May 2015
The Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad is conducted by the Bureau of Economic Analysis to secure current economic data on the operations of U.S. parent companies and their foreign affiliates.
As part of this Survey, a BE-10 Report is required of any U.S.person that had a foreign affiliate – that is, that had direct or indirect ownership or control of at least 10 percent of the voting stock of an incorporated foreign business enterprise, or an equivalent interest in an unincorporated foreign business enterprise – at anytime during the U.S. person’s 2014 fiscal year
If the U.S. person had no foreign affiliates during its 2014 fiscal year, it must file a “BE-10 Claim for Not Filing.
For purposes of the BE-10 Report, a U.S. person subject to the reporting requirements is called a “U.S. Reporter” and the foreign corporation or business enterprise is called a “foreign affiliate.”
There are several BE-10 Forms:
1. Form BE-10A – Report for U.S. Reporter;
2. Form BE-10B – Report for majority-owned foreign affiliates of U.S. parents with assets, sales, or net income greater than $80million (positive or negative);
3. Form BE-10C – Report for majority-owned foreign affiliates of U.S. parents with assets, sales, or net income greater than $25 million (positive or negative) but no one of these items was greater than $80 million (positive or negative); for minority owned foreign affiliates of U.S. parents with assets, sales, or net income greater than $25 million (positive or negative); and for foreign affiliates for which no one of the items: assets, sales, and net income was greater than $25 million (positive or negative) and is a foreign affiliate parent of another foreign affiliate being filed on Form BE-10B or BE-10C;
4. Form BE-10D – Report for foreign affiliates for which no one of the items: assets, sales, and net income was greater than $25 million (positive or negative), and is not a foreign affiliate parent of another foreign affiliate being fied on Form BE-10B or BE-10C.
Due date – A fully completed and certified BE-10 report comprising Form BE-10A, and Form(s) BE-10B, BE-10C, or BE-10D is due to BEA no later than May 29, 2015 for U.S. Reporters required to file fewer than 50 forms, and June 30, 2015 for U.S. Reporters required to fie 50 or more forms.
If a U.S. Reporter cannot meet these deadlines, the U.S. Reporter can request an extension by filing a request to the BEA no later than the Report’s original due date. The May 29 deadline may be extended to June 30.
Penalties – A U.S. Reporter that fails to file a BE-10 Report can incur a civil penalty up to $25,000 and any officer, director, or employee of a corporation who knowingly participates in the failure to file the BE-10 Report can also face civil and criminal penalties.
For more information, see http://www.bea.gov/surveys/pdf/be10/BE-10%20Instructions.pdf
This article is not a substitute for legal consultation. Legal advice should be sought in accordance with the particular circumstances.
Dave Wolf & Co. is a law firm specializing in taxation and wealth management with offices in Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv and New York and affiliate offices in Greater China, London and Amsterdam.