US stock buyback excise tax – Potential implications for Canadian public companies

On 27 December 2022, the United States (US) Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2023-2 (the Notice), which provides interim guidance on the application of the new 1% excise tax on repurchases of certain corporate stock under Internal Revenue Code Section 4501.

The US excise tax applies to stock repurchases made after 31 December 2022.

The Notice could have important implications for Canadian public companies with US affiliates. Many Canadian public companies have active share repurchase…