Submission Deadline for First Time Filers of the BE-10 Benchmark Survey Extended

May 29, 2015

By Scott Flicker, Dana Stepnowsky, & Christine Ingram.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (“BEA”) has extended the submission deadline for first time filers of the BE-10 Benchmark Survey to June 30, 2015. The extension is applicable to new filers with foreign subsidiaries and other affiliates. A new filer is a U.S. company or person that is required to file a Form BE‑10 but has never filed any BEA survey of U.S. direct investment abroad, including the BE-10, BE‑11 and BE-577 surveys.

What is the BE-10 Benchmark Survey?

The BE-10 Benchmark Survey is the BEA’s most comprehensive survey of U.S. direct investment abroad. This survey is conducted once every 5 years, in lieu of the BE-11 annual survey, with the most recent survey covering the year ending in 2014. Any U.S. person maintaining a “foreign affiliate” at any time during the U.S. person’s 2014 fiscal year is required to report, whether or not such persons have been contacted by the BEA. A U.S. person with one or more foreign affiliates is referred to as a “U.S. reporter.” A “foreign affiliate” is a non-U.S. entity in which the U.S. person has a direct or indirect ownership or control interest consisting of at least 10% of the voting stock or equivalent equity interest. A non-voting limited liability membership or partnership interest is not typically treated as a direct or indirect ownership or control interest that would trigger a filing requirement.

Original Deadlines

A fully completed and certified BE-10 report is due no later than May 29, 2015 for U.S. reporters required to file fewer than 50 forms. U.S. reporters required to file more than 50 forms are required to file by June 30, 2015. As discussed above, the deadline for first time filers has been extended to June 30, 2015.

BE-10 Report

The BE-10 report consists of Form BE-10A, and one or more of Forms BE-10B, BE-10C, and BE-10D. Every U.S. reporter submitting a BE-10 is also required to submit a copy of the entity’s 2014 annual report.

Form BE-10A

A U.S. reporter must file a full Form BE-10A if any one of the following three items of the fully consolidated U.S. domestic business enterprise was greater than $300 million (positive or negative) at any time during the U.S. reporter’s 2014 fiscal year:

Total assets;
Sales or gross operating revenues excluding sales taxes; or
Net income after provision for U.S. income taxes.
If none of the thresholds listed above are met, the U.S. reporter need only compete a partial Form BE‑10A, as specified in the instructions.

Form BE-10B

The Form BE‑10B applies to majority-owned foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies. This form must be filed for each foreign affiliate of the U.S. reporter for which any one of the following three items was greater than $80 million (positive or negative) at any time during the affiliate’s 2014 fiscal year:

Total assets;
Sales or gross operating revenues excluding sales taxes; or
Net income after provision for foreign income taxes.

Form BE-10C

The Form BE-10C applies to foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies and must be filed for:

Each majority-owned foreign affiliate of the U.S. reporter for which any of the three BE‑10B items was greater than $25 million (positive or negative), but for which none of these items was greater than $80 million (positive or negative) at any time during the affiliate’s 2014 year;
Each minority-owned foreign affiliate of the U.S. reporter for which any one of the three BE‑10B items was greater than $25 million (positive or negative) at any time during the affiliate’s 2014 fiscal year; and
Each foreign affiliate of the U.S. reporter for which none of the three BE‑10B items was greater than $25 million (positive or negative) at any time during the affiliate’s 2014 fiscal year, but that is a parent of another foreign affiliate reported on Form BE‑10B or BE‑10C.

Form BE-10D

This form must be filed for each foreign affiliate of the U.S. reporter for which none of the three BE‑10B items (either total assets, sales, or net income) was greater than $25 million (positive or negative) at any time during the affiliate’s 2014 fiscal year, and that is not a parent of another foreign affiliate reported on Form BE‑10B or BE‑10C.

Confidentiality

The BE-10 is conducted under the authority of the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act. Data collected from the BE-10 is used for analytical purposes and to produce comprehensive statistics on U.S. direct investment abroad and foreign direct investment in the United States. The BEA is forbidden from publishing the information in a manner specifically identifying the reporting company.

Penalties for Noncompliance

Failure to file a BE-10 report can subject the offender to civil penalties of between $2,500 and $25,000, as well as injunctive relief. Willful failure to report can result in criminal penalties for the U.S. reporter and any officer, employee or agent who knowingly participates in the violation.

We are available to assist our clients with interpreting the filing requirements or completing a filing, if required.

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