Department of the Treasury 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document contains a Notice that the IRS is accepting applications from qualified organizations for a part-year Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) matching grant to provide representation to low income taxpayers and education about taxpayer rights and responsibilities to individuals who speak English as a second language in certain identified geographic areas. The grant will cover the last six months of the 2016 grant year, from July 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016. The supplemental application period shall run from March 1, 2016, to April x1, 2016. Despite the IRS's efforts to foster parity in availability and accessibility in the selection of organizations receiving LITC matching grants and the continued increase in clinic services nationwide, there remain communities that are underrepresented by clinics. For the supplemental application period, the IRS will focus on geographic areas where there is limited or no clinic representation. The IRS will award up to $1.28 million in funding to qualifying organizations, subject to the limitations of Internal Revenue Code section 7526. A qualifying organization may receive a matching grant of up to $100,000 per year. Organizations currently receiving a grant are not eligible to apply during this supplemental application period. Grant funds may be awarded for start-up expenditures incurred during the grant year. The selection process for these part-year grants may not be complete before the beginning of the application period for the 2017 grant year; thus, applicants for a part-year grant will be expected to submit a separate application for full-year funding for the 2017 grant year during the 2017 grant application period, when announced later this year. Below is a list that contains the identified underserved geographic areas:

This document contains proposed regulations that amend the utility allowance regulations concerning the low-income housing credit. The proposed regulations relate to the circumstances in which utility costs paid by a tenant based on actual consumption in a submetered rent-restricted unit are treated as paid by the tenant directly to the utility company. The proposed regulations extend those rules to situations in which a building owner sells to tenants energy that is produced from a renewable source and that is not delivered by a local utility company. The proposed regulations affect owners of low-income housing projects that claim the credit, the tenants in those low-income housing projects, and the State and local housing credit agencies that administer the credit. In the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal Register, the IRS is issuing temporary regulations concerning utility allowance regulations when the utility is generated from renewable sources and is not delivered by the local utility company. The text of those regulations also serves as the text of these proposed regulations. This document also contains a notice of a public hearing on these proposed regulations.

This document contains final regulations relating to awards of administrative costs and attorneys' fees. The final regulations conform the regulations to the amendments made in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 and the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. The regulations affect taxpayers seeking attorneys' fees and costs.

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 (the 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 Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), 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 the renewal of its information collection titled, ''Municipal Securities Dealers and Government Securities Brokers and DealersRegistration and Withdrawal.''

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 (PRA). 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 renewal of its information collection titled, ``Consumer Protections for Depository Institution Sales of Insurance.''

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 regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information entitled ``Affordable Care ActSummary of Benefits and Coverage Disclosures.''

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 Application of Separate Limitations to Dividends From Noncontrolled Section 902 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 Form 1045, Application for Tentative Refund.

This document contains final and temporary regulations relating to the compliance-monitoring duties of a State or local housing credit agency for purposes of the low-income housing credit. The final and temporary regulations revise and clarify the requirement to conduct physical inspections and review low-income certifications and other documentation. The final and temporary regulations will affect State or local housing credit agencies. The text of these temporary regulations also serves as the text of the proposed regulations (REG-150349-12) set forth in the notice of proposed rulemaking on this subject in the Proposed Rules section in this issue of the Federal Register.

The OCC and the FDIC (the Agencies), as part of their continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invite the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on an information collection renewal, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). 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 Agencies are soliciting comment concerning the renewal of each Agency's information collection titled ``Interagency Appraisal Complaint Form.'' The Agencies also are giving notice that they have each sent their collection to OMB for review.

This document contains corrections to a notice of proposed rulemaking (REG-109822-15) that was published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, December 23, 2015 (80 FR 79795). The proposed regulations would require annual country-by-country reporting by United States persons that are the ultimate parent entity of a multinational enterprise group.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) establishes the approximately 29,369-acre ``Lamorinda'' viticultural area in Contra Costa County, California. The viticultural area lies entirely within the larger San Francisco Bay viticultural area and the multicounty Central Coast viticultural area. TTB designates viticultural areas to allow vintners to better describe the origin of their wines and to allow consumers to better identify wines they may purchase.

This document withdraws FinCEN's finding that Liberty Reserve S.A. (``Liberty Reserve'') is a financial institution of primary money laundering concern and the related notice of proposed rulemaking seeking to impose the fifth special measure regarding Liberty Reserve, pursuant to section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act (``Section 311''). Because of material subsequent developments that have mitigated the money laundering risks associated with Liberty Reserve, FinCEN has determined that Liberty Reserve is no longer a primary money laundering concern that warrants the implementation of a special measure under Section 311.

This document contains proposed regulations that provide guidance regarding the definition of political subdivision for purposes of tax-exempt bonds. The proposed regulations are necessary to specify the elements of a political subdivision. The proposed regulations will affect State and local governments that issue tax-exempt bonds and users of property financed with tax-exempt bonds. Under certain transition rules, however, the proposed definition of political subdivision will not apply for determining whether outstanding bonds are obligations of a political subdivision and will not apply to existing entities for a transition period. This document also provides a notice of a public hearing for 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 Guidance Necessary To Facilitate Business Election Filing; Finalization of Controlled Group Qualification Rules.

The Department of the Treasury (the ``Department'' or ``Treasury'') is updating its Employee Rules of Conduct, which prescribe uniform rules of conduct and procedure for all employees and officials in the Department.

This document contains final regulations relating to information reporting by brokers for transactions involving debt instruments and options, including the reporting of original issue discount (OID) on tax-exempt obligations, the treatment of certain holder elections for reporting a taxpayer's adjusted basis in a debt instrument, and transfer reporting for section 1256 options and debt instruments. The regulations in this document provide guidance to brokers and payors and to their customers.

Through the NACA Program, the CDFI Fund provides (i) FA awards of up to $1 million to Certified Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) serving Native American, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian populations or Native American areas defined as Federally-designated reservations, Hawaiian homelands, Alaska Native Villages and U.S. Census Bureau-designated Tribal Statistical Areas (collectively, ``Native Communities'') to build their financial capacity to lend to their Target Markets, and (ii) TA grants of up to $150,000 to build Certified, Certifiable, and Emerging CDFIs' organizational capacity to serve their Target Markets and Sponsoring Entities ability to create Certified CDFIs that serve Native Communities. All awards provided through this NOFA are subject to funding availability.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is publishing the names of 3 individuals 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 Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (``MPRA''), which was enacted by Congress as part of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015, relates to multiemployer defined benefit pension plans that are projected to have insufficient funds, within a specified timeframe, to pay the full plan benefits to which individuals will be entitled (referred to as plans in ``critical and declining status''). Under MPRA, the sponsor of such a plan is permitted to reduce the pension benefits payable to plan participants and beneficiaries if certain conditions and limitations are satisfied (referred to in MPRA as a ``suspension of benefits''). One specific limitation governs the application of a suspension of benefits under any plan that includes benefits directly attributable to a participant's service with any employer that has withdrawn from the plan in a complete withdrawal, paid its full withdrawal liability, and, pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement, assumed liability for providing benefits to participants and beneficiaries equal to any benefits for such participants and beneficiaries reduced as a result of the financial status of the plan. This document contains proposed regulations that would provide guidance relating to this specific limitation. These regulations affect active, retired, and deferred vested participants and beneficiaries under any such multiemployer plan in critical and declining status as well as employers contributing to, and sponsors and administrators of, those plans.

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is publishing the names of four individuals and two entities whose property and interests in property have been unblocked pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act, 21 U.S.C. 1901-1908, 8 U.S.C. 1182).

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 8752, Required Payment or Refund Under Section 7519.