The Proposed BEAT Regulations

On December 13, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service (the "IRS") and the Department of the Treasury (the "Treasury") released proposed regulations (the "Proposed Regulations") with respect to the "base erosion and anti-abuse tax" (the "BEAT") under section 59A of the Internal Revenue Code.¹

The BEAT was enacted in 2017 as part of the tax reform act.² The BEAT is an additional tax that has the effect of a minimum tax on certain large U.S. corporations that make deductible payments to foreign related parties. The BEAT is designed to prevent these U.S. corporations from using deductible payments to reduce (or "base erode") their corporate tax liability.

The Proposed Regulations clarify which taxpayers are subject to the BEAT and how the BEAT rules apply. The Proposed Regulations are generally effective for taxable years after December 31, 2017, and a taxpayer may rely on them before they are finalized so long as the taxpayer applies them consistently for all taxable