Dividends Paid by Foreign Corporations – Are they “Qualified” & Eligible for Capital Gain Rates?

In IRS Notice 2024-11, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) updated the list of treaties that can provide a foreign corporation with the special status of being a “qualified foreign corporation” (QFC). The list was updated to include the treaty with Chile, which entered into force on December 19, 2023, and to remove the treaty with … Continue reading Dividends Paid by Foreign Corporations – Are they “Qualified” & Eligible for Capital Gain Rates? →

Tis the Season! Giving / Getting Gifts from a Foreign Entity?

Holidays are soon upon us, and many people will be making gifts to family and friends. It is very common to make gifts of cash – typically sending funds from a bank account to the recipient’s account. When gifts are made by foreign persons to US persons, there are many US tax traps for both … Continue reading Tis the Season! Giving / Getting Gifts from a Foreign Entity? →

Tax Planning – Ownership of Foreign Real Property

Investment decisions are difficult nowadays, but I am still getting inquiries from US persons about the US tax effects of owning foreign real property. Tax efficient structuring depends on numerous factors. While an earlier blog post discussed the general concept of what is called a "disregarded entity" and how it is used (and misused) by … Continue reading Tax Planning – Ownership of Foreign Real Property →

US Person – Made a “Loan” to a Foreign Corporation?

What happens if you make a loan to a foreign (non-US) corporation and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) later determines that the “loan” should not be treated as a “loan” for US tax purposes? Instead, the IRS says it should be treated as if you made a capital contribution to the corporation and therefore had … Continue reading US Person – Made a “Loan” to a Foreign Corporation? →

Foreign Corporate Tax – How Will it Impact the US Taxpayer of a CFC or PFIC?

While the focus of today's post is how the United Arab Emirates (UAE) forthcoming Corporate Tax (CT) may impact US persons who are shareholders in a so-called Controlled Foreign Corporation (CFC) or Passive Foreign Investment Company (PFIC), the analysis applies equally to other jurisdictions which impose tax on the corporate entity. We examine today the … Continue reading Foreign Corporate Tax – How Will it Impact the US Taxpayer of a CFC or PFIC? →

UAE Federal Corporate Tax: How Will it Impact the US Taxpayer? Part II

As discussed in my prior blog post, full details here, on January 31, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Finance announced the introduction of a federal corporate tax (CT) on business, to be implemented in June 2023. The UAE is joining the other Gulf Cooperation Council countries (with exception for Bahrain) that collect tax … Continue reading UAE Federal Corporate Tax: How Will it Impact the US Taxpayer? Part II →

Overview: The Disregarded Entity & Check-the-Box

What Is a Disregarded Entity? How is it Used in US Tax Planning? Certain business entities can be treated as “nonexistent” for federal income tax purposes. That is, from a US tax perspective, they are simply “disregarded” and the entity is ignored by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). For other purposes, the entity is not disregarded, … Continue reading Overview: The Disregarded Entity & Check-the-Box →

Exit Tax – A Comment on Richardson / Zelinsky Debate on Citizenship Based Taxation

Recently, a debate took place on the merits of the United States' income tax regime which is based on "citizenship". This lively debate was between the esteemed John Richardson (a US and Canadian attorney) and Professor Edward Zelinsky (a tax scholar and professor at Cardozo Law School in New York City). You can watch the … Continue reading Exit Tax – A Comment on Richardson / Zelinsky Debate on Citizenship Based Taxation →

US Tax Disaster – Investing in Offshore Funds, Life Policies, Portfolio Bonds

What Every Overseas American Investor Must Know …. Many American investors are confused by sales pitches of expat investment advisors who are most often completely unfamiliar with US tax laws. While it is true that no tax may be payable in the fund's jurisdiction (Isle of Man, Guernsey or the UAE, for instance), significant US … Continue reading US Tax Disaster – Investing in Offshore Funds, Life Policies, Portfolio Bonds →

PFICs – The Fairytale Definition That Lives Happily Ever After…

I was hoping that tax reform would have done away with, or at least modified, the troublesome provisions surrounding the PFIC or so-called “Passive Foreign Investment Company”. This was not to be and it prompted me to review the PFIC rules and count the ways they cause trouble! What is a PFIC? A PFIC is … Continue reading PFICs – The Fairytale Definition That Lives Happily Ever After… →