Department of Treasury January 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Earned Income Tax Credit Issue Committee will be conducted (via teleconference). The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas and suggestions on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service.

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 Bureau of the Public Debt within the Department of the Treasury is soliciting comments concerning the electronic process for selling/issuing, servicing, and making payments on or redeeming U.S. Treasury securities.

This document cancels a public hearing on proposed regulations relating to a taxpayer's right to a hearing before or after levy under section 6330 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

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 REG-161424-01 (Final), Information Reporting for Qualified Tuition and Related Expenses; Magnetic Media Filing Requirements for Information Returns, and REG-105316-98 (Final), Information Reporting for Payments of Interest on Qualified Education Loans; Magnetic Media Filing Requirements for Information (TD 8992).

This document cancels a public hearing on proposed regulations relating to a taxpayer's right to a hearing under section 6320 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 after the filing of a notice of Federal tax lien (NFTL).

This document provides notice of public hearing on proposed regulations relating to the IRS preparing or executing returns for persons who fail to make required returns.

This document withdraws in part the proposed rule published on January 29, 2003, relating to the economic sanctions enforcement guidelines.\1\ In addition, in the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal Register, the Treasury Department is issuing an interim final ruleEconomic Sanctions Enforcement Procedures for Banking Institutions.

As part of our continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, we invite the public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). We invite comments on the continuing information collections listed below in this notice.

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. 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 OMB control number. The OCC is soliciting comment concerning its information collection titled, ``Fiduciary Activities of National Banks12 CFR part 9.'' The OCC also gives notice that it has sent the information collection to OMB for review and approval.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is issuing this proposed Bank Secrecy Act regulation to implement section 312 of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act of 2001 (``Act''), which requires U.S. financial institutions to conduct enhanced due diligence with regard to correspondent accounts established, maintained, administered, or managed for certain types of foreign banks. We originally published a notice of proposed rulemaking seeking to implement section 312 in its entirety on May 30, 2002. Due to the significant number of issues raised during the comment period, we have determined that it is necessary and appropriate to issue another notice of proposed rulemaking (``Proposal'') to address issues associated with the enhanced due diligence provisions. A final rule implementing all other provisions of section 312 is published elsewhere in this separate part of the Federal Register.

The OCC, Board, FDIC and OTS (``we'' or ``the Agencies'') are reviewing our regulations to identify outdated, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome regulatory requirements pursuant to the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 (EGRPRA). Today, we request your comments and suggestions on ways to reduce burden with respect to rules regarding Prompt Corrective Action and the Disclosure and Reporting of CRA-Related Agreements, which are in the Capital and Community Reinvestment Act categories of regulations. All comments are welcome. We specifically invite comment on the following issues: whether statutory changes are needed; whether the regulations contain requirements that are not needed to serve the purposes of the statutes they implement; the extent to which the regulations may adversely affect competition; whether the cost of compliance associated with reporting, recordkeeping, and disclosure requirements, particularly on small institutions, is justified; whether any regulatory requirements are inconsistent or redundant; and whether any regulations are unclear. This is our last request for comment on categories of regulations in the first 10-year cycle of regulatory review under EGRPRA. We will analyze the comments received and propose burden-reducing changes to our regulations where appropriate. Some of your suggestions for burden reduction might require legislative changes. Where legislative changes would be required, we will consider your suggestions in recommending appropriate changes to Congress.

This document contains temporary regulations establishing the Employers' Annual Federal Tax Program (Form 944) (hereinafter referred to as the Form 944 Program). The temporary regulations relate to sections 6011 and 6302 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) concerning reporting and paying income taxes withheld from wages and reporting and paying taxes under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) (collectively, employment taxes). These temporary regulations provide requirements for filing returns under FICA and returns of income tax withheld under section 6011 and Sec. Sec. 31.6011(a)-1 and 31.6011(a)- 4 of the Employment Tax Regulations. These temporary regulations generally require employers who receive written notification from the Commissioner of their qualification for the Form 944 Program to file a Form 944, ``Employer's Annual Federal Tax Return,'' rather than Form 941, ``Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return.'' In addition, these temporary regulations provide requirements for employers to make deposits of employment taxes under section 6302 and Sec. 31.6302-1. These temporary regulations permit employers in the Form 944 Program to deposit or remit their accumulated employment taxes annually with their Form 944 if they satisfy the provisions of the de minimis deposit rule, as modified. Also, these temporary regulations modify the lookback period used to determine an employer's status as a monthly or semi-weekly depositor. The portions of this document that are final regulations provide necessary cross-references to the temporary regulations as well as technical revisions. The technical revisions correct the table of contents in Sec. 31.6302-0 and a cross-reference in Sec. 31.6302- 1(e)(2) and remove all references to an IRS district director, as that position no longer exists within the IRS. In addition, a cross- reference to the temporary regulations under section 6011 was added to the final regulations under section 6071, regarding the time for filing returns. The text of the temporary regulations also serves, in part, as the text of the proposed regulations set forth in the Proposed Rules section in this issue of the Federal Register. In addition to the provisions contained in these temporary regulations related to the Form 944 Program, the proposed regulations provide a modification to the de minimis deposit rule applicable to quarterly return filers.

This document contains amendments to the regulations under section 401(k) and (m) of the Internal Revenue Code. These regulations provide guidance concerning the requirements for designated Roth contributions under qualified cash or deferred arrangements described in section 401(k). These regulations affect section 401(k) plans that provide for designated Roth contributions and participants eligible to make elective contributions under these plans.