Department of the Treasury 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document contains final regulations under section 597 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). These final regulations amend existing regulations that address the federal income tax treatment of transactions in which federal financial assistance (FFA) is provided to banks and domestic building and loan associations, and they clarify the federal income tax consequences of those transactions to banks, domestic building and loan associations, and related parties. These regulations affect banks, domestic building and loan associations, and related parties.

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 Bureau of the Fiscal Service within the Department of the Treasury is soliciting comments concerning the Disclaimer and Consent With Respect to United States Savings Bonds/Notes.

The Internal Revenue Service, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the 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 the application process for determination of employee stock ownership plans.

The Internal Revenue Service, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the 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 the methods to determine taxable income in connection with a cost sharing arrangement, IRC section 482.

The Internal Revenue Service, 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 continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

On April 21, 2017, the President issued Executive Order 13789 (82 FR 19317), a directive designed to reduce tax regulatory burdens. The order directed the Secretary of the Treasury to identify significant tax regulations issued on or after January 1, 2016, that impose an undue financial burden on U.S. taxpayers, add undue complexity to the Federal tax laws, or exceed the statutory authority of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In an interim Report to the President dated June 22, 2017, Treasury identified eight such regulations. Executive Order 13789 further directs the Secretary to submit to the President and publish in the Federal Register a report recommending specific actions to mitigate the burden imposed by regulations identified in the interim report. This Second Report sets forth the Secretary's recommendations.

The Department of the Treasury's Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Service Contract Inventory. The Inventory lists all service contract actions over $25,000 awarded in FY 2016 and funded by Treasury, to include contract actions made on the Department's behalf by other agencies. Contract actions awarded by the Department on another agency's behalf with the other agency's funding are excluded.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is publishing the names of persons whose property and interests in property have been unblocked pursuant to Executive Order 13581 of July 24, 2011, ``Blocking Property of Transnational Criminal Organizations.''

In this issue of the Federal Register, the Department of Treasury and the IRS are issuing two sets of temporary regulations related to section 9815 of the Internal Revenue Code. The first set of temporary regulations, as published in TD 9827, amends final regulations published under the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the Affordable Care Act) and relates to expanded exemptions to protect religious beliefs for entities and individuals with objections based on religious beliefs whose health plans are subject to a mandate of contraceptive coverage through guidance issued pursuant to the Affordable Care Act. These proposed regulations refer to the second set of temporary regulations, as published in TD 9828, which amends the first set of temporary regulations, as published in TD 9827, to add an exemption to protect moral convictions for entities and individuals with objections based on those beliefs whose health plans are subject to the mandate of contraceptive coverage.

The United States has a long history of providing conscience protections in the regulation of health care for entities and individuals with objections based on religious beliefs and moral convictions. These interim final rules expand exemptions to protect religious beliefs for certain entities and individuals whose health plans are subject to a mandate of contraceptive coverage through guidance issued pursuant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. These rules do not alter the discretion of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), a component of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to maintain the guidelines requiring contraceptive coverage where no regulatorily recognized objection exists. These rules also leave the ``accommodation'' process in place as an optional process for certain exempt entities that wish to use it voluntarily. These rules do not alter multiple other Federal programs that provide free or subsidized contraceptives for women at risk of unintended pregnancy.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is publishing the name of a person whose property and interests in property have been unblocked pursuant to Executive Order 13581 of July 24, 2011, ``Blocking Property of Transnational Criminal Organizations.''

The Internal Revenue Service, 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 the Interim Final Rules, Affordable Care Act Internal Claims and Appeals and External review Disclosures.

The Internal Revenue Service, 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 Form 2678, Employer/Payer Appointment of Agent.

The Internal Revenue Service, 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 Form 1040-PR, Planilla para la Declaraci[oacute]n de la Contribuci[oacute]n Federal sobre el Trabajo por Cuenta Propia (Incluyendo el Cr[eacute]dito Tributario Adicional por Hijos para Residentes Bona Fide de Puerto Rico) and Form 1040-SS, U.S. Self-Employment Tax Return (Including the Additional Child Tax Credit for Bona Fide Residents of Puerto Rico)

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 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 information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The IRS is soliciting comments concerning amortizable bond premium.

Pursuant to United States Code, Title 31, section 5135(b)(8)(C), the United States Mint announces the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) public meeting scheduled for October 18, 2017.

The Department of the Treasury (the ``Department'' or ``Treasury'') publishes this final rule to update its Employee Rules of Conduct, which prescribe uniform rules of conduct and procedure for all employees and officials in the Department.

The Department of the Treasury is removing chapter V of title 12, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), which contains regulations of the former Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS). The OTS, a Bureau of the Department of the Treasury, was abolished effective October 19, 2011, and its rulemaking authority and operative rules were transferred to other agencies pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Because those agencies have issued regulations that supersede chapter V, chapter V is no longer necessary.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is reopening for an additional 60 days the comment period for Notice No. 165, Proposed Addition of New Grape Variety Names for American Wines, a notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register on November 17, 2016. TTB is taking this action in response to requests from several wine industry members and trade associations.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 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. The agencies, under the auspices of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), have approved the publication for public comment of the proposed Annual Dodd-Frank Act Company-Run Stress Test Report for Depository Institutions and Holding Companies with $10-$50 Billion in Total Consolidated Assets (FFIEC 016). This proposed report would combine the agencies' three separate, yet identical, stress test report forms (as described in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION), which are currently approved collections of information, into a single new FFIEC report. As part of their proposed adoption of the new FFIEC 016 report, the agencies also are proposing to implement a limited number of revisions that would align the report with recent burden-reducing changes to the FFIEC 031 and FFIEC 041 Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income and the Board's FR Y-9C Consolidated Financial Statements for Holding Companies. In addition, the agencies are proposing to have institutions provide their Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) on the report form, if they already have one. The proposed FFIEC 016 reporting requirements reflect the company-run stress testing requirements promulgated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (as reflected in the agencies' current information collections). The Board, in connection with this proposal and conditioned on the final adoption of the FFIEC 016, is proposing to replace the FR Y-16 (Annual Company-Run Stress Test Report For State Member Banks, Bank Holding Companies, and Savings and Loan Holding Companies with Total Consolidated Assets Greater Than $10 Billion and Less Than $50 Billion), which it currently uses to collect the annual company-run stress test results. Also in connection with the final adoption of the FFIEC 016, the OCC and the FDIC are proposing to replace the OCC's DFAST 10-50B (Annual Company-Run Stress Test Reporting Template and Documentation for Covered Institutions with Total Consolidated Assets of $10 Billion to $50 Billion under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act), and the FDIC's DFAST 10-50 (Company-Run Annual Stress Test Reporting Template and Documentation for Covered Institutions with Total Consolidated Assets of $10 Billion to $50 Billion under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act), respectively, with the FFIEC 016. The respondents for the proposed FFIEC 016 are institutions with average total consolidated assets of at least $10 billion, but less than $50 billion. The proposed FFIEC 016 would take effect for the December 31, 2017, as-of date of the stress test report. The submission deadline for the report would be the following July 31. At the end of the comment period for this notice, the comments and recommendations received will be reviewed to determine whether the FFIEC and the agencies should modify the proposal for the FFIEC 016 report form before giving final approval. As required by the PRA, the agencies will then publish a second Federal Register notice for a 30-day comment period and submit the FFIEC 016 information collection to OMB for review and approval.

This document contains final regulations prescribing mortality tables to be used by most defined benefit pension plans. The tables specify the probability of survival year-by-year for an individual based on age, gender, and other factors. This information is used (together with other actuarial assumptions) to calculate the present value of a stream of expected future benefit payments for purposes of determining the minimum funding requirements for a defined benefit plan. These mortality tables are also relevant in determining the minimum required amount of a lump-sum distribution from such a plan. In addition, this document contains final regulations updating the requirements that a plan sponsor must meet to obtain IRS approval to use mortality tables specific to the plan for minimum funding purposes (instead of using the generally applicable mortality tables). These regulations affect participants in, beneficiaries of, employers maintaining, and administrators of certain retirement plans.

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