I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1891

To provide tax treatment for foreign investment through a United States

Regulated Investment Company comparable to the tax treatment for

direct foreign investment and investment through a foreign mutual fund.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 28, 1993

Mr. GIBBONS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To provide tax treatment for foreign investment through

a United States Regulated Investment Company comparable to the tax treatment for direct foreign investment

and investment through a foreign mutual fund.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Investment Competitiveness Act of 1993’’.

6 (b) AMENDMENT OF 1986 CODE.—Whenever in this

7 Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an

8 amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision,
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1 the reference shall be considered to be made to a section

2 or other provision of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

3 SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN DIVIDENDS OF REGU4 LATED INVESTMENT COMPANIES.

5 (a) GENERAL RULE.—

6 (1) NONRESIDENT ALIEN INDIVIDUALS.—Sec7 tion 871 (relating to tax on nonresident alien indi8 viduals) is amended by redesignating subsection (k)

9 as subsection (l) and by inserting after subsection (j)

10 the following new subsection:

11 ‘‘(k) EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN DIVIDENDS OF REG12 ULATED INVESTMENT COMPANIES.—

13 ‘‘(1) INTEREST-RELATED DIVIDENDS.—

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

15 subparagraph (B), no tax shall be imposed

16 under paragraph (1)(A) of subsection (a) on

17 any interest-related dividend received from a

18 regulated investment company.

19 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—Subparagraph (A)

20 shall not apply—

21 ‘‘(i) to any interest-related dividend

22 received from a regulated investment com23 pany by a person to the extent such divi24 dend is attributable to interest (other than

25 interest described in subparagraph (E) (i)
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1 or (iii)) received by such company on in2 debtedness issued by such person or by any

3 corporation or partnership with respect to

4 which such person is a 10-percent share5 holder,

6 ‘‘(ii) to any interest-related dividend

7 with respect to stock of a regulated invest8 ment company unless the person who

9 would otherwise be required to deduct and

10 withhold tax from such dividend under

11 chapter 3 receives a statement (which

12 meets requirements similar to the require13 ments of subsection (h)(4)) that the bene14 ficial owner of such stock is not a United

15 States person, and

16 ‘‘(iii) to any interest-related dividend

17 paid to any person within a foreign coun18 try (or any interest-related dividend pay19 ment addressed to, or for the account of,

20 persons within such foreign country) dur21 ing any period described in subsection

22 (h)(5) with respect to such country.

23 Clause (iii) shall not apply to any dividend with

24 respect to any stock which was acquired on or
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1 before the date of the publication of the Sec2 retary’s determination under subsection (h)(5).

3 ‘‘(C) INTEREST-RELATED DIVIDEND.—For

4 purposes of this paragraph, an interest-related

5 dividend is any dividend (or part thereof) which

6 is designated by the regulated investment com7 pany as an interest-related dividend in a writ8 ten notice mailed to its shareholders not later

9 than 60 days after the close of its taxable year.

10 If the aggregate amount so designated with re11 spect to a taxable year of the company (includ12 ing amounts so designated with respect to divi13 dends paid after the close of the taxable year

14 described in section 855) is greater than the

15 qualified net interest income of the company for

16 such taxable year, the portion of each distribu17 tion which shall be an interest-related dividend

18 shall be only that portion of the amounts so

19 designated which such qualified net interest in20 come bears to the aggregate amount so des21 ignated.

22 ‘‘(D) QUALIFIED NET INTEREST IN23 COME.—For purposes of subparagraph (C), the

24 term ‘qualified net interest income’ means the

25 qualified interest income of the regulated in-
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1 vestment company reduced by the deductions

2 properly allocable to such income.

3 ‘‘(E) QUALIFIED INTEREST INCOME.—For

4 purposes of subparagraph (D), the term ‘quali5 fied interest income’ means the sum of the fol6 lowing amounts derived by the regulated invest7 ment company from sources within the United

8 States:

9 ‘‘(i) Any amount includible in gross

10 income as original issue discount (within

11 the meaning of section 1273) on an obliga12 tion payable 183 days or less from the date

13 of original issue (without regard to the pe14 riod held by the company).

15 ‘‘(ii) Any interest includable in gross

16 income (including amounts recognized as

17 ordinary income in respect of original issue

18 discount or market discount or acquisition

19 discount under part V of subchapter P and

20 such other amounts as regulations may

21 provide) on an obligation which is in reg22 istered form; except that this clause shall

23 not apply to any interest on an obligation

24 issued by a corporation or partnership if

25 the regulated investment company is a 10-
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1 percent shareholder in such corporation or

2 partnership.

3 ‘‘(iii) Any interest referred to in sub4 section (i)(2)(A) (without regard to the

5 trade or business of the regulated invest6 ment company).

7 ‘‘(F) 10-PERCENT SHAREHOLDER.—For

8 purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘10-per9 cent shareholder’ has the meaning given to such

10 term by subsection (h)(3).

11 ‘‘(2) SHORT-TERM CAPITAL GAIN DIVIDENDS.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

13 subparagraph (B), no tax shall be imposed

14 under paragraph (1)(A) of subsection (a) on

15 any short-term capital gain dividend received

16 from a regulated investment company.

17 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR ALIENS TAXABLE

18 UNDER SUBSECTION (a)(2).—Subparagraph (A)

19 shall not apply in the case of any nonresident

20 alien individual subject to tax under subsection

21 (a)(2).

22 ‘‘(C) SHORT-TERM CAPITAL GAIN DIVI23 DEND.—For purposes of this paragraph, a

24 short-term capital gain dividend is any dividend

25 (or part thereof) which is designated by the reg-
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1 ulated investment company as a short-term cap2 ital gain dividend in a written notice mailed to

3 its shareholders not later than 60 days after the

4 close of its taxable year. If the aggregate

5 amount so designated with respect to a taxable

6 year of the company (including amounts so des7 ignated with respect to dividends paid after the

8 close of the taxable year described in section

9 855) is greater than the qualified short-term

10 gain of the company for such taxable year, the

11 portion of each distribution which shall be a

12 short-term capital gain dividend shall be only

13 that portion of the amounts so designated

14 which such qualified short-term gain bears to

15 the aggregate amount so designated.

16 ‘‘(D) QUALIFIED SHORT-TERM GAIN.—For

17 purposes of subparagraph (C), the term ‘quali18 fied short-term gain’ means the excess of the

19 net short-term capital gain of the regulated in20 vestment company for the taxable year over the

21 net long-term capital loss (if any) of such com22 pany for such taxable year. For purposes of this

23 paragraph, the excess of the net short-term cap24 ital gain for a taxable year over the net long25 term capital loss for a taxable year (to which an
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1 election under section 4982(e)(4) does not

2 apply) shall be determined without regard to

3 any net capital loss or net short-term capital

4 loss attributable to transactions after October

5 31 of such year, and any such net capital loss

6 or net short-term capital loss shall be treated as

7 arising on the 1st day of the next taxable year.

8 To the extent provided in regulations, the pre9 ceding sentence shall apply also for purposes of

10 computing the taxable income of the regulated

11 investment company.’’

12 (2) FOREIGN CORPORATIONS.—Section 881 is

13 amended by redesignating subsection (e) as sub14 section (f) and by inserting after subsection (d) the

15 following new subsection:

16 ‘‘(e) TAX NOT TO APPLY TO CERTAIN DIVIDENDS

17 OF REGULATED INVESTMENT COMPANIES.—

18 ‘‘(1) INTEREST-RELATED DIVIDENDS.—

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

20 subparagraph (B), no tax shall be imposed

21 under paragraph (1) of subsection (a) on any

22 interest-related dividend (as defined in section

23 871(k)(1)) received from a regulated investment

24 company.
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1 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A)

2 shall not apply—

3 ‘‘(i) to any dividend referred to in sec4 tion 871(k)(1)(B), and

5 ‘‘(ii) to any interest-related dividend

6 received by a controlled foreign corporation

7 (within the meaning of section 957(a)) to

8 the extent such dividend is attributable to

9 interest received by the regulated invest10 ment company from a person who is a re11 lated person (within the meaning of section

12 864(d)(4)) with respect to such controlled

13 foreign corporation.

14 ‘‘(C) TREATMENT OF DIVIDENDS RE15 CEIVED BY CONTROLLED FOREIGN CORPORA16 TIONS.—The rules of subsection (c)(4)(A) shall

17 apply to any interest-related dividend received

18 by a controlled foreign corporation (within the

19 meaning of section 957(a)) to the extent such

20 dividend is attributable to interest received by

21 the regulated investment company which is de22 scribed in clause (ii) of section 871(k)(1)(E)

23 (and not described in clause (i) or (iii) of such

24 section).
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1 ‘‘(2) SHORT-TERM CAPITAL GAIN DIVIDENDS.—

2 No tax shall be imposed under paragraph (1) of sub3 section (a) on any short-term capital gain dividend

4 (as defined in section 871(k)(2)) received from a

5 regulated investment company.’’

6 (3) WITHHOLDING TAXES.—

7 (A) Subsection (c) of section 1441 is

8 amended by adding at the end thereof the fol9 lowing new paragraph:

10 ‘‘(12) CERTAIN DIVIDENDS RECEIVED FROM

11 REGULATED INVESTMENT COMPANIES.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No tax shall be re13 quired to be deducted and withheld under sub14 section (a) from any amount exempt from the

15 tax imposed by section 871(a)(1)(A) by reason

16 of section 871(k).

17 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE.—For purposes of

18 subparagraph (A), clause (i) of section

19 871(k)(1)(B) shall not apply to any dividend

20 unless the regulated investment company knows

21 that such dividend is a dividend referred to in

22 such clause. A similar rule shall apply with re23 spect to the exception contained in section

24 871(k)(2)(B).’’
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1 (B) Subsection (a) of section 1442 is

2 amended—

3 (i) by striking ‘‘and the references in

4 section 1441(c)(10)’’ and inserting ‘‘the

5 reference in section 1441(c)(10)’’, and

6 (ii) by inserting before the period at

7 the end thereof the following: ‘‘, and the

8 references in section 1441(c)(12) to sec9 tions 871(a) and 871(k) shall be treated as

10 referring to sections 881(a) and 881(e)

11 (except that for purposes of applying sub12 paragraph (A) of section 1441(c)(12), as

13 so modified, clause (ii) of section

14 881(e)(1)(B) shall not apply to any divi15 dend unless the regulated investment com16 pany knows that such dividend is a divi17 dend referred to in such clause)’’.

18 (b) FLOW-THROUGH OF INTEREST BY DESIGNATION

19 OF TAXABLE INTEREST DIVIDEND.—Subsection (b) of

20 section 852 (relating to method of taxation of companies

21 and shareholders) is amended by adding at the end thereof

22 the following new paragraph:

23 ‘‘(10) TAXABLE-INTEREST DIVIDENDS.—

24 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this

25 part, a taxable-interest dividend is any divi-
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1 dend, or part thereof, which is designated by

2 the company as a taxable-interest dividend in a

3 written notice mailed to its shareholders not

4 later than 60 days after the close of its taxable

5 year. If the aggregate amount so designated

6 with respect to a taxable year of the company

7 (including amounts so designated with respect

8 to dividends paid after the close of the taxable

9 year described in section 855) is greater than

10 the net taxable interest income of the company

11 for such taxable year, the portion of each dis12 tribution which is treated as a taxable-interest

13 dividend shall be equal to the amount which

14 bears the same ratio to the distribution as net

15 taxable interest income bears to the aggregate

16 amount so designated.

17 ‘‘(B) NET TAXABLE INTEREST INCOME.—

18 For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term

19 ‘net taxable interest income’ means the amount

20 of interest earned (other than amounts exclud21 able from gross income under section 103(a))

22 by the company during the taxable year, re23 duced by the deductions properly allocable to

24 such income.
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1 ‘‘(C) INTEREST.—For purposes of this

2 paragraph, the term ‘interest’ shall include

3 amounts recognized as ordinary income in re4 spect of original issue discount or market dis5 count or acquisition discount under part V of

6 subchapter P and such other amounts as may

7 be provided in regulations.

8 ‘‘(D) TREATMENT OF TAXABLE-INTEREST

9 DIVIDENDS BY SHAREHOLDERS.—A taxable-in10 terest dividend shall be treated by a recipient

11 shareholder as interest for all purposes of this

12 subtitle.’’

13 (c) ESTATE TAX TREATMENT OF INTEREST IN CER14 TAIN REGULATED INVESTMENT COMPANIES.—Section

15 2105 (relating to property without the United States for

16 estate tax purposes) is amended by adding at the end

17 thereof the following new subsection:

18 ‘‘(d) STOCK IN A RIC.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sub20 chapter, stock in a regulated investment company

21 (as defined in section 851) owned by a nonresident

22 not a citizen of the United States shall not be

23 deemed property within the United States in the

24 proportion that, at the end of the quarter of such in25 vestment company’s taxable year immediately pre-
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1 ceding a decedent’s date of death (or at such other

2 time as the Secretary may designate in regulations),

3 the assets of the investment company that were

4 qualifying assets with respect to the decedent bore

5 to the total assets of the investment company.

6 ‘‘(2) QUALIFYING ASSETS.—For purposes of

7 this subsection, qualifying assets with respect to a

8 decedent are assets that, if owned directly by the de9 cedent, would have been—

10 ‘‘(A) amounts, deposits, or debt obligations

11 described in subsection (b) of this section,

12 ‘‘(B) debt obligations described in the last

13 sentence of section 2104(c), or

14 ‘‘(C) other property not within the United

15 States.’’

16 (d) TREATMENT OF REGULATED INVESTMENT COM17 PANIES UNDER SECTION 897.—

18 (1) Paragraph (1) of section 897(h) is amended

19 by striking ‘‘REIT’’ each place it appears and in20 serting ‘‘qualified investment entity’’.

21 (2) Paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 897(h)

22 are amended to read as follows:

23 ‘‘(2) SALE OF STOCK IN DOMESTICALLY CON24 TROLLED ENTITY NOT TAXED.—The term ‘United

25 States real property interest’ does not include any
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1 interest in a domestically controlled qualified invest2 ment entity.

3 ‘‘(3) DISTRIBUTIONS BY DOMESTICALLY CON4 TROLLED QUALIFIED INVESTMENT ENTITIES.—In

5 the case of a domestically controlled qualified invest6 ment entity, rules similar to the rules of subsection

7 (d) shall apply to the foreign ownership percentage

8 of any gain.’’

9 (3) Subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section

10 897(h)(4) are amended to read as follows:

11 ‘‘(A) QUALIFIED INVESTMENT ENTITY.—

12 The term ‘qualified investment entity’ means

13 any real estate investment trust and any regu14 lated investment company.

15 ‘‘(B) DOMESTICALLY CONTROLLED.—The

16 term ‘domestically controlled qualified invest17 ment entity’ means any qualified investment en18 tity in which at all times during the testing pe19 riod less than 50 percent in value of the stock

20 was held directly or indirectly by foreign per21 sons.’’

22 (4) Subparagraphs (C) and (D) of section

23 897(h)(4) are each amended by striking ‘‘REIT’’

24 and inserting ‘‘qualified investment entity’’.
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1 (5) The subsection heading for subsection (h) of

2 section 897 is amended by striking ‘‘REITS’’ and

3 inserting ‘‘CERTAIN INVESTMENT ENTITIES’’.

4 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

5 this section shall apply to dividends with respect to taxable

6 years of regulated investment companies beginning after

7 the date of the enactment of this Act.

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