(a) Requirement. A person required to make an information return under section 6050N(a) must furnish a statement to each recipient whose name is required to be shown on the related information return for royalties paid.

(b) Form, manner, and time for providing statements to recipients. The statement required by paragraph (a) of this section must be either the official Form 1099 prescribed by the Internal Revenue Service for the respective calendar year or an acceptable substitute statement. The rules under § 1.6042-4 (relating to statements with respect to dividends) apply comparably in determining the form of the acceptable substitute statement permitted by this section. Those rules also apply for purposes of determining the manner of and time for providing the Form 1099 or its acceptable substitute statement to a recipient under this section. An IRS truncated taxpayer identifying number (TTIN) may be used as the identifying number of the recipient. For provisions relating to the use of TTINs, see § 301.6109-4 of this chapter (Procedure and Administration Regulations).

(c) Exempted foreign-related items—(1) In general. No return shall be required under paragraph (a) of this section for payments of the items described in paragraphs (c)(1)(i) through (iv) of this section.

(i) Returns of information are not required for payments of royalties that a payor can, prior to payment, associate with documentation upon which it may rely to treat as made to a foreign beneficial owner in accordance with § 1.1441-1(e)(1)(ii) or as made to a foreign payee in accordance with § 1.6049-5(d)(1) or presumed to be made to a foreign payee under § 1.6049-5(d)(2), (3), (4), or (5). However, such payments may be reportable under § 1.1461-1(b) and (c).

For purposes of this paragraph (c)(1)(i), the provisions in § 1.6049-5(c) (regarding rules applicable to documentation of foreign status and definition of U.S. payor and non-U.S. payor) shall apply. See § 1.1441-1(b)(3)(iii)(B) and (C) for special payee rules regarding scholarships, grants, pensions, annuities, etc. The provisions of § 1.1441-1 shall apply by substituting the term payor for the term withholding agent and without regard to the fact that the provisions apply only to amounts subject to withholding under chapter 3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

(ii) Returns of information are not required for payments of royalties from sources outside the United States paid by a non-U.S. payor or non-U.S. middleman and that are paid and received outside the United States. For a definition of non-U.S. payor or non-U.S. middleman, see § 1.6049-5(c)(5). For circumstances in which a payment is considered to be paid and received outside the United States, see § 1.6049-4(f)(16).

(iii) Returns of information are not required for payments made by a foreign intermediary described in § 1.1441-1(e)(3)(i) that it has received in its capacity as an intermediary and that are associated with a valid withholding certificate described in § 1.1441-1(e)(3)(ii) or (iii) and payments made by a U.S. branch of a foreign bank or of a foreign insurance company described in § 1.1441-1(b)(2)(iv) that are associated with a valid withholding certificate described in § 1.1441-1(e)(3)(v), which certificate the intermediary or branch has furnished to the payor or middleman from whom it has received the payment, unless, and to the extent, the intermediary or branch knows that the payments are required to be reported and were not so reported.

(2) Definitions—(i) Payor. For purposes of this section, the term payor shall have the meaning ascribed to it under § 1.6049-4(a).

(ii) Joint owners. Amounts paid to joint owners for which a certificate or documentation is required as a condition for being exempt from reporting under this paragraph (c) of this section are presumed made to U.S. payees who are not exempt recipients if, prior to payment, the payor cannot reliably associate the payment either with a Form W-9 furnished by one of the joint owners in the manner required in §§ 31.3406(d)-1 through 31.3406(d)-5 of this chapter, or with documentation described in paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section furnished by each joint owner upon which it can rely to treat each joint owner as a foreign payee or foreign beneficial owner. For purposes of applying this paragraph (c)(2)(ii), the grace period described in § 1.6049-5(d)(2)(ii) shall apply only if each payee qualifies for such grace period.

(d) Cross-reference to penalties. For provisions relating to the penalty provided for failure to file timely a correct information return required under section 6050N(a), see § 301.6721-1 of this chapter (Procedure and Administration Regulations). For provisions relating to the penalty provided for failure to furnish timely a correct payee statement required under section 6050N(b) and § 1.6050N-1(a), see § 301.6722-1 of this chapter. See § 301.6724-1 of this chapter for the waiver of a penalty if the failure is due to reasonable cause and is not due to willful neglect.

(e) Effective/applicability date. This section applies to payee statements due after December 31, 2014, without regard to extensions. For payee statements due before January 1, 2015, § 1.6050N-1 (as contained in 26 CFR part 1, revised April 2013) shall apply.