(a) In general. For purposes of the Internal Revenue Code, in the case of a nonresident alien individual or a foreign corporation that is engaged in a trade or business in the United States at any time during the taxable year, the rules set forth in §§ 1.864-4 through 1.864-7 and this section shall apply in determining whether income, gain, or loss shall be treated as effectively connected for a taxable year beginning after December 31, 1966, with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States. Except as provided in sections 871 (c) and (d) and 882 (d) and (e), and the regulations thereunder, in the case of a nonresident alien individual or a foreign corporation that is at no time during the taxable year engaged in a trade or business in the United States, no income, gain, or loss shall be treated as effectively connected for the taxable year with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States. The general rule prescribed by the preceding sentence shall apply even though the income, gain, or loss would have been treated as effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States if such income or gain had been received or accrued, or such loss had been sustained, in an earlier taxable year when the taxpayer was engaged in a trade or business in the United States. In applying §§ 1.864-4 through 1.864-7 and this section, the determination whether an item of income, gain, or loss is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States shall not be controlled by any administrative, judicial, or other interpretation made under the laws of any foreign country.
(b) Illustrations. The application of this section may be illustrated by the following examples:
Example 1.During 1967 foreign corporation N, which uses the calendar year as the taxable year, is engaged in the business of purchasing and selling household equipment on the installment plan. During 1967 N is engaged in business in the United States by reason of the sales activities it carries on in the United States for the purpose of selling therein some of the equipment which it has purchased. During 1967 N receives installment payments of $800,000 on sales it makes that year in the United States, and the income from sources within the United States for 1967 attributable to such payments is $200,000. By reason of section 864(c)(3) and paragraph (b) of § 1.864-4 this income of $200,000 is effectively connected for 1967 with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States by N. In December of 1967, N discontinues its efforts to make any further sales of household equipment in the United States, and at no time during 1968 is N engaged in a trade or business in the United States. During 1968 N receives installment payments of $500,000 on the sales it made in the United States during 1967, and the income from sources within the United States for 1968 attributable to such payments is $125,000. By reason of section 864(c)(1)(B) and this section, this income of $125,000 is not effectively connected for 1968 with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States by N, even though such amount, if it had been received by N during 1967, would have been effectively connected for 1967 with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States by that corporation.
Example 2.R, a foreign holding company, owns all of the voting stock in five corporations, two of which are domestic corporations. All of the subsidiary corporations are engaged in the active conduct of a trade or business. R has an office in the United States where its chief executive officer, who is also the chief executive officer of one of the domestic corporations, spends a substantial portion of the taxable year supervising R's investment in its operating subsidiaries and performing his function as chief executive officer of the domestic operating subsidiary. R is not considered to be engaged in a trade or business in the United States during the taxable year by reason of the activities carried on in the United States by its chief executive officer in the supervision of its investment in its operating subsidiary corporations. Accordingly, the dividends from sources within the United States received by R during the taxable year from its domestic subsidiary corporations are not effectively connected for that year with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States by R.
Example 3.During the months of June through December 1971, B, a nonresident alien individual who uses the calendar year as the taxable year and the cash receipts and disbursements method of accounting, is employed in the United States by domestic corporation M for a salary of $2,000 per month, payable semimonthly. During 1971, B receives from M salary payments totaling $13,000, all of which income by reason of section 864(c)(2) and paragraph (c)(6)(ii) of § 1.864-4, is effectively connected for 1971 with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States by B. On December 31, 1971, B terminates his employment with M and departs from the United States. At no time during 1972 is B engaged in a trade or business in the United States. In January of 1972, B receives from M salary of $1,000 for the last half of December 1971, and a bonus of $1,000 in consideration of the services B performed in the United States during 1971 for that corporation. By reason of section 864(c)(1)(B) and this section, the $2,000 received by B during 1972 from sources within the United States is not effectively connected for that year with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States, even though such amount, if it had been received by B during 1971, would have been effectively connected for 1971 with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States by B.
[T.D. 7216, 37 FR 23424, Nov. 3, 1972]
source: T.D. 6500, 25 FR 11910, Nov. 26, 1960; 25 FR 14021, Dec. 31, 1960, unless otherwise noted.
cite as: 26 CFR 1.864-3