Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Services Surveys: BE-125, Quarterly Survey of Transactions in Selected Services and Intellectual Property With Foreign Persons

Issuing agencies

Abstract

The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment preceding submission of the collection to OMB.

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 200 (Monday, October 19, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 200 (Monday, October 19, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66076-66077]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-21357]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Economic Analysis


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Services Surveys: BE-125, Quarterly Survey of Transactions in 
Selected Services and Intellectual Property With Foreign Persons

AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of Information Collection, request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), invites the general public and other 
Federal agencies to comment on proposed and continuing information 
collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information 
collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. The 
purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment 
preceding submission of the collection to OMB.

DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed 
information collection must be received on or before December 18, 2026.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments to 
Christopher Stein, Chief, Services Surveys Branch, Bureau of Economic 
Analysis, by email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#caa9a2b8a3b9bea5baa2afb8e4b9beafa3a48aa8afabe4ada5bc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c9aaa1bba0babda6b9a1acbbe7babdaca0a789abaca8e7aea6bf">[email&#160;protected]</span></a> or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6636342705090b0b030812152602090548010910"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="20707261434f4d4d454e545360444f430e474f56">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>. 
Please reference OMB Control Number 0608-0067 in the subject line of 
your comments. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or 
otherwise sensitive or protected information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
specific questions related to collection activities should be directed 
to Christopher Stein, Chief, Services Surveys Branch, Bureau of 
Economic Analysis; 301-278-9189; or via email at 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1a79726873696e756a727f6834696e7f73745a787f7b347d756c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e08388928993948f90888592ce939485898ea0828581ce878f96">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The Quarterly Survey of Transactions in Selected Services and 
Intellectual Property with Foreign Persons (Form BE-125) is an ongoing 
survey that collects data from U.S. persons who engage in covered 
transactions in selected services or intellectual property with foreign 
persons. A U.S. person means any individual, branch, partnership, 
associated group, association, estate, trust, corporation, or other 
organization (whether or not organized under the laws of any State), 
resident in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the 
United States. A U.S. person must report if they had combined sales of 
covered services or intellectual property to foreign persons that 
exceeded $6 million for the previous fiscal year, or are expected to 
exceed that amount during the current fiscal year, or if they had 
combined purchases of covered services or intellectual property from 
foreign persons that exceeded $4 million for the previous fiscal year, 
or are expected to exceed that amount during the current fiscal year.
    The data are needed to monitor U.S. trade in services, to analyze 
the impact of these cross-border services on the U.S. and foreign 
economies, to compile and improve the U.S. economic accounts, to 
support U.S. commercial policy on trade in services, to conduct trade 
promotion, and to improve the ability of U.S. businesses to identify 
and evaluate market opportunities. The data are used in estimating the 
trade in services component of the U.S. international transactions 
accounts (ITAs) and national income and product accounts (NIPAs).
    The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) is proposing to expand 
transaction category detail to further align BEA's statistics with 
international guidelines and to collect additional information that can 
be used to improve the current estimation methodologies for published 
services transactions, increasing the quality and usefulness of BEA's 
statistics on trade in services. BEA is also proposing to modify the 
survey reporting thresholds, decreasing survey respondent burden and 
streamlining data collection.
    BEA proposes three changes to the survey's data and database 
transaction categories:
    (1) Separately collect the following three new intellectual 
property (IP) rights transaction types related to data and database 
transactions:

[[Page 66077]]

    (a) ``rights to use data and databases'' (new transaction code 
8.1),
    (b) ``rights to reproduce and/or distribute data and databases'' 
(new transaction code 8.2), and
    (c) ``outright sales of data and databases'' (new transaction code 
8.3).
    (2) Collect a new information services transaction type, 
``compilation services for data and databases'' (new transaction 
category 14.2).
    (3) Redefine ``other information services'' (new transaction code 
14.3, currently transaction code 14.2) so that it does not cover 
transactions currently reported in 14.2. Collecting separate categories 
for data and database related IP rights will further improve BEA's 
measurement for these growing economic activities and further align 
BEA's statistics with international guidelines.
    BEA also proposes collecting a new category of personal, cultural, 
and recreational services. The category, ``other personal services'' 
(new transaction code 42) has presumably been included by reporters in 
``other selected services'' (current transaction code 42). The 
transaction category ``other selected services'' will now be reported 
as transaction code 43 (new transaction code after ``other personal 
services'' have been moved to their new location in the redefined 
transaction code 42).
    BEA estimates there will be no change in the average number of 
burden hours per response associated with the changes in transaction 
categories. The affected reporters should not experience a noticeable 
impact to burden because the data are already collected by BEA within 
other transaction categories and BEA believes this additional level of 
detail is readily available in their accounting records.
    BEA also proposes to increase the threshold for filing the BE-125. 
The new reporting thresholds would require reporting from U.S. persons 
who had combined sales of covered services or intellectual property to 
foreign persons that exceeded $20 million (currently $6 million) for 
the previous fiscal year, or are expected to exceed that amount during 
the current fiscal year, or if they had combined purchases of covered 
services or intellectual property from foreign persons that exceeded 
$12 million (currently $4 million) for the previous fiscal year, or are 
expected to exceed that amount during the current fiscal year. BEA has 
determined that this increased threshold on the BE-125 would be 
sufficient to collect the information necessary to provide data users 
with insightful statistics measuring the economic impact of trade in 
services. This proposed change would reduce respondent burden and the 
BEA resources needed to collect and process these transactions.
    The language in the instructions and definitions will be reviewed 
and adjusted as necessary to clarify survey requirements.

II. Method of Collection

    BEA contacts potential respondents by mail at the end of each 
quarter. Respondents would be required to file the completed BE-125 
forms within 30 days after the end of each fiscal quarter that is not 
the final fiscal quarter of the year and within 45 days after the close 
of the final fiscal quarter of the year. Reports would be required from 
each U.S. person that had combined sales of covered services or 
intellectual property to foreign persons that exceeded $20 million for 
the previous fiscal year, or are expected to exceed that amount during 
the current fiscal year, or that had combined purchases of covered 
services or intellectual property from foreign persons that exceeded 
$12 million for the previous fiscal year, or that are expected to 
exceed that amount during the current fiscal year. Entities required to 
report will be contacted individually by BEA. Entities not contacted by 
BEA have no reporting responsibilities.
    BEA offers its electronic filing option, the eFile system, for use 
in reporting on Form BE-125. For more information about eFile, go to 
<a href="http://www.bea.gov/efile">www.bea.gov/efile</a>. In addition, BEA posts all its survey forms and 
reporting instructions on its website, <a href="http://www.bea.gov/ssb">www.bea.gov/ssb</a>. These may be 
downloaded, completed, printed, and submitted via fax or mail.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0608-0067.
    Form Number(s): BE-125.
    Type of Review: Regular submission.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 10,000 annually (2,500 filed each 
quarter; 1,900 reporting mandatory data by country and affiliation, and 
600 that would file exemption claims or voluntary responses).
    Estimated Time per Response: 21 hours is the average for the 1,900 
respondents filing data by country and affiliation and 1 hour for those 
filing an exemption claim or voluntary response. Hours may vary 
considerably among respondents because of differences in company size 
and complexity.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 162,000.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: International Investment and Trade in Services 
Survey Act (P.L. 94-472, 22 U.S.C. 3101-3108, as amended).

IV. Request for Comments

    We are soliciting public comments to permit the Department/Bureau 
to: (a) Evaluate whether the proposed information collection is 
necessary for the proper functions of the Department, including whether 
the information will have practical utility; (b) Evaluate the accuracy 
of our estimate of the time and cost burden for this proposed 
collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used; (c) Evaluate ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; and (d) Minimize the reporting burden 
on those who are to respond, including the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. We will include or summarize each comment in our request 
to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address, phone 
number, email address, or other personal identifying information in 
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including 
your personal identifying information--may be made publicly available 
at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold your 
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental PRA Compliance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for 
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2026-21357 Filed 10-16-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P


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