1. Hans, a citizen and resident of Argentina, is a retired bank executive. Hans does not hold a green card. At the start of Year 1, Hans paid $2.5 million for a 20-unit apartment complex located in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Hans does not actively manage the building, but rather leases it to an unrelated property management company that subleases the building to the tenants. During Year 1, Hans had rental income of $300,000 and operating expenses (depreciation, interest, insurance, etc.) of $220,000. On the advice of his accountant, Hans made a Code Sec. 871(d) election in Year 1.
At the start of Year 2, Hans sold the building for $350,000. Hans' adjusted basis in the building at that time was $290,000. What are the U.S. tax consequences of Hans' U.S. activities?
2. Cholati is a foreign corporation that produces fine chocolates for sale worldwide. Cholati markets it chocolates in the United States through a branch sales office located in New York City. During the current year, Cholati's effectively connected earnings and profits are $3 million, and its U.S. net equity is $6 million at the beginning of the year, and $4 million at the end of the year. In addition, a review of Cholati's interest expense account indicates that it paid $440,000 of portfolio interest to an unrelated foreign corporation, $200,000 of interest to a foreign corporation which owns 15% of the combined voting power of Cholati's stock, and $160,000 of interest to a domestic corporation.
Compute Cholati's branch profits tax, and determine its branch interest withholding tax obligations. Assume that Cholati does not reside in a treaty country.
3. Wheelco, a foreign corporation, manufactures motorcycles for sale worldwide. Wheelco markets its motorcycles in the United States through Wheely, a wholly-owned U.S. marketing subsidiary that derives all of its income from U.S. business operations. Wheelco also has a creditor interest in Wheely, such that Wheely's debt to equity ratio is 3 to 1, and Wheely makes annual interest payments of $60 million to Wheelco. The results from Wheely's first year of operations are as follows:
Sales ................................................. ............180 million
Interest income ................................................ $6 million
Interest expense (paid to Wheelco) ................. ($60 million)
Depreciation expense ..................................... ($30 million)
Other operating expenses ............................... ($81 million)
Pre-tax income ................................................ $15 million
Assume the U.S. corporate tax rate is 35%, and that the applicable tax treaty exempts Wheelco's interest income from U.S. withholding tax. Compute Wheely's interest expense deduction.