(a) Definitions. For purposes of §§1.267A-1 through 1.267A-7 the following definitions apply.

(1) The term accounting period means a taxable year, or a period of similar length over which, under a provision of hybrid mismatch rules substantially similar to §1.267A-4, computations similar to those under §1.267A-4 are made under a foreign tax law.

(2) The term branch means a taxable presence of a tax resident in a country other than its country of residence as determined under either the tax resident's tax law or such other country's tax law.

(3) The term branch mismatch payment has the meaning provided in §1.267A-2(e)(2).

(4) The term controlled foreign corporation (or CFC) has the meaning provided in section 957.

(5) The term deemed branch payment has the meaning provided in §1.267A-2(c)(2).

(6) The term disregarded payment has the meaning provided in §1.267A-2(b)(2).

(7) The term entity means any person as described in section 7701(a)(1), including an entity that under §§301.7701-1 through 301.7701-3 of this chapter is disregarded as an entity separate from its owner, other than an individual.

(8) The term fiscally transparent means, with respect to an entity, fiscally transparent with respect to an item of income as determined under the principles of §1.894-1(d)(3)(ii) and (iii), without regard to whether a tax resident (either the entity or interest holder in the entity) that derives the item of income is a resident of a country that has an income tax treaty with the United States. In addition, the following special rules apply with respect to an item of income received by an entity:

(i) The entity is fiscally transparent with respect to the item under the tax law of the country in which the entity is created, organized, or otherwise established if, under that tax law, the entity does not take the item into account in its income (without regard to whether such tax law requires an investor of the entity, wherever resident, to separately take into account on a current basis the investor's respective share of the item), and the effect under that tax law is that an investor of the entity is required to take the item into account in its income as if the item were realized directly from the source from which realized by the entity, whether or not distributed.

(ii) The entity is fiscally transparent with respect to the item under the tax law of an investor of the entity if, under that tax law, an investor of the entity takes the item into account in its income (without regard to whether such tax law requires the investor to separately take into account on a current basis the investor's respective share of the item) as if the item were realized directly from the source from which realized by the entity, whether or not distributed.

(iii) The entity is fiscally transparent with respect to the item under the tax law of the country in which the entity is created, organized, or otherwise established if—

(A) That tax law imposes a corporate income tax; and

(B) Under that tax law, neither the entity is required to take the item into account in its income nor an investor of the entity is required to take the item into account in its income as if the item were realized directly from the source from which realized by the entity, whether or not distributed.

(9) The term home office means a tax resident that has a branch.

(10) The term hybrid mismatch rules means rules, regulations, or other tax guidance substantially similar to section 267A, and includes rules the purpose of which is to neutralize the deduction/no-inclusion outcome of hybrid and branch mismatch arrangements. Examples of such rules would include rules based on, or substantially similar to, the recommendations contained in OECD/G-20, Neutralising the Effects of Hybrid Mismatch Arrangements, Action 2: 2015 Final Report (October 2015), and OECD/G-20, Neutralising the Effects of Branch Mismatch Arrangements, Action 2: Inclusive Framework on BEPS (July 2017).

(11) The term hybrid transaction has the meaning provided in §1.267A-2(a)(2).

(12) The term interest means any amount described in paragraph (a)(12)(i) or (ii) of this section that is paid or accrued, or treated as paid or accrued, for the taxable year or that is otherwise designated as interest expense in paragraph (a)(12)(i) or (ii) of this section.

(i) In general. Interest is an amount paid, received, or accrued as compensation for the use or forbearance of money under the terms of an instrument or contractual arrangement, including a series of transactions, that is treated as a debt instrument for purposes of section 1275(a) and §1.1275-1(d), and not treated as stock under §1.385-3, or an amount that is treated as interest under other provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) or the regulations in this part. Thus, interest includes, but is not limited to, the following—

(A) Original issue discount (OID);

(B) Qualified stated interest, as adjusted by the issuer for any bond issuance premium;

(C) OID on a synthetic debt instrument arising from an integrated transaction under §1.1275-6;

(D) Repurchase premium to the extent deductible by the issuer under §1.163-7(c);

(E) Deferred payments treated as interest under section 483;

(F) Amounts treated as interest under a section 467 rental agreement;

(G) Forgone interest under section 7872;

(H) De minimis OID taken into account by the issuer;

(I) Amounts paid in connection with a sale-repurchase agreement treated as indebtedness under Federal tax principles;

(J) Redeemable ground rent treated as interest under section 163(c); and

(K) Amounts treated as interest under section 636.

(ii) Swaps with significant nonperiodic payments—(A) In general. Except as provided in paragraphs (a)(12)(ii)(B) and (C) of this section, a swap with significant nonperiodic payments is treated as two separate transactions consisting of an on-market, level payment swap and a loan. The loan must be accounted for by the parties to the contract independently of the swap. The time value component associated with the loan, determined in accordance with §1.446-3(f)(2)(iii)(A), is recognized as interest expense to the payor.

(B) Exception for cleared swaps. Paragraph (a)(12)(ii)(A) of this section does not apply to a cleared swap. The term cleared swap means a swap that is cleared by a derivatives clearing organization, as such term is defined in section 1a of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1a), or by a clearing agency, as such term is defined in section 3 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c), that is registered as a derivatives clearing organization under the Commodity Exchange Act or as a clearing agency under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, respectively, if the derivatives clearing organization or clearing agency requires the parties to the swap to post and collect margin or collateral.

(C) Exception for non-cleared swaps subject to margin or collateral requirements. Paragraph (a)(12)(ii)(A) of this section does not apply to a non-cleared swap that requires the parties to meet the margin or collateral requirements of a Federal regulator or that provides for margin or collateral requirements that are substantially similar to a cleared swap or a non-cleared swap subject to the margin or collateral requirements of a Federal regulator. For purposes of this paragraph (a)(12)(ii)(C), the term Federal regulator means the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), or a prudential regulator, as defined in section 1a(39) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1a), as amended by section 721 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, Public Law 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376, Title VII.

(13) The term investor means, with respect to an entity, any tax resident or taxable branch that directly or indirectly (determined under the rules of section 958(a) without regard to whether an intermediate entity is foreign or domestic, or under substantially similar rules under a tax resident's or taxable branch's tax law) owns an interest in the entity.

(14) The term related has the meaning provided in this paragraph (a)(14). A tax resident or taxable branch is related to a specified party if the tax resident or taxable branch is a related person within the meaning of section 954(d)(3), determined by treating the specified party as the “controlled foreign corporation” referred to in section 954(d)(3) and the tax resident or taxable branch as the “person” referred to in section 954(d)(3). In addition, for the purposes of this paragraph (a)(14), a tax resident that under §§301.7701-1 through 301.7701-3 of this chapter is disregarded as an entity separate from its owner for U.S. tax purposes, as well as a taxable branch, is treated as a corporation. See also §1.954-1(f)(2)(iv)(B)(1) (neither section 318(a)(3), nor §1.958-2(d) or the principles thereof, applies to attribute stock or other interests).

(15) The term reverse hybrid has the meaning provided in §1.267A-2(d)(2).

(16) The term royalty includes amounts paid or accrued as consideration for the use of, or the right to use—

(i) Any copyright, including any copyright of any literary, artistic, scientific or other work (including cinematographic films and software);

(ii) Any patent, trademark, design or model, plan, secret formula or process, or other similar property (including goodwill); or

(iii) Any information concerning industrial, commercial or scientific experience, but does not include—

(A) Amounts paid or accrued for after-sales services;

(B) Amounts paid or accrued for services rendered by a seller to the purchaser under a warranty;

(C) Amounts paid or accrued for pure technical assistance; or

(D) Amounts paid or accrued for an opinion given by an engineer, lawyer or accountant.

(17) The term specified party means a tax resident of the United States, a CFC (other than a CFC with respect to which there is not a tax resident of the United States that, for purposes of sections 951 and 951A, owns (within the meaning of section 958(a), and determined by treating a domestic partnership as foreign) at least ten percent (by vote or value) of the stock of the CFC), and a U.S. taxable branch. Thus, an entity that is fiscally transparent for U.S. tax purposes is not a specified party, though an owner of the entity may be a specified party. For example, in the case of a payment by a partnership, a domestic corporation that is a partner of the partnership is a specified party and a deduction for its allocable share of the payment is subject to disallowance under section 267A.

(18) The term specified payment has the meaning provided in §1.267A-1(b).

(19) The term specified recipient means, with respect to a specified payment, any tax resident that derives the payment under its tax law or any taxable branch to which the payment is attributable under its tax law (or any tax resident that, based on all the facts and circumstances, is reasonably expected to derive the payment under its tax law, or any taxable branch to which, based on all the facts and circumstances, the payment is reasonably expected to be attributable under its tax law). The principles of §1.894-1(d)(1) apply for purposes of determining whether a tax resident derives (or is reasonably expected to derive) a specified payment under its tax law, without regard to whether the tax resident is a resident of a country that has an income tax treaty with the United States. There may be more than one specified recipient with respect to a specified payment.

(20) The terms structured arrangement and party to a structured arrangement have the meaning set forth in this paragraph (a)(20).

(i) Structured arrangement. A structured arrangement means an arrangement with respect to which one or more specified payments would be a disqualified hybrid amount (or a disqualified imported mismatch amount) without regard to the relatedness limitation in §1.267A-2(f) (or without regard to the phrase “that is related to the specified party” in §1.267A-4(a)) (either such outcome, a hybrid mismatch), provided that, based on all the facts and circumstances (including the terms of the arrangement), the arrangement is designed to produce the hybrid mismatch. Facts and circumstances that indicate the arrangement is designed to produce the hybrid mismatch include the following:

(A) The hybrid mismatch is priced into the terms of the arrangement, including—

(1) The pricing of the arrangement is different from what the pricing would have been absent the hybrid mismatch;

(2) Features that alter the terms of the arrangement, including its return if the hybrid mismatch is no longer available; or

(3) A below-market return absent the tax effects or benefits resulting from the hybrid mismatch.

(B) The arrangement is marketed as tax-advantaged where some or all of the tax advantage derives from the hybrid mismatch.

(C) The arrangement is marketed to tax residents of a country the tax law of which enables the hybrid mismatch.

(ii) Party to a structured arrangement. A party to a structured arrangement means a tax resident or taxable branch that participates in the structured arrangement. For purposes of this paragraph (a)(20)(ii), in the case of a tax resident or a taxable branch that is an entity, the tax resident's or taxable branch's participation in a structured arrangement is imputed to its investors. However, a tax resident or taxable branch is considered to participate in the structured arrangement only if—

(A) The tax resident or taxable branch (or a related tax resident or taxable branch) could, based on all the facts and circumstances, reasonably be expected to be aware of the hybrid mismatch; and

(B) The tax resident or taxable branch (or a related tax resident or taxable branch) shares in the value of the tax benefit resulting from the hybrid mismatch.

(21) The term tax law of a country includes statutes, regulations, administrative or judicial rulings, and income tax treaties of the country. If a country has an income tax treaty with the United States that applies to taxes imposed by a political subdivision or other local authority of that country, then the tax law of the political subdivision or other local authority is deemed to be a tax law of a country. When used with respect to a tax resident or branch, tax law refers to—

(i) In the case of a tax resident, the tax law of the country or countries where the tax resident is resident; and

(ii) In the case of a branch, the tax law of the country where the branch is located.

(22) The term taxable branch means a branch that has a taxable presence under its tax law.

(23) The term tax resident means either of the following:

(i) A body corporate or other entity or body of persons liable to tax under the tax law of a country as a resident. For purposes of this paragraph (a)(23)(i), an entity that is created, organized, or otherwise established under the tax law of a country that does not impose a corporate income tax is treated as liable to tax under the tax law of such country as a resident if under the corporate or commercial laws of such country the entity is treated as a body corporate or a company. A body corporate or other entity or body of persons may be a tax resident of more than one country.

(ii) An individual liable to tax under the tax law of a country as a resident. An individual may be a tax resident of more than one country.

(24) The term United States shareholder has the meaning provided in section 951(b).

(25) The term U.S. taxable branch means a trade or business carried on in the United States by a tax resident of another country, except that if an income tax treaty applies, the term means a permanent establishment of a tax treaty resident eligible for benefits under an income tax treaty between the United States and the treaty country. Thus, for example, a U.S. taxable branch includes a U.S. trade or business of a foreign corporation taxable under section 882(a) or a U.S. permanent establishment of a tax treaty resident.

(b) Special rules. For purposes of §§1.267A-1 through 1.267A-7, the following special rules apply.

(1) Coordination with other provisions—(i) In general. Except as provided in paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section, a specified payment is subject to section 267A after the application of any other applicable provisions of the Code and regulations in this part. Thus, the determination of whether a deduction for a specified payment is disallowed under section 267A is made with respect to the taxable year for which a deduction for the payment would otherwise be allowed for U.S. tax purposes. See, for example, sections 163(e)(3) and 267(a)(3) for rules that may defer the taxable year for which a deduction is allowed. See also §1.882-5(a)(5) (providing that provisions that disallow interest expense apply after the application of §1.882-5). In addition, provisions that characterize amounts paid or accrued as something other than interest or royalties, such as §1.894-1(d)(2), govern the treatment of such amounts and therefore such amounts would not be treated as specified payments. Moreover, to the extent that a specified payment is not described in §1.267A-1(b) when it is subject to section 267A, the payment is not again subject to section 267A at a later time. For example, if for the taxable year in which a specified payment is paid the payment is not described in §1.267A-1(b) but under section 163(j) a deduction for the payment is deferred, the payment is not again subject to section 267A in the taxable year for which section 163(j) no longer defers the deduction.

(ii) Section 267A applied before certain provisions. In addition to the extent provided in any other applicable provision of the Code or regulations in this part, section 267A applies before the application of sections 163(j), 461(l), 465, and 469.

(iii) Coordination with capitalization and recovery provisions. To the extent a specified payment is described in §1.267A-1(b), a deduction for the payment is considered permanently disallowed for all purposes of the Code and regulations in this part and, therefore, the payment is not taken into account for purposes of computing costs that are required to be capitalized and recovered through depreciation, amortization, cost of goods sold, adjustment to basis, or similar forms of recovery under any applicable provision of the Code or in regulations in this part. Thus, for example, to the extent an interest or royalty payment is a specified payment described in §1.267A-1(b), the payment is not capitalized and included in inventory cost or added to basis under section 263A. As an additional example, to the extent that a debt issuance cost is a specified payment described in §1.267A-1(b), it is neither capitalized under section 263 or the regulations in this part under section 263 nor recoverable under §1.446-5.

(iv) Specified payments arising in taxable years beginning before January 1, 2018. Section 267A does not apply to a specified payment that is paid or accrued in a taxable year beginning before January 1, 2018, regardless of whether under a provision of the Code or regulations in this part (for example, section 267(a)(3)) a deduction for the payment is deferred to a taxable year beginning after December 31, 2017, or whether the payment is carried over to another taxable year and under another provision of the Code (for example, section 163(j)) is considered paid or accrued in such taxable year.

(2) Foreign currency gain or loss. Except as set forth in this paragraph (b)(2), section 988 gain or loss is not taken into account under section 267A. Foreign currency gain or loss recognized with respect to a specified payment is taken into account under section 267A to the extent that a deduction for the specified payment is disallowed under section 267A, provided that the foreign currency gain or loss is described in §1.988-2(b)(4) (relating to exchange gain or loss recognized by the issuer of a debt instrument with respect to accrued interest) or §1.988-2(c) (relating to items of expense or gross income or receipts which are to be paid after the date accrued). If a deduction for a specified payment is disallowed under section 267A, then a proportionate amount of foreign currency loss under section 988 with respect to the specified payment is also disallowed, and a proportionate amount of foreign currency gain under section 988 with respect to the specified payment reduces the amount of the disallowance. For purposes of this paragraph (b)(2), the proportionate amount is the amount of the foreign currency gain or loss under section 988 with respect to the specified payment multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the amount of the specified payment for which a deduction is disallowed under section 267A and the denominator of which is the total amount of the specified payment.

(3) U.S. taxable branch payments—(i) Amounts considered paid or accrued by a U.S. taxable branch. For purposes of section 267A, a U.S. taxable branch is considered to pay or accrue an amount of interest or royalty equal to either—

(A) The amount of interest or royalty allocable to effectively connected income of the U.S. taxable branch under section 873(a) or 882(c)(1), as applicable; or

(B) In the case of a U.S. taxable branch that is a U.S. permanent establishment of a treaty resident eligible for benefits under an income tax treaty between the United States and the treaty country, the amount of interest or royalty allowable in computing the business profits attributable to the U.S. permanent establishment.

(ii) Treatment of U.S. taxable branch payments—(A) Interest. Interest considered paid or accrued by a U.S. taxable branch of a foreign corporation under paragraph (b)(3)(i) of this section (the “U.S. taxable branch interest payment”) is treated as a payment directly to the person to which the interest is payable, to the extent it is paid or accrued with respect to a liability described in §1.882-5(a)(1)(ii)(A) or (B) (resulting in directly allocable interest) or with respect to a U.S. booked liability, as described in §1.882-5(d)(2). If the U.S. taxable branch interest payment exceeds in the aggregate the interest paid or accrued on the U.S. taxable branch's directly allocable interest and interest paid or accrued on U.S. booked liabilities, the excess amount is treated as paid or accrued by the U.S. taxable branch on a pro-rata basis to the same persons and pursuant to the same terms that the home office paid or accrued interest, excluding any directly allocable interest or interest paid or accrued on a U.S. booked liability. The rules of this paragraph (b)(3)(ii) for determining to whom interest is paid or accrued apply without regard to whether the U.S. taxable branch interest payment is determined under the method described in §1.882-5(b) through (d) or the method described in §1.882-5(e).

(B) Royalties. Royalties considered paid or accrued by a U.S. taxable branch under paragraph (b)(3)(i) of this section are treated solely for purposes of section 267A as paid or accrued on a pro-rata basis by the U.S. taxable branch to the same persons and pursuant to the same terms that the home office paid or accrued such royalties.

(C) Permanent establishments and interbranch payments. If a U.S. taxable branch is a permanent establishment in the United States, the principles of the rules in paragraphs (b)(3)(ii)(A) and (B) of this section apply with respect to interest and royalties allowed in computing the business profits of a treaty resident eligible for treaty benefits. This paragraph (b)(3)(ii)(C) does not apply to interbranch interest or royalty payments allowed as deduction under certain U.S. income tax treaties (as described in §1.267A-2(c)(2)).

(4) Effect on earnings and profits. The disallowance of a deduction under section 267A does not affect whether the amount paid or accrued that gave rise to the deduction reduces earnings and profits of a corporation. However, for purposes of section 952(c)(1) and §1.952-1(c), a CFC's earnings and profits are not reduced by a specified payment a deduction for which is disallowed under section 267A, if a principal purpose of the transaction pursuant to which the payment is made is to reduce or limit the CFC's subpart F income.

(5) Application to structured payments—(i) In general. For purposes of section 267A and the regulations in this part under section 267A, a structured payment (as defined in paragraph (b)(5)(ii) of this section) is treated as interest. Thus, a structured payment is treated as subject to section 267A and the regulations in this part under section 267A to the same extent as if the payment were an amount of interest paid or accrued.

(ii) Structured payment. A structured payment means any amount described in paragraph (b)(5)(ii)(A) or (B) of this section.

(A) Substitute interest payments. A substitute interest payment described in §1.861-2(a)(7) is treated as a structured payment for purposes of section 267A, unless the payment relates to a sale-repurchase agreement or a securities lending transaction that is entered into by the payor in the ordinary course of the payor's business. This paragraph (b)(5)(ii)(A) does not apply to an amount described in paragraph (a)(12)(i)(I) of this section.

(B) Amounts economically equivalent to interest—(1) Principal purpose to reduce interest expense. Any expense or loss economically equivalent to interest is treated as a structured payment for purposes of section 267A if a principal purpose of structuring the transaction(s) is to reduce an amount incurred by the taxpayer that otherwise would have been described in paragraph (a)(12) or (b)(5)(ii)(A) of this section. For purposes of this paragraph (b)(5)(ii)(B)(1), the fact that the taxpayer has a business purpose for obtaining the use of funds does not affect the determination of whether the manner in which the taxpayer structures the transaction(s) is with a principal purpose of reducing the taxpayer's interest expense. In addition, the fact that the taxpayer has obtained funds at a lower pre-tax cost based on the structure of the transaction(s) does not affect the determination of whether the manner in which the taxpayer structures the transaction(s) is with a principal purpose of reducing the taxpayer's interest expense. For purposes of this paragraph (b)(5)(ii)(B), any expense or loss is economically equivalent to interest to the extent that the expense or loss is—

(i) Deductible by the taxpayer;

(ii) Incurred by the taxpayer in a transaction or series of integrated or related transactions in which the taxpayer secures the use of funds for a period of time;

(iii) Substantially incurred in consideration of the time value of money; and

(iv) Not described in paragraph (a)(12) or (b)(5)(ii)(A) of this section.

(2) Principal purpose. Whether a transaction or a series of integrated or related transactions is entered into with a principal purpose described in paragraph (b)(5)(ii)(B)(1) of this section depends on all the facts and circumstances related to the transaction(s). A purpose may be a principal purpose even though it is outweighed by other purposes (taken together or separately). Factors to be taken into account in determining whether one of the taxpayer's principal purposes for entering into the transaction(s) include the taxpayer's normal borrowing rate in the taxpayer's functional currency, whether the taxpayer would enter into the transaction(s) in the ordinary course of the taxpayer's trade or business, whether the parties to the transaction(s) are related persons (within the meaning of section 267(b) or 707(b)), whether there is a significant and bona fide business purpose for the structure of the transaction(s), whether the transactions are transitory, for example, due to a circular flow of cash or other property, and the substance of the transaction(s).

(6) Anti-avoidance rule. A specified party's deduction for a specified payment is disallowed to the extent that both of the following requirements are satisfied:

(i) The payment (or income attributable to the payment) is not included in the income of a tax resident or taxable branch, as determined under §1.267A-3(a) (but without regard to the deemed full inclusion rule in §1.267A-3(a)(5)).

(ii) A principal purpose of the terms or structure of the arrangement (including the form and the tax laws of the parties to the arrangement) is to avoid the application of the regulations in this part under section 267A in a manner that is contrary to the purposes of section 267A and the regulations in this part under section 267A.

[T.D. 9896, 85 FR 19836, Apr. 8, 2020]