Alston & Bird Tax Blog

Heather Ripley

About Heather Ripley

Heather Ripley is an associate in the firm’s Federal & International Tax Group. Her practice focuses on federal and international tax services for a range of clients, including domestic and international business entities and individuals.

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Letter Ruling Conjures Ghost of Section 958(b)(4) Past

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The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 continues to reverberate even unto the end of 2020. Our International Tax Group discusses a letter ruling that may have been a harbinger of proposed regulations to address exceptions to Section 367(a) gain recognition in light of the TCJA’s repeal of Section 958(b)(4). The specter of foreign-to-U.S. downward attributionCurtailing collateral effects of the repeal of Section 958(b)(4)Proposed regulations formalize pre-TCJA approach in targeted Section 367(a) context Click here to read the full advisory. [...]Read more

Treasury’s High Wire Act – Final and Proposed Regulations on CFC High-Tax Exceptions

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Our International Tax Group examines the high-tax exclusion (HTE) in new final regulations under the global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) regime and the potentially precarious side effects U.S. shareholders face in choosing whether to apply the HTE. The 2020 final regulations apply the GILTI HTE on a “tested unit” and “all or nothing” basisThe 2020 proposed regulations would conform the Subpart F HTE to the finalized GILTI HTE, creating a single unified HTE for both regimesThe decision whether to elect the GILTI HTE must balance implications under other TCJA provisions and possibly [...]Read more

What’s Your Source? Proposed Regulations on Sourcing Inventory Sales

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Is your inventory sales income U.S. or foreign source? Well, it depends. In case you missed it, our International Tax Group explores the various sourcing rules the IRS has proposed to sort out possible inconsistencies and overlaps caused by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Place of production now determines source for sales of produced inventory
Coordinating Section 863(b) and Section 865 for sales through an office
The overlap of Section 865(e)(2) and Section 864(c)(4)(B)(iii) for certain “nonresidents”

Read the full advisory here. [...]Read more

Federal Circuit Court of Appeals Weighs In on Willful FBAR Penalties

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Recently, a federal appellate court ruled in the ongoing battle between the IRS and taxpayers over the maximum penalty for willfully failing to file an FBAR to report offshore accounts as required under the Bank Secrecy Act. Our International Tax Group discusses:

Federal Circuit rules in favor of the IRS, upholding higher statutory ceiling
Lower courts have split on the issue
What’s next?

Read the full advisory here. [...]Read more

Old Law, New Tricks: Long-Awaited PFIC Guidance Proposed

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Our International Tax Group highlights new guidance on fundamental issues and points out a few sources of potential headache for taxpayers in response to the IRS and Treasury proposing the most significant regulations on passive foreign investment companies (PFICs) in nearly 30 years.

Clarifications for the Income and Asset Tests
Updates to the PFIC exceptions and look-through rules
PFIC stock attribution

Read the full advisory here. [...]Read more