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Specified Domestic Entity: Passive Test | FATCA Form 8938 Lawyer & Attorney

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This article is published as part of a long series of articles on the Specified Domestic Entity (“SDE”) Definition. In a previous article, I stated that the term “formed or availed of” consists of two legal tests: the Closely-Held Test and the Passive Test. Since I already explained the general requirements of the Closely-Held Test in another article, I would like to focus today on the Passive Test.

The Passive Test: Background Information

Starting tax year 2016, business entities classified as SDEs may be required to attach Form 8938 to their US tax returns. What entity is considered to be SDE? The answer is found in Treas. Reg. §1.6038D-6(a): “a specified domestic entity is a domestic corporation, a domestic partnership, or a trust described in IRC Section 7701(a)(30)(E), if such corporation, partnership, or trust is formed or availed of for purposes of holding, directly or indirectly, specified foreign financial assets.”

I already explained in a previous article that “formed or availed of” is a term of art and a requirement that an entity meets two legal tests: the Closely-Held Test and the Passive Test.

The Passive Test: General Requirements

The Passive Test consists of two threshold requirements: the Passive Income Threshold and the Passive Assets Threshold. If one of these Thresholds is satisfied, the Passive Test is met and a business entity would be considered as formed or availed of for the purposes of holding specified foreign financial assets. Let’s explore these two requirements in more detail.

The Passive Test: the Passive Income Threshold

The Passive Income Threshold is satisfied if “at least 50 percent of a corporation’s or a partnership’s gross income for the taxable year is passive income.” Treas. Reg. §1.6038D-6(b)(1)(ii). The definition of passive income includes:

“(A) Dividends,

(B) Interest;

(C) Income equivalent to interest, including substitute interest;

(D) Rents and royalties, other than rents and royalties derived in the active conduct of a trade or business conducted, at least in part, by employees of the corporation or partnership;

(E) Annuities;

(F) The excess of gains over losses from the sale or exchange of property that gives rise to passive income described in paragraphs (b)(3)(i)(A) through (b)(3)(i)(E) of this section;

(G) The excess of gains over losses from transactions (including futures, forwards, and similar transactions) in any commodity, but not including –

(1) Any commodity hedging transaction described in section 954(c)(5)(A), determined by treating the corporation or partnership as a controlled foreign corporation; or

(2) Active business gains or losses from the sale of commodities, but only if substantially all the corporation or partnership’s commodities are property described in paragraph (1), (2), or (8) of section 1221(a);

(H) The excess of foreign currency gains over foreign currency losses (as defined in section 988(b)) attributable to any section 988 transaction; and

(I) Net income from notional principal contracts as defined in § 1.446-3(c)(1).” Treas. Reg. §1.6038D-6(b)(3).

The Treasury Regulations also contain certain exceptions to the definition of passive income (for example, for dealers).

The Passive Test: the Passive Assets Threshold

The Passive Assets Threshold is satisfied if at least 50 percent of the assets held by a corporation or a partnership for the taxable year “are assets that produce or are held for the production of passive income.” Treas. Reg. §1.6038D-6(b)(1)(ii). Such assets are called “passive assets”. Id.

The percentage of passive assets held by a corporation or a partnership during a taxable year is determined based on “the weighted average percentage of passive assets (weighted by total assets and measured quarterly).” Id. This is very similar to the PFIC test.

The regulations allow for two different methods of valuation of the assets for the purpose of the Passive Asset Threshold. The first method is Fair Market Value of the assets. The second method is valuation of assets based on the “book value of the assets that is reflected on the corporation’s or partnership’s balance sheet.” Id. Surprisingly, both US and an international financial accounting standard are permitted for the purpose of the valuation of assets (usually, only US GAAP is allowed).

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Professional Help with FATCA Form 8938 Compliance

If you are concerned about whether your entity is required to file Form 8938 or you have any other FATCA-related questions, please contact Sherayzen Law Office for professional help. Sherayzen Law Office is an international tax law firm that specializes in the US international tax compliance, including FATCA Form 8938 compliance. We have helped hundreds of US taxpayers with their FATCA requirements and We can help You!

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Specified Domestic Entity Form 8938 Filing Threshold | FATCA Lawyer

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The Specified Domestic Entity Form 8938 filing threshold is likely to be very easily satisfied by the majority of Specified Domestic Entities. With the major tax return filing deadlines just two or three months away (depending on whether an entity is a corporation, a partnership or a trust), every Specified Domestic Entity must assess whether it is required to file FATCA Form 8938. Failure to do so may result in imposition of Form 8938 penalties by the IRS.

Specified Domestic Entity Form 8938 Filing Threshold

For tax years beginning after December 31, 2015, a Specified Domestic Entity must file Form 8938 if the total value of its Specified Foreign Financial Assets exceeds $50,000 on the last day of the tax year or $75,000 at any time during the tax year. This is an incredibly low Specified Domestic Entity Form 8938 filing threshold that pretty much means that virtually all Specified Domestic Entities will have to file a Form 8938.

Transition Years Are Most Dangerous

Transition tax years 2016, 2017 and 2018 are likely to be the most dangerous for Specified Domestic Entities. Since the Specified Domestic Entity Form 8938 filing threshold is very low and the awareness of the Specified Domestic Entity Form 8938 filing obligation is limited to a small number of specialized tax professionals, there can be no doubt that many Specified Domestic Entities will fail to comply with their Form 8938 filing obligations and may face steep Form 8938 penalties.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Help with the Specified Domestic Entity Form 8938 Filing Obligations

If your business or a trust is classified as a Specified Domestic Entity and your entity failed to file FATCA Form 8938,  contact Sherayzen Law Office for professional help. Our international tax law firm specializes in helping business and individuals with their US international tax compliance requirements, including Form 8938, and with their offshore voluntary disclosures involving a Form 8938.

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Specified Domestic Entity: Closely-Held Test | 8938 Lawyer & Attorney

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In a previous article, I introduced the key term of the Specified Domestic Entity (“SDE”) Definition for corporations and partnerships that may be required to file FATCA Form 8938: “formed or availed of”. At that point, I stated that this term required that a business entity satisfies two legal tests. One of these tests is a Closely-Held Test.

Closely-Held Test: Background Information

Starting tax year 2016, certain business entities and trusts that are classified as SDEs may be required to file Form 8938 with their US tax returns. Treas. Reg. §1.6038D-6(a) states that “a specified domestic entity is a domestic corporation, a domestic partnership, or a trust described in IRC Section 7701(a)(30)(E), if such corporation, partnership, or trust is formed or availed of for purposes of holding, directly or indirectly, specified foreign financial assets.”

In a previous article, I discussed the fact that “formed or availed of” is a term of art which has no relationship to the actual finding of intent. Rather, in the context of corporations and partnerships, the “formed or availed of” requirement is satisfied if two legal tests are met. One of these tests is a Closely-Held Test, which is the subject of this article.

Closely-Held Test: General Requirements

In order to meet the closely-held test, a corporation or partnership must be closely held by a specified individual. There are two separate parts of this test that need to be analyzed: (a) who is considered to be a specified individual, and (b) what percentage of ownership meets the “closely held” requirement.

Closely-Held Test: Specified Individual

In another article, I already defined the concept of a Specified Individual. It is, however, worth re-stating the definition here again for convenience purposes. Treas. Reg. §1.6038D-1(a)(2) defines Specified individual as anyone who is: (I) US citizen; (ii) resident alien of the United States for any portion of the taxable year; (iii) nonresident alien for whom an election under 26 U.S.C. §6013(g) or (h) is in effect; or (iv) nonresident alien who is a bona fide resident of Puerto Rico or a section 931 possession.

Closely-Held Test: Ownership Percentage for Corporations and Partnerships

The ownership requirement of the Closely-Held Test is explained in Treas. Reg. §1.6038D-6(b)(2) with respect to both, corporations and partnerships. A domestic corporation is considered to be “closely held” if “at least 80 percent of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock of the corporation entitled to vote, or at least 80 percent of the total value of the stock of the corporation, is owned, directly, indirectly, or constructively, by a specified individual on the last day of the corporation’s taxable year.” Treas. Reg. §1.6038D-6(b)(2)(I).

A domestic partnership is “closely held” if “at least 80 percent of the capital or profits interest in the partnership is held, directly, indirectly, or constructively, by a specified individual on the last day of the partnership’s taxable year.” Treas. Reg. §1.6038D-6(b)(2)(ii).

It is important to emphasize that the 80% threshold is met not only through direct ownership, but also through indirect and constructive ownership. So, one must closely look at the attribution rules of 26 U.S.C. §267 to determine whether the Closely-Held Test is met. Moreover, the constructive ownership rules for the purposes of the Closely-Held Test also contain an additional provision for the addition of spouses of individual family members.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Experienced Help with US International Tax Compliance Requirements for Corporations and Partnerships

If you are a minority or a majority owner of a corporation or partnership that either operates outside of the United States or has foreign assets, contact Sherayzen Law Office for professional help with US international tax compliance requirements. Our firm specializes in the are of US international tax law. We can Help You!

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Specified Domestic Entity: Formed or Availed Of | FATCA Lawyer & Attorney

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We are continuing our series of articles on the Specified Domestic Entity definition. In previous articles, I already explained what entities are considered to be domestic and what kind of foreign assets are included in the Specified Foreign Financial Assets. In this article, I would like to introduce the key part of the definition of a Specified Domestic Entity: formed or availed of.

Due to the fact that there is a significant difference in treatment of trusts versus business entities (partnerships and corporations), I will analyze these two types of entities separately. In this article, I will focus solely on introducing the concept of Formed or Availed Of as it applies to partnerships and corporations.

Formed or Availed Of: Context

It is first useful the remember the context in which the clause “Formed or Availed Of” arises.  Treas. Reg. §1.6038D-6(a) defines a Specified Domestic Entity as “a domestic corporation, a domestic partnership, or a trust described in 26 U.S.C. §7701(a)(30)(E), if such corporation, partnership, or trust is formed or availed of for purposes of holding, directly or indirectly, specified foreign financial assets” (italics added).

Thus, the concept of “formed or availed of” is the key part to the definition of a Specified Domestic Entity.

Formed or Availed Of: Main Legal Test

It may seem to a person unfamiliar with Form 8938 that Formed or Availed Of concept implies some sort of a factual finding of intent. This first impression is not correct.

On the contrary, Formed or Availed Of concept has nothing in common with the actual intent of the parties who formed the business entity. Rather, the IRS established a very specific legal test to determine if a business entity is formed or availed of for purposes holding specified foreign financial assets.

The Formed or Availed Of Test is in reality a combination of two legal tests found in Treas. Reg. §1.6038D-6(b). An entity is considered to be formed or availed of for purposes of holding specified foreign financial assets if: (1) the corporation or the partnership is closely held (the “Closely-Held Test”), AND (2) the corporation or the partnership meets the Passive Income or Passive Assets threshold requirement (the “Passive Test”). See Treas. Reg. §1.6038D-6(b). Please, note that both tests need to be satisfied in order for a business entity to be considered as formed or availed of for purposes of holding specified foreign financial assets.

In future articles, I will explore the Closely-Held Test and the Passive Test in more detail.

Contact Sherayzen Law Office for Professional Help Concerning US International Tax Compliance Requirements for Owners of US and Foreign Businesses

If you are an owner of a foreign business or a US domestic business which owns assets overseas, contact Sherayzen Law Office for professional help concerning relevant US tax compliance requirements. We have helped US business owners around the world, and We can Help You!

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