Department of the Treasury March 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document amends the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations to reflect the extension of the import restrictions on certain categories of archaeological material from the Prehispanic cultures of the Republic of El Salvador which were imposed by T.D. 95- 20. The Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State, has determined that conditions continue to warrant the imposition of import restrictions. Accordingly, the restrictions will remain in effect for an additional 5 years, and the CBP regulations are being amended to indicate this extension. These restrictions are being extended pursuant to determinations of the United States Department of State made under the terms of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act in accordance with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. T.D. 95-20 contains the Designated List of archaeological material representing Prehispanic cultures of El Salvador.

An open meeting of the Area 3 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.

This document corrects temporary regulations (TD 9164) that were published in the Federal Register on Friday, December 17, 2004 (69 FR 75455) concerning requirements for employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) holding stock of Subchapter S corporations.

This document contains corrections to (TD 9176), which were published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, January 25, 2005 (70 FR 3475). These final regulations would modify the circumstances under which certain forms of distribution previously available are permitted to be eliminated from qualified defined contribution plans.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau proposes to establish the 27,500-acre Fort Ross-Seaview viticultural area in western Sonoma County, California. We designate viticultural areas to allow vintners to better describe the origin of their wines and to allow consumers to better identify wines they may purchase. We invite comments on this proposed addition to our regulations.

This document contains the final regulations relating to property exempt from levy, which revise regulations currently published under Internal Revenue Code section 6334. The regulation reflects changes made by the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 (the RRA 98) and provides guidance regarding: (1) Procedures for obtaining prior judicial approval of certain principal residence levies; (2) an exemption from levy for certain residences in small deficiency cases and for certain business assets in the absence of administrative approval or jeopardy; and (3) the applicable dollar amounts for certain exemptions. The regulation also reflects changes made by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, which permits levy on certain specified payments with the prior approval of the Secretary.

This notice advises all interested persons of the location of the March 8, 2005, public meeting of the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform. This meeting was previously announced in 70 FR 8875 (February 23, 2005).

This document corrects final regulations (TD 9167), that were published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, December 21, 2004 (69 FR 76404) that provides guidance regarding the employment tax exceptions for student services. These regulations affect schools, colleges, and universities and their employees.

This document provides notice of cancellation of a public hearing on proposed rulemaking relating to treatment of transactions between a partnership and its partners as disguised sales of partnership interests between the partners under section 707(a)(2)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code.

This document contains final regulations under sections 337(d) and 1502 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). These regulations disallow certain losses recognized on sales of subsidiary stock by members of a consolidated group. These regulations apply to corporations filing consolidated returns, both during and after the period of affiliation, and also affect purchasers of the stock of members of a consolidated group.

This document contains proposed amendments to the regulations under section 401(k) and (m) of the Internal Revenue Code. These proposed regulations would provide guidance concerning the requirements for designated Roth contributions to qualified cash or deferred arrangements under section 401(k). These proposed regulations would affect section 401(k) plans that provide for designated Roth contributions and participants eligible to make elective contributions under these plans.

In this final rule, OTS is making changes to its Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations to reduce burden, provide greater flexibility to meet community needs, and restore the focus of CRA to lending. Specifically, OTS is providing additional flexibility to each savings association evaluated under the large retail institution test to determine the combination of lending, investment, and service it will use to meet the credit needs of the local communities in which it is chartered, consistent with safe and sound operations.

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, Pub. L. 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') within the Department of the Treasury is soliciting comments concerning OFAC's Travel Service Provider and Carrier Service Provider information collection.

This document contains temporary regulations that modify the rules relating to qualified amended returns by providing additional circumstances that end the period within which a taxpayer may file an amended return that constitutes a qualified amended return. These regulations provide that the period for filing a qualified amended return is terminated once the IRS has served a John Doe summons on a third party with respect to the taxpayer's tax liability. In addition, for taxpayers who have claimed tax benefits from undisclosed listed transactions, the regulations provide that the period for filing a qualified amended return is terminated once the IRS contacts a promoter, organizer, seller, or material advisor concerning the listed transaction. The regulations also provide that the date on which published guidance is issued announcing a settlement initiative for a listed transaction in which penalties are compromised or waived is an additional date by which a taxpayer must file a qualified amended return. The text of these temporary regulations also serves as the text of the proposed regulations set forth in the notice of proposed rulemaking on this subject published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register.

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 an existing final regulation, LR-218-78 (TD 8096), Product Liability Losses and Accumulations for Product Liability Losses (Section 1.172- 13).