(a) Scope. This section identifies certain stock of a foreign acquiring corporation that is disregarded in determining the ownership fraction. Paragraph (b) of this section provides a rule that, in a third-country transaction, excludes from the denominator of the ownership fraction stock in the foreign acquiring corporation held by former shareholders of an acquired foreign corporation by reason of holding certain stock in that foreign corporation. Paragraph (c) of this section defines a third-country transaction, and paragraph (d) of this section provides other definitions. Paragraph (e) of this section provides operating rules. Paragraph (f) of this section provides an example illustrating the application of the rules of this section. Paragraph (g) of this section provides the dates of applicability. See § 1.7874-1(d)(1) for rules addressing the interaction of this section with the expanded affiliated group rules of section 7874(c)(2)(A) and § 1.7874-1.

(b) Exclusion of certain stock of a foreign acquiring corporation from the ownership fraction. When a domestic entity acquisition is a third-country transaction, stock of the foreign acquiring corporation held by reason of holding stock in the acquired foreign corporation (within the meaning of paragraph (e)(4) of this section) is, to the extent the stock otherwise would be included in the denominator of the ownership fraction, excluded from the denominator of the ownership fraction pursuant to this paragraph.

(c) Third-country transaction. A domestic entity acquisition is a third-country transaction if the following requirements are satisfied:

(1) The foreign acquiring corporation completes a covered foreign acquisition pursuant to a plan (or series of related transactions) that includes the domestic entity acquisition.

(2) After the covered foreign acquisition and all related transactions are complete, the foreign acquiring corporation is not a tax resident of the foreign country in which the acquired foreign corporation was a tax resident before the covered foreign acquisition and all related transactions.

(3) The ownership percentage described in section 7874(a)(2)(B)(ii), determined without regard to the application of paragraph (b) of this section, is at least 60.

(d) Definitions. In addition to the definitions provided in § 1.7874-12, the following definitions apply for purposes of this section.

(1) A foreign acquisition means a transaction in which a foreign acquiring corporation directly or indirectly acquires substantially all of the properties held directly or indirectly by an acquired foreign corporation (within the meaning of paragraph (e)(2) of this section).

(2) An acquired foreign corporation means a foreign corporation whose properties are acquired in a foreign acquisition.

(3) Foreign ownership percentage means, with respect to a foreign acquisition, the percentage of stock (by vote or value) of the foreign acquiring corporation held by reason of holding stock in the acquired foreign corporation (within the meaning of paragraph (e)(3) of this section).

(4) Covered foreign acquisition—(i) In general. Except as provided in paragraphs (d)(4)(ii) and (iii) of this section, a covered foreign acquisition means a foreign acquisition in which, after the acquisition and all related transactions are complete, the foreign ownership percentage is at least 60.

(ii) Substantial business activities exception. A foreign acquisition is not a covered foreign acquisition if, on the completion date, the following requirements are satisfied:

(A) The foreign acquiring corporation is a tax resident of a foreign country.

(B) The expanded affiliated group has substantial business activities in the country in which the foreign acquiring corporation is a tax resident when compared to the total business activities of the expanded affiliated group. For this purpose, the principles of § 1.7874-3 apply and the determination of whether there are substantial business activities is made without regard to the domestic entity acquisition.

(iii) No income tax exception. A foreign acquisition is not a covered foreign acquisition if—

(A) Before the acquisition and all related transactions, the acquired foreign corporation was created or organized in, or under the law of, a foreign country that does not impose corporate income tax and was not a tax resident of any other foreign country; and

(B) After the acquisition and all related transactions are complete, the foreign acquiring corporation is created or organized in, or under the law of, a foreign country that does not impose corporate income tax and is not a tax resident of any other foreign country.

(5) A tax resident of a foreign country has the meaning set forth in § 1.7874-3(d)(11).

(e) Operating rules. The following rules apply for purposes of this section.

(1) Acquisition of multiple foreign corporations that are tax residents of the same foreign country. When multiple foreign acquisitions occur pursuant to the same plan (or a series of related transactions) and two or more of the acquired foreign corporations were tax residents of the same foreign country before the foreign acquisitions and all related transactions, then those foreign acquisitions are treated as a single foreign acquisition and those acquired foreign corporations are treated as a single acquired foreign corporation for purposes of this section.

(2) Acquisition of properties of an acquired foreign corporation. For purposes of determining whether a foreign acquisition occurs, the principles of section 7874(a)(2)(B)(i) and § 1.7874-2(c) and (d) (regarding acquisitions of properties of a domestic entity and acquisitions by multiple foreign corporations) apply with the following modifications:

(i) The principles of § 1.7874-2(c)(1) (providing rules for determining whether there is an indirect acquisition of properties of a domestic entity), including § 1.7874-2(b)(5) (providing rules for determining the proportionate amount of properties indirectly acquired), apply by substituting the term “foreign” for “domestic” wherever it appears.

(ii) The principles of § 1.7874-2(c)(2) (regarding acquisitions of stock of a foreign corporation that owns a domestic entity) apply by substituting the term “domestic” for “foreign” wherever it appears.

(3) Computation of foreign ownership percentage. For purposes of determining a foreign ownership percentage, the principles of all rules applicable to calculating an ownership percentage apply (including §§ 1.7874-2, 1.7874-4, 1.7874-5, 1.7874-7, and section 7874(c)(4)) with the following modifications:

(i) Stock of a foreign acquiring corporation described in section 7874(a)(2)(B)(ii) is not taken into account.

(ii) The principles of this section, section 7874(c)(2)(A), and §§ 1.7874-1, 1.7874-6, 1.7874-8, and 1.7874-10 do not apply.

(iii) The principles of § 1.7874-7 apply by, in addition to the exclusions listed in § 1.7874-7(e)(2)(i) through (iii), also excluding from the definition of foreign group property any property held directly or indirectly by the acquired foreign corporation immediately before the foreign acquisition and directly or indirectly acquired in the foreign acquisition.

(4) Stock held by reason of holding stock in an acquired foreign corporation. For purposes of determining stock of a foreign acquiring corporation held by reason of holding stock in an acquired foreign corporation, the principles of section 7874(a)(2)(B)(ii) and §§ 1.7874-2(f) and 1.7874-5 apply.

(5) Change in the tax residency of a foreign corporation. For purposes of this section, a change in a country in which a foreign corporation is a tax resident is treated as a transaction. Further, for purposes of this section, if a foreign acquiring corporation changes the country in which it is a tax resident in a manner that would not otherwise be considered to result in a foreign acquisition (for example, by changing where it is managed and controlled), then the foreign acquiring corporation is treated as—

(i) Both an acquired foreign corporation and a foreign acquiring corporation; and

(ii) Directly or indirectly acquiring all of the properties held directly or indirectly by the acquired foreign corporation solely in exchange for stock of the foreign acquiring corporation.

(f) Example. The following example illustrates the rules of this section.

Example.Third-country transaction—(i) Facts. FA, a newly formed foreign corporation that is a tax resident of Country Y, acquires all the stock of DT, a domestic corporation that is wholly owned by Individual A, solely in exchange for 65 shares of newly issued FA stock (DT acquisition). Pursuant to a plan that includes the DT acquisition, FA acquires all the stock of FT, a foreign corporation that is a tax resident of Country X and wholly owned by Individual B, solely in exchange for the remaining 35 shares of newly issued FA stock (FT acquisition). After the FT acquisition and all related transactions, the expanded affiliated group does not have substantial business activities in Country Y when compared to the total business activities of the expanded affiliated group, as determined under the principles of § 1.7874-3 and without regard to the DT acquisition.

(ii) Analysis. As described in paragraphs (A) through (C) of this Example, the requirements set forth in paragraphs (c)(1) through (3) of this section are satisfied and, as result, the DT acquisition is a third-country transaction.

(A) The FT acquisition is a foreign acquisition because, pursuant to the FT acquisition, FA (a foreign acquiring corporation) acquires 100 percent of the stock of FT and is thus treated as indirectly acquiring 100 percent of the properties held by FT (an acquired foreign corporation). See § 1.7874-2(c)(1) and paragraph (e)(2) of this section. Moreover, Individual B is treated as receiving 35 shares of FA stock by reason of holding stock in FT. See § 1.7874-2(f)(1)(i) and paragraph (e)(4) of this section. As a result, not taking into account the 65 shares of FA stock held by Individual A (a former domestic entity shareholder), 100 percent (35/35) of the stock of FA is held by reason of holding stock in FT and, thus, the foreign ownership percentage is 100. See paragraph (e)(3) of this section. Accordingly, the FT acquisition is a covered foreign acquisition. Therefore, because the FT acquisition occurs pursuant to a plan that includes the DT acquisition, the requirement set forth in paragraph (c)(1) of this section is satisfied.

(B) The requirement set forth in paragraph (c)(2) of this section is satisfied because, after the FT acquisition and all related transactions, the foreign country in which FA is a tax resident (Country Y) is different than the foreign country in which FT was a resident (Country X) before the FT acquisition and all related transactions.

(C) The requirement set forth in paragraph (c)(3) of this section is satisfied because, not taking into account paragraph (b) of this section, the ownership fraction is 65/100 and the ownership percentage is 65.

(D) Because the DT acquisition is a third-country transaction, the 35 shares of FA stock held by reason of holding stock in FT are excluded from the denominator of the ownership fraction. See paragraph (b) of this section. As a result, the ownership fraction is 65/65 and the ownership percentage is 100. The result would be the same if instead FA had directly acquired all of the properties held by FT in exchange for FA stock, for example, in a transaction that would qualify for U.S. federal income tax purposes as an asset reorganization under section 368.

(iii) Alternative facts. The facts are the same as in paragraph (i) of this example, except that before the FT acquisition, but in a transaction related to the FT acquisition, FT becomes a tax resident of Country Y by reincorporating in Country Y. As is the case in paragraph (ii) of this Example, the requirements set forth in paragraphs (c)(1) and (3) of this section are satisfied. The requirement set forth in paragraph (c)(2) of this section is satisfied because, after the FT acquisition and any related transactions, the foreign country of which FA is a tax resident (Country Y) is different than the foreign country of which FT was a tax resident (Country X) before the FT acquisition and the reincorporation. See paragraph (e)(5) of this section. Accordingly, the DT acquisition is a third-country transaction and the consequences are the same as in paragraph (ii)(D) of this Example.

(iv) Alternative facts. The facts are the same as in paragraph (i) of this Example, except that, instead of FA acquiring all of the stock of FT, FS, a newly formed foreign corporation that is wholly owned by FA and that is a tax resident of Country X, acquires all the stock of FT solely in exchange for 35 shares of newly issued FA stock (FT acquisition). As a result of the FT acquisition, FS and FA are each treated as indirectly acquiring 100 percent of the properties held by FT. See § 1.7874-2(c)(1)(i) and (iii) and paragraph (e)(2) of this section. Accordingly, each of FS's and FA's indirect acquisition of properties of FT (an acquired foreign corporation) is a foreign acquisition. However, FS's indirect acquisition of FT's properties is not a covered foreign acquisition because no shares of FS stock are held by reason of holding stock in FT; thus, with respect to this foreign acquisition, the foreign ownership percentage is zero. See § 1.7874-2(f) and paragraphs (e)(3) and (4) of this section. FA's indirect acquisition of FT's properties is a covered foreign acquisition because 35 shares of FA stock (the shares received by Individual B) are held by reason of holding stock in FT; thus, the foreign ownership percentage is 100 percent (35/35). See § 1.7874-2(f)(1)(i) and paragraphs (e)(3) and (4) of this section. Accordingly, because the FT acquisition occurs pursuant to a plan that includes the DT acquisition, the requirement set forth in paragraph (c)(1) of this section is satisfied. Further, as is the case in paragraphs (ii)(B) through (C) of this Example, the requirements set forth in paragraphs (c)(2) and (3) of this section are satisfied. Therefore, the DT acquisition is a third-country transaction and the consequences are the same as in paragraph (ii)(D) of this Example.

(g) Applicability dates. This section applies to domestic entity acquisitions completed on or after July 12, 2018. For domestic entity acquisitions completed before July 12, 2018, see § 1.7874-9T, as contained in 26 CFR part 1 revised as of April 1, 2017. However, to the extent this section differs from § 1.7874-9T, as contained in 26 CFR part 1 revised as of April 1, 2017, taxpayers may elect to consistently apply the differences to domestic entity acquisitions completed before July 12, 2018.

[T.D. 9834, 83 FR 32555, July 12, 2018]