IRS Wary of Retroactive Relief for Foreign Income Tax Opt-Out

Treasury and the IRS are cautious about offering retroactive relief to companies looking to elect out of the 2017 tax law’s levy on a new category of foreign income because of its novelty, an official said.

“We viewed this as a more significant regulatory move and therefore wanted to be a bit more cautious to see how the rules worked before allowing for any kind of retro relief,” said John J. Merrick, IRS special counsel at the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (International), on Dec. 19.

The agency is still considering comments submitted on an IRS proposal (REG-101828-19 ...