Department of the Treasury May 12, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document contains corrections to final and temporary regulations (TD 9650) that were published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, December 31, 2013 (78 FR 79602). The regulations provide guidance on determining ownership of a passive foreign investment company (``PFIC'') and on the annual filing requirements for shareholders of PFICs.

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 discharge of liens.

This document contains final regulations clarifying the rules regarding the tax treatment of payments by qualified retirement plans for accident or health insurance. The final regulations set forth the general rule under section 402(a) that amounts held in a qualified plan that are used to pay accident or health insurance premiums are taxable distributions unless described in certain statutory exceptions. The final regulations do not extend this result to arrangements under which amounts are used to pay premiums for disability insurance that replaces retirement plan contributions in the event of a participant's disability. These regulations affect sponsors, administrators, participants, and beneficiaries of qualified retirement plans.