Department of the Treasury 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document contains final regulations with respect to a provision of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) that addresses the allocation by a partnership of foreign income taxes. These regulations are necessary to improve the operation of an existing safe harbor rule that determines whether allocations of creditable foreign tax expenditures are deemed to be in accordance with the partners' interests in the partnership. The regulations affect partnerships that pay or accrue foreign income taxes and partners in such partnerships.

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is amending the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations (GTSR), and the Transnational Criminal Organizations Sanctions Regulations (TCOSR), to implement and reference the Hizballah International Financing Prevention Amendments Act of 2018 (HIFPAA). OFAC is also amending the GTSR to implement and reference the Sanctioning the Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act of 2018 (Shields Act). OFAC is further amending the TCOSR to implement Executive Order 13863 of March 15, 2019 (``Taking Additional Steps to Address the National Emergency with respect to Significant Transnational Criminal Organizations''). Finally, OFAC is amending the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations (HFSR), to make certain technical and conforming changes and to update certain provisions.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (collectively, the agencies) are adopting a final rule (final rule) to simplify certain aspects of the capital rule. The final rule is responsive to the agencies' March 2017 report to Congress pursuant to the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996, in which the agencies committed to meaningfully reduce regulatory burden, especially on community banking organizations. The key elements of the final rule apply solely to banking organizations that are not subject to the advanced approaches capital rule (non- advanced approaches banking organizations). Under the final rule, non- advanced approaches banking organizations will be subject to simpler regulatory capital requirements for mortgage servicing assets, certain deferred tax assets arising from temporary differences, and investments in the capital of unconsolidated financial institutions than those currently applied. The final rule also simplifies, for non-advanced approaches banking organizations, the calculation for the amount of capital issued by a consolidated subsidiary of a banking organization and held by third parties (sometimes referred to as a minority interest) that is includable in regulatory capital. In addition, the final rule makes technical amendments to, and clarifies certain aspects of, the agencies' capital rule for both non-advanced approaches banking organizations and advanced approaches banking organizations (technical amendments). Revisions to the definition of high-volatility commercial real estate exposure in the agencies' capital rule are being addressed in a separate rulemaking.

This document contains final regulations that provide guidance concerning the income inclusion rules under section 50(d)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) that are applicable to a lessee of investment credit property when a lessor of such property elects to treat the lessee as having acquired the property. These final regulations also provide rules to coordinate the section 50(a) recapture rules with the section 50(d)(5) income inclusion rules. In addition, these final regulations provide rules regarding income inclusion upon a lease termination, lease disposition by a lessee, or disposition of a partner's or S corporation shareholder's entire interest in a lessee partnership or S corporation outside of the recapture period. Accordingly, these regulations will affect lessees of investment credit property when the lessor of the property makes an election to treat the lessee as having acquired the property and an investment credit is determined under section 46 with respect to such lessee.

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is publishing the names of one or more persons that have been placed on OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List based on OFAC's determination that one or more applicable legal criteria were satisfied. All property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction of this person are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is publishing the names of one or more persons that have been placed on OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List based on OFAC's determination that one or more applicable legal criteria were satisfied. All property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction of these persons are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

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). 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 OCC is soliciting comment concerning renewal of its information collection titled ``General Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements by Savings Associations.''

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is publishing the names of three persons that have been placed on OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List based on OFAC's determination that one or more applicable legal criteria were satisfied. All property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction of these persons are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

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 U.S. Treasury Auction Submitter Agreement.

This document contains proposed regulations under sections 1291, 1297, and 1298 of the Internal Revenue Code (``Code'') regarding the determination of ownership in a passive foreign investment company within the meaning of section 1297(a) (``PFIC'') and the treatment of certain income received or accrued by a foreign corporation and assets held by a foreign corporation for purposes of section 1297. The regulations provide guidance regarding when a foreign corporation is a qualifying insurance corporation (``QIC'') under section 1297(f) of the Code and the amounts of income and assets that a QIC excludes from passive income and assets pursuant to section 1297(b)(2)(B) (``PFIC insurance exception'') for purposes of section 1297(a). The regulations also clarify the application and scope of certain rules that determine whether a United States person that directly or indirectly holds stock in a PFIC is treated as a shareholder of the PFIC, and whether a foreign corporation is a PFIC. The regulations affect United States persons with direct or indirect ownership interests in certain foreign corporations.

An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel's 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.

An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel's Toll-Free Phone Line 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's Taxpayer Communications 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 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.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (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). 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 OCC is soliciting comment concerning its information collection titled ``Disclosure and Reporting of CRA-Related Agreements.'' The OCC also is giving notice that the collection has been sent to OMB for review.

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is publishing the names of one or more persons that have been placed on OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List based on OFAC's determination that one or more applicable legal criteria were satisfied. All property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction of this person are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

This document sets forth proposed regulations relating to the tax qualification of plans maintained by more than one employer. These plans, maintained pursuant to section 413(c) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code), are often referred to as multiple employer plans or MEPs. The proposed regulations would provide an exception, if certain requirements are met, to the application of the ``unified plan rule'' for a defined contribution MEP in the event of a failure by an employer participating in the plan to satisfy a qualification requirement or to provide information needed to determine compliance with a qualification requirement. These proposed regulations would affect MEPs, participants in MEPs (and their beneficiaries), employers participating in MEPs, and MEP plan administrators.

This document contains final regulations under sections 6051 and 6052 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). To aid employers' efforts to protect employees from identity theft, these regulations amend existing regulations to permit employers to voluntarily truncate employees' social security numbers (SSNs) on copies of Forms W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, that are furnished to employees so that the truncated SSNs appear in the form of IRS truncated taxpayer identification numbers (TTINs). These regulations also amend the regulations under section 6109 to clarify the application of the truncation rules to Forms W-2 and to add an example illustrating the application of these rules. Additionally, these regulations delete obsolete provisions and update cross references in the regulations under sections 6051 and 6052. These regulations affect employers who are required to furnish Forms W-2 and employees who receive Forms W-2.

In this document, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) addresses numerous petitions requesting that TTB amend the regulations that govern wine containers to provide for additional authorized standards of fill. TTB is proposing to eliminate all but a minimum standard of fill for wine containers and thus eliminate unnecessary regulatory requirements and provide consumers broader purchasing options. TTB welcomes comments on this proposed deregulation, and it also seeks comments on the relative merits of alternatives, such as adding new authorized standards of fill and developing an expedited process for adding additional standards in the future. All of these approaches would eliminate restrictions that inhibit competition and the movement of goods in domestic and international commerce.

This document contains corrections to final regulations (TD 9857) that were published in the Federal Register on Monday, May 13, 2019. The final regulations are relating to combinations and separations of qualified business units (QBUs) subject to section 987 and the recognition and deferral of foreign currency gain or loss with respect to a QBU subject to section 987 in connection with certain QBU terminations and certain other transactions involving partnerships.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is publishing the names of one or more persons that have been placed on OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List based on OFAC's determination that one or more applicable legal criteria were satisfied. All property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction of these persons are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

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 Application Forms for U.S. Department of the Treasury Stored Value Card (SVC) Program.

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is amending the North Korea Sanctions Regulations to update references to descriptive text that appears in certain entries on OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List) and the List of Foreign Financial Institutions Subject to Correspondent Account or Payable-Through Account Sanctions (CAPTA List).

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is publishing the names of one or more persons that have been placed on OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List based on OFAC's determination that one or more applicable legal criteria were satisfied. All property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction of these persons are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.