SECTION 1. OVERVIEW

Section 5000C, added to the Internal Revenue Code by section 301 of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, Public Law 111–347 (124 Stat. 3623) (the “Act”), imposes on any foreign person that receives a specified Federal procurement payment a tax equal to 2 percent of the amount of the payment. Section 5000C(b) defines a specified Federal procurement payment as any payment made to a foreign person pursuant to a procurement contract with the Government of the United States (“U.S. government”) entered into on and after January 2, 2011, to provide goods or services if the goods are manufactured or produced in, or the services are provided in, any country that is not a party to an international procurement agreement with the United States.

Section 301(c) of the Act requires that section 5000C be applied in a manner consistent with the United States’ obliga

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tions under international agreements. Accordingly, section 5000C will not be applied if the payment is made to a foreign person entitled to relief from the tax imposed under section 5000C pursuant to an international agreement with the United States, including relief pursuant to a nondiscrimination provision of a qualified income tax treaty when the foreign person is entitled to the benefit of that provision.

A “qualified income tax treaty” means a U.S. income tax treaty in force that contains a nondiscrimination article that applies to the tax imposed by section 5000C and prohibits taxation that is more burdensome on a foreign national than on a U.S. national (or in the case of certain income tax treaties, taxation that is more burdensome on a foreign citizen than a U.S. citizen), regardless of residence. A foreign person that is entitled to relief from tax under section 5000C pursuant to a qualified income tax treaty is exempt from the tax under section 5000C, regardless of whether the payment it receives is for goods manufactured or produced, or for services provided, in a country that is not a party to an international procurement agreement with the United States.

To assist both the U.S. government and foreign persons in determining whether the tax shall be imposed under section 5000C and the regulations thereunder, the Appendices to this notice identify all “qualified income tax treaties” as of the date of publication of this notice.