Business and International Tax Blog

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many challenges to employers across the country as they deal with sudden economic hardship and restrictions on their operations. We’ve put together some information that relates to benefits issues that we hope answers some of the common questions we are seeing.

Can employees remain on our group health plan if they are furloughed?   

• The answer will depend mostly on the terms of the plan document and how eligibility is defined. For example, eligibility under group health plans often depends on the number of weekly or monthly hours worked by an ...

In response to the overwhelming economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the U.S. economy, on Friday, March 27, 2020, after prior approval by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act” or the “Act”) was signed into law by President Trump.

This document focuses on the portion of the Act pertaining to SBA loans, particularly to the extent relevant to small and mid-sized businesses. In the event any applicable regulatory or other guidance is issued as this pandemic evolves, we will provide an update.

Many states and cities across the United States have issued “stay at home” or “shelter in place” orders, effectively forcing all “non-essential” businesses to close physical operations and cease doing business unless their employees can work remotely. Business owners, landlords and tenants are now reviewing commercial leases, construction contracts, loan agreements, and other commercial contracts to determine whether force majeure provisions are implicated. This alert analyzes some of the potential consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on force ...

In recent days, both Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms have issued Executive Orders in response to COVID-19 that have constrained many businesses and industries. However, at this time, the construction industry has not been directly constrained, as public and private projects are allowed to continue to move forward throughout Atlanta and the State of Georgia.  Governor Kemp has even suspended statutory waiting periods for contractors to use private firms for code inspections and plan reviews, recognizing that county and municipality ...

Sorting Out the Parallel Universes of Subpart F and GILTI Income Inclusions: The Unintended Collision With Respect to Deemed Sale of Controlled Foreign Corporation Stock[1]

By Jerald David August

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, P.L. 115-87 (TCJA), ^[2] enacted into law on December 22, 2017, introduced numerous reforms to international taxation which changes have already had a profound impact on tax planning for multinational business enterprises (MNEs) as well as domestic businesses engaged in foreign business ventures or investments.^[3]  The most significant reform enacted ...

Final Regulations Under 20% Qualified Business Deduction Issued by Treasury In Time For Filing 2018 Tax Returns

Revenue Procedure to Set Forth Rental Real Estate as a Qualified Business to be Issued Shortly

By: Jerry August

In an article published on Dec. 04, 2018, in Tax Analysts, Jerry August provides comments on planning strategies for U.S. companies engaging in real estate and licensing transactions overseas. Jerry says, “Real estate deals are often heavily leveraged, so it’s common to see a special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed to borrow money. That SPV is owned by a joint venture with the U.S. taxpayer, either as a general partner or a limited partner, as well as partners from other countries.”

Subscribers to Tax Notes may view the full article here.

The growing use of the “Up-C” structure for business ventures which seek access to greater amounts of capital, such as through a public offering, has been discussed at various tax forums and discussed in several articles on the subject over the past five years or more. The Up-C umbrella partnership is being used by private equity funds as well as other venture funds with respect to current and future public offerings. It provides a private equity or VC fund organized as a partnership to continue to enjoy flow through income tax treatment while retaining a degree of control of the business operations and further provide a cash-out of investor fund option through a structured redemption or through a similar call right.

This post highlights a few of the “moving pieces” affecting the structure for engaging in a merger or acquisition of a privately owned company brought about by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, P.L. 115-97, 12/22/2017.  The reduction in the corporate income tax rate to a flat 21% will encourage business entities to evaluate whether a conversion from a pass through entity to a C or regular corporation makes sense, taking relevant foreign, if any, and state income tax issues into account. Certain sources of foreign income will, for certain domestic corporations, be subject to a maximum federal income tax rate of 13.5% or 10.5% as will be highlighted below. On the other hand, net operating losses of both corporations and individual are subject to new limitations. In general, net operating losses generated in taxable year subject to the TCJA are subject to a 20% cutback. In other words, only 80% of a NOL can be used against taxable income in a subsequent year. Subject to limited exceptions, NOLs under the TCJA ca not be carried back 2 years as before. This means the overall value of a corporate NOL for example is reduced by 20% of the gross available amount with a discounted rate for the projected absorption of the NOLs against future income. There is also new section 461(l) which applies to non-corporate taxpayers and limits the use of current NOLs to $250,000 ($500,000) for a joint return.

The must-awaited guidance on new section 951A was recently issued on September 13, 2018 by the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service in the form of proposed regulations (REG-104390-18). Section 951A,  an important provision in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, P.L. 115-97, requires certain U.S. shareholders to include their share of global intangible-low taxed income (GILTI)  derived by controlled foreign corporation to be included in their gross income. Under section 250(a)(1)(B)(i) a U.S. domestic corporation which is a U.S. shareholder in a controlled foreign corporation is entitled to a deduction equal to 50% of the amount of GILTI required to be included in gross income. This deduction drives down the corporate income tax rate from 21% to 10.5% reduced further by a certain percentage of otherwise allowable foreign tax credits (FTCs).  The GILTI provision, section 951A, applies to taxable years of foreign corporations beginning after December 31, 2017, and to taxable years of U.S. shareholders in which or with which such taxable years of foreign corporations end.