26 CFR §1.643(h)-1

1. (a)In general
   1. (1)Principal purpose of tax avoidance. Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, for purposes of part I of subchapter J, chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code, and section 6048, any property (within the meaning of paragraph (f) of this section) that is transferred to a United States person by another person (an intermediary) who has received property from a foreign trust will be treated as property transferred directly by the foreign trust to the United States person if the intermediary received the property from the foreign trust pursuant to a plan one of the principal purposes of which was the avoidance of United States tax.
   2. (2)Principal purpose of tax avoidance deemed to exist. For purposes of paragraph (a)(1) of this section, a transfer will be deemed to have been made pursuant to a plan one of the principal purposes of which was the avoidance of United States tax if the United States person—
      1. (i)Is related (within the meaning of paragraph (e) of this section) to a grantor of the foreign trust, or has another relationship with a grantor of the foreign trust that establishes a reasonable basis for concluding that the grantor of the foreign trust would make a gratuitous transfer (within the meaning of § 1.671-2(e)(2)) to the United States person;
      2. (ii)Receives from the intermediary, within the period beginning twenty-four months before and ending twenty-four months after the intermediary's receipt of property from the foreign trust, either the property the intermediary received from the foreign trust, proceeds from such property, or property in substitution for such property; and
      3. (iii)Cannot demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that—
         1. (A)The intermediary has a relationship with the United States person that establishes a reasonable basis for concluding that the intermediary would make a gratuitous transfer to the United States person;
         2. (B)The intermediary acted independently of the grantor and the trustee of the foreign trust;
         3. (C)The intermediary is not an agent of the United States person under generally applicable United States agency principles; and
         4. (D)The United States person timely complied with the reporting requirements of section 6039F, if applicable, if the intermediary is a foreign person.
2. (b)Exceptions
   1. (1)Nongratuitous transfers. Paragraph (a) of this section does not apply to the extent that either the transfer from the foreign trust to the intermediary or the transfer from the intermediary to the United States person is a transfer that is not a gratuitous transfer within the meaning of § 1.671-2(e)(2).
   2. (2)Grantor as intermediary. Paragraph (a) of this section does not apply if the intermediary is the grantor of the portion of the trust from which the property that is transferred is derived. For the definition of grantor, see § 1.671-2(e).
3. (c)Effect of disregarding intermediary
   1. (1)General rule. Except as provided in paragraph (c)(2) of this section, the intermediary is treated as an agent of the foreign trust, and the property is treated as transferred to the United States person in the year the property is transferred, or made available, by the intermediary to the United States person. The fair market value of the property transferred is determined as of the date of the transfer by the intermediary to the United States person. For purposes of section 665(d)(2), the term taxes imposed on the trust includes any income, war profits, and excess profits taxes imposed by any foreign country or possession of the United States on the intermediary with respect to the property transferred.
   2. (2)Exception. If the Commissioner determines, or if the taxpayer can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Commissioner, that the intermediary is an agent of the United States person under generally applicable United States agency principles, the property will be treated as transferred to the United States person in the year the intermediary receives the property from the foreign trust. The fair market value of the property transferred will be determined as of the date of the transfer by the foreign trust to the intermediary. For purposes of section 901(b), any income, war profits, and excess profits taxes imposed by any foreign country or possession of the United States on the intermediary with respect to the property transferred will be treated as having been imposed on the United States person.
   3. (3)Computation of gross income of intermediary. If property is treated as transferred directly by the foreign trust to a United States person pursuant to this section, the fair market value of such property is not taken into account in computing the gross income of the intermediary (if otherwise required to be taken into account by the intermediary but for paragraph (a) of this section).
4. (d)Transfers not in excess of $10,000. This section does not apply if, during the taxable year of the United States person, the aggregate fair market value of all property transferred to such person from all foreign trusts either directly or through one or more intermediaries does not exceed $10,000.
5. (e)Related parties. For purposes of this section, a United States person is treated as related to a grantor of a foreign trust if the United States person and the grantor are related for purposes of section 643(i)(2)(B), with the following modifications—
   1. (1)For purposes of applying section 267 (other than section 267(f)) and section 707(b)(1), “at least 10 percent” is used instead of “more than 50 percent” each place it appears; and
   2. (2)The principles of section 267(b)(10), using “at least 10 percent” instead of “more than 50 percent,” apply to determine whether two corporations are related.
6. (f)Definition of property. For purposes of this section, the term property includes cash.
7. (g)Examples. The following examples illustrate the rules of this section. In each example, FT is an irrevocable foreign trust that is not treated as owned by any other person and the fair market value of the property that is transferred exceeds $10,000. The examples are as follows:
8. (h)Effective date. The rules of this section are applicable to transfers made to United States persons after August 10, 1999.