Many German companies are currently viewing the U.S. as an attractive market for their products. As these German companies enter the U.S. markets, they will face some new tax issues. This series surveys the U.S. rules of international taxation encompassing these tax issues, which will often involve looking at the German-United States Income Tax Convention of 1989 as amended (“the treaty”).
The United States has more investment from Germany than any other country in Europe. To survive and thrive in the U.S. market, Germany executives must understand the potential impact that the U.S. tax laws on their profits. U.S. tax attorney Robert Misey will explain and analyze the U.S. tax issues common to every German business in a free webinar at March, 9th 2016 at 3 pm CET.
Let us assume that a German manufacturer, DeutschCo, has nominal exports to the U.S., but wants to expand U.S. sales. The U.S. expansion will replicate DeutschCo’s German distribution center, which includes a sale office. DeutschCo will periodically detail a few German sales persons and quality control specialists for approximately six months to ensure the proper functioning of DeutschCo’s unique distribution software used at the U.S. distribution center. When the U.S. operations become profitable, DeutschCo expects to repatriate cash to Germany.
DeutschCo will have to deal with the following major issues:
- Should DeutschCo structure its expansion into the U.S. through a branch or a subsidiary?
- What kind of exposure does DeutschCo have to state taxes?
- What are the U.S. tax consequences to the German employees working in the U.S.?
Due to these issues the topics to be covered by the free webinar at March, 9th include:
- Introduction to the U.S. tax system (Taxation of profits attributable to a permanent establishment, Withholding on passive income and the proper documentation, including adhering to the FATCA regime requirements)
- Various tax-advantaged structures for investment in the United States (The U.S. check-the-box regime for choice of entity, Double-dip financing structures for interest deductions)
- Satisfying the Limitation on Benefits Article in the German-United States Tax Treaty
- The transfer pricing penalty and its documentation requirements
- Individual tax issues for German executives working in the United States, including avoiding the U.S. residency rules
(From: German American Trade, Vol. 12 No. 5)
