Standards for the Administrative Collection of Claims, 12272-12274 [E8-4586]
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12272
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 46 / Friday, March 7, 2008 / Rules and Regulations
MPGE the QPP. Accordingly, upon its sale of
the QPP, B has $500 of QPAI (B’s $3,000
DPGR received from U minus B’s $2,500 cost
of MPGE the QPP).
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*
(f) Allocation of income and loss by a
corporation that is a member of the
expanded affiliated group for only a
portion of the year—(1) In general. A
corporation that becomes or ceases to be
a member of an EAG during its taxable
year must allocate its taxable income or
loss, QPAI, and W–2 wages between the
portion of the taxable year that it is a
member of the EAG and the portion of
the taxable year that it is not a member
of the EAG. This allocation of items is
made by using the pro rata allocation
method described in this paragraph
(f)(1). Under the pro rata allocation
method, an equal portion of a
corporation’s taxable income or loss,
QPAI, and W–2 wages for the taxable
year is assigned to each day of the
corporation’s taxable year. Those items
assigned to those days that the
corporation was a member of the EAG
are then aggregated.
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(g) * * *
(3) Example. The following example
illustrates the application of paragraphs
(f) and (g) of this section:
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*
Example. (i) Facts. Corporations X and Y,
calendar year corporations, are members of
the same EAG for the entire 2010 taxable
year. Corporation Z, also a calendar year
corporation, is a member of the EAG of
which X and Y are members for the first half
of 2010 and not a member of any EAG for the
second half of 2010. During the 2010 taxable
year, neither X, Y, nor Z joins in the filing
of a consolidated Federal income tax return.
Assume that X, Y, and Z each has W–2 wages
in excess of the section 199(b) wage
limitation for all relevant periods. In 2010, X
has taxable income of $2,000 and QPAI of
$600, Y has a taxable loss of $400 and QPAI
of ($200), and Z has taxable income of $1,400
and QPAI of $2,400.
(ii) Analysis. Pursuant to the pro rata
allocation method, $700 of Z’s 2010 taxable
income and $1,200 of Z’s 2010 QPAI are
allocated to the first half of the 2010 taxable
year (the period in which Z is a member of
the EAG) and $700 of Z’s 2010 taxable
income and $1,200 of Z’s 2010 QPAI are
allocated to the second half of the 2010
taxable year (the period in which Z is not a
member of any EAG). Accordingly, in 2010,
the EAG has taxable income of $2,300 (X’s
$2,000 + Y’s ($400) + Z’s $700) and QPAI of
$1,600 (X’s $600 + Y’s ($200) + Z’s $1,200).
The EAG’s section 199 deduction for 2010 is
therefore $144 (9% of the lesser of the EAG’s
$2,300 of taxable income or $1,600 of QPAI).
Pursuant to § 1.199–7(c)(1), this $144
deduction is allocated to X, Y, and Z in
proportion to their respective QPAI.
Accordingly, X is allocated $48 of the EAG’s
section 199 deduction, Y is allocated $0 of
the EAG’s section 199 deduction, and Z is
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17:51 Mar 06, 2008
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allocated $96 of the EAG’s section 199
deduction. For the second half of 2010, Z has
taxable income of $700 and QPAI of $1,200.
Therefore, for the second half of 2010, Z has
a section 199 deduction of $63 (9% of the
lesser of its $700 taxable income or $1,200
QPAI for the second half of 2010).
Accordingly, X’s 2010 section 199 deduction
is $48, Y’s 2010 section 199 deduction is $0,
and Z’s 2010 section 199 deduction is $159,
the sum of the $96 section 199 deduction of
the EAG allocated to Z for the first half of
2010 and Z’s $63 section 199 deduction for
the second half of 2010.
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I Par. 5. Section 1.199–8 is amended by:
I 1. Adding two sentences at the end of
paragraph (a).
I 2. Adding new paragraphs (i)(8) and
(i)(9).
The revisions and additions read as
follows:
§ 1.199–8
Other rules.
(a) In general. * * * For purposes of
§§ 1.199–1 through 1.199–9, use of
terms such as payment, paid, incurred,
or paid or incurred is not intended to
provide any specific rule based upon
the use of one term versus another. In
general, the use of the term payment,
paid, incurred, or paid or incurred is
intended to convey the appropriate
standard under the taxpayer’s method of
accounting.
*
*
*
*
*
(i) * * *
(8) Qualified film produced by the
taxpayer. Section 1.199–3(k) is
applicable to taxable years beginning on
or after March 7, 2008. A taxpayer may
apply § 1.199–3(k) to taxable years
beginning after December 31, 2004, and
before March 7, 2008. However, for
taxable years beginning before June 1,
2006, a taxpayer may rely on § 1.199–
3(k) only if the taxpayer does not apply
Notice 2005–14 (2005–1 CB 498) (see
§ 601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b) of this chapter) or
REG–105847–05 (2005–2 CB 987) (see
§ 601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b) of this chapter) to
the taxable year.
(9) Expanded affiliated groups.
Section 1.199–7(e), Example 10, (f)(1),
and (g)(3) are applicable to taxable years
beginning on or after March 7, 2008. A
taxpayer may apply § 1.199–7(e),
Example 10, to taxable years beginning
after December 31, 2004, and before
March 7, 2008.
Linda E. Stiff,
Deputy Commissioner for Services and
Enforcement.
Approved: March 3, 2008.
Eric Solomon,
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (Tax
Policy).
[FR Doc. E8–4575 Filed 3–6–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4830–01–P
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
31 CFR Part 901
[A.G. Order No. 2918–2007]
Treasury RIN 1510–AA91
Justice RIN 1105–AB26
Standards for the Administrative
Collection of Claims
Department of the Treasury;
Department of Justice.
ACTION: Interim rule with request for
comments.
AGENCIES:
SUMMARY: The Federal Claims Collection
Standards (FCCS), provide
governmentwide debt collection
procedures and policies for agencies
collecting non-tax debts owed to the
United States. This rule revises part 901,
which specifies the order in which a
federal agency is required to apply a
partial or installment payment to the
various components of a delinquent,
non-tax debt owed to the United States.
Under the current rule, payments are
required to be applied first to penalties,
then to administrative costs, then to
interest, and last to principal. As
revised, the rule would require agencies
to apply payments first to
administrative costs that are paid out of
amounts collected from the debtor
(referred to as ‘‘contingency fees’’) when
such costs are added to the debt, second
to penalties, third to administrative
costs other than contingency fees, fourth
to interest, and last to principal.
Additionally, the term ‘‘administrative
charges’’ is being replaced with
‘‘administrative costs’’ for consistency
and clarity.
DATES: This rule is effective April 7,
2008. Comments must be received by
April 7, 2008.
ADDRESSES: All comments should be
addressed to Thomas Dungan, Policy
Analyst, Debt Management Services,
Financial Management Service,
Department of the Treasury, 401 14th
Street, SW., Room 435, Washington, DC
20227. A copy of this interim rule is
being made available for downloading
from the Financial Management Service
Web site at the following address:
https://www.fms.treas.gov/debt.
Comments also may be sent
electronically through https://
www.regulations.gov using the
electronic comment form provided on
that site. An electronic copy of this
document is also available at the
https://www.regulations.gov Web site.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Thomas Dungan, Policy Analyst,
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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 46 / Friday, March 7, 2008 / Rules and Regulations
Financial Management Service,
Department of the Treasury, at (202)
874–6660; Ellen Neubauer, Senior
Attorney, Financial Management
Service, Department of the Treasury, at
(202) 874–6680; or Ruth Harvey,
Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil
Division, Department of Justice, at (202)
307–0388.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Federal Claims Collection Standards
(FCCS), codified at 31 CFR parts 900
through 904, provide governmentwide
debt collection procedures and policies
for agencies collecting non-tax debts
owed to the United States. Part 901 of
the FCCS governs how agencies assess
interest, penalties, and administrative
costs on delinquent debts. Paragraph (f)
of section 901.9 of the FCCS governs
how a debtor’s partial or installment
payments are to be applied to the
various components of a debt.
Specifically, section 901.9(f) states:
‘‘When a debt is paid in partial or
installment payments, amounts received
by the agency shall be applied first to
outstanding penalties, second to
administrative charges, third to interest,
and last to principal.’’ This rule revises
section 901.9(f) of the FCCS by changing
the order in which partial or installment
payments are to be applied to certain
administrative charges, also known as
‘‘administrative costs.’’
Administrative costs are the costs
incurred by a federal agency to collect
a delinquent debt. Such costs include
fees paid to another federal agency or to
a private collection contractor for debt
collection services when those fees are
paid from amounts collected from the
debtor. See 31 U.S.C. 3711(g)(6) and 31
CFR 901.1(f) (authorizing agencies
operating Treasury-designated debt
collection centers to charge fees that
may be paid out of amounts collected)
and 31 U.S.C. 3718(d) and 31 CFR
901.5(c) (authorizing agencies to pay
private collection contractors out of
amounts collected). Such fees,
commonly referred to as ‘‘contingency
fees,’’ must be added to the debt as an
administrative cost to the Government,
except as otherwise provided by law.
See 31 U.S.C. 3717(e)(1) and 31 CFR
901.9(a) and (c). Agencies may calculate
the amount to be added to the debt as
an administrative cost based either on
the actual costs incurred or on cost
analyses establishing an average cost for
processing and handling the agency’s
delinquent debts. Adding the
contingency fee to the delinquent debt
based on actual cost provides the best
method of ensuring that the components
of the debt balance accurately reflect
how the amounts collected from the
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debtor were actually applied by the
agency. This revision to the rule affects
how an agency applies partial or
installment payments only in those
cases in which the agency adds the
actual amount of the contingency fee to
the debt as an administrative cost.
As revised, section 901.9(f) will
require agencies to apply partial or
installment payments first to
contingency fees added to the debt,
second to penalties, third to
administrative costs other than
contingency fees, fourth to interest, and
last to principal. The revision will
provide consistency between how
contingency fees are actually paid out of
a debtor’s payments and how a debtor’s
payments are applied to debt
components, thereby allowing agencies
to more accurately account for the
payment of contingency fees from
amounts collected.
Example: To illustrate the effect of
this change, the following example is
provided. Assume a debtor owes $1,500
to the Government, as follows:
$200 Penalty
100 Administrative Costs (excluding contingency fees of $20)
200 Accrued Interest
1,000 Principal
1,500
Balance Due
If a private collection agency (PCA)
that charges the Government a 20%
contingency fee collects $100 from a
debtor, the PCA is paid $20 from the
$100 collection before the remaining
$80 is returned to the federal agency
collecting the debt. The debtor receives
a credit of $100 for the amount paid.
Under the current FCCS, the $100
paid by the debtor in this example
would be applied first to any penalties
owed by the debtor, rather than to the
contingency fee paid from the amount
collected. Since the debtor in our
example owed $200 in penalties, the
entire $100 collection would be applied
to the debtor’s penalties even though the
federal agency would have only
received $80 in actual cash to apply
toward that part of the debt.
Additionally, the agency would add the
fee charged by the PCA ($20) to the debt
as an administrative cost, thereby not
reflecting the fact that the debtor had, in
effect, paid the contingency fee at the
time of making the payment on the debt.
Thus, after application of the entire
payment to the penalty under the
current FCCS, the outstanding balance
on the debt would be $1,420, as follows:
$100 Penalty (after applying the
$100 received from the debtor);
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120
200
1,000
12273
Administrative Costs (after
adding the PCA charge of
$20);
Accrued Interest
Principal
1,420 Balance Due
As revised, the FCCS would require
the federal agency to apply $20 to the
contingency fee paid, and to apply the
remaining $80 to penalties. After
application of the payment to the
contingency fee and the penalty, the
outstanding balance on the debt would
be $1,420, as follows:
$0 Contingency fee (after adding
$20 to the debt, and then
subtracting $20 as paid);
120 Penalty (after applying the remaining $80 paid by the
debtor, the net amount actually received by the agency);
100 Administrative Costs (other
than contingency fees);
200 Accrued Interest
1,000 Principal
1,420 Balance Due
For an agency that does not add the
cost of the contingency fee to the debt,
this revision to the FCCS will have no
practical effect. If the debt in our
example was owed to an agency that
does not add the contingency fee to the
debt, the $100 payment made by the
debtor would be applied entirely to the
penalty as follows:
$100 Penalty (after applying the
$100 paid by the debtor
without deduction for the
contingency fee paid by the
agency to the PCA);
100 Administrative Costs (other
than contingency fees);
200 Accrued Interest
1,000 Principal
1,400 Total
This rule also replaces the term
‘‘administrative charges’’ in paragraphs
901.9(f) and 901.9(g) with the term
‘‘administrative costs’’ for consistency
and clarity.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Department of the Treasury and
Department of Justice are promulgating
this interim rule without opportunity
for prior public comment pursuant to
the Administrative Procedure Act, 5
U.S.C. 553 (the ‘‘APA’’ ). The notice and
comment requirements of the APA do
not apply to the interim rule for two
reasons. First, the interim rule concerns
accounting methods as applied to a
component of a debt (that is, certain
administrative costs) and does not result
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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 46 / Friday, March 7, 2008 / Rules and Regulations
in any change to balances due by a
debtor on any debt owed to the United
States. The interim rule therefore
addresses an internal ‘‘agency * * *
procedure, or practice’’ within the
meaning of section 553(b)(3)(A).
Second, and relatedly, the Departments
have determined that a comment period
would be ‘‘unnecessary’’ under section
553(b)(3)(B), as the interim rule does not
alter or affect the rights, interests, or
duties of any person or entity. Because
no notice of proposed rulemaking is
required, the provisions of the
Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601
et seq.) do not apply.
The public is invited to submit
comments on the interim rule, which
will be taken into account before a final
rule is issued.
(f) When a debt is paid in partial or
installment payments, amounts received
by the Government shall be applied first
to any contingency fees added to the
debt, second to outstanding penalties,
third to administrative costs other than
contingency fees, fourth to interest, and
last to principal. For purposes of this
paragraph (f), ‘‘contingency fees’’ are
administrative costs resulting from fees
paid by a Federal agency to other
Federal agencies or private collection
contractors for collection services
rendered when the fees are paid from
the amounts collected from a debtor.
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*
I 3. In § 901.9, revise paragraph (g) by
removing the word ‘‘charges’’ in the first
sentence and adding in its place the
word ‘‘costs’’.
Regulatory Analysis
Dated: February 28, 2008.
Henry M. Paulson, Jr.,
Secretary of the Treasury.
Dated: November 6, 2007.
Peter D. Keisler,
Acting Attorney General.
[FR Doc. E8–4586 Filed 3–6–08; 8:45 am]
This action is limited to agency
organization and management as
described by Executive Order 12866
((3(d)(3) and, therefore, is not a
‘‘regulation’’ as defined by that
Executive Order. Accordingly, review of
this action by the Office of Management
and Budget is not required.
BILLING CODE 4810–35–P
Congressional Review Act
This action pertains to agency
organization and management and does
not substantially affect the rights or
obligations of non-agency parties and,
accordingly, is not a ‘‘rule’’ as that term
is used by the Congressional Review Act
(Subtitle E of the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of
1996 (SBREFA)). Therefore, the
reporting requirement of 5 U.S.C. 801
does not apply.
List of Subjects in Part 901
Administrative practice and
procedure, Claims, Federal employees,
Penalties, Privacy.
Authority and Issuance
For the reasons set forth in the
preamble, part 901 of title 31 of the
Code of Federal Regulations is amended
as follows:
I
PART 901—STANDARDS FOR THE
ADMINISTRATIVE COLLECTION OF
CLAIMS
1. The authority citation for part 901
continues to read as follows:
I
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Authority: 31 U.S.C. 3701, 3711, 3716,
3717, 3718 and 3720B.
2. In § 901.9, revise paragraph (f) to
read as follows:
I
§ 901.9 Interest, penalties and
administrative costs.
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Navy Regulations in accordance with 10
U.S.C. Section 6011. In 1993, the
Secretary of the Navy amended two
articles of the Navy Regulations relating
to Fraternization and Sexual
Harassment among naval personnel. The
1993 amendment was not reflected in
the Federal Register publication of the
Navy Regulations, 64 FR 56061 dated
October 15, 1999. The Department of the
Navy seeks to remove these two sections
from the Code of Federal Regulations. In
accordance with 5 U.S.C. Section 552, it
has been determined that these rules are
not required to be published as they
relate solely to internal personnel
matters. The Navy Regulations articles
on Fraternization and Sexual
Harassment remain in effect and may be
accessed at the Department of the Navy
Directives Web site at https://
neds.daps.dla.mil//.
List of Subjects in 32 CFR Part 700
Military personnel, Organization and
functions (Government agencies),
Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
I For the reasons set forth in the
preamble, the Department of the Navy
hereby amends 32 CFR part 700 as
follows:
PART 700—UNITED STATES NAVY
REGULATIONS AND OFFICIAL
RECORDS
Department of the Navy
32 CFR Part 700
1. The authority citation for 32 CFR
part 700 continues to read as follows:
I
[USN–2007–0050]
RIN 0703–AA84
Authority: 10 U.S.C. 6011.
Fraternization and Sexual Harassment
§§ 700.1165 and 700.1166
Department of Navy, DoD.
ACTION: Final rule.
I
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The Department of the Navy
is amending its rules to remove existing
sections relating to Fraternization and
Sexual Harassment among naval
personnel. These rules relate solely to
internal personnel matters. Therefore, it
has been determined that these rules are
not required to be published in the Code
of Federal Regulations.
DATES: Effective Date: This rule is
effective March 7, 2008.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: LT
Tanya Cruz, JAGC, U.S. Navy,
Legislation and Regulations Branch,
Administrative Law Division, (Code 13),
Office of the Judge Advocate General,
Department of the Navy, 1322 Patterson
Ave., SE., Suite 3000, Washington Navy
Yard, DC 20374–5066, telephone: 703–
604–8200.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On
September 14, 1990, the Secretary of the
Navy issued, revised, and amended the
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[Removed]
2. Remove §§ 700.1165 and 700.1166.
Dated: February 28, 2008.
T.M. Cruz,
Lieutenant, Judge Advocate General’s Corps,
U.S. Navy, Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. E8–4210 Filed 3–6–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3810–FF–P
POSTAL SERVICE
39 CFR Part 20
Revised Standards for First-Class Mail
InternationalTM Service; Correction
Postal ServiceTM.
ACTION: Final rule; correction.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The Postal Service published
in the Federal Register of February 20,
2008, a document reflecting the change
to shape-based standards for First-Class
Mail International. Inadvertently, a table
in the section titled Country Rate
Groups and Weight Limits; the two
right-most columns had duplicate mail-
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 46 (Friday, March 7, 2008)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 12272-12274]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-4586]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
31 CFR Part 901
[A.G. Order No. 2918-2007]
Treasury RIN 1510-AA91
Justice RIN 1105-AB26
Standards for the Administrative Collection of Claims
AGENCIES: Department of the Treasury; Department of Justice.
ACTION: Interim rule with request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Federal Claims Collection Standards (FCCS), provide
governmentwide debt collection procedures and policies for agencies
collecting non-tax debts owed to the United States. This rule revises
part 901, which specifies the order in which a federal agency is
required to apply a partial or installment payment to the various
components of a delinquent, non-tax debt owed to the United States.
Under the current rule, payments are required to be applied first to
penalties, then to administrative costs, then to interest, and last to
principal. As revised, the rule would require agencies to apply
payments first to administrative costs that are paid out of amounts
collected from the debtor (referred to as ``contingency fees'') when
such costs are added to the debt, second to penalties, third to
administrative costs other than contingency fees, fourth to interest,
and last to principal. Additionally, the term ``administrative
charges'' is being replaced with ``administrative costs'' for
consistency and clarity.
DATES: This rule is effective April 7, 2008. Comments must be received
by April 7, 2008.
ADDRESSES: All comments should be addressed to Thomas Dungan, Policy
Analyst, Debt Management Services, Financial Management Service,
Department of the Treasury, 401 14th Street, SW., Room 435, Washington,
DC 20227. A copy of this interim rule is being made available for
downloading from the Financial Management Service Web site at the
following address: https://www.fms.treas.gov/debt. Comments also may be
sent electronically through https://www.regulations.gov using the
electronic comment form provided on that site. An electronic copy of
this document is also available at the https://www.regulations.gov Web
site.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Dungan, Policy Analyst,
[[Page 12273]]
Financial Management Service, Department of the Treasury, at (202) 874-
6660; Ellen Neubauer, Senior Attorney, Financial Management Service,
Department of the Treasury, at (202) 874-6680; or Ruth Harvey,
Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, Department of Justice, at
(202) 307-0388.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Federal Claims Collection Standards
(FCCS), codified at 31 CFR parts 900 through 904, provide
governmentwide debt collection procedures and policies for agencies
collecting non-tax debts owed to the United States. Part 901 of the
FCCS governs how agencies assess interest, penalties, and
administrative costs on delinquent debts. Paragraph (f) of section
901.9 of the FCCS governs how a debtor's partial or installment
payments are to be applied to the various components of a debt.
Specifically, section 901.9(f) states: ``When a debt is paid in partial
or installment payments, amounts received by the agency shall be
applied first to outstanding penalties, second to administrative
charges, third to interest, and last to principal.'' This rule revises
section 901.9(f) of the FCCS by changing the order in which partial or
installment payments are to be applied to certain administrative
charges, also known as ``administrative costs.''
Administrative costs are the costs incurred by a federal agency to
collect a delinquent debt. Such costs include fees paid to another
federal agency or to a private collection contractor for debt
collection services when those fees are paid from amounts collected
from the debtor. See 31 U.S.C. 3711(g)(6) and 31 CFR 901.1(f)
(authorizing agencies operating Treasury-designated debt collection
centers to charge fees that may be paid out of amounts collected) and
31 U.S.C. 3718(d) and 31 CFR 901.5(c) (authorizing agencies to pay
private collection contractors out of amounts collected). Such fees,
commonly referred to as ``contingency fees,'' must be added to the debt
as an administrative cost to the Government, except as otherwise
provided by law. See 31 U.S.C. 3717(e)(1) and 31 CFR 901.9(a) and (c).
Agencies may calculate the amount to be added to the debt as an
administrative cost based either on the actual costs incurred or on
cost analyses establishing an average cost for processing and handling
the agency's delinquent debts. Adding the contingency fee to the
delinquent debt based on actual cost provides the best method of
ensuring that the components of the debt balance accurately reflect how
the amounts collected from the debtor were actually applied by the
agency. This revision to the rule affects how an agency applies partial
or installment payments only in those cases in which the agency adds
the actual amount of the contingency fee to the debt as an
administrative cost.
As revised, section 901.9(f) will require agencies to apply partial
or installment payments first to contingency fees added to the debt,
second to penalties, third to administrative costs other than
contingency fees, fourth to interest, and last to principal. The
revision will provide consistency between how contingency fees are
actually paid out of a debtor's payments and how a debtor's payments
are applied to debt components, thereby allowing agencies to more
accurately account for the payment of contingency fees from amounts
collected.
Example: To illustrate the effect of this change, the following
example is provided. Assume a debtor owes $1,500 to the Government, as
follows:
$200 Penalty
100 Administrative Costs (excluding contingency fees of $20)
200 Accrued Interest
1,000 Principal
-------
1,500 Balance Due
If a private collection agency (PCA) that charges the Government a
20% contingency fee collects $100 from a debtor, the PCA is paid $20
from the $100 collection before the remaining $80 is returned to the
federal agency collecting the debt. The debtor receives a credit of
$100 for the amount paid.
Under the current FCCS, the $100 paid by the debtor in this example
would be applied first to any penalties owed by the debtor, rather than
to the contingency fee paid from the amount collected. Since the debtor
in our example owed $200 in penalties, the entire $100 collection would
be applied to the debtor's penalties even though the federal agency
would have only received $80 in actual cash to apply toward that part
of the debt. Additionally, the agency would add the fee charged by the
PCA ($20) to the debt as an administrative cost, thereby not reflecting
the fact that the debtor had, in effect, paid the contingency fee at
the time of making the payment on the debt. Thus, after application of
the entire payment to the penalty under the current FCCS, the
outstanding balance on the debt would be $1,420, as follows:
$100 Penalty (after applying the $100 received from the debtor);
120 Administrative Costs (after adding the PCA charge of $20);
200 Accrued Interest
1,000 Principal
-------
1,420 Balance Due
As revised, the FCCS would require the federal agency to apply $20
to the contingency fee paid, and to apply the remaining $80 to
penalties. After application of the payment to the contingency fee and
the penalty, the outstanding balance on the debt would be $1,420, as
follows:
$0 Contingency fee (after adding $20 to the debt, and then
subtracting $20 as paid);
120 Penalty (after applying the remaining $80 paid by the debtor,
the net amount actually received by the agency);
100 Administrative Costs (other than contingency fees);
200 Accrued Interest
1,000 Principal
-------
1,420 Balance Due
For an agency that does not add the cost of the contingency fee to
the debt, this revision to the FCCS will have no practical effect. If
the debt in our example was owed to an agency that does not add the
contingency fee to the debt, the $100 payment made by the debtor would
be applied entirely to the penalty as follows:
$100 Penalty (after applying the $100 paid by the debtor without
deduction for the contingency fee paid by the agency to the
PCA);
100 Administrative Costs (other than contingency fees);
200 Accrued Interest
1,000 Principal
-------
1,400 Total
This rule also replaces the term ``administrative charges'' in
paragraphs 901.9(f) and 901.9(g) with the term ``administrative costs''
for consistency and clarity.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Department of the Treasury and Department of Justice are
promulgating this interim rule without opportunity for prior public
comment pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 553 (the
``APA'' ). The notice and comment requirements of the APA do not apply
to the interim rule for two reasons. First, the interim rule concerns
accounting methods as applied to a component of a debt (that is,
certain administrative costs) and does not result
[[Page 12274]]
in any change to balances due by a debtor on any debt owed to the
United States. The interim rule therefore addresses an internal
``agency * * * procedure, or practice'' within the meaning of section
553(b)(3)(A). Second, and relatedly, the Departments have determined
that a comment period would be ``unnecessary'' under section
553(b)(3)(B), as the interim rule does not alter or affect the rights,
interests, or duties of any person or entity. Because no notice of
proposed rulemaking is required, the provisions of the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) do not apply.
The public is invited to submit comments on the interim rule, which
will be taken into account before a final rule is issued.
Regulatory Analysis
This action is limited to agency organization and management as
described by Executive Order 12866 ((3(d)(3) and, therefore, is not a
``regulation'' as defined by that Executive Order. Accordingly, review
of this action by the Office of Management and Budget is not required.
Congressional Review Act
This action pertains to agency organization and management and does
not substantially affect the rights or obligations of non-agency
parties and, accordingly, is not a ``rule'' as that term is used by the
Congressional Review Act (Subtitle E of the Small Business Regulatory
Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA)). Therefore, the reporting
requirement of 5 U.S.C. 801 does not apply.
List of Subjects in Part 901
Administrative practice and procedure, Claims, Federal employees,
Penalties, Privacy.
Authority and Issuance
0
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, part 901 of title 31 of the
Code of Federal Regulations is amended as follows:
PART 901--STANDARDS FOR THE ADMINISTRATIVE COLLECTION OF CLAIMS
0
1. The authority citation for part 901 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 31 U.S.C. 3701, 3711, 3716, 3717, 3718 and 3720B.
0
2. In Sec. 901.9, revise paragraph (f) to read as follows:
Sec. 901.9 Interest, penalties and administrative costs.
* * * * *
(f) When a debt is paid in partial or installment payments, amounts
received by the Government shall be applied first to any contingency
fees added to the debt, second to outstanding penalties, third to
administrative costs other than contingency fees, fourth to interest,
and last to principal. For purposes of this paragraph (f),
``contingency fees'' are administrative costs resulting from fees paid
by a Federal agency to other Federal agencies or private collection
contractors for collection services rendered when the fees are paid
from the amounts collected from a debtor.
* * * * *
0
3. In Sec. 901.9, revise paragraph (g) by removing the word
``charges'' in the first sentence and adding in its place the word
``costs''.
Dated: February 28, 2008.
Henry M. Paulson, Jr.,
Secretary of the Treasury.
Dated: November 6, 2007.
Peter D. Keisler,
Acting Attorney General.
[FR Doc. E8-4586 Filed 3-6-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-35-P
