Forms BE-10: Filing Requirement for U.S. Persons Owning Foreign Assets

UPDATE: The BEA is granting an extension of time to file Forms BE-10 to August 31st. Extension requests must be made on an individual filer basis.

Every five years, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) requires all U.S. Persons (corporations, partnerships, individuals, trusts, estates, and not-for-profits), excluding certain private funds, who own more than 10% of a foreign company or any foreign real estate to complete Forms BE-10, a benchmark survey to gather economic data about investment outside the U.S.

Forms:

BE-10 – General information on the corporation or partnership required to file.

BE-10A – General information on the individual, trust, estate and non-profit organization required to file.

BE-10B – Detailed information on foreign affiliates with greater than $80 million in Total Assets, Sales/Operating Revenue (excluding sales tax) OR Net Income after foreign taxes.

BE-10C – Slightly Less detailed information on foreign affiliates with greater than $25 million but less than $80 million in Total Assets, Sales/Gross Operating Revenue (excluding sales tax) OR Net Income after foreign taxes. Minority owners and foreign affiliate parents may also be required to file Form BE-10C.

BE-10D – Even less detailed information on foreign affiliates with less than $25 million in Total Assets, Sales/Gross Operating Revenue (excluding sales tax) OR Net Income after foreign taxes.

The new filing deadline is August 31, 2020. See the attached Flow-Chart to determine if filing is required and which forms are required. If you were notified by BEA to file a BE-10 survey but do not meet the filing requirements, Form “BE-10 Claim for Not Filing” must be submitted.

Key Information to be Reported (including new items):

• New this year: a 20-digit Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) Number for the parent and each foreign entity
• New: If a Publicly Traded Company, the Stock Exchange on which the company is listed and the ticker symbol
• Total Assets and Liabilities
  • Re-Statement in a company’s property, plant and equipment
  • New: Checkbox Question as to whether the restatement was due to the implementation of FASB AU No. 2016-02, LEASES
• Total Sales or Gross Operating Revenue
  • New: Sales from the provision of selected services (digital economy)
    • Cloud computing
    • Digital intermediation services
    • Advertising
  • New: Sales of services delivered remotely
  • New: Sales of services digitally ordered
  • New: Sales of goods digitally ordered
• Net Income or Loss after Foreign Income Tax is paid
  • Employment, costs and other expenses to be separately stated
  • NEW: Separately stating income from unconsolidated U.S. investments and from foreign entities
• New: Value of R&D performed by the U.S. parent for the foreign affiliate under a collaborative R&D agreement
• Ownership Percentage (direct and indirect) of the person reporting
• For each Foreign Entity:
  • Name
  • Country
  • City
  • Number of Employees
  • Primary Industry Code
  • New: Does the affiliate serve as a Regional Headquarters?

Filing Forms BE-10:

The forms will be available on the website of the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The forms can be filed online, or can be mailed or faxed into the BEA. The penalty for failure to file the BE-10 forms can be up to $25,000.