Cross-border Tax Talks
PwC specialists share insights and perspectives on key issues impacting the ever-changing tax landscape. Our podcasts aim to provide quick, easy and up-to-date tax developments to help you stay current and competitive in today's challenging business environment. Listen to episodes at your convenience via your desktop computer or smart device.
Cross-border Tax Talks
In Jeopardy: Sovereign wealth funds and Section 892
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Doug McHoney (PwC’s International Tax Services Global Leader) is joined by Nils Cousin, an international tax partner in PwC’s Washington National Tax Services Practice, for his fourth appearance on the show. Doug and Nils discuss Nils’s April 2024 Jeopardy experience before pivoting to the 1916-era Section 892 exemption: how foreign governments, sovereign wealth funds, and public pension funds use it, and how ‘commercial activity’ and ‘controlled commercial entity’ rules can taint the benefit. They unpack the December 2025 regulation package, highlighting what was finalized (including an inadvertent-activity cure period, the qualified partnership exception, and FIRPTA taint relief) and what remains proposed, especially a framework that presumptively treats many debt acquisitions and workouts as commercial activity. The episode closes with the regulation process, effective-date mechanics, and a January 18 Treasury Secretary tweet, leaving us wondering whether market feedback might drive revisions.