May 13, 2020
The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) requires all U.S. reporters including U.S. individual taxpayers, estates and trusts, partnership, corporations, and non-profit entities who hold a 10% or greater ownership interest in any foreign business enterprise disclose such interests every five years via the BEA BE-10 series forms. A foreign business enterprise in this context includes all incorporated and unincorporated foreign companies, branches, and affiliates, as well as ownership of foreign real estate held to produce a profit.
If required, the deadline for U.S. reporters to file the BE-10 series forms is May 29, 2020. Failure to comply with these BEA reporting requirements can result in civil penalties and fines.
If you are required to file the BE-10 forms, you will need the following information.
- The names and cities of location of each foreign business enterprise that you held an equal or greater than 10% interest in at any point in the 2019 fiscal year
- The direct and indirect ownership percentage(s) you held in each foreign business enterprise throughout the 2019 fiscal year
- The ending 2019 fiscal year values of the total assets and liabilities for each foreign business enterprise (either in USD or the functional currency)
- The Sales or Gross Operating Revenue reported by each foreign business enterprise in the 2019 fiscal year (either in USD or the functional currency)
- The Net Income amount reported by each foreign business enterprise in the 2019 fiscal year (either in USD or the functional currency)
- The number of employees retained by each foreign business enterprise in the 2019 fiscal year
- Any and all intercompany balances:
- Amounts owed to you by the foreign business enterprise
- Amounts owed by you to the foreign business enterprise
For questions about filing BE-10 series forms, contact Troy Turner, Director, Tax at tturner@grfcpa.com.