Department of the Treasury July 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) proposes to amend its regulations to require a statement of alcohol content, expressed as a percentage of alcohol by volume, on all alcohol beverage products. This statement may appear on any label affixed to the container. TTB also proposes to require a Serving Facts panel on alcohol beverage labels, which would include a statement of calories, carbohydrates, fat, and protein. Industry members may also choose to disclose on the Serving Facts panel the number of U.S. fluid ounces of pure alcohol (ethyl alcohol) per serving as part of a statement that includes alcohol content expressed as a percentage of alcohol by volume. The proposed regulations would also specify new reference serving sizes for wine, distilled spirits, and malt beverages based on the amount of beverage customarily consumed as a single serving. However, TTB is not defining a standard drink in this document. TTB proposes to make these new requirements mandatory three years after the date of publication of the final rule in the Federal Register. The agency proposes these amendments to ensure that alcohol beverage labels provide consumers with adequate information about the product.

This document proposes changes to the regulations concerning the diversification requirements of section 817(h) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). The proposed changes would expand the list of holders whose beneficial interests in an investment company, partnership, or trust do not prevent a segregated asset account from looking through to the assets of the investment company, partnership, or trust, to satisfy the requirements of section 817(h). The proposed regulations also would remove the sentence in Sec. 1.817-5(a)(2) that provides that the payment required to remedy an inadvertent diversification failure must be based on the tax that would have been owed by the policyholders if they were treated as receiving the income on the contract. These proposed regulations would affect insurance companies that issue variable contracts and would affect policyholders who purchase such contracts.

These proposed regulations provide guidance concerning the availability and character of a loss deduction under section 165 of the Internal Revenue Code for losses sustained from abandoned securities. These proposed regulations are necessary to clarify the tax treatment of losses from abandoned securities and will affect any taxpayer claiming a deduction for a loss from abandoned securities after the date these regulations are published as final regulations in the Federal Register.

This document contains final regulations under section 1248 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) that provide guidance for determining the earnings and profits attributable to stock of controlled foreign corporations (or former controlled foreign corporations) that are (were) involved in certain nonrecognition transactions. The final regulations are necessary in order to supplement and clarify existing guidance in the regulations under section 1248. The final regulations affect persons subject to the regulations under section 1248, as well as persons to which regulations under other Code provisions, such as section 367(b), apply to the extent that those regulations incorporate the principles of the section 1248 regulations. In addition, the final regulations provide that with respect to the sale by a foreign partnership of the stock of a corporation, the partners in such foreign partnership shall be treated as selling or exchanging their proportionate share of the stock of such corporation for purposes of section 1248.

This document contains final regulations relating to the tax on the entry of taxable fuel into the United States. The final regulations affect enterers of taxable fuel, other importers of record, and certain sureties.

This document contains corrections to temporary regulations (TD 9333) that were published in the Federal Register on Thursday, June 21, 2007 (72 FR 34176) on the suspension of any interest, penalty, addition to tax, or additional amount with respect to listed transactions or undisclosed reportable transactions. The temporary regulations provide guidance to individual taxpayers who have participated in listed transactions or undisclosed reportable transactions.

An open meeting of the Area 2 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 Area 4 Committee of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel will be conducted (via teleconference). The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comment, ideas, and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.

The OCC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on the renewal of an information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The OCC is soliciting comment concerning an information collection titled, ``Examination Questionnaire.''

This document contains final regulations under section 1502 that provide the Internal Revenue Service with the authority to designate a domestic member of the consolidated group as a substitute agent to act as the sole agent for the group where a foreign entity is the group's common parent. The final regulations are necessary to clarify and explain the rules governing the designation of an agent for the members of a consolidated group. The regulations affect corporations that join in the filing of a consolidated Federal income tax return where the common parent of the consolidated group is a foreign entity that is treated as a domestic corporation pursuant to section 7874(b) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) or as the result of a section 953(d) election.

An open meeting of the Ad Hoc 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.

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, PS-52-88 (TD 8455), Election to Expense Certain Depreciable Business Assets. (Sec. Sec. 1.179-2, 1.179-3).

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 and temporary regulations, REG-120616-03 (TD 9145), Entry of Taxable Fuel, (Sec. Sec. 48.4081-1T(b) and 48.4081-3T(c)(ii) and (iv)).

An open meeting of the Taxpayer Assistance Center 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.

This document contains final regulations under section 1502 concerning the requirements for including insurance companies in a life-nonlife consolidated return. These regulations conform the consolidated return rules to certain changes in law. These regulations affect corporations filing life-nonlife consolidated returns.

This document contains corrections to a notice of proposed rulemaking that was published in the Federal Register on Thursday, June 7, 2007 (72 FR 31478). These regulations involve the deduction for income attributable to domestic production activities under section 199 and affect taxpayers who produce qualified films under section 199(c)(4)(A)(i)(II) and (c)(6) and taxpayers who are members of an expanded affiliated group under section 199(d)(4).

This document contains final and temporary regulations relating to the discharge of liens under section 7425 and return of wrongfully levied upon property under section 6343 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) of 1986. These temporary regulations clarify that such notices and claims should be sent to the IRS official and office specified in the relevant IRS publications. The temporary regulations will affect parties seeking to provide the IRS with notice of a nonjudicial foreclosure sale and parties making administrative requests for return of wrongfully levied property. The text of the temporary regulations also serves as the text of the proposed regulations set forth in the notice of proposed rulemaking on this subject in the Proposed Rules section in this issue of the Federal Register.

Pursuant to United States Code, Title 31, section 5135(b)(8)(C), the United States Mint announces the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) public meeting and public forum scheduled for August 10, 2007, at the American Numismatic Association's World's Fair of Money [reg]. Date: August 10, 2007. Time: 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. (Public meeting followed by public forum). Location: Midwest Airlines Convention Center, 400 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53203. Subject: Coin Designs, TBD. Interested persons should call 202-354-7502 for the latest update on meeting time and room location. Public Law 108-15 established the CCAC to: Advise the Secretary of the Treasury on any theme or design proposals relating to circulating coinage, bullion coinage, Congressional Gold Medals, and national and other medals. Advise the Secretary of the Treasury with regard to the events, persons, or places to be commemorated by the issuance of commemorative coins in each of the five calendar years succeeding the year in which a commemorative coin designation is made. Make recommendations with respect to the mintage level for any commemorative coin recommended. For Further Information Contact: Cliff Northup, United States Mint Liaison to the CCAC; 801 Ninth Street, NW., Washington, DC 20220; or call 202-354-7200. Any member of the public interested in submitting matters for the CCAC's consideration is invited to submit them by fax to the following number: 202-756-6830.