THE IRS BUSINESS PLAN has several other items on it this year that could affect the project finance community.

They are “guidance concerning the international activities of partnerships,” “guidance on international restructurings,” “guidance regarding securitization of the rights to recover stranded costs,” and further guidance on transactions the US tax authorities do not like that involve use of hybrid entities. A hybrid entity is a company that is transparent for tax purposes in one country but not in another. Tax planners exploit the differences in treatment to produce a number of benefits. For example, such entities can be used to strip earnings from one country without paying taxes in it while at the same time avoiding taxes in the other country.

Keith Martin