§ 1.6038B-2 — Reporting of certain transfers to foreign partnerships.

§ 1.6038B-2 Reporting of certain transfers to foreign partnerships.

(a) Reporting requirements—(1) Requirement to report transfers. A United States person that transfers property to a foreign partnership in a contribution described in section 721 (including section 721(b)) must report that transfer on Form 8865 “Information Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Partnerships” pursuant to section 6038B and the rules of this section, if—

(i) Immediately after the transfer, the United States person owns, directly, indirectly, or by attribution, at least a 10-percent interest in the partnership, as defined in section 6038(e)(3)(C) and the regulations thereunder;

(ii) The value of the property transferred, when added to the value of any other property transferred in a section 721 contribution by such person (or any related person) to the partnership during the 12-month period ending on the date of the transfer, exceeds $100,000; or

(iii) The United States person is a U.S. transferor (as defined in § 1.721(c)-1(b)(18)) that makes a gain deferral contribution and is required to report under § 1.721(c)-6(b)(2). The reporting required under this paragraph (a) includes the annual reporting required by § 1.721(c)-6(b)(3). For purposes of applying this paragraph (a)(1)(iii) to partnerships formed on or after January 18, 2017, a domestic partnership is treated as a foreign partnership pursuant to section 7701(a)(4).

(2) Indirect transfer through a domestic partnership—For purposes of this section, if a domestic partnership transfers property to a foreign partnership in a section 721 transaction, the domestic partnership's partners shall be considered to have transferred a proportionate share of the property to the foreign partnership. However, if the domestic partnership properly reports all of the information required under this section with respect to the contribution, no partner of the transferor partnership, whether direct or indirect (through tiers of partnerships), is also required to report under this section. For illustrations of this rule, see Examples 4 and 5 of paragraph (a)(7) of this section.

(3) Indirect transfer through a foreign partnership. Solely for purposes of this section, if a foreign partnership transfers section 721(c) property (as defined in § 1.721(c)-1(b)(15)) to another foreign partnership in a transfer described in § 1.721(c)-3(d) (tiered-partnership rules), then the transferor foreign partnership's partners will be considered to have transferred a proportionate share of the property to the foreign partnership.

(4) Requirement to report dispositions—(i) In general. If a United States person was required to report a transfer to a foreign partnership of appreciated property under paragraph (a)(1) or (2) of this section, and the foreign partnership disposes of the property while such United States person remains a direct or indirect partner, that United States person must report the disposition by filing Form 8865. The form must be attached to, and filed by the due date (including extensions) of, the United States person's income tax return for the year in which the disposition occurred.

(ii) Disposition of contributed property in nonrecognition transaction. If a foreign partnership disposes of contributed appreciated property in a nonrecognition transaction and substituted basis property is received in exchange, and the substituted basis property has built-in gain under § 1.704-3(a)(8), the original transferor is not required to report the disposition. However, the transferor must report the disposition of the substituted basis property in the same manner as provided for the contributed property.

(5) Time for filing Form 8865. The Form 8865 on which a transfer is reported must be attached to the transferor's timely filed (including extensions) income tax return for the tax year that includes the date of the transfer. If the person required to report under this section is not required to file an income tax return for its tax year during which the transfer occurred, but is required to file an information return for that year (for example, Form 1065, “U.S. Partnership Return of Income,” or Form 990, “Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax”), the person should attach the Form 8865 to its information return.

(6) Returns to be made—(i) Separate returns for each partnership. If a United States person transfers property reportable under this section to more than one foreign partnership in a taxable year, the United States person must submit a separate Form 8865 for each partnership.

(ii) Duplicate form to be filed. If required by the instructions accompanying Form 8865, a duplicate Form 8865 (including attachments and schedules) must also be filed by the due date for submitting the original Form 8865 under paragraph (a)(5)(i) or (ii) of this section, as applicable.

(7) Examples. The application of this paragraph (a) may be illustrated by the following examples:

Example 1.On November 1, 2001, US, a United States person that uses the calendar year as its taxable year, contributes $200,000 to FP, a foreign partnership, in a transaction subject to section 721. After the contribution, US owns a 5% interest in FP. US must report the contribution by filing Form 8865 for its taxable year ending December 31, 2001. On March 1, 2002, US makes a $40,000 section 721 contribution to FP, after which US owns a 6% interest in FP. US must report the $40,000 contribution by filing Form 8865 for its taxable year ending December 31, 2002, because the contribution, when added to the value of the other property contributed by US to FP during the 12-month period ending on the date of the transfer, exceeds $100,000. Example 2. F,a nonresident alien, is the brother of US, a United States person. F owns a 15% interest in FP, a foreign partnership. US contributes $99,000 to FP, in exchange for a 1-percent partnership interest. Under sections 6038(e)(3)(C) and 267(c)(2), US is considered to own at least a 10-percent interest in FP and, therefore, US must report the $99,000 contribution under this section. Example 3. US,a United States person, owns 40 percent of FC, a foreign corporation. FC owns a 20-percent interest in FP, a foreign partnership. Under section 267(c)(1), US is considered to own 8 percent of FP due to its ownership of FC. US contributes $50,000 to FP in exchange for a 5-percent partnership interest. Immediately after the contribution, US is considered to own at least a 10-percent interest in FP and, therefore, must report the $50,000 contribution under this section. Example 4. US,a United States person, owns a 60-percent interest in USP, a domestic partnership. On March 1, 2001, USP contributes $200,000 to FP, a foreign partnership, in exchange for a 5-percent partnership interest. Under paragraph (a)(2) of this section, US is considered as having contributed $120,000 to FP ($200,000 × 60%). However, under paragraph (a)(2), if USP properly reports the contribution to FP, US is not required to report its $120,000 contribution. If US directly contributes $5,000 to FP on June 10, 2001, US must report the $5,000 contribution because US is considered to have contributed more than $100,000 to FP in the 12-month period ending on the date of the $5,000 contribution. Example 5. US,a United States person, owns an 80-percent interest in USP, a domestic partnership. USP owns an 80-percent interest in USP1, a domestic partnership. On March 1, 2001, USP1 contributes $200,000 to FP, a foreign partnership, in exchange for a 3-percent partnership interest. Under paragraph (a)(2) of this section, USP is considered to have contributed $160,000 ($200,000 × 80%) to FP. US is considered to have contributed $128,000 to FP ($200,000 × 80% × 80%). However, if USP1 reports the transfer of the $200,000 to FP, neither US nor USP are required to report under this section the amounts they are considered to have contributed. Additionally, regardless of whether USP1 reports the $200,000 contribution, if USP reports the $160,000 contribution it is considered to have made, US does not have to report under this section the $128,000 contribution US is considered to have made.

(b) Transfers by trusts relating to state and local government employee retirement plans. Trusts relating to state and local government employee retirement plans are not required to report transfers under this section, unless otherwise specified in the instructions to Form 8865.

(c) Information required with respect to transfers of property. With respect to transfers required to be reported under paragraph (a)(1) or (2) of this section, the return must contain information in such form or manner as Form 8865 (and its accompanying instructions) prescribes with respect to reportable events, including—

(1) The name, address, and U.S. taxpayer identification number of the United States person making the transfer;

(2) The name, U.S. taxpayer identification number (if any), and address of the transferee foreign partnership, and the type of entity and country under whose laws the partnership was created or organized;

(3) A general description of the transfer, and of any wider transaction of which it forms a part, including the date of transfer;

(4) The names and addresses of the other partners in the foreign partnership, unless the transfer is solely of cash and the transferor holds less than a ten-percent interest in the transferee foreign partnership immediately after the transfer. However, for tax years of U.S. persons beginning on or after January 1, 2000, the person reporting pursuant to section 6038B (the transferor) must provide the names and addresses of each United States person that owned a ten-percent or greater direct interest in the foreign partnership during the transferor's tax year in which the transfer occurred, and the names and addresses of any other United States or foreign persons that were direct partners in the foreign partnership during that tax year and that were related to the transferor during that tax year. See paragraph (i)(4) of this section for the definition of a related person;

(5) A description of the partnership interest received by the United States person, including a change in partnership interest;

(6) A separate description of each item of contributed property that is appreciated property subject to the allocation rules of section 704(c) (except to the extent that the property is permitted to be aggregated in making allocations under section 704(c)), or is intangible property, including its estimated fair market value and adjusted basis;

(7) A description of other contributed property, not specified in paragraph (c)(6) of this section, aggregated by the following categories (with, in each case, a brief description of the property)—

(i) Stock in trade of the transferor (inventory);

(ii) Tangible property (other than stock in trade) used in a trade or business of the transferor;

(iii) Cash;

(iv) Stock, notes receivable and payable, and other securities; and

(v) Other property;

(8) With respect to reporting required under § 1.721(c)-6(b)(2) and paragraph (a)(1)(iii) of this section with regard to a gain deferral contribution, the information required by § 1.721(c)-6(b)(2); and

(9) With respect to section 721(c) property for which reporting is required under § 1.721(c)-6(b)(3) and paragraph (a)(1)(iii) of this section, the information required by § 1.721(c)-6(b)(3).

(d) Information required with respect to dispositions of property. In respect of dispositions required to be reported under paragraph (a)(4) of this section, the return must contain information in such form or manner as Form 8865 (and its accompanying instructions) prescribes with respect to reportable events, including—

(1) The date and manner of disposition;

(2) The gain and depreciation recapture amounts, if any, realized by the partnership; and

(3) Any such amounts allocated to the United States person.

(e) Method of reporting. Except as otherwise provided on Form 8865, or the accompanying instructions, all amounts reported as required under this section must be expressed in United States currency, with a statement of the exchange rates used. All statements required on or with Form 8865 pursuant to this section must be in the English language.

(f) Reporting under this section not required of partnerships excluded from the application of subchapter K—(1) Election to be wholly excluded. The reporting requirements of this section will not apply to any United States person in respect of an eligible partnership as described in § 1.761-2(a), if such partnership has validly elected to be excluded from all of the provisions of subchapter K of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code in the manner specified in § 1.761-2(b)(2)(i).

(2) Deemed excluded. The reporting requirements of this section will not apply to any United States person in respect of an eligible partnership as described in § 1.761-2(a), if such partnership is validly deemed to have elected to be excluded from all of the provisions of subchapter K of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code in accordance with the provisions of § 1.761-2(b)(2)(ii).

(g) Deemed contributions. Deemed contributions resulting from IRS-initiated section 482 adjustments are not required to be reported under section 6038B. However, taxpayers must report deemed contributions resulting from taxpayer-initiated adjustments. Such information will be furnished timely if filed by the due date, including extensions, for filing the taxpayer's income tax return for the year in which the adjustment is made.

(h) Failure to comply with reporting requirements—(1) Consequences of a failure. If a United States person is required to file a return under paragraph (a) of this section and fails to comply with the reporting requirements of section 6038B and this section, or § 1.721(c)-6, then that person is subject to the following penalties:

(i) The United States person is subject to a penalty equal to 10 percent of the fair market value of the property at the time of the contribution. Such penalty with respect to a particular transfer is limited to $100,000, unless the failure to comply with respect to such transfer was due to intentional disregard.

(ii) The United States person must recognize gain (reduced by the amount of any gain recognized, with respect to that property, by the transferor after the transfer) as if the contributed property had been sold for fair market value at the time of the contribution. Adjustments to the basis of the partnership's assets and any relevant partner's interest as a result of gain being recognized under this provision will be made as though the gain was recognized in the year in which the failure to report was finally determined.

(2) Failure to comply. A failure to comply with the requirements of section 6038B includes—

(i) The failure to report at the proper time and in the proper manner any information required to be reported under the rules of this section; and

(ii) The provision of false or inaccurate information in purported compliance with the requirements of this section.

(3) Reasonable cause exception. Under section 6038B(c)(2) and this section, the provisions of paragraph (h)(1) of this section will not apply if the United States person shows, in a timely manner, that a failure to comply was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect. A United States person's statement that the failure to comply was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect will be considered timely only if, promptly after the United States person becomes aware of the failure, an amended return is filed for the taxable year to which the failure relates that includes the information that should have been included with the original return for such taxable year or that otherwise complies with the rules of this section, and that includes a written statement explaining the reasons for the failure to comply. If any taxable year of the United States person is under examination when the amended return is filed, a copy of the amended return must be delivered to the Internal Revenue Service personnel conducting the examination when the amended return is filed. If no taxable year of the United States person is under examination when the amended return is filed, a copy of the amended return must be delivered to the Director of Field Operations, Cross Border Activities Practice Area of Large Business & International (or any successor to the roles and responsibilities of such position, as appropriate) (Director). Whether a failure to comply was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect will be determined by the Director under all the facts and circumstances.

(4) Statute of limitations. For exceptions to the limitations on assessment in the event of a failure to provide information under section 6038B, see section 6501(c)(8).

(i) Definitions—(1) Appreciated property. Appreciated property is property that has a fair market value in excess of basis.

(2) Domestic partnership. A domestic partnership is a partnership described in section 7701(a)(4).

(3) Foreign partnership. A foreign partnership is a partnership described in section 7701(a)(5).

(4) Related person. Persons are related persons if they bear a relationship described in section 267(b)(1) through (3) or (10) through (12), after application of section 267(c) (except for (c)(3)), or in section 707(b)(1)(B).

(5) Substituted basis property. Substituted basis property is property described in section 7701(a)(42).

(6) Taxpayer-initiated adjustment. A taxpayer-initiated adjustment is a section 482 adjustment that is made by the taxpayer pursuant to § 1.482-1(a)(3).

(7) United States person. A United States person is a person described in section 7701(a)(30).

(j) Effective dates—(1) In general. Except as otherwise provided in this section, this section applies to transfers made on or after January 1, 1998. However, for a transfer made on or after January 1, 1998, but before January 1, 1999, the filing requirements of this section may be satisfied by—

(i) Filing a Form 8865 with the taxpayer's income tax return (including a partnership return of income) for the first taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 1999; or

(ii) Filing a Form 926 (modified to reflect that the transferee is a partnership, not a corporation) with the taxpayer's income tax return (including a partnership return of income) for the taxable year in which the transfer occurred.

(2) Transfers made between August 5, 1997 and January 1, 1998. A United States person that made a transfer of property between August 5, 1997, and January 1, 1998, that is required to be reported under section 6038B may satisfy its reporting requirement by reporting in accordance with the provisions of this section or in accordance with the provisions of Notice 98-17 (1998-11 IRB 6)(see § 601.601(d)(2) of this chapter).

(3) Special rule for transfers made before January 1, 2000. Even if not reported in accordance with the rules provided in paragraph (a)(5) of this section, or paragraph (j) (1) or (2) of this section, a transfer that occurred before January 1, 2000 will nevertheless be considered timely reported if the transferor reports it on a Form 8865 attached to an amended tax return for the transferor's tax year in which the transfer occurred, provided such amended return is filed no later than September 15, 2000.

(4) Transfers of section 721(c) property. Paragraph (c)(8) of this section applies to transfers occurring on or after August 6, 2015, and to transfers that occurred before August 6, 2015 resulting from an entity classification election made under § 301.7701-3 of this chapter that was effective on or before August 6, 2015 but was filed on or after August 6, 2015. Paragraphs (a)(1)(iii), (a)(3), and (c)(9) of this section apply to transfers occurring on or after January 18, 2017, and to transfers that occurred before January 18, 2017 resulting from entity classification elections made under § 301.7701-3 of this chapter that were effective on or before January 18, 2017 but were filed on or after January 18, 2017.

(5) Reasonable cause exception. Paragraph (h)(3) of this section applies to all requests for relief for transfers of property to partnerships filed on or after January 18, 2017.

[T.D. 8817, 64 FR 5715, Feb. 5, 1999; 64 FR 15686, Apr. 1, 1999; T.D. 8850, 64 FR 72554, Dec. 28, 1999, as amended by T.D. 9814, 82 FR 7610, Jan. 19, 2017; T.D. 9891, 85 FR 3851, Jan. 23, 2020]