The balance alone cannot establish the investment, but money held for actual business operations is not automatically excluded. Distinguish unrestricted idle funds from capital committed to the enterprise and working capital supported by its operating needs. Assess shareholder repayment rights and document source and path before presenting a qualifying total.
Separate available money from committed money
Match expenditures to invoices, payroll and contracts, then reconcile the amount funded with the amount still held and any repayments. A customer receipt is evidence of a sale, not automatically another personal contribution. If the claim includes reinvested earnings, identify the earnings, the investor’s rights and the actual reinvestment separately so the same funds are not counted twice.
The treaty-investor classification requires the investor to be a national of a treaty country and the enterprise to have treaty nationality, ordinarily through at least 50 percent ownership by nationals of that same country. A bona fide enterprise is a real, active commercial undertaking producing services or goods for profit and meeting the legal requirements for doing business in its jurisdiction. The investor must develop and direct, ordinarily by owning at least half the enterprise or holding operational control. A substantial sum, committed beyond discretionary recall and placed at commercial risk, must support an operating enterprise with more than marginal capacity.