October 6, 2005 -- Under Treasury Regulations a foreign business entity that is not specifically classified as a corporation is an eligible entity that can elect its classification for Federal income tax purposes under certain circumstances. Regulation 301.7701 -2(b)(8) provides a list of foreign business entities that are always classified as a corporation for Federal income tax purposes (the Per Se Corporation List). The Internal Revenue Service issued Regulations on April 13, 2005 that add the SOCIETAS EUROPAEA or SE (European Public Limited Liability Company), to the Per Se Corporation List.  Also added to the list of Per Se Corporations were similar business entity types in Estonia , Latvia , Lichtenstein , Lithuania and Slovenia .  The regulations are effective for the Estonian, Latvian, Lichtenstein, Lithuanian and Slovenian entities formed on or after October 7, 2004 and for the European entities formed on or after October 8, 2004 .

In 2001 the Council of the European Union adopted a regulation that provides for this new business entity, the SE.  The EU regulation entered into force on October 8, 2004 , and has legal effect in all member states of the European Union plus Norway , Iceland and Lichtenstein.

For more information, contact Bill Burns at 215-564-1900 .

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