The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Revenue Procedure 2017-23 on 19 January 2017 describing the process for filing Form 8975, Country-byCountry Report, and accompanying Schedules A, Tax Jurisdiction and Constituent Entity Information (collectively, Form 8975), by ultimate parent entities of U.S. multinational enterprise (MNE) groups for reporting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2016, but before the applicability date of §1.6038-4 (early reporting periods).
Beginning on September 1, 2017, Form 8975 may be filed for an early reporting period with the income tax return or other return as provided in the Instructions to Form 8975 for the taxable year of the ultimate parent entity of the U.S. MNE group with or within which the early reporting period ends. In order to file Form 8975 for an early reporting period, an ultimate parent entity that files (or has filed) an income tax return for a taxable year that includes an early reporting period without a Form 8975 attached must follow the procedures for filing an amended income tax return and attach Form 8975 to the amended return within twelve months of the close of the taxable year that includes the early reporting period. Filing an amended income tax return solely to attach Form 8975 in accordance with this revenue procedure will have no effect on the statute of limitations for the income tax return.
In order to ensure timely automatic exchange of the information on a Form 8975 for an early reporting period, ultimate parent entities that are able to file their returns electronically are encouraged to file their returns and the Forms 8975 electronically. An ultimate parent entity that files its return electronically must file the Form 8975 through the IRS Modernized e-File system in Extensible Markup Language (XML) format, not as a binary attachment (such as a PDF file).