BEA Survey Questions

In the case of patents, processes, or trade secrets, one typically uses that patent or process to reproduce or distribute a product or service. One does not reproduce and/or distribute the patent itself. Therefore, we concluded that it was not appropriate to include a subcategory for "rights to reproduce and/or distribute" those types of intellectual property. If your company is paying or collecting fees based on the use of a patent (i.e.

No. Education services consist of services relating to education, such as correspondence courses and education via television or the Internet, as well as by teachers and so forth who supply services directly in host economies. However, education services provided to nonresidents who are present in the territory of the service provider (i.e. foreign exchange students) are not reportable on the survey.

No. The types of services that should be reported under this category include remote diagnostic, laboratory or imagery services, or "telemedicine," as well as fees paid to foreign medical professionals who provide their services on-site in the United States or vice-versa. Charges for medical services provided to a foreign person visiting the U.S., for example, the provision of services to a Kuwaiti citizen who flies to the United States for chemotherapy treatments, are not reportable on the survey.

If you are a financial services provider, you should be reporting fees and commissions for financial services and commissions on the BE-185 Quarterly Survey of Financial Services Transactions between U.S. Financial Services Providers and Foreign Persons. Your transactions with foreign persons in non-financial services, such as advertising, computer services, should be reported on the BE-120.

Goods should generally not be reported on the BE-120. However, the value of goods exports in connection with construction services provided to foreign persons is reportable on Schedule C.

The BE-12 is BEA's most comprehensive survey, in terms of both the number of companies covered and the amount of information gathered, on financial and operating data of U.S. affiliates of foreign multinational enterprises. The survey is used to produce statistics on the scale and effects of foreign-owned business activities in the United States. Business leaders use these statistics to inform decisions about hiring and investing. Policymakers and researchers use them to analyze the impacts of direct investment on jobs, wages, productivity and taxes.

• Which BE-12 Form to File? PDF

Reporting on BEA’s direct investment surveys is mandatory under the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act (P.L. 94–472, 90 Stat. 2059, 22 U.S.C. 3101–3108, as amended). The act protects the confidentiality of the companies that report on the surveys.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis uses previous survey filings with BEA and other sources, such as external databases and news media reports, to identify entities that may be subject to the reporting requirements of the survey. BEA then alerts entities regarding the mandatory filing requirement. While companies meeting the survey requirements are required to complete the survey whether or not they are contacted by BEA, the notification letter helps companies to comply with the law.

Please note that each U.S. affiliate must retain a copy of its report for at least 3 years after the report’s original due date.

If prior filings were submitted through the BEA eFile System at www.bea.gov/efile, these reports may be accessed through this system.