Creeping up to the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) showed an uncharacteristic sign of holiday goodwill. On December 30, 2013 the IRS issued Temporary Treasury Regulations providing guidance with regard to so-called “passive foreign investment companies” (“PFIC”). The areas covered in the Regulations include guidance in determining ownership of a PFIC (specifically, attributing ownership of PFIC stock through partnerships, estates and trusts), the annual filing requirements for shareholders of PFICs and guidance on the exception to the requirement for certain shareholders of foreign corporations to file Form 5471, “Information Return of U.S. Persons with Respect to Certain Foreign Corporations.’

Broadly speaking, the US tax laws impose a special tax and interest charge on a US person that is a shareholder of a PFIC when the investor receives an “excess distribution” from the Read More