New Inbound Investment Reporting Requirements for Certain Industries

[Oops - this article was published to the wrong blog, but I am leaving it here in case anyone wants to read it]

Regulations have been recently issued under the recently passed Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA) to implement a pilot program that expands the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and imposes filing requirements on certain transactions in the U.S. technology sector.

Parties must file a declaration with CFIUS at least 45 days in advance of certain foreign-person investments in unaffiliated U.S. businesses if involved with critical technologies used in specified industry sectors. 27 U.S. industry sectors are involved.

The program will end by March 5, 2020, but permanent reporting requirements may have been put in place by then. It applies to transactions completed on November 10, 2018 or later, although there are other effective date provisions that may apply.

After filing, CFIUS has 30 days to review the declaration and then undertake certain requests for a long-form notice form, initiate a unilateral review, or clear the transaction – or the parties can file the long-form notice initially.

Parties failing to file a required declaration may be subject to a civil penalty up to the amount of the transaction value.

Businesses and professionals involved in assisting with and/or the reporting of inbound investments should add these new reporting requirements to their checklists and lists of reporting requirements.

FIRRMA PILOT PROGRAM REGULATIONS AND OTHER INFORMATION

The New “Newlywed” Exception to Documentary Stamp Taxes

Florida imposes documentary stamp taxes on transfers of Florida real property. The tax is based on the consideration paid for the property. Generally, if real property that is transferred is encumbered by a mortgage and the purchase price is less than the mortgage amount (or there is nothing otherwise paid), the mortgage amount is treated as consideration for purposes of calculating the tax.

This tax arises on transfers of encumbered real property, even if the transferor and transferee are married to each other. Given other exemptions for intra-spousal transfers under law (e.g., as to the federal estate tax, and under the Save Our Homes cap on ad valorem taxes), this is surprising and somewhat disheartening. Oddly enough, Florida law will NOT impose the tax on transfers of a marital home between spouses or former spouses when the transfer is incidental to a divorce. Fla.Stats. §201.02(7)(a). Of course, if there is no mortgage on the property and nothing is paid for the property, an intra-spousal transfer will not be subject to stamp taxes.

Under a new provision of law that came into effect in July, spouses can now transfer encumbered homestead property between themselves without incurring documentary stamp taxes, if no other consideration is paid. However, this new provision applies only to transfers within one year of marriage. Therefore, newlyweds can use it – spouses who have been married over a year cannot. This one year limit is also a trap for unwary newlyweds – if they take more than a year to reorganize their real property holdings, the tax will apply.

As noted, the transferred property must be homestead property. The applicable definition of “homestead” for this purpose is the ad valorem tax definition under Fla.Stats. §192.001 and the ad valorem tax provisions of s. 6(a), Art. VII of the Florida Constitution.

Any tax exemption is a good exemption (from the perspective of taxpayers), but the limitation of this new exception to newlyweds seems unduly restrictive. It appears to allow newlyweds to add a spouse to the title as part of new marriage restructuring, but why not open it up to other transfers? For example, spouses that desire to transfer homestead property owned by one spouse to TBE so as to allow for an automatic transfer at death to the surviving spouse should be able to do so without the tax. As matters stand now, if there is a large mortgage on the property, the stamp taxes can make such transfers and planning cost prohibitive.

Fla.Stats. §201.02(7)(b)

New Homestead Diagram

Many years ago I prepared a diagram in table format that simplified the restrictions on transfers of Florida homestead property. This has been downloaded thousands of times and I hear is used by many legal and real estate professionals. You can download a copy here.

I have re-worked the analysis into a flow chart type approach, for those that prefer that type of analysis. The new chart also reflects when an item is “protected homestead” for Florida law purposes. You can download a copy here.

Either one will help get you to the right result. I actually like the flow chart approach since after you use it a few times, it will burn much of itself into your memory so many times you will no longer need to consult it.

Future editions of my treatise, Rubin on Florida Homestead, will include both diagrams. Prior purchasers, whose versions do not include the new chart, can use these download links to gain access to it.

RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFERS OF FLORIDA HOMESTEAD PROPERTY - FLOWCHART VERSION