Section 899: A tool to increase revenue or to change foreign tax policy?

The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) that was passed by the US House of Representatives includes a new set of retaliatory ta xes in Section 899 that could potentially have significant effects on financial flows into the US and bilateral tax treaties. It’s being called a “revenge tax” because it’s specifically designed to apply only in cases where other countries are deemed to be imposing unfair taxes against U S companies.  Many of the provisions of the OBBB are currently being debated in Congress and it remains to be seen what, if any, version of section 899 is included in the final bill.   On one hand, section 899 could be used as an additional revenue generator intended to offset tax cuts, but comments from influential policymakers suggest that it is being used primarily to induce tax policy changes from other countries.