§ 904. Limitation on credit

§ 904. Limitation on credit

(a) Limitation The total amount of the credit taken under section 901(a) shall not exceed the same proportion of the tax against which such credit is taken which the taxpayer’s taxable income from sources without the United States (but not in excess of the taxpayer’s entire taxable income) bears to his entire taxable income for the same taxable year.

(b) Taxable income for purpose of computing limitation

(1) Personal exemptions For purposes of subsection (a), the taxable income in the case of an individual, estate, or trust shall be computed without any deduction for personal exemptions under section 151 or 642(b).

(2) Capital gains For purposes of this section—

(A) In general Taxable income from sources outside the United States shall include gain from the sale or exchange of capital assets only to the extent of foreign source capital gain net income.

(B) Special rules where capital gain rate differential In the case of any taxable year for which there is a capital gain rate differential—

(i) in lieu of applying subparagraph (A), the taxable income from sources outside the United States shall include gain from the sale or exchange of capital assets only in an amount equal to foreign source capital gain net income reduced by the rate differential portion of foreign source net capital gain,

(ii) the entire taxable income shall include gain from the sale or exchange of capital assets only in an amount equal to capital gain net income reduced by the rate differential portion of net capital gain, and

(iii) for purposes of determining taxable income from sources outside the United States, any net capital loss (and any amount which is a short-term capital loss under section 1212(a)) from sources outside the United States to the extent taken into account in determining capital gain net income for the taxable year shall be reduced by an amount equal to the rate differential portion of the excess of net capital gain from sources within the United States over net capital gain.

(C) Coordination with capital gains rates The Secretary may by regulations modify the application of this paragraph and paragraph (3) to the extent necessary to properly reflect any capital gain rate differential under section 1(h) and the computation of net capital gain.

(3) Definitions For purposes of this subsection—

(A) Foreign source capital gain net income The term “foreign source capital gain net income” means the lesser of—

(i) capital gain net income from sources without the United States, or

(ii) capital gain net income.

(B) Foreign source net capital gain The term “foreign source net capital gain” means the lesser of—

(i) net capital gain from sources without the United States, or

(ii) net capital gain.

(C) Section 1231 gains The term “gain from the sale or exchange of capital assets” includes any gain so treated under section 1231.

(D) Capital gain rate differential There is a capital gain rate differential for any year if subsection (h) of section 1 applies to such taxable year.

(E) Rate differential portion The rate differential portion of foreign source net capital gain, net capital gain, or the excess of net capital gain from sources within the United States over net capital gain, as the case may be, is the same proportion of such amount as—

(i) the excess of—

(I) the highest rate of tax set forth in subsection (a), (b), (c), (d), or (e) of section 1 (whichever applies), over

(II) the alternative rate of tax determined under section 1(h), bears to

(ii) that rate referred to in subclause (I).

(4) Treatment of dividends for which deduction is allowed under section 245A For purposes of subsection (a), in the case of a domestic corporation which is a United States shareholder with respect to a specified 10-percent owned foreign corporation, such shareholder’s taxable income from sources without the United States (and entire taxable income) shall be determined without regard to—

(A) the foreign-source portion of any dividend received from such foreign corporation, and

(B) any deductions properly allocable or apportioned to—

Any term which is used in section 245A and in this paragraph shall have the same meaning for purposes of this paragraph as when used in such section.

(i) income (other than amounts includible under section 951(a)(1) or 951A(a)) with respect to stock of such specified 10-percent owned foreign corporation, or

(ii) such stock to the extent income with respect to such stock is other than amounts includible under section 951(a)(1) or 951A(a).

(5) Deductions treated as allocable to foreign source net CFC tested income Solely for purposes of the application of subsection (a) with respect to amounts described in subsection (d)(1)(A), the taxpayer’s taxable income from sources without the United States shall be determined by allocating and apportioning—

Any amount or deduction which would (but for subparagraphs (B) and (C)) have been allocated or apportioned to such income shall only be allocated or apportioned to income which is from sources within the United States.

(A) any deduction allowed under section 250(a)(1)(B) (and any deduction allowed under section 164(a)(3) for taxes imposed on amounts described in section 250(a)(1)(B)) to such income,

(B) no amount of interest expense or research and experimental expenditures to such income, and

(C) any other deduction to such income only if such deduction is directly allocable to such income.

(6) Source rules for certain inventory produced in the United States and sold through foreign branches For purposes of this section, if a United States person maintains an office or other fixed place of business in a foreign country (determined under rules similar to the rules of section 864(c)(5)), the portion of income which—

shall be treated as from sources without the United States, except that the amount so treated shall not exceed 50 percent of the income from the sale or exchange of such inventory property.

(A) is from the sale or exchange outside the United States of inventory property (within the meaning of section 865(i)(1))—

(i) which is produced in the United States,

(ii) which is for use outside the United States, and

(iii) to which the third sentence of section 863(b) applies, and

(B) is attributable (determined under rules similar to the rules of section 864(c)(5)) to such office or other fixed place of business,

(c) Carryback and carryover of excess tax paid Any amount by which all taxes paid or accrued to foreign countries or possessions of the United States for any taxable year for which the taxpayer chooses to have the benefits of this subpart exceed the limitation under subsection (a) shall be deemed taxes paid or accrued to foreign countries or possessions of the United States in the first preceding taxable year and in any of the first 10 succeeding taxable years, in that order and to the extent not deemed taxes paid or accrued in a prior taxable year, in the amount by which the limitation under subsection (a) for such preceding or succeeding taxable year exceeds the sum of the taxes paid or accrued to foreign countries or possessions of the United States for such preceding or succeeding taxable year and the amount of the taxes for any taxable year earlier than the current taxable year which shall be deemed to have been paid or accrued in such preceding or subsequent taxable year (whether or not the taxpayer chooses to have the benefits of this subpart with respect to such earlier taxable year). Such amount deemed paid or accrued in any year may be availed of only as a tax credit and not as a deduction and only if the taxpayer for such year chooses to have the benefits of this subpart as to taxes paid or accrued for that year to foreign countries or possessions of the United States. This subsection shall not apply to taxes paid or accrued with respect to amounts described in subsection (d)(1)(A).

(d) Separate application of section with respect to certain categories of income

(1) In general The provisions of subsections (a), (b), and (c) and sections 902,11 See References in Text note below. 907, and 960 shall be applied separately with respect to—

(A) any amount includible in gross income under section 951A (other than passive category income),

(B) foreign branch income,

(C) passive category income, and

(D) general category income.

(2) Definitions and special rules For purposes of this subsection—

(A) Categories

(i) Passive category income The term “passive category income” means passive income and specified passive category income.

(ii) General category income The term “general category income” means income other than income described in paragraph (1)(A), foreign branch income, and passive category income.

(B) Passive income

Any reference in subclause (II) to section 922, 923, or 927 shall be treated as a reference to such section as in effect before its repeal by the FSC Repeal and Extraterritorial Income Exclusion Act of 2000.

(i) In general Except as otherwise provided in this subparagraph, the term “passive income” means any income received or accrued by any person which is of a kind which would be foreign personal holding company income (as defined in section 954(c)).

(ii) Certain amounts included Except as provided in clause (iii), subparagraph (E)(ii), or paragraph (3)(H), the term “passive income” includes any amount includible in gross income under section 1293 (relating to certain passive foreign investment companies).

(iii) Exceptions The term “passive income” shall not include—

(I) any export financing interest, and

(II) any high-taxed income.

(iv) Clarification of application of section 864(d)(6) In determining whether any income is of a kind which would be foreign personal holding company income, the rules of section 864(d)(6) shall apply only in the case of income of a controlled foreign corporation.

(v) Specified passive category income The term “specified passive category income” means—

(I) dividends from a DISC or former DISC (as defined in section 992(a)) to the extent such dividends are treated as income from sources without the United States, and

(II) distributions from a former FSC (as defined in section 922) out of earnings and profits attributable to foreign trade income (within the meaning of section 923(b)) or interest or carrying charges (as defined in section 927(d)(1)) derived from a transaction which results in foreign trade income (as defined in section 923(b)).

(C) Treatment of financial services income and companies

(i) In general Financial services income shall be treated as general category income in the case of—

(I) a member of a financial services group, and

(II) any other person if such person is predominantly engaged in the active conduct of a banking, insurance, financing, or similar business.

(ii) Financial services group The term “financial services group” means any affiliated group (as defined in section 1504(a) without regard to paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 1504(b)) which is predominantly engaged in the active conduct of a banking, insurance, financing, or similar business. In determining whether such a group is so engaged, there shall be taken into account only the income of members of the group that are—

(I) United States corporations, or

(II) controlled foreign corporations in which such United States corporations own, directly or indirectly, at least 80 percent of the total voting power and value of the stock.

(iii) Pass-thru entities The Secretary shall by regulation specify for purposes of this subparagraph the treatment of financial services income received or accrued by partnerships and by other pass-thru entities which are not members of a financial services group.

(D) Financial services income

(i) In general Except as otherwise provided in this subparagraph, the term “financial services income” means any income which is received or accrued by any person predominantly engaged in the active conduct of a banking, insurance, financing, or similar business, and which is—

(I) described in clause (ii), or

(II) passive income (determined without regard to subparagraph (B)(iii)(II)).

(ii) General description of financial services income Income is described in this clause if such income is—

(I) derived in the active conduct of a banking, financing, or similar business,

(II) derived from the investment by an insurance company of its unearned premiums or reserves ordinary and necessary for the proper conduct of its insurance business, or

(III) of a kind which would be insurance income as defined in section 953(a) determined without regard to those provisions of paragraph (1)(A) of such section which limit insurance income to income from countries other than the country in which the corporation was created or organized.

(E) Noncontrolled section 902 corporation

A controlled foreign corporation shall not be treated as a noncontrolled 10-percent owned foreign corporation with respect to any distribution out of its earnings and profits for periods during which it was a controlled foreign corporation. Any reference to section 902 in this clause shall be treated as a reference to such section as in effect before its repeal.

(i) Noncontrolled 10-percent owned foreign corporation The term “noncontrolled 10-percent owned foreign corporation” means any foreign corporation which is—

(I) a specified 10-percent owned foreign corporation (as defined in section 245A(b)), or

(II) a passive foreign investment company (as defined in section 1297(a)) with respect to which the taxpayer meets the stock ownership requirements of section 902(a) (or, for purposes of applying paragraphs (3) and (4), the requirements of section 902(b)).

(ii) Treatment of inclusions under section 1293 If any foreign corporation is a noncontrolled 10-percent owned foreign corporation with respect to the taxpayer, any inclusion under section 1293 with respect to such corporation shall be treated as a dividend from such corporation.

(F) High-taxed income The term “high-taxed income” means any income which (but for this subparagraph) would be passive income if the sum of—

exceeds the highest rate of tax specified in section 1 or 11 (whichever applies) multiplied by the amount of such income (determined with regard to section 78). For purposes of the preceding sentence, the term “foreign income taxes” means any income, war profits, or excess profits tax imposed by any foreign country or possession of the United States.

(i) the foreign income taxes paid or accrued by the taxpayer with respect to such income, and

(ii) the foreign income taxes deemed paid by the taxpayer with respect to such income under section 902 ^1 or 960,

(G) Export financing interest For purposes of this paragraph, the term “export financing interest” means any interest derived from financing the sale (or other disposition) for use or consumption outside the United States of any property—

For purposes of clause (ii), the fair market value of any property imported into the United States shall be its appraised value, as determined by the Secretary under section 402 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1401a) in connection with its importation.

(i) which is manufactured, produced, grown, or extracted in the United States by the taxpayer or a related person, and

(ii) not more than 50 percent of the fair market value of which is attributable to products imported into the United States.

(H) Treatment of income tax base differences

(i) In general In the case of taxable years beginning after December 31, 2006, tax imposed under the law of a foreign country or possession of the United States on an amount which does not constitute income under United States tax principles shall be treated as imposed on income described in paragraph (1)(D).

(ii) Special rule for years before 2007

(I) In general In the case of taxes paid or accrued in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2004, and before January 1, 2007, a taxpayer may elect to treat tax imposed under the law of a foreign country or possession of the United States on an amount which does not constitute income under United States tax principles as tax imposed on income described in subparagraph (C) or (I) of paragraph (1).

(II) Election irrevocable Any such election shall apply to the taxable year for which made and all subsequent taxable years described in subclause (I) unless revoked with the consent of the Secretary.

(I) Related person For purposes of this paragraph, the term “related person” has the meaning given such term by section 954(d)(3), except that such section shall be applied by substituting “the person with respect to whom the determination is being made” for “controlled foreign corporation” each place it appears.

(J) Foreign branch income

(i) In general The term “foreign branch income” means the business profits of such United States person which are attributable to 1 or more qualified business units (as defined in section 989(a)) in 1 or more foreign countries. For purposes of the preceding sentence, the amount of business profits attributable to a qualified business unit shall be determined under rules established by the Secretary.

(ii) Exception Such term shall not include any income which is passive category income.

(K) Transitional rules for 2007 changes For purposes of paragraph (1)—

(i) taxes carried from any taxable year beginning before January 1, 2007, to any taxable year beginning on or after such date, with respect to any item of income, shall be treated as described in the subparagraph of paragraph (1) in which such income would be described were such taxes paid or accrued in a taxable year beginning on or after such date, and

(ii) the Secretary may by regulations provide for the allocation of any carryback of taxes with respect to income from a taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2007, to a taxable year beginning before such date for purposes of allocating such income among the separate categories in effect for the taxable year to which carried.

(3) Look-thru in case of controlled foreign corporations

(A) In general Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, dividends, interest, rents, and royalties received or accrued by the taxpayer from a controlled foreign corporation in which the taxpayer is a United States shareholder shall not be treated as passive category income.

(B) Subpart F inclusions Any amount included in gross income under section 951(a)(1)(A) shall be treated as passive category income to the extent the amount so included is attributable to passive category income.

(C) Interest, rents, and royalties Any interest, rent, or royalty which is received or accrued from a controlled foreign corporation in which the taxpayer is a United States shareholder shall be treated as passive category income to the extent it is properly allocable (under regulations prescribed by the Secretary) to passive category income of the controlled foreign corporation.

(D) Dividends Any dividend paid out of the earnings and profits of any controlled foreign corporation in which the taxpayer is a United States shareholder shall be treated as passive category income in proportion to the ratio of—