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Many of our clients trade internationally or have offshore subsidiaries or joint ventures. As a result, Moss Adams has a keen understanding of the tax services needed by businesses that operate multinationally. Of course, complex issues arise, but there are also tremendous opportunities—both to reduce tax exposure and to drive greater business success. We recognize the importance of international business growth and partner with our affiliated firm members of PKF International to provide services to multi-national firms or independent business owners who want to expand their business globally.

Systems that tax income from outside the system's jurisdiction tend to provide for a unilateral credit or offset for taxes paid to other jurisdictions. Such other jurisdiction taxes are generally referred to within the system as "foreign" taxes. A credit for foreign taxes is subject to manipulation by planners if there are no limits, or weak limits, on such credit. Generally, the credit is at least limited to the tax within the system that the taxpayer would pay on income from outside the jurisdiction.

Against the backdrop of an increasingly intertwined global economy, international tax compliance and reporting requirements are becoming ever more complex. Today’s companies need sophisticated and agile guidance to maximize planning opportunities and minimize cross-border tax impact. For foreign businesses seeking entry to the U.S. and U.S. businesses competing in a global marketplace, navigating the complexities of international tax rules can be daunting.

We collaborate closely with banking and investment institutions, attorneys with international experience, site selection professionals, and municipal and state development agencies to facilitate international business development. If your company is in the export business, you may qualify for a permanent tax savings through the IC-DISC (Interest Charge-Domestic International Sales Corporation) incentive. This incentive allows you to convert a portion of the profit on your sales from the ordinary income tax bracket to the dividend income tax bracket, significantly lowering your taxes.

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Generally, withholding taxes are imposed on the gross amount of income, unreduced by expenses. Such taxation provides for great simplicity of administration but can also reduce the taxpayer's awareness of the amount of tax being collected.

Therefore, in order to analyze the compliance of the DST with international tax law, the threshold question that must be answered is which tax treaty applies for purposes of the French DST. For 20 years prior to changes first effective in 2007, there were at least nine such categories.

This income includes several categories of portable income, including most investment income, certain resale income, and certain services income. Certain exceptions apply, including the exclusion from Subpart F income of CFC income subject to an effective foreign tax rate of 90% or more of the top U.S. tax rate.

Treaties tend to impose limits on taxation of salaries and other income for performance of services. They also tend to have "tie breaker" clauses for resolving conflicts between r