A U.S. person with a direct or indirect interest in a Passive Foreign Investment Company (“PFIC”) may be required to file Form 8621. A foreign corporation is a PFIC if it meets either a passive income test or a passive asset test.

Under the income test, a foreign corporation is treated as a PFIC if 75 percent or more of its gross income fits within the definition of “passive income”, which generally includes dividends, interest, royalties, rents, and annuities; there are many other special rules for determining what income is included.

Under the asset test, a foreign corporation is treated as a PFIC if the average percentage of assets held by such corporation during the taxable year which produces passive income, or which are held for the production of passive income, is at least 50 percent.

A foreign mutual fund is a common example of a PFIC. U. S. persons that own PFIC interests may be subject to additional tax and interest charges with respect to PFIC earnings and distributions. There is no threshold ownership requirement with respect to the PFIC rules, and thus a U. S. person can be subject to the PFIC rules even if their ownership interest in the PFIC is very small. However, to the extent that a foreign corporation is both a PFIC and a CFC, a U.S. investor that is a U.S. shareholder of the foreign corporation is generally only subject to the CFC rules with respect to their interest in the foreign corporation.

A U.S. investor in a PFIC is subject to one of three alternative taxing regimes generally at the investor’s election:
The specific information required on Form 8621 varies depending upon which PFIC taxing regime applies. Generally, a U.S. investor is required to file a Form 8621 if they: