The US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) conducts a mandatory BE-10 survey of US investments abroad every five years to produce key economic and statistical reports on the scale and effects of US-owned business activities abroad.
Most US persons who own ten percent or more in a non-US business at the end of fiscal year 2024 are required to complete and submit a BE-10 survey to BEA by May 30, 2025. The DLA Piper team is available to assist clients with assessing this requirement and responding to the survey as needed.
The BEA conducts the survey pursuant to the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act (22 U.S.C. § 3101), a statute that protects the confidentiality of the data that companies report. Without the prior written permission of the reporter, the BEA cannot publish or otherwise release the data collected on its surveys in a form that would allow the data of an individual reporter to be identified. The survey data may only be used for statistical and analytical purposes, and access is limited to government officials and employees. Survey data is not subject to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
Who is required to file?
US persons (including US companies) with direct or indirect ownership or control of ten percent or more of the voting stock of a foreign business (ie, a foreign affiliate) at the end of their 2024 fiscal year are obligated to file. For the BEA-10, filing is required regardless of whether the BEA contacted the business directly. (Private funds that do not own more than ten percent of an operating business – ie, not a holding company or another private fund – in their ownership chains are exempt from filing.)
When is the due date?
Most filers are required to submit forms (by mail, fax, or online) by May 30, 2025. Filers with more than 50 foreign affiliates have until June 30, 2025.
What information is collected?
The forms require business and financial information about both the US entity and the foreign business(es).
What is the penalty for failing to file?
While the BEA has not historically imposed penalties for failure to file, it does have the authority to impose civil and criminal penalties. Civil penalties may include fines ranging from approximately $5,900 to $59,000. Criminal penalties for willful failure to file include fines up to $10,000 and imprisonment of up to one year for individuals, including officers, directors, employees, or agents of a corporation who knowingly participate in a violation.
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