Title 26 › Subtitle Subtitle A— - Income Taxes › Chapter CHAPTER 1— - NORMAL TAXES AND SURTAXES › Subchapter Subchapter N— - Tax Based on Income From Sources Within or Without the United States › Part PART III— - INCOME FROM SOURCES WITHOUT THE UNITED STATES › Subpart Subpart F— - Controlled Foreign Corporations › § 965
Requires certain U.S. owners of foreign corporations to report and pay U.S. tax in the last tax year that began before January 1, 2018, on an extra amount equal to the larger of two measurements of the corporation’s accumulated after-1986 deferred foreign income measured on November 2, 2017 or on December 31, 2017. If the U.S. owner also has foreign affiliates with earnings deficits, the taxable amount is reduced by a share of those deficits based on the owner’s pro rata shares. When the income is included, the owner gets a deduction made up of an “8% rate‑equivalent” portion on the amount over the owner’s foreign cash position and a “15.5% rate‑equivalent” portion on the part up to that cash position. Foreign tax credits are limited for the part covered by this deduction using fixed multipliers (0.771 and 0.557). Taxpayers may elect to pay the net tax in eight yearly installments of 8%, 8%, 8%, 8%, 8%, 15%, 20%, and 25% of the net tax, with the first payment due on the regular return due date. Shareholders of S corporations can defer their personal payment until a “triggering event” such as a sale, transfer of stock, the S corporation losing S status, or liquidation, subject to reporting and joint‑liability rules. The IRS has six years to assess the tax, and if a taxpayer who took the deduction becomes an expatriate within 10 years, an extra tax equal to 35% of that deduction applies. Definitions in one line each: deferred foreign income corporation = a specified foreign corporation that has positive accumulated post‑1986 deferred foreign income; accumulated post‑1986 deferred foreign income = post‑1986 earnings and profits excluding amounts effectively connected to U.S. trade or income excludable on distribution; specified foreign corporation = a controlled foreign corporation or a foreign corporation with one or more U.S. corporate shareholders (excluding passive foreign investment companies that aren’t CFCs); aggregate foreign cash position = a U.S. owner’s measured cash and liquid assets of its foreign corporations on specified dates. The Treasury will issue rules and guidance, including rules to adjust tax bases and to stop avoidance.
Full Legal Text
Internal Revenue Code — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
26 U.S.C. § 965
Title 26 — Internal Revenue Code
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73