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§00ECI & Exposure

What creates a taxable U.S. presence.

Effectively connected income, permanent establishment, and the operational facts that create them. Fulfillment, agents, servers, staff, and inventory each carry their own analysis.

24 dossiers · View every dossier

Dossiers

№1354m
ECI & Exposure

Peak Season: What Black Friday to Christmas Does to a Non-Resident Seller's U.S. Tax Position

Fourth-quarter stock in U.S. fulfilment centres, seasonal contractors, and a returns wave that runs into February. The facts that decide whether a foreign seller is taxed in the United States are at their highest in Q4.

Open Dossier
№1239m
ECI & Exposure

What Gets Withheld When You Sell

A buyer purchasing U.S. real property from a foreign seller is required to withhold from the purchase price, not from the gain. The reduction procedures exist but they have to be started before closing.

Open Dossier
№1229m
ECI & Exposure

Rental Income From U.S. Property

By default, rent paid to a non-resident owner is taxed on the gross amount with nothing deducted. An election changes that to net taxation, and it has to be made deliberately.

Open Dossier
№12110m
ECI & Exposure

Where the Sale Happens

For a seller of goods, the place where title passes has historically driven where the income is sourced. What that means for a dropshipper who never touches the product.

Open Dossier
№1209m
ECI & Exposure

Sales Tax Is Not Income Tax

Sales tax is collected from your customer and owed to the state whether or not you have any U.S. income tax exposure. Economic nexus, marketplace facilitator rules, and the registrations that follow.

Open Dossier
№1198m
ECI & Exposure

Does a Server Create a Presence?

Equipment you own and control is analysed differently from capacity you rent. Why the distinction matters, and why the answer for a cloud subscription is usually not the answer for a rack you own.

Open Dossier
№1189m
ECI & Exposure

Hiring in the United States

One person working for you inside the United States can change your filing position, and whether they are an employee or a contractor changes it in different ways.

Open Dossier
№449m
ECI & Exposure

ECI vs. FDAP: The Classification That Decides Everything

Two categories of U.S.-source income taxed in completely different ways, 30% of the gross amount, or graduated tax on the net. Getting the classification wrong is the single most consequential error in inbound tax.

Open Dossier
№459m
ECI & Exposure

Independent Contractor or Dependent Agent? The U.S. Presence Test

One U.S.-based contractor, engaged the wrong way, can single-handedly create a taxable U.S. presence for a foreign business that otherwise has no U.S. footprint at all.

Open Dossier
№469m
ECI & Exposure

Transfer Pricing for Small Foreign-Owned U.S. Subsidiaries

The arm's-length rule applies from the first intercompany dollar, and a pattern of U.S. subsidiary losses alongside a profitable foreign parent is a documented IRS enforcement target.

Open Dossier
№488m
ECI & Exposure

What a 1099-K Actually Means for a Foreign-Owned Entity

Gross payment volume on a 1099-K is not a tax bill and does not by itself create U.S. tax, but it is exactly the kind of IRS data trail that surfaces an entity with no filing history.

Open Dossier
№498m
ECI & Exposure

Digital Services Tax and VAT: What a U.S. Founder Actually Owes Abroad

Headline digital services taxes target large platforms and rarely reach a small U.S. company. Foreign VAT and GST registration on direct digital sales is the much more common and much lower-threshold obligation.

Open Dossier
№1179m
ECI & Exposure

Inventory in a U.S. Warehouse

Goods sitting in a fulfilment centre are the fact pattern that most often turns a foreign seller into a U.S. filer. What inventory establishes under domestic law, and what a treaty may still take back.

Open Dossier
№1167m
ECI & Exposure

Two Different Tests, Two Different Answers

Domestic law asks whether you have a U.S. trade or business. A treaty asks whether you have a permanent establishment. Both can be answered, and the answers are not required to agree.

Open Dossier
№209m
ECI & Exposure

Physical Property vs. Digital Infrastructure

Defining asset presence rules for modern global enterprises. Servers, edge nodes, leased warehouse space — what the IRS treats as fixed place of business.

Open Dossier
№197m
ECI & Exposure

The Digital Service Framework

Tax optimization strategies for international development and marketing teams. Engineering team in Lahore, sales team in London, customers in the U.S. — where does it tax?

Open Dossier
№187m
ECI & Exposure

Cross-Border Affiliate Networks

How affiliate commissions are characterized and sourced, in both directions. W-8 collection as a payer obligation, 1042-S reporting, and when withholding applies at all.

Open Dossier
№177m
ECI & Exposure

The Remote Enterprise Assessment

Evaluating physical presence rules for international digital service agencies. When a single U.S. contractor changes everything.

Open Dossier
№167m
ECI & Exposure

Isolating Pass-Through Profits

Managing passive investments vs. active business income for non-residents. Portfolio interest exception, FDAP treatment, and the case for a separate investment vehicle.

Open Dossier
№159m
ECI & Exposure

The Independent Agent Risk

How remote contractors can accidentally expand your U.S. tax exposure. The independent-versus-dependent agent distinction, and the treaty article that decides it.

Open Dossier
№148m
ECI & Exposure

The E-Commerce Tax Trap

Navigating source withholding rules for cross-border digital platforms. Stripe, Shopify, Amazon, Etsy — the 1099-K cascade and how to keep your foreign source position intact.

Open Dossier
№138m
ECI & Exposure

SaaS Platforms and Borderless Sales

Managing tax exposure for global cloud architectures. Hosted server location, customer concentration, dependent contractor risk — the four dimensions that flip SaaS into ECI.

Open Dossier
№129m
ECI & Exposure

The 3PL and Remote Fulfillment Pivot

Does using U.S. warehousing create a domestic permanent establishment? Amazon FBA, ShipBob, Deliverr — the de minimis activity carve-outs and the IRS positions that override them.

Open Dossier
№119m
ECI & Exposure

Decoding Effectively Connected Income (ECI)

How to determine if your global sales trigger U.S. corporate taxation. The U.S.-trade-or-business framework, dependent-agent rules, and the practical test the IRS actually applies.

Open Dossier