Important Reminder: Required Filing by U.S. Companies With 10 Percent or Greater Foreign Ownership is Due May 31, 2018

The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) requires each U.S. business enterprise in which a foreign person owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, 10 percent or more of the voting securities in an incorporated U.S. business enterprise, or an equivalent interest in an unincorporated enterprise, at the end of the enterprise’s 2017 fiscal year, to file a report on certain of its financial and operating characteristics and its positions and transactions with the foreign parents and affiliates. The report, the Benchmark Survey of Direct Foreign Investment in the United States, must be filed on Form BE-12, and is due on May 31, 2018 for paper filings, and June 30, 2018 if filed through BEA’s eFile system.

Unlike previous years, all U.S. affiliates of foreign owners are required to respond to the 2017 BE-12 survey whether or not they are contacted by BEA. The revised BE-12 reporting requirements also expand the scope of sales and financial information collected, while removing certain items relating to trade and manufacturing. Persons contacted by BEA about reporting that are not subject to the reporting requirements must file a BE-12 Claim for Not Filing.
 
For business enterprises subject to the BE-12 reporting requirement, the specific form to be filed varies based on certain financial metrics measured as of the enterprise’s fiscal year ending in 2017. The decision tree below provides a summary of the criteria used to determine which form should be filed.
 
The confidentiality of information submitted in the report is protected by federal law, and such information may not be used for purposes of regulation, taxation or investigation.

Extensions of the filing deadline must be requested before May 31, 2018.

Please contact us if you need assistance in determining whether you are subject to the reporting requirement or in completing the applicable reports.