摘要：In this scenario, a family or one member of the family owns a business organized under one or more Chinese limited liability compa
This article discusses some of the tax issues that arise when Chinese companies have US persons as shareholders. The applicable situations are:
1. When the owner of a family-owned business in China emigrates to the US.
2. When a Chinese startup raises a minority stake from US investors.
There are a wider range of tax issues that overseas returnees from the US face when starting companies in China. Those will be discussed in a future article.
本文探讨了中国公司引入美国股东时可能产生的税务问题。适用情景包括：
1. 中国家族企业的股东移民美国。
2. 中国初创企业从美国投资人筹集少数股权。
美国海归在中国创业时还面临更多税务问题，这些问题将在后续文章中讨论。
1. The owner of a family-owned company emigrates to the US
家族企业股东移民美国
In this scenario, a family or one member of the family owns a business organized under one or more Chinese limited liability companies. The owner(s) emigrate to the US, so that US residents own more than 50% of the company.
The US shareholders run into tax risks associated with controlled foreign corporations (CFC).
在此情形下，一个家族或其成员拥有一家或多家中国公司。股东移民美国后，美国居民持有公司超过50%的股份。美国股东将面临与“受控外国公司”（Controlled Foreign Corporation, CFC）相关的税务风险。
（1）Introduction to controlled foreign corporations （CFC）
受控外国公司（CFC）简介
A controlled foreign corporation (CFC) is a foreign corporation in which 10% US shareholders own more than 50% of the shares by value or voting power.[1]
受控外国公司（CFC）是指由“10%美国股东”在价值或投票权上持有超过50%股份的外国公司。
Foreign corporation
外国公司
Under US tax law, a foreign corporation is any corporation that is not organized in the US or under US laws.[2]A Chinese gufen youxian gongsi is a foreign corporation.[3]A Chinese limited liability company (youxian zeren gongsi) is a foreign corporation by default, but it can elect to be classified as a partnership or disregarded entity under US tax law.[4]Chinese companies generally do not elect their US tax classification, so they are classified as foreign corporations.
美国税法定义的外国公司指未在美国或根据美国法律成立的公司。中国的股份有限公司属于外国公司。中国的有限责任公司默认被视为外国公司，但可以选择根据美国税法被归类为合伙企业或 disregarded entity。中国公司通常不会选择其美国税务分类，因此默认被视为外国公司。
10% US shareholders
10%美国股东
A 10% US shareholder is a US person who owns at least 10% of the shares of a foreign corporation by voting power or value.[5]Attribution rules prevent US persons from reducing their shares through holding structures or family. Below is a non-exhaustive list of attribution rules：
A US person is deemed to own shares owned by their spouse, children, grandchildren, and parents, but only if the relatives are also US persons.[6]When a US person owns a part of an upper-level corporation, partnership, trust, or estate, they are deemed to own indirectly proportional shares of lower-level corporations.[7]3.Shares are attributed between corporations, partnerships, trusts, and estates and their owners and beneficiaries.[8]“10%美国股东”是指通过投票权或价值持有外国公司至少10%股份的美国人士。归属规则防止美国人士通过控股结构或家庭成员减少持股比例。以下是一些常见的归属规则：
美国人士被视为拥有其配偶、子女、孙子女和父母持有的股份，但前提是这些亲属也是美国人士。当美国人士持有上层公司、合伙企业、信托或遗产的一部分时，被视为间接持有下层公司的相应股份。股份在公司、合伙企业、信托、遗产及其所有者或受益人之间归属。（2）Tax effects on the family
对家族的税务影响
US persons who are 10% US shareholders of a controlled foreign corporation (CFC) must include their proportional shares of the CFC’s subpart F income and global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) in their own income, even when the CFC does not distribute any dividends.[9]
作为受控外国公司（CFC）“10%美国股东”的美国人士，必须按股权比例将CFC的“Subpart F收入”和“全球无形低税收入”（GILTI）纳入自己的收入，即使CFC未分配任何股息。
Subpart F income
Subpart F收入
Subpart F income includes several categories of income that are easily shifted between taxpayers and jurisdictions:
Investment type income such as dividends, rent, interest, royalties, gains from sale of property that generates the above income, commodities gains, and notional principal contract gains.[10]Profit shifting income, where a person in jurisdiction A buys from a related person in jurisdiction B and sells in jurisdiction C; or where a person in jurisdiction A provides services to a related person in jurisdiction B.[11]Insurance income.[12]Subpart F收入包括以下几类容易转移的收入：
投资类收入，如股息、租金、利息、特许权使用费、出售产生上述收入的财产所得、商品收益及名义本金合同收益。利润转移收入，例如在A管辖区的人从B管辖区的关联方购买并在C管辖区销售，或在A管辖区的人向B管辖区的关联方提供服务。保险收入。GILTI
GILTI
GILTI is essentially profits other than subpart F income, modified by investments in tangible business assets.[13]
GILTI包括除Subpart F收入以外几乎所有的利润，并根据有形商业资产的投资进行调整。
Effect on shareholders
对股东税务的影响
The key characteristic of subpart F income and GILTI is that it imputes income to 10% US shareholders even when the CFC does not distribute any dividends. There are 3 common problems that they create：
The imputed income can create cash flow problems for the shareholders. If the CFC distributes cash to help the shareholders pay the taxes, it can disrupt capital expenditure plans or run into currency control laws in China.Earnings and profits that were previously taxed as subpart F income is not taxed again in the US when they are distributed.[14]However, the foreign jurisdiction where the CFC is incorporated does not recognize the imputed income and would apply its withholding tax. Thus, it can lead to double taxation at the shareholder level.The imputed income is taxed as ordinary income that is unable to benefit from the lower qualified dividend tax rate.[15]Subpart F收入和GILTI的关键特点是，即使CFC未分配股息，也会导致“10%美国股东”有虚拟应税收入。这可能导致以下三个常见问题：
虚拟收入可能导致股东现金流问题。如果CFC分配现金帮助股东缴税，可能干扰投资计划或违反中国的外汇管制法律。已作为Subpart F收入征税的利润在分配时不再在美国征税，但CFC所在的外国管辖区不承认Subpart F收入或GILTI，所以可能对股息征收预提税，从而导致股东层面的双重征税。估算收入按普通收入征税，无法享受较低的合格股息税率。（3）Solution 1: High tax kickout
解决方案1：排除高税收入
Subpart F income and GILTI do not include any income that is subject to a tax rate that is at least 90% of the US corporate tax rate.[16]The current US corporate tax rate is 21%, so the foreign corporate tax applied to the income must be at least 18.9%.[17]
The tax is determined using the actual income tax, not the statutory tax rate.[18]It is checked separately for each CFC, branch, or interest in a fiscally transparent entity.[19]And it is elected annually. The election is relatively simple to use if the family-owned business has 1 location and 1 line of business, but it is expensive and time-consuming to elect for a sprawling corporate group.
If the US person excludes profits from subpart F income or GILTI using the high tax kickout, they must include dividends in their income when the CFC distributes dividends.[20]
Subpart F收入和GILTI不包括实际税率至少为美国公司税率90%的收入。当前美国公司税率为21%，因此外国公司税必须至少为18.9%。
该排除基于实际所得税而非法定税率，需每年单独选择。如果家族企业业务单一且地点集中，选择相对简单；但对于庞大的企业集团，选择和计算成本较高。
如果美国股东通过高税排除将利润从Subpart F收入或GILTI中排除，则必须在CFC分配股息时将股息纳入收入。
（4）Solution 2: Foreign tax credit
解决方案2：外国税收抵免
A 10% US shareholder that is a corporation may deduct 50% of the GILTI from its income inclusion.[21]The deduction is reduced to 37.5% starting in 2026, though there are efforts in Congress to keep the 50% deduction.[22]Effectively, this means corporate shareholders of CFCs pay only 10.5% tax on GILTI.[23]
If a 10% US shareholder is a corporation, then it can use the foreign corporate income tax paid by the CFC as a credit against US tax. For subpart F income, it may use all foreign tax paid.[24]For GILTI, it may use 80% of the foreign tax paid.[25]For GILTI, US corporations pay nearly no tax if the foreign corporate tax paid by the CFC exceeds 13.1%.
For humans, 10% US shareholders may elect to pay tax on subpart F income and GILTI as if they were corporations.[26]This means they use the 21% corporate tax rate on subpart F income and GILTI, may use the 50% deduction against GILTI, and get foreign tax credit like corporate shareholders.[27]The drawback is that when the CFC distributes dividends, the individual shareholder must pay tax on the dividends, but the shareholder gets tax deferral, and the dividends may qualify for the reduced qualified dividend tax rate.[28]
如果“10%美国股东”是公司，股东可以从GILTI收入中扣除50%。从2026年起，扣除比例将降至37.5%（但国会正努力维持50%）。因此，公司股东实际仅需因GILTI支付10.5%的税。
公司股东还可以用CFC支付的外国公司所得税抵免美国税。对于Subpart F收入，可用全部外国税抵免；对于GILTI，可用80%的外国税抵免。如果CFC支付的外国公司税超过13.1%，公司股东几乎无需为GILTI缴税。
个人股东可以选择按公司方式为Subpart F收入和GILTI缴税，即适用21%的公司税率，享受50%的GILTI扣除，并获得与公司股东相同的外国税收抵免。当CFC分配股息时，个人股东需为股息缴税，但可延纳税时间，且股息可能适用较低的合格股息税率。
（5）Solution 3: Capital expenditure planning
解决方案3：资本支出规划
GILTI is reduced by the CFC’s “Net deemed tangible income return”.[29]The “Net deemed tangible income return” refers to 10% of the adjusted basis of CFC’s tangible assets used in its trade or business minus the interest expense used to determine GILTI.[30]
If the CFC plans on business expansion, it may wish to accelerate some of the investments to reduce its shareholder’s GILTI.
GILTI可通过CFC的“净有形收入回报”减少。该回报指CFC用于业务的有形资产基数的10%减去用于计算GILTI的利息支出。如果CFC计划业务扩张，可提前投资以减少股东的GILTI。
（6）Issues with changing share ownership
股权变更的问题
It is possible to avoid subpart F and GILTI by reducing the share owned by US persons to 50% or below. One way to do so would be to admit new shareholders who are not US persons. Another way to do so is by increasing the share percentage of existing non-US shareholders. There are several problems to such an approach：
It may turn the foreign corporation into a passive foreign investment company (PFIC), which has significant drawbacks discussed in the next section.The US shareholders need to answer the question: What was the consideration that the foreign shareholder paid to receive an increasing share of the business? The US uses fair market value to measure the property transferred, not registered capital.[31]And indirect shifts of value are considered transfers.[32]通过将美国人士持股比例降至50%或以下，可以避免Subpart F和GILTI。例如，引入非美国股东或增加现有非美国股东的持股比例。但这种方法存在以下问题：
可能导致外国公司成为“被动外国投资公司”（PFIC），其税务问题将在下一节讨论。美国股东需解释非美国股东为增加持股支付的对价。美国以市场价值衡量财产转移，而非注册资本。间接价值转移也被视为转移。2. A Chinese startup raises a minority stake from US investors
中国初创企业吸引美国少数投资者
In this scenario, an existing Chinese startup is organized as a limited liability company. It does not yet have revenue, or it only has a trivial amount of revenue. All its shareholders are Chinese residents or companies. In one of its fundraising rounds, the Chinese company attracts an investor from the US, who takes a 5% stake in the company.
In these situations, the US shareholders run into tax risks associated with passive foreign investment companies (PFICs). The special tax treatment affects their post-tax returns and, by extension, their willingness to invest.
在此情形下，一家中国初创企业以有限责任公司形式成立，尚未或仅有少量收入，所有股东为中国居民或公司。在某一轮融资中，美国投资人获得公司5%的股权。
此时，美国股东面临“被动外国投资公司”（Passive Foreign Investment Company, PFIC）的税务风险，影响税后回报及投资意愿。
（1）Introduction to passive foreign investment company (PFIC)
被动外国投资公司（PFIC）简介
The US has a special set of rules for passive foreign investment companies (PFICS). It was originally designed to discourage US persons from investing in foreign pooled investment vehicles such as index funds, but its definition can ensnare startups.
A passive foreign investment company (PFIC) is a foreign corporation that meets either of the following tests:
Income test: 75% or more of its income is passive; orAsset test: The average percentage of assets that produce passive income or are held for the production of passive income is at least 50%.美国对PFIC有特殊税务规则，最初旨在阻止美国人士投资外国集合投资工具（如指数基金），但其定义可能涵盖初创企业。
PFIC指符合以下任一条件的外国公司：
收入条件：75%或以上收入为被动收入；资产条件：平均50%或以上资产为产生被动收入的资产。A foreign corporation is any corporation that is not organized in the US or under US laws.[33]A Chinese gufen youxian gongsi is a foreign corporation.[34]A Chinese limited liability company (youxian Zeren gongsi) is a foreign corporation by default, but it can elect to be classified as a partnership or disregarded entity under US tax law.[35]Chinese companies generally do not elect their US tax classification, so they are classified as foreign corporations.
外国公司指未在美国或根据美国法律成立的公司。中国的股份有限公司属于外国公司。中国的有限责任公司默认被视为外国公司，但可以选择根据美国税法被归类为合伙企业或 disregarded entity。中国公司通常不会选择其美国税务分类，因此默认被视为外国公司。
Passive income
被动收入
Passive income refers to dividends, rents, royalties, capital gains, commodities gains, foreign exchange gains, and similar types of investment income.[36]
被动收入包括股息、租金、特许权使用费、资本利得、商品收益、外汇收益等投资类收入。
Passive assets
被动资产
Passive assets are assets that produce passive income or held for the production of passive income.[37]Asset values are measured quarterly.[38]Working capital is passive, but receivables are passive or non-passive depending on the activities that generated them.[39]
被动资产指产生被动收入或用于产生被动收入的资产。资产价值按季度衡量。营运资金属于被动资产，但应收账款的性质取决于其生成活动。
Look-through rule
穿透规则
If a parent company owns at least 25% of a subsidiary, then when determining whether the parent is a PFIC, the parent includes proportional shares of the subsidiary’s income and assets as if they were owned directly. If the parent owns less than 25%, then it uses the value of the stocks to assess its own assets.
如果母公司持有子公司至少25%的股份，则在判断母公司是否为PFIC时，需按比例合并子公司的收入和资产。持股低于25%时，母公司仅以股票价值评估自身资产。
（2）Tax consequences on US shareholders of PFICs
对PFIC美国股东的税务影响
There are 3 ways for US shareholders of PFICs to be taxed:
The default rules;Qualified electing fund (QEF) election; orMark-to-market (MTM) election. The MTM election is only available for publicly traded PFICs, so it is not applicable to startups.[40]PFIC美国股东的税务处理方式有三种：
默认规则；合格选举基金（QEF）选择；市值计价（MTM）选择（仅适用于公开交易的PFIC，不适用于初创企业）。Default rules
默认规则
The default rules prescribe different treatment of distributions and gains from transferring PFIC shares：
When a PFIC makes a distribution, the distribution is compared to the average distribution from the last 3 years.[41]The distribution is allocated between excess distribution and non-excess distribution.[42]Gains from transferring shares of a PFIC are treated as excess distributions.[43]
Excess distribution is allocated to the shareholder’s entire holding period.[44]For excess distribution allocated to prior years, the tax rate is the highest ordinary income tax rate, and there is interest charge as if the shareholder owed tax from prior years.[45]
Non-excess distribution and excess distribution allocated to the current year are taxed as ordinary income.[46]
默认规则对PFIC的股息分配和股份转让收益采取不同处理：
分配金额与过去三年平均分配额比较，分为超额分配和非超额分配。股份转让收益视为超额分配。
超额分配按股东持有期分摊，分摊至以前年度的部分按最高普通所得税率征税，并加收利息。
非超额分配及当年分摊的超额分配按普通收入征税。
Qualifying electing fund
合格选举基金（QEF）
A US shareholder of a PFIC may elect to treat the PFIC as a qualified electing fund (QEF).[47]When a QEF election is in effect, the shareholder includes their share of the PFIC’s income in their own income.[48]Corporations that own at least 10% of a QEF may use the foreign taxes paid by the QEF as a credit against the shareholder’s US tax.[49]
To make the election, the PFIC must issue a PFIC annual information statement to the shareholder containing sufficient information for the shareholder to calculate their share of the PFIC’s income.[50]Each shareholder must make the QEF election annually.[51]
PFIC的美国股东可选择将其视为QEF。选择生效后，股东需将PFIC的收入份额纳入自身收入。持股至少10%的公司股东可用PFIC支付的外国税抵免美国税。
股东需要PFIC向股东提供年度信息报告，股东需每年选择用QEF方式报税。
（3）PFIC risks for the startup
初创企业的PFIC风险
Although a PFIC is targeted against foreign pooled investment vehicles, its definition can sweep in startups. There are 2 risks:
When at least 75% of a foreign corporation’s income is passive, it is a PFIC.[52]In the startup stage, the company may have raised cash without income from operations. If its cash is in an interest-bearing account, it would have passive income.If at least half a foreign corporation’s assets are passive, then it is a PFIC.[53]A startup likely has significant cash but may not have other valuable assets, so it is likely that more than half its assets are passive.There is a narrow exception for startups: For the first year that the corporation has income, it will not be classified as a PFIC if it is not a PFIC for any prior year and is not a PFIC for the next 2 years.[54]The problem with this exception is that it covers only 1 year, while a startup often has no income (other than interest) for more than 1 year.
Once a US shareholder has treated a foreign corporation as a PFIC that is not a QEF, they must continue to treat the foreign corporation as a PFIC, even if the foreign corporation ceases to meet the definition of one.[55]The only way for the US shareholder to stop such treatment is to elect to recognize gain on the shares.[56]Doing so can be very expensive, because the foreign corporation likely appreciated considerably since the US investor had purchased shares.
尽管PFIC针对外国投资体，但其定义可能涵盖初创企业。主要风险如下：
初创阶段公司可能仅有现金存款利息等被动收入，导致被动收入占比超过75%。初创企业资产中现金占比较高，可能超过50%为被动资产。初创企业有一项窄范围例外：在公司首次有收入那一年，如果之前及之后两年均非PFIC，则该不被视为PFIC。但初创企业通常多年无收入（除利息外），例外难以适用。
一旦美国股东将外国公司视为非QEF的PFIC，即使该公司后续不符合PFIC定义，股东仍需继续按PFIC报税。唯终结PFIC报税方式是选择将股份的增值算入收入，可能因股份增值而产生高昂税负。
（4）Solution 1: Periodic evaluation of PFIC status
解决方案1：定期评估PFIC状态
One solution is to carefully monitor the income and assets of the startup to determine if it is a PFIC. The drawback is that the asset test is performed quarterly, so the evaluations will be expensive. And the result is likely that the startup is a PFIC.
定期监控初创企业的收入和资产以判断是否为PFIC。缺点是资产测试需按季度进行，成本较高，且结果通常仍为PFIC。
（5）Solution 2: QEF election
解决方案2：QEF报税方式
A simpler solution is to assume that the startup is a PFIC and issue PFIC annual information statements to US investors during the startup period. The shareholder can then use the statement to make QEF election. During this period, the startup likely does not have any profits, so the investors do not pay any tax.
By the time the startup is profitable, it likely is no longer a PFIC, and US investors no longer need to make QEF elections to include their share of the startup’s income. This will ensure the startup investment remains attractive to US investors.
更简单的解决方案是假设初创企业为PFIC，并在初创阶段向美国投资者提供PFIC年度信息声明。股东可据此进行QEF选举。此阶段企业通常无盈利，股东无需缴税。
待企业盈利后，可能不再符合PFIC定义，股东无需继续QEF选举。这有助于保持初创企业对美国投资者的吸引力。
●注释：
[1]26 USC 957(a).
[2]26 USC 7701(a)(30), (31).
[3]26 CFR 301.7701-2(b)(8).
[4]26 CFR 301.7701-3(a), (b).
[5]26 USC 951(b).
[6]26 USC 958(b), 318(a)(1)(A).
[7]26 CFR 1.958-1(b).
[8]26 USC 318(a)(2), (3).
[9]26 USC 951(a), 951A(a).
[10]26 USC 954(c).
[11]26 USC 954(d), (e).
[12]26 USC 953.
[13]26 USC 951A.
[14]26 USC 959.
[15]26 USC 1(h)(11).
[16]26 USC 954(b)(4), 951A(c)(2)(A)(i)(III).
[17]26 USC 11.
[18]26 CFR 1.951A-2(c)(7)(vi), (vii).
[19]26 CFR 1.951A-2(c)(7)(iv).
[20]26 CFR 1.959-1(a), 1.951A-5(b).
[21]26 USC 250(a)(1)(B).
[22]26 USC 250(a)(3)(B).
[23]26 USC 11.
[24]26 USC 960(a).
[25]26 USC 960(d).
[26]26 USC 962(a), 951A(f)(1)(A).
[27]26 CFR 1.962-1(a), 1.951A-5(b)(1), 1.250(a)-1(d).
[28]26 USC 962(d), 316(a)(1), 1(h)(11).
[29]26 USC 951A(b)(1)(B).
[30]26 USC 951A(b)(2), (d).
[31]26 CFR 25.2512-1.
[32]26 CFR 25.2511-1(a).
[33]26 USC 7701(a)(30), (31).
[34]26 CFR 301.7701-2(b)(8).
[35]26 CFR 301.7701-3(a), (b).
[36]26 USC 1297(b), 954(c).
[37]26 USC 1297(a).
[38]26 CFR 1.1297-1(d)(1).
[39]86 FR 4516, 4524; Notice 88-22.
[40]26 USC 1296(a)(1).
[41]26 USC 1291(b).
[42]26 USC 1291(b).
[43]26 USC 1291(a)(2).
[44]26 USC 1291(a).
[45]26 USC 1291(c).
[46]26 USC 1291(a)(1)(B), Prop. Reg. 1.1291-2(e)(1).
[47]26 USC 1293-1295.
[48]26 USC 1293(a).
[49]26 USC 1293(f).
[50]26 CFR 1.1295-1(g).
[51]26 CFR 1.1295-1(f).
[52]26 USC 1297(a)(1).
[53]26 USC 1297(a)(2).
[54]26 USC 1298(b)(2).
[55]26 USC 1298(b)(1).
[56]26 USC 1298(b)(1).
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