Department of the Treasury February 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') is amending the Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations and reissuing them in their entirety, in order to implement section 1245(d) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, which provides for the imposition of sanctions with respect to the Central Bank of Iran and designated Iranian financial institutions.

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 Office of the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) within the Department of the Treasury is soliciting comments concerning (1) the SSBCI Allocation Agreement for Participating States, (2) the SSBCI Allocation Agreement for Participating Municipalities, (3) the SSBCI Application Form, and (4) the SSBCI Technical Assistance Quarterly Review collection. On September 27, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (the ``Act''). Title III of the Act created the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), which was funded with $1.5 billion to strengthen State programs that support lending to small businesses and small manufacturers. Treasury allocated Federal funds to participating States, territories, the District of Columbia, and municipalities (``Participating States'') in order to support statutorily eligible State or municipal capital access programs and other eligible State or municipal credit support programs, including loan guarantee, loan participation, collateral support, and venture capital programs. SSBCI is a one-time program of limited duration. The first two information collections memorialize the reporting requirements for Participating States, as required by the Act. The third information collection is only required of Participating States that wish to request an amendment to their prior approved applications. The final information collection is a voluntary telephonic collection from Participating States that wish to take advantage of technical assistance made available from Treasury as Participating States administer their programs.

This is Supplement No. 13 to the Treasury Department Circular 570, 2011 Revision, published July 1, 2011, at 76 FR 38892.

This document contains final regulations relating to the payment of rewards under section 7623(a) of the Internal Revenue Code for detecting underpayments or violations of the internal revenue laws and whistleblower awards under section 7623(b). The guidance is necessary to clarify the definition of proceeds of amounts collected and collected proceeds under section 7623. This regulation provides needed guidance to the general public as well as officers and employees of the IRS who review claims under section 7623.

Under the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations, imported merchandise may be transported in-bond. This process allows imported merchandise to be entered at one U.S. port of entry without appraisement or payment of duties and transported by a bonded carrier to another U.S. port of entry provided all statutory and regulatory conditions are met. At the destination port, the merchandise is officially entered into the commerce of the United States and duties paid, or, the merchandise is exported. CBP is proposing various changes to the in-bond regulations to enhance CBP's ability to regulate and track in-bond merchandise and to ensure that the in-bond merchandise is properly entered and duties are paid or that the in-bond merchandise is exported. Among other things, the proposed changes would: eliminate the paper in-bond application (CBP Form 7512) and require carriers or their agents to electronically file the in-bond application; require additional information on the in-bond application including the six- digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule number, if available, and information relevant to the safety and security of the in-bond merchandise; establish a 30-day maximum time to transport in-bond merchandise between United States ports, for all modes of transportation except pipeline; require carriers to electronically request permission from CBP before diverting the in-bond merchandise from its intended destination port to another port; and require carriers to report the arrival and location of the in-bond merchandise within 24 hours of arrival at the port of destination or port of export. CBP also proposes various other changes, including the restructuring of the in-bond regulations, so that they are more logical and better track the in-bond process. At this time, CBP is not proposing to change the in-bond procedures found in the air commerce regulations, except to change certain times periods to conform to the proposed changes in this document.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') is publishing the name of an individual whose property and interests in property have been blocked pursuant to Executive Order 13566 of February 25, 2011, ``Blocking Property and Prohibiting Certain Transactions Related to Libya.''

This document contains corrections to final regulations (TD 9567), which were published in the Federal Register on Monday, December 19, 2011, relating to the reporting of specified foreign financial assets.

This document contains final regulations that prescribe the source of income received on a qualified fails charge under section 863 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). The regulations finalize proposed regulations and withdraw temporary regulations published on December 8, 2010, and affect persons that pay or are entitled to receive qualified fails charges, including withholding agents.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), the OCC, the Board, and the FDIC (the ``agencies'') may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. On November 21, 2011, the agencies, under the auspices of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), requested public comment for 60 days on a proposal to extend, with revision, the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Report), which are currently approved collections of information. After considering the comments received on the proposal, the FFIEC and the agencies will proceed with the reporting changes and instructional revisions that had been proposed to take effect March 31, 2012. The FFIEC and the agencies will also implement the two less detailed Call Report revisions that had been proposed for implementation as of June 30, 2012. As for the two new schedules that also had been proposed to be added to the Call Report beginning June 30, 2012,\1\ the FFIEC and the agencies are continuing to evaluate these proposed schedules in light of the comments received. The FFIEC's and the agencies' decisions regarding these two proposed schedules will be the subject of a separate Federal Register notice and any resulting new reporting requirements will not take effect before the September 30, 2012, report date.

This document contains proposed regulations that provide guidance on the eligibility of tax return preparers to obtain a preparer tax identification number (PTIN). These proposed regulations expand the list of tax return preparers who may obtain and renew a PTIN. The proposed regulations additionally provide guidance concerning those tax forms submitted to the Internal Revenue Service that are considered returns of tax or claims for refund of tax for purposes of the requirement to obtain a PTIN and related provisions. This document also invites comments from the public regarding these proposed regulations.

This is Supplement No. 8 to the Treasury Department Circular 570, 2011 Revision, published July 1, 2011, at 76 FR 38892.

This is Supplement No. 9 to the Treasury Department Circular 570, 2011 Revision, published July 1, 2011, at 76 FR 38892.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, the Financial Management Service gives notice of its proposed consolidation of two of its Privacy Act systems of records entitled ``Treasury/FMS .002Payment Issue Records for Regular Recurring Benefit Payments'' and ``Treasury/FMS .016Payment Records for Other Than Regular Recurring Benefit Payments,'' and alteration of resulting Treasury/FMS .002. Financial Management Service also gives notice of its proposed alteration to the system of records entitled ``Treasury/FMS .014Debt Collection Operations System.''

This document contains proposed regulations under chapter 4 of Subtitle A (sections 1471 through 1474) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (Code) regarding information reporting by foreign financial institutions (FFIs) with respect to U.S. accounts and withholding on certain payments to FFIs and other foreign entities. These regulations affect persons making certain U.S.-related payments to FFIs and other foreign entities and payments by FFIs to other persons. This document also provides a notice of a public hearing on these proposed regulations.

An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Toll-Free Project Committee will be conducted. 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 Bankruptcy Compliance Project Committee will be conducted. 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 Tax Forms and Publications Project Committee will be conducted. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.

This document contains final and temporary Income Tax Regulations with respect to a new provision of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) that addresses situations in which foreign income taxes have been separated from the related income. These regulations are necessary to provide guidance on applying the new statutory provision, which was enacted as part of legislation commonly referred to as the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act (EJMAA) on August 10, 2010. These regulations affect taxpayers claiming foreign tax credits. The text of the temporary regulations also serves as the text of the proposed regulations (REG-132736-11) published in the Proposed Rules section of this issue of the Federal Register.

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

This document contains final Income Tax Regulations which provide guidance relating to the determination of who is considered to pay a foreign income tax for purposes of the foreign tax credit. These regulations provide rules for identifying the person with legal liability to pay the foreign income tax in certain circumstances. These regulations affect taxpayers claiming foreign tax credits.

In the Rules and Regulations section in this issue of the Federal Register, the IRS is issuing temporary regulations that provide guidance relating to a new provision of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) that addresses situations in which foreign income taxes have been separated from the related income. Those regulations are necessary to provide guidance on applying the new statutory provision, which was enacted as part of legislation commonly referred to as the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act (EJMAA) on August 10, 2010. The text of those temporary regulations published in this issue of the Federal Register also serves as the text of these proposed regulations.

This document contains final regulations regarding the summary of benefits and coverage and the uniform glossary for group health plans and health insurance coverage in the group and individual markets under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This document implements the disclosure requirements under section 2715 of the Public Health Service Act to help plans and individuals better understand their health coverage, as well as other coverage options. A guidance document published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register provides further guidance regarding compliance.

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') is providing information regarding General Licenses A and B issued pursuant to the new Executive Order of February 5, 2012 (``Blocking Property of the Government of Iran and Iranian Financial Institutions'') (``new Executive Order'').

This notice is given pursuant to the requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act and Executive Order (EO) 12866 ``Regulatory Planning and Review,'' which require the publication by the Department of a semiannual agenda of regulations. EO 12866 also requires the publication by the Department of a regulatory plan for the upcoming fiscal year.

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 Qualified Electing Fund Elections.