The straight answer to “what is GILTI income” depends on facts the phrase hides — which is why generic answers mislead. What never changes is the machinery underneath GILTI, and once the machinery is clear, your own answer usually takes minutes. That machinery is this page.
- How GILTI actually works
- Every question behind “what is GILTI income”, answered
- Tested income is the base everything builds on
- The routine return carve-out
- Individuals bear it very differently from corporations
- The quick-answer table
- The rules, against the errors people make with them
- The mistakes we correct most often
- The working checklist
- Frequently asked questions
- Where to go from here
How GILTI actually works
For decades a US shareholder could park active earnings inside a foreign corporation and defer US tax until a dividend came home. GILTI ended most of that deferral: it sweeps a controlled foreign corporation's active earnings into its US shareholders' income every year, dividend or no dividend. The regime targets returns above a routine yield on tangible assets — the profits most easily shifted to low-tax jurisdictions.
An individual US citizen who owns the same foreign company directly gets neither by default — the inclusion lands at full ordinary rates with no credit for the foreign corporation's own tax. A deemed routine return on the corporation's qualified business asset investment — its adjusted basis in tangible, depreciable property — is carved out first, on the theory that profits earned on real machinery in a real place are not the shifting problem. That framing is what turns the rest of this cluster of questions from folklore into arithmetic — and it is the frame every section below applies. Where the pillar treatment helps, the pillar guide carries it at full depth.
Every question behind “what is GILTI income”, answered
One search phrase, many actual questions. These are the ones this cluster asks most, each answered at the level that stays true for every reader — with the fact-specific layer linked rather than guessed.
What is GILTI tested income?
Strip the jargon and it is this: A deemed routine return on the corporation's qualified business asset investment — its adjusted basis in tangible, depreciable property — is carved out first, on the theory that profits earned on real machinery in a real place are not the shifting problem. The consequence cuts both ways: asset-heavy operations shelter more, while service and IP businesses with thin tangible bases feel GILTI on nearly everything. A US corporate shareholder gets a special deduction against GILTI and a partial foreign tax credit, which together blunt the inclusion. For the detail that depends on your exact facts, the service page that carries the specifics goes deeper than a search snippet can.
What is tested income for GILTI?
Strip the jargon and it is this: An individual US citizen who owns the same foreign company directly gets neither by default — the inclusion lands at full ordinary rates with no credit for the foreign corporation's own tax. An election exists to compute the tax as if a corporation had received the income, and for owner-managers abroad that election is often the entire planning conversation. GILTI is computed and included every year whether or not the foreign company distributes anything. For the detail that depends on your exact facts, the service page that carries the specifics goes deeper than a search snippet can.
Is GILTI income subject to niit?
Short version: it depends on facts the question hides — and the mechanism that decides it is constant. GILTI keys to shareholder status and control, not to where the shareholder happens to live. The inclusion is a shareholder-level tax; the foreign corporation itself owes nothing under it. A recurring and avoidable error: treating a Canadian corporation owned by a US citizen living in Canada as outside the US net. For the detail that depends on your exact facts, the service page that carries the specifics goes deeper than a search snippet can.
What is GILTI tax?
Strip the jargon and it is this: A recurring and avoidable error: ignoring GILTI in a year the company paid no dividend. A recurring and avoidable error: assuming the foreign corporation's local tax automatically neutralises GILTI without actually running the credit and election computations. A recurring and avoidable error: skipping the shareholder's annual information return for the corporation. For the detail that depends on your exact facts, the service page that carries the specifics goes deeper than a search snippet can.
How is GILTI tax calculated?
Done in order, the process holds: For decades a US shareholder could park active earnings inside a foreign corporation and defer US tax until a dividend came home. GILTI ended most of that deferral: it sweeps a controlled foreign corporation's active earnings into its US shareholders' income every year, dividend or no dividend. The regime targets returns above a routine yield on tangible assets — the profits most easily shifted to low-tax jurisdictions. For the detail that depends on your exact facts, the service page that carries the specifics goes deeper than a search snippet can.
What income is excluded from tested income?
The working definition: Each controlled foreign corporation computes tested income: its gross income, minus a short list of excluded categories, minus the deductions properly allocable to what remains. The exclusions matter — income already taxed under other anti-deferral rules, effectively connected income, and certain related-party items fall out before the computation starts. What survives is the pool GILTI actually reaches. For the detail that depends on your exact facts, the service page that carries the specifics goes deeper than a search snippet can.
Does GILTI apply to individuals or only corporations?
Short version: it depends on facts the question hides — and the mechanism that decides it is constant. GILTI does not tax every dollar of tested income. A deemed routine return on the corporation's qualified business asset investment — its adjusted basis in tangible, depreciable property — is carved out first, on the theory that profits earned on real machinery in a real place are not the shifting problem. The consequence cuts both ways: asset-heavy operations shelter more, while service and IP businesses with thin tangible bases feel GILTI on nearly everything. For the detail that depends on your exact facts, the service page that carries the specifics goes deeper than a search snippet can.
How does the qbai carve-out reduce GILTI?
Done in order, the process holds: A US corporate shareholder gets a special deduction against GILTI and a partial foreign tax credit, which together blunt the inclusion. An individual US citizen who owns the same foreign company directly gets neither by default — the inclusion lands at full ordinary rates with no credit for the foreign corporation's own tax. An election exists to compute the tax as if a corporation had received the income, and for owner-managers abroad that election is often the entire planning conversation. For the detail that depends on your exact facts, the service page that carries the specifics goes deeper than a search snippet can.
Can foreign tax paid by the corporation offset GILTI?
The honest answer is a rule rather than a yes or no. GILTI is computed and included every year whether or not the foreign company distributes anything. GILTI keys to shareholder status and control, not to where the shareholder happens to live. The inclusion is a shareholder-level tax; the foreign corporation itself owes nothing under it. For the detail that depends on your exact facts, the service page that carries the specifics goes deeper than a search snippet can.
What election helps individual shareholders with GILTI?
Strip the jargon and it is this: A recurring and avoidable error: treating a Canadian corporation owned by a US citizen living in Canada as outside the US net. A recurring and avoidable error: ignoring GILTI in a year the company paid no dividend. A recurring and avoidable error: assuming the foreign corporation's local tax automatically neutralises GILTI without actually running the credit and election computations. For the detail that depends on your exact facts, the full guide goes deeper than a search snippet can.
Does GILTI apply if the company pays no dividend?
Short version: it depends on facts the question hides — and the mechanism that decides it is constant. A recurring and avoidable error: skipping the shareholder's annual information return for the corporation. For decades a US shareholder could park active earnings inside a foreign corporation and defer US tax until a dividend came home. GILTI ended most of that deferral: it sweeps a controlled foreign corporation's active earnings into its US shareholders' income every year, dividend or no dividend. For the detail that depends on your exact facts, the service page that carries the specifics goes deeper than a search snippet can.
How to calculate GILTI income?
Done in order, the process holds: The regime targets returns above a routine yield on tangible assets — the profits most easily shifted to low-tax jurisdictions. Each controlled foreign corporation computes tested income: its gross income, minus a short list of excluded categories, minus the deductions properly allocable to what remains. The exclusions matter — income already taxed under other anti-deferral rules, effectively connected income, and certain related-party items fall out before the computation starts. For the detail that depends on your exact facts, the service page that carries the specifics goes deeper than a search snippet can.
Read together, “what is GILTI tax”, “how is GILTI tax calculated”, “what income is excluded from tested income”, “does GILTI apply to individuals or only corporations” are one question asked four ways — and the sections below are the machinery that answers all of them at once.
Tested income is the base everything builds on
Each controlled foreign corporation computes tested income: its gross income, minus a short list of excluded categories, minus the deductions properly allocable to what remains. The exclusions matter — income already taxed under other anti-deferral rules, effectively connected income, and certain related-party items fall out before the computation starts. What survives is the pool GILTI actually reaches.
For decades a US shareholder could park active earnings inside a foreign corporation and defer US tax until a dividend came home. That single sentence settles more of the questions in this cluster than any threshold people go searching for.
The routine return carve-out
GILTI does not tax every dollar of tested income. A deemed routine return on the corporation's qualified business asset investment — its adjusted basis in tangible, depreciable property — is carved out first, on the theory that profits earned on real machinery in a real place are not the shifting problem. The consequence cuts both ways: asset-heavy operations shelter more, while service and IP businesses with thin tangible bases feel GILTI on nearly everything.
The inclusion is a shareholder-level tax; the foreign corporation itself owes nothing under it. That single sentence settles more of the questions in this cluster than any threshold people go searching for.
Individuals bear it very differently from corporations
A US corporate shareholder gets a special deduction against GILTI and a partial foreign tax credit, which together blunt the inclusion. An individual US citizen who owns the same foreign company directly gets neither by default — the inclusion lands at full ordinary rates with no credit for the foreign corporation's own tax. An election exists to compute the tax as if a corporation had received the income, and for owner-managers abroad that election is often the entire planning conversation.
A recurring and avoidable error: treating a Canadian corporation owned by a US citizen living in Canada as outside the US net. That single sentence settles more of the questions in this cluster than any threshold people go searching for.
The quick-answer table
| The question as searched | The durable short answer |
|---|---|
| What is tested income for GILTI | Defined above |
| Is GILTI income subject to niit | Depends on status and facts — the mechanism is fixed |
| What is GILTI tax | Defined above |
| How is GILTI tax calculated | A sequence, covered above |
| What income is excluded from tested income | Defined above |
| Does GILTI apply to individuals or only corporations | Depends on status and facts — the mechanism is fixed |
| How does the qbai carve-out reduce GILTI | A sequence, covered above |
The rules, against the errors people make with them
| The error in the wild | The rule it collides with |
|---|---|
| Skipping the shareholder's annual information return for the corporation — its penalty stands alone and does not care whether tax was due | GILTI is computed and included every year whether or not the foreign company distributes anything. |
| Treating a Canadian corporation owned by a US citizen living in Canada as outside the US net — controlled-foreign-corporation status follows the shareholder, not the address | GILTI is computed and included every year whether or not the foreign company distributes anything. |
| Ignoring GILTI in a year the company paid no dividend — the inclusion is annual and does not wait for cash | GILTI keys to shareholder status and control, not to where the shareholder happens to live. |
| Assuming the foreign corporation's local tax automatically neutralises GILTI without actually running the credit and election computations | The inclusion is a shareholder-level tax; the foreign corporation itself owes nothing under it. |
The mistakes we correct most often
- Treating a Canadian corporation owned by a US citizen living in Canada as outside the US net. controlled-foreign-corporation status follows the shareholder, not the address
- Ignoring GILTI in a year the company paid no dividend. the inclusion is annual and does not wait for cash
- Assuming the foreign corporation's local tax automatically neutralises GILTI without actually running the credit and election computations.
- Skipping the shareholder's annual information return for the corporation. its penalty stands alone and does not care whether tax was due
Correcting before the authority writes first is what preserves the relief routes — voluntary programs on both sides of the border narrow sharply on first contact. Fixing an old year is routine work; defending a discovered omission is not.
The working checklist
- Keep the five-item evidence file: foreign return, payer documents, conversions, proof of payment, and the position in one sentence.
- Confirm the status question first — residence, citizenship or entitlement — because every later answer inherits it.
- Assemble the foreign documents before the deadline season, since nothing about the US minimum tax on the foreign corporate earnings of US shareholders arrives pre-filled.
- Convert currency at the proper dates and keep the one-page schedule that proves it.
Related pages that carry the specifics: do i need transfer pricing documentation · branch vs subsidiary · transfer pricing documentation · transfer pricing — and the pillar guide for the full treatment.
Frequently asked questions
How to calculate GILTI tested income?
What survives is the pool GILTI actually reaches. GILTI does not tax every dollar of tested income. The error to avoid while acting on it: skipping the shareholder's annual information return for the corporation. Where your facts push past the general rule, that is the point to get the position taken properly rather than guessed.
How to calculate tested income for GILTI?
A deemed routine return on the corporation's qualified business asset investment — its adjusted basis in tangible, depreciable property — is carved out first, on the theory that profits earned on real machinery in a real place are not the shifting problem. The consequence cuts both ways: asset-heavy operations shelter more, while service and IP businesses with thin tangible bases feel GILTI on nearly everything. The error to avoid while acting on it: treating a Canadian corporation owned by a US citizen living in Canada as outside the US net. Where your facts push past the general rule, that is the point to get the position taken properly rather than guessed.
GILTI is computed and included every year whether or not the foreign company distributes anything — is that always true?
A US corporate shareholder gets a special deduction against GILTI and a partial foreign tax credit, which together blunt the inclusion. An individual US citizen who owns the same foreign company directly gets neither by default — the inclusion lands at full ordinary rates with no credit for the foreign corporation's own tax. The error to avoid while acting on it: ignoring GILTI in a year the company paid no dividend. Where your facts push past the general rule, that is the point to get the position taken properly rather than guessed.
GILTI keys to shareholder status and control, not to where the shareholder happens to live — is that always true?
An election exists to compute the tax as if a corporation had received the income, and for owner-managers abroad that election is often the entire planning conversation. GILTI is computed and included every year whether or not the foreign company distributes anything. The error to avoid while acting on it: assuming the foreign corporation's local tax automatically neutralises GILTI without actually running the credit and election computations. Where your facts push past the general rule, that is the point to get the position taken properly rather than guessed.
The inclusion is a shareholder-level tax; the foreign corporation itself owes nothing under it — is that always true?
GILTI keys to shareholder status and control, not to where the shareholder happens to live. The inclusion is a shareholder-level tax; the foreign corporation itself owes nothing under it. The error to avoid while acting on it: skipping the shareholder's annual information return for the corporation. Where your facts push past the general rule, that is the point to get the position taken properly rather than guessed.
A recurring and avoidable error: treating a Canadian corporation owned by a US citizen living in Canada as outside the US net — is that always true?
A recurring and avoidable error: treating a Canadian corporation owned by a US citizen living in Canada as outside the US net. A recurring and avoidable error: ignoring GILTI in a year the company paid no dividend. The error to avoid while acting on it: treating a Canadian corporation owned by a US citizen living in Canada as outside the US net. Where your facts push past the general rule, that is the point to get the position taken properly rather than guessed.
A recurring and avoidable error: ignoring GILTI in a year the company paid no dividend — is that always true?
A recurring and avoidable error: assuming the foreign corporation's local tax automatically neutralises GILTI without actually running the credit and election computations. A recurring and avoidable error: skipping the shareholder's annual information return for the corporation. The error to avoid while acting on it: ignoring GILTI in a year the company paid no dividend. Where your facts push past the general rule, that is the point to get the position taken properly rather than guessed.
A recurring and avoidable error: assuming the foreign corporation's local tax automatically neutralises GILTI without actually running the credit and election computations — is that always true?
For decades a US shareholder could park active earnings inside a foreign corporation and defer US tax until a dividend came home. GILTI ended most of that deferral: it sweeps a controlled foreign corporation's active earnings into its US shareholders' income every year, dividend or no dividend. The error to avoid while acting on it: assuming the foreign corporation's local tax automatically neutralises GILTI without actually running the credit and election computations. Where your facts push past the general rule, that is the point to get the position taken properly rather than guessed.
Where to go from here
GILTI is computed and included every year whether or not the foreign company distributes anything. If your facts sit anywhere near the edges this page has flagged, the cheap move is settling the position before the next filing rather than after the next letter.
Cross-border and international tax is all we do — with both countries' filings built against each other so nothing is claimed twice or missed. The fee is fixed in writing before work begins, and the first conversation is free.
Contact us on the 24-hour helpline, or see our published fees.
