Author: John D. Hollinrake, Jr.
An often overlooked exception to U.S. withholding taxes may result in a lower overall U.S. tax burden. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”) was enacted in an effort to ensure that U.S. taxpayers could not avoid U.S. federal income tax on investment income through the use of non-U.S. accounts or entities. FATCA requires that...
A Canadian which holds a partnership interest in a U.S. or non-U.S. partnership that has “effectively connected income” (“ECI”) is subject to U.S. tax withholding with respect to the Canadian partner’s allocable share of the partnership’s ECI. That withholding tax must be remitted by the partnership to the IRS irrespective of whether any distributions are...
The IRS has released a new webpage dedicated to the marijuana industry to help growers, processors, researchers and retailers understand and comply with their U.S. federal income tax responsibilities. The IRS Marijuana Industry webpage covers numerous topics that may be relevant for businesses directly engaged in, or related to, the cultivation, processing and sale of...
The CARES Act, signed into law on March 27, 2020 in the wake of the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, contained numerous changes to U.S. federal income tax law. One such change applied to the deductibility of net operating losses (“NOLs”). Legislation enacted in December 2017 commonly known as the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”...
Current closures at the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) have caused significant delays in obtaining an Employer Identification Number (“EIN”) for some U.S. businesses formed by Canadians, including new U.S. subsidiaries formed by Canadian companies. An EIN is a nine-digit number that the IRS assigns to businesses, which is necessary for many essential tasks, including making...
As Covid-19 continues to spread, many countries, including the United States and Canada, are increasingly closing their borders in an attempt to slow the rate of infection. This precaution may, however, have unintended tax consequences for Canadians who find themselves stranded on the U.S. side of the border for the duration of the shutdown. Under...
Canadian companies should carefully structure and document loans and advances to their U.S. subsidiaries. If loans to U.S. subsidiaries are not properly structured and documented, such loans may be recharacterized as equity investments for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and important U.S. tax benefits will be lost. Properly structured loans are treated as debt for...
If a non-U.S. corporation (the “Company”) is a “passive foreign investment company” or “PFIC” for any tax year during which a U.S. shareholder owns shares in the Company, certain adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences of the acquisition, ownership, and disposition of shares will generally apply to such U.S. shareholder. A U.S. shareholder will be...
A Canadian corporation will generally be a passive foreign investment company or “PFIC” if, for a tax year, (a) 75% or more of its gross income is passive income (the “PFIC income test”) or (b) 50% or more of the value of its assets either produce passive income or are held for the production of...
Canadian companies should be aware that if they engage in certain “organizational actions” that affect the tax basis of shares held by U.S. persons (including many types of acquisitions and business combinations where shares are issued to U.S. persons), they are required by the U.S. tax laws to evaluate the effect of the action on...