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

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) amends its regulation that sets forth the penal sum for a brewer's bond where the excise tax liability of the brewer is reasonably expected to be not more than $50,000 in the current calendar year and the brewer was liable for not more than $50,000 in such taxes in the preceding calendar year. For a period of three years, the penal sum of the required bond will be $1,000 for such brewers who file excise tax returns and remit taxes quarterly. In a related proposed rule published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, TTB is soliciting comments from all interested parties on this amended regulatory text, on whether TTB should permanently adopt this change, and on other proposed regulatory changes.

This document contains final regulations that implement and provide guidance on the fees imposed by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on issuers of certain health insurance policies and plan sponsors of certain self-insured health plans to fund the Patient- Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund. These final regulations affect the issuers and plan sponsors that are directed to pay those fees.

Currently, for any merchandise valued over $2,000, CBP requires importers to provide a surety bond, complete CBP form 7501, and pay a minimum of $25 in Merchandise Processing Fees (MPF). The final rule increases the limit, from $2,000 to $2,500, for which merchandise may qualify for an ``informal entry'', thereby eliminating the need for a surety bond, expediting the customs clearance process, and reducing the required MPF amount to $2 (assuming the entries are filed electronically). CBP is increasing the informal entry limit to mitigate the effects of inflation and in addition, to meet a commitment of the Beyond the Border Initiative between the United States and Canada, to increase and harmonize the value thresholds to $2,500 for expedited customs clearance from the current levels of $2,000 for the United States and $1,600 for Canada. This document also removes the language requiring formal entry for certain articles that were formerly subject to absolute quotas under the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing because CBP no longer needs to require formal entries for these articles. This document also makes a technical conforming amendment to reflect a recent statutory amendment that increased the ad valorem Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) from 0.21 percent to 0.3464 percent. Finally, this document makes non- substantive editorial and nomenclature changes.

This document contains proposed regulations that provide guidance under section 1411 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). Section 1402(a)(1) of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 added new section 1411 to the Code effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2012. The proposed regulations affect individuals, estates, and trusts. This document also contains 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 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 Treatment of Shareholders of Certain Passive Foreign Investment Companies.

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') is amending the Cuban Assets Control Regulations to authorize the processing of funds transfers for the operating expenses or other official business of third-country diplomatic or consular missions in Cuba. OFAC also is amending the Cuban Assets Control Regulations to authorize certain payments for services rendered by Cuba to United States aircraft that currently require the issuance of a specific license.

This notice invites comments from the public on issues regarding the CDFI Fund's proposed report to assess the state of access to capital and credit in Native Communities as consistent with Executive Order 13175. The CDFI Fund will offer three opportunities to engage the public on this topic: (1) Through written comment; and (2) through two virtual meetings conducted as webcasts. All material submitted will be available for public inspection and copying.

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 Form 4506T-EZ, Short Form Request for Individual Tax Return Transcript, and 4506T-EZ (SP), Formulario Abreviado para la Solicitud de un Trasunto de la Declaracion de Impuestos Personales.

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 Information Reporting Requirements for Certain Payments Made on Behalf of Another Person, Payments to Joint Payees, and Payments of Gross Proceeds From Sales Involving Investment Advisers.

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 Definition of Private Activity Bonds.

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 Form 9452, Filing Assistance Program (Do you have to file a Federal Income Tax Return?).

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 Form 2439, Notice to Shareholder of Undistributed Long-Term Capital Gains.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') is publishing the names of two (2) individuals and one (1) entity whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to Executive Order 13224 of September 23, 2001, ``Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions With Persons Who Commit, Threaten To Commit, or Support Terrorism.''

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. Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning Source of Income From Sales of Inventory Partly From Sources Within a Possession of the United States; Also, Source of Income Derived From Certain Purchases From A.

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. Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning Revenue Procedure 2000-41, Change in Minimum Funding Method.

The OCC, 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 a continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35)(PRA), Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice. In accordance with the requirements of the PRA, the OCC 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. The OCC is soliciting comment concerning its information collection entitled, ``Bank Secrecy Act/Money Laundering Risk Assessment,'' also known as the Money Laundering Risk (MLR) System.

FinCEN is proposing to renew without change the OMB-approved list of current data fields within the database that are required to support the FinCEN Suspicious Activity Report (``SAR'') filings by financial institutions required to file such reports under the Bank Secrecy Act (``BSA''). This notice does not propose any new regulatory requirements or changes to the requirements related to suspicious activity reporting. The data fields reflect the filing requirement for all filers of SARs under the BSA. The FinCEN SAR is an e-filed dynamic and interactive report used by all BSA filing institutions to report suspicious financial activities to the Department of the Treasury. This request for comments covers 31 CFR 1020.320, 1021.320, 1022.320, 1023.320, 1024.320, 1025.320, and 1026.320. This request for comments is being made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A).

This document proposes amendments to regulations, consistent with the Affordable Care Act, regarding nondiscriminatory wellness programs in group health coverage. Specifically, these proposed regulations would increase the maximum permissible reward under a health-contingent wellness program offered in connection with a group health plan (and any related health insurance coverage) from 20 percent to 30 percent of the cost of coverage. The proposed regulations would further increase the maximum permissible reward to 50 percent for wellness programs designed to prevent or reduce tobacco use. These regulations also include other proposed clarifications regarding the reasonable design of health-contingent wellness programs and the reasonable alternatives they must offer in order to avoid prohibited discrimination.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (``OFAC'') is publishing the names of seven entities whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to Executive Order 13464 of April 30, 2008 (``Blocking Property and Prohibiting Certain Transactions Related to Burma'') (``E.O. 13464'') or Executive Order 13448 of October 18, 2007 (``Blocking Property and Prohibiting Certain Transactions Related to Burma'') (``E.O. 13448''). OFAC is also amending the listing of a person whose property and interests in property were previously blocked.

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)). The IRS is soliciting comments concerning information collection requirements related to Notice 2012-48, Tribal Economic Development Bonds.

The Commodity Exchange Act (``CEA''), as amended by Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (``Dodd-Frank Act''), authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury (``Secretary'') to issue a written determination that foreign exchange swaps, foreign exchange forwards, or both, should not be regulated as swaps under the CEA. The Secretary is issuing a determination that exempts both foreign exchange swaps and foreign exchange forwards from the definition of ``swap,'' in accordance with the applicable provisions of the CEA.

The Financial Research Advisory Committee for the Treasury's Office of Financial Research is convening for its first meeting on Wednesday, December 5, 2012 in the Cash Room, Department of the Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20220, beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. The meeting will be open to the public via live webcast at https://www.treasury.gov/ofr and limited seating may also be available.