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

The Department of the Treasury's Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession will convene its first meeting on Monday, October 15, 2007, in the Cash Room of the Main Department Building, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC, beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. The meeting will be open to the public.

This document contains proposed regulations that provide guidance regarding certain changes made to the rules governing S corporations under the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 and the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005. The proposed regulations are necessary to replace obsolete references in the current regulations and to allow taxpayers to make proper use of the provisions that made changes to prior law. In particular, the proposed regulations provide guidance on the S corporation family shareholder rules, the definitions of ``powers of appointment'' and ``potential current beneficiaries'' (PCBs) with regard to electing small business trusts (ESBTs), the allowance of suspended losses to the spouse or former spouse of an S corporation shareholder, and relief for inadvertently terminated or invalid qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSub) elections. The proposed regulations will affect S corporations and their shareholders. This document also provides a notice of a public hearing on these proposed regulations.

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 comment on proposed and continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3507. The OTS within the Department of the Treasury will submit the proposed information collection requirement described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. Today, OTS is soliciting public comments on its proposal to extend this information collection.

This document contains final regulations that provide certain elections for taxpayers that continue to be subject to the PFIC excess distribution regime of section 1291 of the Internal Revenue Code even though the foreign corporation in which they own stock is no longer treated as a PFIC under section 1297(a) or (e) of the Code. The regulations are necessary to provide guidance about purging the PFIC taint for such foreign corporations. The regulations will affect U.S. persons that hold stock in a PFIC.

This document contains corrections to proposed regulations that amend existing regulations issued under sections 6104 and 6110. These regulations clarify rules relating to information that is made available by the IRS for public inspection under section 6104(a) and materials that are made publicly available under section 6110.

By this Notice and in accordance with 31 CFR 129, the Department of the Treasury is informing the public that it is conducting a mandatory survey of U.S. ownership of foreign securities as of December 31, 2007. 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 form SHCA (2007) and instructions may be printed from the Internet at: https:// www.treas.gov/tic/forms-sh.html. Definition: Pursuant to 22 U.S.C. 3102 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 U.S. holdings of foreign securities reported on the December 2006 benchmark survey of U.S. holdings of foreign securities, and will consist primarily 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 holdings by U.S. residents of foreign securities, including equities, long-term debt securities, and short-term debt securities (including selected money market instruments). How to Report: Copies of the survey forms and instructions, which contain complete information on reporting procedures and definitions, can be obtained at the Web site address given above in the SUMMARY, or by contacting the survey staff of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York at (212) 720-6300, e-mail: SHC.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 Mr. William L. Griever, Federal Reserve Board of Governors, at (202) 452-2924, e-mail: william.l.griever@frb.gov; or to Dwight Wolkow at (202) 622-1276, e-mail: wolkowd@do.treas.gov. When to Report: Data must be submitted to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, acting as fiscal agent for the Department of the Treasury, by March 7, 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 1505-0146. 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 48 hours per respondent for end-investors and custodians that file Schedule 3 reports covering their securities entrusted to U.S. resident custodians, 145 hours per respondent for large end-investors filing Schedule 2 reports, and 700 hours per respondent for large custodians of securities filing Schedule 2 reports. Comments concerning the accuracy of this burden estimate and suggestions for reducing this burden should be directed to the Department of the Treasury, 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.

This document contains proposed modifications of the regulations governing practice before the IRS (Circular 230). These proposed regulations affect individuals who practice before the IRS. The proposed amendments modify Sec. 10.34 of Circular 230 relating to standards with respect to tax returns.

This document contains proposed regulations on the arbitrage restrictions under section 148 of the Internal Revenue Code applicable to tax-exempt bonds issued by State and local governments. These proposed regulations are being issued in order to update existing regulations to address certain current market developments, to simplify and correct certain provisions, and to make existing regulations more administrable. These proposed regulations affect State and local governmental issuers of tax-exempt bonds. This document also provides notice of a public hearing on these proposed regulations.

This document contains a correction to final regulations (TD 9347) that were published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, August 7, 2007 (72 FR 44338) providing guidance to corporations with respect to estimated tax requirements.

This document contains corrections to final regulations (TD 9340) that were published in the Federal Register on Thursday, July 26, 2007 (72 FR 41128) providing updated guidance on section 403(b) contracts of public schools and tax-exempt organizations described in section 501(c)(3). These regulations will affect sponsors of section 403(b) contracts, administrators, participants, and beneficiaries.

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 Area 7 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.

The OCC, Board, FDIC, and OTS (collectively, the Agencies) are jointly adopting as final the interim rules issued on April 10, 2007, that implemented section 605 of the Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act of 2006 (FSRRA) and related legislation (collectively the Examination Amendments). The Examination Amendments permit insured depository institutions (institutions) that have up to $500 million in total assets, and that meet certain other criteria, to qualify for an 18-month (rather than 12-month) on-site examination cycle. Prior to enactment of FSRRA, only institutions with less than $250 million in total assets were eligible for an 18-month on-site examination cycle. The interim rules made parallel changes to the Agencies' regulations governing the on-site examination cycle for U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks (foreign bank offices), consistent with the International Banking Act of 1978 (IBA). In addition to implementing the changes in the Examination Amendments, the interim rules clarified when a small insured depository institution is considered ``well managed'' for purposes of qualifying for an 18-month examination cycle.

An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Earned Income Tax Credit Issue Committee 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 Notices 437, 437-A, 438 and 466, Notice of Intention to Disclose.

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.

An open meeting of the Area 1 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.

This document contains a correction to a notice of proposed rulemaking (REG-142695-05) that was published in the Federal Register on Monday, August 6, 2007 (72 FR 43938) providing guidance on cafeteria plans.

This document provides a change of location for a public hearing on proposed regulations providing guidance on cafeteria plans.

An open meeting of the Joint Committee of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is reviewing public comment, ideas, and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service brought forward by the Area and Issue Committees.

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 final and temporary regulations, REG-125628-01, (TD 9243) Revision of Income Tax Regulations Under Sections 358, 367, 884, and 6038B Dealing with Statutory Mergers or Consolidations Under Section 368(a)(1)(A) Involving One or More Foreign Corporations.

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, REG-148867-03, (TD 9327) Disclosure of Returns and Return Information in Connection with Written Contracts or Agreements for the Acquisition of Property or Services for Tax Administration Purposes.

In response to an industry member request, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau extends the comment period for Notice No. 73, Labeling and Advertising of Wines, Distilled Spirits, and Malt Beverages, a notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register on July 31, 2007, for an additional 90 days.

This document cancels a public hearing on proposed regulations under section 199 of the Internal Revenue Code. 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).