26 CFR § 1.245-1 Dividends received from certain foreign corporations | Code of Federal Regulations | US Law

26 CFR § 1.245-1

Dividends received from certain foreign corporations

June 25, 2020

CFR

(a) General rule.

(1) A corporation is allowed a deduction under section 245(a) for dividends received from a foreign corporation (other than a foreign personal holding company as defined in section 552) which is subject to taxation under chapter 1 of the Code if, for an uninterrupted period of not less than 36 months ending with the close of the foreign corporation's taxable year in which the dividends are paid, (i) the foreign corporation is engaged in trade or business in the United States, and (ii) 50 percent or more of the foreign corporation's entire gross income is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States by that corporation. If the foreign corporation has been in existence less than 36 months as of the close of the taxable year in which the dividends are paid, then the applicable uninterrupted period to be taken into consideration in lieu of the uninterrupted period of 36 or more months is the entire period such corporation has been in existence as of the close of such taxable year. An uninterrupted period which satisfied the twofold requirement with respect to business activity and gross income may start at a date later than the date on which the foreign corporation first commenced an uninterrupted period of engaging in trade or business within the United States, but the applicable uninterrupted period is in any event the longest uninterrupted period which satisfies such twofold requirement. The deduction under section 245(a) is allowable to any corporation, whether foreign or domestic, receiving dividends from a distributing corporation which meets the requirements of that section.

(2) Any taxable year of a foreign corporation which falls within the uninterrupted period described in section 245(a)(2) shall not be taken into account in applying section 245(a)(2) and this paragraph if the 100 percent dividends received deduction would be allowable under paragraph (b) of this section, whether or not in fact allowed, with respect to any dividends payable, whether or not in fact paid, out of the earnings and profits of such foreign corporation for that taxable year. Thus, in such case the foreign corporation shall be treated as having no earnings and profits for that taxable year for purposes of determining the dividends received deduction allowable under section 245(a) and this paragraph. However, that taxable year may be taken into account for purposes of determining whether the foreign corporation meets the requirements of section 245(a) that, for the uninterrupted period specified therein, the foreign corporation is engaged in trade or business in the United States and meets the 50 percent gross income requirement.

(b) Dividends from wholly owned foreign subsidiaries.

(1) A domestic corporation is allowed a deduction under section 245(b) for any taxable year beginning after December 31, 1966, for dividends received from a foreign corporation (other than a foreign personal holding company as defined in section 552) which is subject to taxation under Chapter 1 of the Code if:

(i) The domestic corporation owns either directly or indirectly all of the outstanding stock of the foreign corporation during the entire taxable year of the domestic corporation in which the dividends are received, and

(ii) The dividends are paid out of earnings and profits of a taxable year of the foreign corporation during which (a) the domestic corporation receiving the dividends owns directly or indirectly throughout such year all of the outstanding stock of the foreign corporation, and (b) all of the gross income of the foreign corporation from all sources is effectively connected for that year with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States by that corporation.

(2) The deduction allowed by section 245(b) does not apply if an election under section 1562, relating to the privilege of a controlled group of corporations to elect multiple surtax exemptions, is effective for either the taxable year of the domestic corporation in which the dividends are received or the taxable year of the foreign corporation out of the earnings and profits of which the dividends are paid.

(1) Except as provided in section 246, the deduction provided by section 245 for any taxable year is the sum of the amounts computed under paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 245(a) plus, in the case of a domestic corporation for any taxable year beginning after December 31, 1966, the sum of the amounts computed under section 245(b)(2).

(2) To the extent that a dividend received from a foreign corporation is treated as a dividend from a domestic corporation in accordance with section 243(d) and §1.243-3, it shall not be treated as a dividend received from a foreign corporation for purposes of this section.

(3) For purposes of section 245 (a) and (b), the amount of a distribution shall be determined under subparagraph (B) (without reference to subparagraph (C)) of section 301(b)(1).

(4) In determining from what year's earnings and profits a dividend is treated as having been distributed for purposes of this section, the principles of paragraph (a) of §1.316-2 shall apply. A dividend shall be considered to be distributed, first, out of the earnings and profits of the taxable year which includes the date the dividend is distributed, second, out of the earnings and profits accumulated for the immediately preceding taxable year, third, out of the earnings and profits accumulated for the second preceding taxable year, etc. A deficit in an earnings and profits account for any taxable year shall reduce the most recently accumulated earnings and profits for a prior year in such account. If there are no accumulated earnings and profits in an earnings and profits account because of a deficit incurred in a prior year, such deficit must be restored before earnings and profits can be accumulated in a subsequent accounting year. See also paragraph (c) of §1.243-3 and paragraph (a)(6) of §1.243-4.

(5) For purposes of this section the gross income of a foreign corporation for any period before its first taxable year beginning after December 31, 1966, which is from sources within the United States shall be treated as gross income which is effectively connected for that period with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States by that corporation.

(6) For the determination of the source of income and the income which is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States, see sections 861 through 864, and the regulations thereunder.

(d) Illustrations. The application of this section may be illustrated by the following examples:

Example 1. Corporation A (a foreign corporation filing its income tax returns on a calendar year basis) whose stock is 100 percent owned by Corporation B (a domestic corporation filing its income tax returns on a calendar year basis) for the first time engaged in trade or business within the United States on January 1, 1943, and qualifies under section 245 for the entire period beginning on that date and ending on December 31, 1954. Corporation A had accumulated earnings and profits of $50,000 immediately prior to January 1, 1943, and had earnings and profits of $10,000 for each taxable year during the uninterrupted period from January 1, 1943, through December 31, 1954. It derived for the period from January 1, 1943, through December 31, 1953, 90 percent of its gross income from sources within the United States and in 1954 derived 95 percent of its gross income from sources within the United States. During the calendar years 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, and 1947 Corporation A distributed in each year $15,000; during the calendar years 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, and 1953 it distributed in each year $5,000; and during the year 1954, $50,000. An analysis of the accumulated earnings and profits under the above statement of facts discloses that at December 31, 1953, the accumulation amounted to $55,000, of which $25,000 was accumulated prior to the “uninterrupted period” and $30,000 was accumulated during the uninterrupted period. (See section 316(a) and paragraph (c) of this section.) For 1954 a deduction under section 245 of $31,025 ($8,075 on 1954 earnings of the foreign corporation, plus $22,950 from the $30,000 accumulation at December 31, 1953) for dividends received from a foreign corporation is allowable to Corporation B with respect to the $50,000 received from Corporation A, computed as follows:

(i) $8,075, which is $8,500 (85 percent—the percent specified in section 243 for the calendar year 1954—of the $10,000 of earnings and profits of the taxable year) multiplied by 95 percent (the portion of the gross income of Corporation A derived during the taxable year 1954 from sources within the United States), plus

(ii) $22,950, which is $25,500 (85 percent—the percent specified in section 243 for the calendar year 1954—of $30,000, the part of the earnings and profits accumulated after the beginning of the uninterrupted period) multiplied by 90 percent (the portion of the gross income of Corporation A derived from sources within the United States during that portion of the uninterrupted period ending at the beginning of the taxable year 1954).

Example 2. If in Example 1, Corporation A for the taxable year 1954 had incurred a deficit of $10,000 (shown to have been incurred before December 31) the amount of the earnings and profits accumulated after the beginning of the uninterrupted period would be $20,000. If Corporation A had distributed $50,000 on December 31, 1954, the deduction under section 245 for dividends received from a foreign corporation allowable to Corporation B for 1954 would be $15,300, computed by multiplying $17,000 (85 percent—the percent specified in section 243 for the calendar year 1954—of $20,000 earnings and profits accumulated after the beginning of the uninterrupted period) by 90 percent (the portion of the gross income of Corporation A derived from United States sources during that portion of the uninterrupted period ending at the beginning of the taxable year 1954).

Example 3. Corporation A (a foreign corporation filing its income tax returns on a calendar year basis) whose stock is 100 percent owned by corporation B (a domestic corporation filing its income tax returns on a calendar year basis) for the first time engaged in trade or business within the United States on January 1, 1960, and qualifies under section 245 for the entire period beginning on that date and ending on December 31, 1963. In 1963, A derived 75 percent of its gross income from sources within the United States. A's earnings and profits for 1963 (computed as of the close of the taxable year without diminution by reason of any distributions made during the taxable year) are $200,000. On December 31, 1963, corporation A distributes to corporation B 100 shares of corporation C stock which have an adjusted basis in A's hands of $40,000 and a fair market value of $100,000. For purposes of computing the deduction under section 245 for dividends received from a foreign corporation, the amount of the distribution is $40,000. B is allowed a deduction under section 245 of $25,500, i.e., $34,000 ($40,000 multiplied by 85 percent, the percent specified in section 243 for 1963), multiplied by 75 percent (the portion of the gross income of corporation A derived during 1963 from sources within the United States).

[T.D. 6500, 25 FR 11402, Nov. 26, 1960, as amended by T.D. 6752, 29 FR 12701, Sept. 9, 1964; T.D. 6830; 30 FR 8046, June 23, 1965; T.D. 7293, 38 FR 32793, Nov. 28, 1973]

Tried the LawStack mobile app?

Join thousands and try LawStack mobile for FREE today.

Carry the law offline, wherever you go.
Download CFR, USC, rules, and state law to your mobile device.