Question

Why are the Earning Stripping Rules so important to the US fisc? What might happen without section 163(j)?

Answer 1

DEFINITION of Earnings Stripping

Earnings stripping is a common tactic used by multinational corporations to escape high domestic taxation by using interest deductions in a friendly tax regime area to lower their corporate taxes. In other words, earnings stripping is a technique used by corporations that try to minimize their U.S. tax bills by shifting profits abroad to countries with lower tax rates. It is commonly used during corporate inversions – a transaction through which the corporate structure of a U.S.-based multinational corporation is altered so that a new foreign corporation, typically located in a low-tax or tax-free country, replaces the existing U.S. parent corporation as the parent of the corporate group.

Important of Earning stripping for US Fisc

Earnings stripping is a form of tax avoidance, a legal act that involves taking advantage of a loophole in the tax code so as to reduce the amount of taxes owed to the government. Earnings stripping is simply a method by which a business entity reduces its tax liability by paying excessive amounts of interest to another corporation. This method involves transferring taxable income from a U.S. subsidiary to a foreign affiliate under the guise of tax-deductible interest payments on internal debt. As part of earnings stripping, a foreign-controlled domestic corporation (or a U.S. corporation which is based in a foreign country) or parent company makes a loan to its U.S. subsidiary for operational expenses. Subsequently, the U.S. subsidiary pays an excessive amount of interest on the loan to the parent company and deducts these interest payments from its overall earnings. The reduction in earnings has a domino effect on its overall tax liability because interest deductions are not taxed. Considering that the average U.S. corporate tax rate is 35%, the reduction can translate into a substantial amount of savings for the corporation.                                                                                                                                   To curb the practice of earnings stripping, the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1989 placed a 50% restriction on related-party interest deductions a foreign-owned U.S. corporation could take while calculating its income tax. Theoretically, a lower number for that restriction will go a long way in restricting earning stripping, but the measure requires congressional approval and bipartisan support. In general, the earnings stripping rules apply to a corporation with a debt-to-equity ratio in excess of 1.5 to 1; a net interest expense that exceeds 50% of its adjusted taxable income for the year; and an interest expense that is not subject to full U.S. income or withholding tax in the hands of the recipient. Although it is a pernicious corporate practice that reduces the government's tax revenues, earnings stripping has not had a documented effect on U.S. unemployment.

What is section 163(j) limitation - Generally, taxpayers can deduct interest expense paid or accrued in the taxable year. However, if section 163(j) applies, the amount of deductible business interest expense in a taxable year cannot exceed the sum of:

1. the taxpayer’s business interest income for the year;
2. 30% of the taxpayer’s adjusted taxable income (ATI) for the year; and
3. the taxpayer’s floor plan financing interest expense for the year.

Disallowed interest expense is carried over to future years and treated as interest paid or accrued in the succeeding taxable year

If section 163(j) will not be there then interest exp will be fully allowed in same financial year in which they were occurred. Then Govt. may occur losses of taxes which have been paid in that financial year.