§ 1.952-2 - Determination of gross income and taxable income of a foreign corporation.

§ 1.952-2 Determination of gross income and taxable income of a foreign corporation.

(a) Determination of gross income -

(1) In general. Except as provided in subparagraph (2) of this paragraph, the gross income of a foreign corporation for any taxable year shall, subject to the special rules of paragraph (c) of this section, be determined by treating such foreign corporation as a domestic corporation taxable under section 11 and by applying the principles of section 61 and the regulations thereunder.

(2) Insurance gross income -

(i) Life insurance gross income. The gross income for any taxable year of a controlled foreign corporation which is engaged in the business of reinsuring or issuing insurance or annuity contracts and which, if it were a domestic corporation engaged only in such business, would be taxable as a life insurance company to which part I (sections 801 through 820) of subchapter L of chapter 1 of the Code applies, shall, subject to the special rules of paragraph (c) of this section, be the sum of -

(a) The gross investment income, as defined under section 804(b), except that interest which is excluded from gross income under section 103 shall not be taken into account;

(b) The sum of the items taken into account under section 809(c), except that advance premiums shall not be taken into account; and

(c) The amount by which the net long-term capital gain exceeds the net short-term capital loss.

(ii) Mutual and other insurance gross income. The gross income for any taxable year of a controlled foreign corporation which is engaged in the business of reinsuring or issuing insurance or annuity contracts and which, if it were a domestic corporation engaged only in such business, would be taxable as a mutual insurance company to which part II (sections 821 through 826) of subchapter L of chapter 1 of the Code applies or as a mutual marine insurance or other insurance company to which part III (sections 831 and 832) of subchapter L of chapter 1 of the Code applies, shall, subject to the special rules of paragraph (c) of this section, be -

(a) The sum of -

(1) The gross income, as defined in section 832(b)(1);

(2) The amount of losses incurred, as defined in section 832(b)(5); and

(3) The amount of expenses incurred, as defined in section 832(b)(6); reduced by

(b) The amount of interest which under section 103 is excluded from gross income.

(b) Determination of taxable income -

(1) In general. Except as provided in subparagraph (2) of this paragraph, the taxable income of a foreign corporation for any taxable year shall, subject to the special rules of paragraph (c) of this section, be determined by treating such foreign corporation as a domestic corporation taxable under section 11 and by applying the principles of section 63.

(2) Insurance taxable income. The taxable income for any taxable year of a controlled foreign corporation which is engaged in the business of reinsuring or issuing insurance or annuity contracts and which, if it were a domestic corporation engaged only in such business, would be taxable as an insurance company to which subchapter L of chapter 1 of the Code applies shall, subject to the special rules of paragraph (c) of this section, be determined by treating such corporation as a domestic corporation taxable under subchapter L of chapter 1 of the Code and by applying the principles of §§ 1.953-4 and 1.953-5 for determining taxable income.

(c) Special rules for purposes of this section -

(1) Nonapplication of certain provisions. Except where otherwise distinctly expressed, the provisions of subchapters F, G, H, L, M, N, S, and T of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code shall not apply and, for taxable years of a controlled foreign corporation beginning after March 3, 1997, the provisions of section 103 of the Internal Revenue Code shall not apply.

(2) Application of principles of § 1.964-1. The determinations with respect to a foreign corporation shall be made as follows:

(i) Books of account. The books of account to be used shall be those regularly maintained by the corporation for the purpose of accounting to its shareholders.

(ii) Accounting principles. Except as provided in subparagraphs (3) and (4) of this paragraph, the accounting principles to be employed are those described in paragraph (b) of § 1.964-1. Thus, in applying accounting principles generally accepted in the United States for purposes of reflecting in the financial statements of a domestic corporation the operations of foreign affiliates, no adjustment need be made unless such adjustment will have a material effect, within the meaning of paragraph (a) of § 1.964-1.

(iii) Translation into United States dollars -

(a) In general. Except as provided in (b) of this subdivision, the amounts determined in accordance with subdivision (ii) of this subparagraph shall be translated into United States dollars in accordance with the principles of paragraph (d) of § 1.964-1.

(b) Special rule. In any case in which the value of the foreign currency in relation to the United States dollar fluctuates more than 10 percent during any translation period (within the meaning of paragraph (d)(6) of § 1.964-1), the subpart F income and non-subpart F income shall be separately translated as if each constituted all the income of the controlled foreign corporation for the translation period.

(iv) Tax accounting methods. The tax accounting methods to be employed are those established or adopted by or on behalf of the foreign corporation under paragraph (c) of § 1.964-1. Thus, such accounting methods must be consistent with the manner of treating inventories, depreciation, and elections referred to in subdivisions (ii), (iii), and (iv) of paragraph (c)(1) of § 1.964-1 and used for purposes of such paragraph; however, if, in accordance with paragraph (c)(6) of § 1.964-1, a foreign corporation receives foreign base company income before any elections are made or before an accounting method is adopted by or on behalf of such corporation under paragraph (c)(3) of § 1.964-1, the determinations of whether an exclusion set forth in section 954(b) applies shall be made as if no elections had been made and no accounting method had been adopted.

(v) Exchange gain or loss -

(a) Exchange gain or loss, determined in accordance with the principles of § 1.964-1(e), shall be taken into account for purposes of determining gross income and taxable income.

(b) Exchange gain or loss shall be treated as foreign base company shipping income (or as a deduction allocable thereto) to the extent that it is attributable to foreign base company shipping operations. The extent to which exchange gain or loss is attributable to foreign base company shipping operations may be determined under any reasonable method which is consistently applied from year to year. For example, the extent to which the exchange gain or loss is attributable to foreign base company shipping operations may be determined on the basis of the ratio which the foreign based company shipping income of the corporation for the taxable year bears to its total gross income for the taxable year, such ratio to be determined without regard to this subdivision (v).

(c) The remainder of the exchange gain or loss shall be allocated between subpart F income and non-subpart F income under any reasonable method which is consistently applied from year to year. For example, such remainder may be allocated to subpart F income in the same ratio that the gross subpart F income (exclusive of foreign base company shipping income) of the corporation for the taxable year bears to its total gross income (exclusive of foreign base company shipping income) for the taxable year, such ratio to be determined without regard to this subdivision (v).

(3) Necessity for recognition of gain or loss. Gross income of a foreign corporation (including an insurance company) includes gain or loss only if such gain or loss would be recognized under the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code if the foreign corporation were a domestic corporation taxable under section 11 (subject to the modifications of subparagraph (1) of this paragraph). See section 1002. However, a foreign corporation shall not be treated as a domestic corporation for purposes of determining whether section 367 applies.

(4) Gross income and gross receipts. The term “gross income” may not have the same meaning as the term “gross receipts”. For example, in a manufacturing, merchandising, or mining business, gross income means the total sales less the cost of goods sold, plus any income from investments and from incidental or outside operations or sources.

(5) Treatment of capital loss and net operating loss. In determining taxable income of a foreign corporation for any taxable year -

(i) Capital loss carryback and carryover. The capital loss carryback and carryover provided by section 1212(a) shall not be allowed.

(ii) Net operating loss deduction. The net operating loss deduction under section 172(a) or the operations loss deduction under section 812 shall not be allowed.

(6) Corporations which have insurance income. For purposes of paragraphs (a)(2) and (b)(2) of this section, in determining whether a controlled foreign corporation which is engaged in the business of reinsuring or issuing insurance or annuity contracts and which, if it were a domestic corporation engaged only in such business, would be taxable as an insurance company to which subchapter L of chapter 1 of the Code applies, it is immaterial that -

(i) The corporation would be exempt from taxation as an organization described in section 501(a),

(ii) The corporation would not be taxable as an insurance company to which subchapter L of the Code applies, or

(iii) The corporation would be subject to the alternative tax for small mutual insurance companies provided by section 821(c).

[T.D. 6795, 30 FR 941, Jan. 29, 1965, as amended by T.D. 7893, 48 FR 22508, May 19, 1983; T.D. 7894, 48 FR 22516, May 19, 1983; T.D. 8704, 62 FR 20, Jan. 2, 1997]