Department of the Treasury June 12, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of the Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning existing final regulation, REG-106359-02, Compensatory Stock Options Under Section 482.

This document contains corrections to final regulations (TD 9398) that were published in the Federal Register on Monday, May 19, 2008 (73 FR 28699) providing rules for testing whether the economic effect of an allocation is substantial within the meaning of section 704(b) where partners are look-through entities or members of a consolidated group. The final regulations clarify the application of section 704(b) to partnerships the interests of which are owned by look-through entities and members of consolidated groups and, through an example, reiterate the effect of other provisions of the Internal Revenue Code on partnership allocations.

By this Notice, the Department of the Treasury is informing the public that it is conducting a mandatory survey of foreign ownership of U.S. securities as of June 30, 2008. This Notice constitutes legal notification to all United States persons (defined below) who meet the reporting requirements set forth in this Notice that they must respond to, and comply with, this survey. Additional copies of the reporting forms SHLA (2008) and instructions may be printed from the Internet at: https://www.treas.gov/tic/forms-sh.html. Definition: A U.S. person is any individual, branch, partnership, associated group, association, estate, trust, corporation, or other organization (whether or not organized under the laws of any State), and any government (including a foreign government, the United States Government, a state, provincial, or local government, and any agency, corporation, financial institution, or other entity or instrumentality thereof, including a government-sponsored agency), who resides in the United States or is subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Who Must Report: The panel for this survey is based upon the level of foreign holdings of U.S. securities reported on the June 2004 benchmark survey of foreign holdings of U.S. securities, and will consist mostly of the largest reporters on that survey. Entities required to report will be contacted individually by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Entities not contacted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York have no reporting responsibilities. What to Report: This report will collect information on foreign resident holdings of U.S. securities, including equities, short-term debt securities (including selected money market instruments), and long-term debt securities. How to Report: Copies of the survey forms and instructions, which contain complete information on reporting procedures and definitions, can be obtained by contacting the survey staff of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York at (212) 720-6300, e-mail: SHLA.help@ny.frb.org. The mailing address is: Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Statistics Function, 4th Floor, 33 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10045-0001. Inquiries can also be made to Carol Bertaut, Federal Reserve Board of Governors, at (202) 452-3476, e-mail: carol.bertaut@frb.gov; or to Dwight Wolkow at (202) 622-1276, e-mail: dwight.wolkow@do.treas.gov. When to Report: Data should be submitted to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, acting as fiscal agent for the Department of the Treasury, by August 31, 2008. Paperwork Reduction Act Notice: This data collection has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act and assigned control number 1505-0123. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid control number assigned by OMB. The estimated average annual burden associated with this collection of information is 486 hours per report for the largest custodians of securities, and 110 hours per report for the largest issuers of securities that have data to report and are not custodians. Comments concerning the accuracy of this burden estimate and suggestions for reducing this burden should be directed to the Department of the Treasury, Office of International Affairs, Attention Administrator, International Portfolio Investment Data Reporting Systems, Room 5422, Washington, DC 20220, and to OMB, Attention Desk Officer for the Department of the Treasury, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Washington, DC 20503.

An open meeting of the Area 2 Taxpayer Advocacy Panel will be conducted via telephone conference call. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas, and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.

An open meeting of the Area 5 Taxpayer Advocacy Panel will be conducted via a telephone conference call. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comment, ideas, and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.

An open meeting of the Area 6 committee of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel will be conducted (via teleconference). The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) is soliciting public comments, ideas, and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service. The TAP will use citizen input to make recommendations to the Internal Revenue Service.

An open meeting of the Ad Hoc IRS Forms and Publications/ Language Services Issue Committee of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel will be conducted (via teleconference). The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.

An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Small Business/ Self EmployedTaxpayer Burden Reduction Issue Committee will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comment, ideas, and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.

An open meeting of the Joint Committee of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel will be conducted via conference call. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comment, ideas, and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.

An open meeting of the Wage & Investment Reducing Taxpayer Burden (Notices) Issue Committee of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel will be conducted via telephone conference call. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.