Microsoft Corporation - Page 3




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          1990 and 1991 to 1987-89 and to foreign tax credit carrybacks from          
          1990 to 1987 and 1988.  These adjustments are computational,                
          arising from income adjustments for 1990 and 1991.                          
                                    Introduction                                      
               Petitioner develops, produces, and markets computer software.          
          During 1990 and 1991, petitioner engaged its wholly owned                   
          subsidiary, Microsoft FSC Corp. (MS-FSC), to act as its agent for           
          the international sales of standardized mass-marketed computer              
          products and computer software masters.1  These products were               
          sold/licensed to petitioner’s controlled foreign corporations               
          (CFC’s) and unrelated foreign original equipment manufacturers              
          (foreign OEM’s).                                                            




               1    Pursuant to the foreign sales corporation provisions              
          (secs. 921 through 927), a domestic corporation may receive                 
          favorable tax treatment on a portion of its profits from                    
          international sales of its U.S.-made products by selling/leasing            
          such products through a foreign corporate subsidiary (the foreign           
          sales corporation).  Specifically,                                          
               (1) That portion of the foreign sales corporation’s income             
          (known as exempt foreign trade income) is not subject to U.S.               
          taxation in the hands of the foreign sales corporation;                     
               (2) the domestic corporation may deduct the commission paid            
          to the foreign sales corporation based upon the amount the                  
          foreign sales corporation reports as foreign trade gross receipts           
          (using certain administrative pricing rules); and                           
               (3) the domestic corporation can exclude dividend                      
          distributions from its foreign subsidiary (e.g., the foreign                
          sales corporation) that are attributable to the foreign sales               
          corporation’s exempt foreign trade income.                                  





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