The bad news is that the IRS's treatment of activities typically engaged in by ROs becomes incredibly complex depending on the details of the source of RO income, which in turn determines how much of the tax paid by the RO is creditable in the US.
The worse news is that this complexity could, depending on the sophistication of a business's structure, be further increased by the RO being a branch of a foreign subsidiary which purchased the goods from a related US company. This creates Subpart F issues which could, if the company is willing to pay for it, lead to transfer pricing issues.
The great news is:
- We are going to distill the bad news into a basic assumption that some of the income created by the RO is U.S. source and some is foreign source; and
- We are just going to ignore the worse news and assume that the RO is a branch of a US company.
II. US Taxation of RO Activities
You might be asking yourself, "If ROs are restricted to market research and product promotion, how could there be any taxable income, and why do we care?" Great questions!
a. US Income Tax Overview
We care whether ROs generate taxable income abroad because the US levies an income tax on worldwide income. If the RO generates China source income, then the US parent company is liable for tax on that income in the US. However, the amount of tax owed to the US government is reduced by the foreign tax credit.
b. How Can ROs Generate Income and What is the Source of that Income?
1. Product Promotion ROs
An RO will hopefully generate income for the parent company if its primary purpose is the promotion of the parent company in China. In my experience working with ROs, an RO typically employs a pseudo-sales team which promotes the goods and services of its US parent company in China. The sales of goods and/or services contracts are then signed and performed by the US parent.
If the US parent receives payment for services performed in China, then that income is clearly China source income under the Internal Revenue Code and you can skip right to subsection c. below. IRC § 862(a)(3).
However, if the US parent is selling goods in China, then the sourcing rules can become very complex depending on a host of factors. See IRC §§ 861, 862; see Treas. Reg. §§ 1.861-7, 1.863-3. The basic rule is that income from the sale of goods which the company is in the regular business of selling is sourced at the place where risk of loss is transferred to the buyer. IRC § 861(a)(6), 862(a)(6), 865(b); Treas. Reg. § 1.861-7. And if the goods are manufactured in the US and sold abroad, then income from the sale of the goods is partially US source and partially China source. Treas. Reg. § 1.863-3.
As briefly discussed above, a US company will be subject to tax on all of its income regardless of source, but a company can reduce its US tax bill with foreign tax credits if it is taxed in another country. This will be discussed below in subsection c.
2. Research and Auxiliary ROs
An RO that performs research and/or other auxiliary functions may not be generating any China source income for a US company. It will, however, unfortunately be taxed under the expense method in China. In this case, the limitations on the foreign tax credit could prevent the US company from using the EIT and BT paid in China to reduce its US tax bill with the foreign tax credit.
c. Foreign Tax Credit
The foreign tax credit gets tricky, and I'll more fully explain it a future, stand-alone post. For the rest of this post I'll give you straight-ish answers.
If the RO calculated its China EIT and BT based on legal and valid accounting documents, and that EIT and BT is based on income amounts that match the US source rules, and the China taxing authorities accept that calculation, then EIT and BT are likely to be deemed creditable income taxes under the US foreign tax credit regulations. Treas. Reg. § 1.901-2. In this case, the general limitation would apply. The general limitation:
If EIT and BT was calculated under the Expenses Method, then EIT and BT paid would not be income taxes and would likely not qualify for the foreign tax credit because these taxes would not be in lieu of an income tax in their entirety for all persons subject to the taxes. Treas. Reg. § 1.903-1(a). The reason for this is that while a product promotion company might help generate China source income, a market research company would not generate China source income; and if tax was calculated under the Expenses Method for both, then the tax would not be in lieu of an income tax for both. See Waterman S.S. Corp. v, U.S., 203 F.Supp. 915 (1962) affirmed 330 F.2d 128 (1964) affirmed 381 U.S. 252 (1965) [holding that US tax authorities should allow a credit for tax if the tax is in the nature of an income tax]. Despite not being able to take a credit, the taxpayer could take an itemized deduction for these taxes.
III. Conclusion
It is imperative to keep good books to take advantage of the best tax position. Also, you might want to consider using an entity other than an RO to enter China if you want to minimize your taxes because the Expenses Method or Deemed Profit Method could pump your China tax burden above what the US considers your tax burden if your margins are not as high as the deemed profit rate or if your options are truly only market research.
However, if the US parent is selling goods in China, then the sourcing rules can become very complex depending on a host of factors. See IRC §§ 861, 862; see Treas. Reg. §§ 1.861-7, 1.863-3. The basic rule is that income from the sale of goods which the company is in the regular business of selling is sourced at the place where risk of loss is transferred to the buyer. IRC § 861(a)(6), 862(a)(6), 865(b); Treas. Reg. § 1.861-7. And if the goods are manufactured in the US and sold abroad, then income from the sale of the goods is partially US source and partially China source. Treas. Reg. § 1.863-3.
As briefly discussed above, a US company will be subject to tax on all of its income regardless of source, but a company can reduce its US tax bill with foreign tax credits if it is taxed in another country. This will be discussed below in subsection c.
2. Research and Auxiliary ROs
An RO that performs research and/or other auxiliary functions may not be generating any China source income for a US company. It will, however, unfortunately be taxed under the expense method in China. In this case, the limitations on the foreign tax credit could prevent the US company from using the EIT and BT paid in China to reduce its US tax bill with the foreign tax credit.
c. Foreign Tax Credit
The foreign tax credit gets tricky, and I'll more fully explain it a future, stand-alone post. For the rest of this post I'll give you straight-ish answers.
If the RO calculated its China EIT and BT based on legal and valid accounting documents, and that EIT and BT is based on income amounts that match the US source rules, and the China taxing authorities accept that calculation, then EIT and BT are likely to be deemed creditable income taxes under the US foreign tax credit regulations. Treas. Reg. § 1.901-2. In this case, the general limitation would apply. The general limitation:
The foreign tax credit must be less than or equal to: Total US Tax Liability * (Taxable Foreign Source Income / Total Worldwide Taxable Income)If EIT and BT was calculated under the Deemed Profit Method, then EIT and BT paid would not qualify as income taxes but would likely qualify as creditable gross receipts taxes paid in lieu of EIT and BT. IRC § 903; Treas. Reg. § 1.903-1. The general limitation would apply.
If EIT and BT was calculated under the Expenses Method, then EIT and BT paid would not be income taxes and would likely not qualify for the foreign tax credit because these taxes would not be in lieu of an income tax in their entirety for all persons subject to the taxes. Treas. Reg. § 1.903-1(a). The reason for this is that while a product promotion company might help generate China source income, a market research company would not generate China source income; and if tax was calculated under the Expenses Method for both, then the tax would not be in lieu of an income tax for both. See Waterman S.S. Corp. v, U.S., 203 F.Supp. 915 (1962) affirmed 330 F.2d 128 (1964) affirmed 381 U.S. 252 (1965) [holding that US tax authorities should allow a credit for tax if the tax is in the nature of an income tax]. Despite not being able to take a credit, the taxpayer could take an itemized deduction for these taxes.
III. Conclusion
It is imperative to keep good books to take advantage of the best tax position. Also, you might want to consider using an entity other than an RO to enter China if you want to minimize your taxes because the Expenses Method or Deemed Profit Method could pump your China tax burden above what the US considers your tax burden if your margins are not as high as the deemed profit rate or if your options are truly only market research.