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

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

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International Practice Unit: License of Intangible Property from U.S. Parent to a Foreign Subsidiary

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Christine Long explains how I.R.S. examiners are encouraged to determine whether foreign subsidiaries are paying fair compensation for using I.P. owned by U.S. parent companies.

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International Practice Unit: Monetary Penalties for Failure to File Form 5471

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The I.R.S. has initiated increased enforcement efforts to ensure compliance with information reporting obligations. Such efforts include increased assessment of penalties. Galia Antebi explains.

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International Practice Unit: Deemed Annual Royalty Income Under Code §367(d)

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Christine Long delves into the world of I.P. contributions to foreign subsidiaries. She explains how Code §367(d) works and how the regulations have been revised recently to attack goodwill and going concern contributions.

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The Peripatetic Client: What to Expect When a Foreign Settlor Becomes a U.S. Tax Resident→

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Published in GGi Insider No. 81, January 2016 (p.35).

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

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

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

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GGi Internal News: North America

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Published in GGi Insider No. 81, January 2016 (p.18).

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Insights Vol. 3 No. 1: Updates & Other Tidbits

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This month, Insights discusses recent events including a Beanie Baby billionaire’s light sentence; a tax reform report by the European Parliament addressing tax rulings, a common consolidated corporate tax base, a crackdown on tax havens, whistle-blower protection, public access to country-by-country (CbC) reports, and a lower threshold to approve E.U. tax legislation; a House Ways and Means Committee action in regard to B.E.P.S., E.U. investigations on State Aid, patent box regimes, and inversions; identity theft risk in I.R.S. proposed regulations regarding charitable deductions; and allowance of accounting non-conformity for foreign-based groups that do not adopt L.I.F.O. accounting when that method is adopted by a U.S. member.

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Insights Vol. 3 No. 1: F.A.T.C.A. 24/7

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This month, recent developments in F.A.T.C.A. include the D.O.J.’s Swiss bank deferred prosecution program; new instructions for Form 8966, F.A.T.C.A. Report; six new YouTube videos regarding the Online Registration System; extension of time to file F.A.T.C.A. Reports; upgrade to F.F.I. lists, the current I.G.A. partner countries, and more.

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Corporate Matters: If I Can Make it There, I Can Make It...

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We have recently been receiving instructions from a variety of European clients looking to open either an office or retail location in New York. These clients are looking for advice across a range of topics: from location and leases to signage and insurance. In this month’s “Corporate Matters,” Simon H. Prisk addresses typical start-up legal needs of foreign clients expanding retail business to the U.S.

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I.R.S. Adopts O.E.C.D. Standard in New CbC Reporting Regulations

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I.R.S. Adopts O.E.C.D. Standard in New CbC Reporting Regulations

In December, the I.R.S. released Prop. Treas. Reg. §1.60384 -15, which details the country-by-country (CbC) reporting that will be required of large U.S.-based business entities. The proposed regulations define the persons required to file the CbC report, companies that are to included in the report, information that must be reported, acceptable measurement methodologies to be used, and uses to which data may be put.

These regulations closely follow the model recommended by the O.E.C.D. B.E.P.S. report. Sheryl Shah and Stanley C. Ruchelman explain the I.R.S.’s reasons and request for input regarding national security exemptions not otherwise considered by the O.E.C.D.

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P.A.T.H. Act Leads to Widespread Tax Changes

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Everyone likes Christmas presents and the P.A.T.H. Act delivers. It provides favorable tax treatment in the form of (i) F.I.R.P.T.A. exemptions for foreign pensions funds, (ii) increased ownership thresholds before F.I.R.P.T.A. tax is imposed on C.I.V. investment in R.E.I.T.’s, (iii) increased ownership thresholds before F.I.R.P.T.A. tax is imposed on foreign investment in domestically-controlled R.E.I.T.’s, (iv) a reduction in the time that must elapse in order to avoid corporate level tax on built-in gain when an S-election is made by a corporation after the close of the year of its formation, and (v) a permanent exemption from Subpart F income for active financing income of C.F.C.’s.

However, not all taxpayers benefitted from the Act. The P.A.T.H. Act increases F.I.R.P.T.A. withholding tax to 15%, adopts new partnership tax examination rules, and tightens rules regarding I.T.I.N.’s. Elizabeth V. Zanet, Christine Long, Rusudan Shervashidze, and Philip R. Hirschfeld explain these and certain other legislative changes.

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The Meanderings of the Taxation of U.K. Real Estate: Where Are We Going?

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For those who are considering the acquisition of U.K. real property for personal use, an unhappy surprise awaits. The U.K. government is actively waging a tax campaign against structures commonly used for these acquisitions and referred to derisively as “Enveloped Dwellings.” Increased stamp duty on land transactions, annual tax on Enveloped Dwellings and related capital gains charges, and extended scope of inheritance tax take the sizzle out of high-value purchases. Naomi Lawton of Memery Crystal L.L.P., London ruminates on this puzzling development.

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The Common Reporting Standard – A Global F.A.T.C.A.?

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The Common Reporting Standard ("C.R.S.") for the automatic exchange of information by financial institutions is now in effect for the 56 jurisdictions that are Early Adopters. How will the C.R.S. work and who will be affected? How does it interact with F.A.T.C.A. I.G.A.’s? Richard Addlestone of Solomon Harris, Grand Cayman answers these and other questions.

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Lawyer Monthly: Expert Insight Into... TAX→

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Published in Lawyer Monthly, Issue 69-16: January 2016.

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Notes from Abroad: Global Village on the Move – India 2015

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In October, Sheryl Shah had the privilege of representing GGi North America at Global Village on the Move, an annual leadership development program organized by the Iacocca Institute at Lehigh University. This year’s program took place in Mumbai and Virar, India and was hosted by VIVA College. The experience was unique for a lawyer just beginning a career.

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Insights Vol. 2 No. 10: Updates & Other Tidbits

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This month, "Updates & Tidbits" looks at two recent developments in the E.U. The first relates to findings of illegal State Aid in the form of private rulings given by Luxembourg and the Netherlands – Starbucks and Fiat plan to appeal. The second relates to double dipping of tax benefits when establishing I.P. box companies.

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Insights Vol. 2 No. 10: F.A.T.C.A. 24/7

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Recent developments in the F.A.T.C.A. practice include upgrades to the online registration system, a flurry of competent authority arrangements signed with other countries, F.A.T.C.A. guidance issued by the Turks and Caicos Islands, new authorizing statutes in Russia and Georgia, an implementing memorandum in Germany, an I.G.A. with Angola, updated F.A.Q.’s, and a list of Model 1 and Model 2 I.G.A. partner countries.

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Corporate Matters: Directors and Officers Insurance

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Many of our clients instruct us from outside the United States to establish companies through which an acquisition or some other transaction will be conducted. After completing our “know your client” obligations for a matter involving a new client, the home country advisors instruct us to form the entity and open a bank account. This month, Simon Prisk looks at directors and officers insurance policies designed to protect incumbents from liability claims based on a failure to supervise the actions of a company. He cautions management to be wary of coverage gaps when comparing policies and costs.

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Anti-Inversion Rules Expanded

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The latest step in inversion controversy involving U.S. publicly traded corporations is the upcoming merger between pharmaceutical giants, Pfizer and Allergan, in a stock transaction estimated to be worth $160 billion. Kenneth Lobo and Stanley C. Ruchelman look at recent I.R.S. countermeasures attacking cross-border mergers that the I.R.S. views as inversions. Among other measures, rules are announced to limit planning alternatives using check-the-box entities to stuff assets into an acquirer without exposing those assets to tax in the jurisdiction of residence of the acquirer and use of parent-company stock as the consideration for the acquisition.

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