Volume 4 No 1    |    Read Article

By Beate Erwin and Kenneth Lobo

When the I.R.S. successfully maintains an adjustment to transfer pricing within an intercompany group, taxable income is increased to one participant but cash remains at the level that existed at year-end prior to the I.R.S. adjustment. To avoid a second tax adjustment, the party with excessive cash – as determined after the I.R.S. adjustment – may be treated as if it incurred an account payable, which can be repaid free of additional tax. In Analog Devices, the I.R.S. attempted to argue that the account payable of the C.F.C. should be treated as an actual borrowing. The effect of an actual borrowing limited the favorable tax treatment under Code §965. That provision temporarily allowed an 85% dividends received deduction for a U.S. corporation receiving a dividend from a controlled foreign corporation. The Tax Court disagreed with the I.R.S. position. Kenneth Lobo and Beate Erwin explain.   See more →