
(E) Member's deduction attributable to the consolidated GILTI
deduction amount. As in paragraph (f)(4)(ii)(C) of this section (the
analysis in Example 4), the GILTI deduction allocation ratios of P,
USS1, and USS2 are 0, \3/4\, and \1/4\, respectively. Therefore, P,
USS1, and USS2 are permitted deductions attributable to the
consolidated GILTI deduction amount of $0 (0 x $46.73x), $35.05x
(\3/4\ x $46.73x), and $11.68x (\1/4\ x $46.73x), respectively.
(F) Member's deduction pursuant section 250. Under paragraph
(b)(1) of this section, a member is allowed a deduction equal to the
sum of the member's deduction attributable to the consolidated FDII
deduction amount and the member's deduction attributable to the
consolidated GILTI deduction amount. As a result, P, USS1, and USS2
are entitled to deductions under paragraph (b)(1) of this section of
$0 ($0 + $0), $90.44x ($55.39x + $35.05x), and $39.37 x ($27.69x +
$11.68x), respectively.
(g) Applicability date. This section applies to consolidated return
years beginning on or after January 1, 2021. A taxpayer that chooses to
apply the rules in Sec. Sec. 1.250(a)-1 and 1.250(b)-1 through
1.250(b)-6 to taxable years beginning before January 1, 2021, pursuant
to Sec. 1.250-1(b), must also apply the rules of this section in their
entirety to consolidated return years beginning after December 31,
2017, and before January 1, 2021.
0
Par. 8. Section 1.6038-2 is amended by adding paragraphs (f)(15) and
(m)(4) to read as follows:
Sec. 1.6038-2 Information returns required of United States persons
with respect to annual accounting periods of certain foreign
corporations.
* * * * *
(f) * * *
(15) Information reporting under section 250. If the person
required to file Form 5471 (or any successor form) claims a deduction
under section 250(a) that is determined, in whole or part, by reference
to its foreign-derived intangible income, and any amount required to be
reported under paragraph (f)(11) of this section is included in its
computation of foreign-derived deduction eligible income, such person
will provide on Form 5471 (or any successor form) such information that
is prescribed by the form, instructions to the form, publication, or
other guidance published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin.
* * * * *
(m) * * *
(4) Paragraph (f)(15) of this section applies with respect to
information for annual accounting periods beginning on or after March
4, 2019.
0
Par. 9. Section 1.6038-3 is amended by adding paragraph (g)(4) and a
sentence to the end of paragraph (l) to read as follows:
Sec. 1.6038-3 Information returns required of certain United States
persons with respect to controlled foreign partnerships (CFPs).
* * * * *
(g) * * *
(4) Additional information required to be submitted by a
controlling ten-percent or a controlling fifty-percent partner that has
a deduction under section 250 by reason of FDII. In addition to the
information required pursuant to paragraphs (g)(1), (2), and (3) of
this section, if, with respect to the partnership's tax year for which
the Form 8865 is being filed, a controlling ten-percent partner or a
controlling fifty-percent partner has a deduction under section 250 (by
reason of having foreign-derived intangible income), determined, in
whole or in part, by reference to the income, assets, or activities of
the partnership, or transactions between the controlling-ten percent
partner or controlling fifty-percent partner and the partnership, the
controlling ten-percent partner or controlling fifty-percent partner
must provide its share of the partnership's gross DEI, gross FDDEI,
deductions that are properly allocable to the partnership's gross DEI
and gross FDDEI, and partnership QBAI (as those terms are defined in
the section 250 regulations) in the form and manner and to the extent
prescribed by Form 8865 (or any successor form), instructions to
[[Page 43117]]
the form, publication, or other guidance published in the Internal
Revenue Bulletin. To the extent that the partnership amounts described
in the previous sentence cannot be determined, the controlling ten-
percent partner or controlling fifty-percent partner must provide its
share of the partnership's attributes that the partner uses to
determine the partner's gross DEI, gross FDDEI, deductions that are
properly allocable to the partner's gross DEI and gross FDDEI, and the
partner's adjusted bases in partnership specified tangible property.
* * * * *
(l) * * * Paragraph (g)(4) of this section applies for tax years of
a foreign partnership beginning on or after March 4, 2019.
0
Par. 10. Section 1.6038A-2 is amended by adding paragraph (b)(5)(iv)
and a sentence at the end of paragraph (g) to read as follows:
Sec. 1.6038A-2 Requirement of return.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(5) * * *
(iv) If, for the taxable year, the reporting corporation has a
deduction under section 250 (by reason of having foreign-derived
intangible income) with respect to any amount required to be reported
under paragraph (b)(3) or (4) of this section, the reporting
corporation will provide on Form 5472 (or any successor form) such
information about the deduction in the form and manner and to the
extent prescribed by Form 5472 (or any successor form), instructions to
the form, publication, or other guidance published in the Internal
Revenue Bulletin.
* * * * *
(g) * * * Paragraph (b)(5)(iv) of this section applies with respect
to information for annual accounting periods beginning on or after
March 4, 2019.
Douglas W. O'Donnell,
Acting Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement.
Approved: June 12, 2020.
David J. Kautter
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (Tax Policy).
[FR Doc. 2020-14649 Filed 7-9-20; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 4830-01-P