Department of Treasury May 8, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document corrects a notice of proposed rulemaking that was published in the Federal Register on Monday, April 10, 2006 (71 FR 18053). The document contains temporary regulations providing guidance under section 197 that apply to the treatment of certain insurance contracts assumed in an assumption reinsurance transaction and section 338 that apply to a deemed sale or acquisition of an insurance company's assets pursuant to an election under section 338 of the Internal Revenue Code, to a sale or acquisition of an insurance trade or business subject to section 1060, and to the acquisition of insurance contracts through assumption reinsurance.

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

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests nominations of individuals to be considered for selection as Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council (IRSAC) members. Interested parties may nominate themselves and/or at least one other qualified person for membership. Nominations will be accepted for current vacancies and should describe and document the applicants qualifications for membership. IRSAC is comprised of twenty (20) members; approximately half of these appointments will expire in November 2006. It is important that the IRSAC continue to represent a diverse taxpayer and stakeholder base. Accordingly, to maintain membership diversity, selection is based on the applicant's qualifications as well as the segment or group that he/she represents. The Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council (IRSAC) provides an organized public forum for IRS officials and representatives of the public to discuss relevant tax administration issues. The council advises the IRS on issues that have a substantive effect on federal tax administration. As an advisory body designed to focus on broad policy matters, the IRSAC reviews existing tax policy and/or recommends policies with respect to emerging tax administration issues. The IRSAC suggests operational improvements, offers constructive observations regarding current or proposed IRS policies, programs, and procedures, and advises the IRS with respect to issues having substantive effect on federal tax administration.

This document withdraws a notice of proposed rulemaking (REG- 131264-04) regarding the treatment of manufacturer incentive payments. The proposed regulations were published in the Federal Register on August 13, 2004 (69 FR 50112). After consideration of additional issues, the IRS and Treasury Department have decided to withdraw the proposed regulations.

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

This document contains a correction to final regulations that were published in the Federal Register on Friday, March 24, 2006 (71 FR 14798) concerning content requirements applicable to explanations of qualified joint and survivor annuities and qualified preretirement survivor annuities payable under certain retirement plans.

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), of which the agencies are members, has approved the agencies' publication of this notice announcing the effect of the Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Act on the reporting of certain deposit-related data in the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Report; FFIEC 031 and 041). Because the deposit insurance coverage for certain retirement plan deposits has increased from $100,000 to $250,000 while the insurance limit for deposit accounts in other ownership capacities has remained at $100,000, data will begin to be reported separately for the number and amount of retirement deposit accounts with balances within and in excess of the new $250,000 insurance limit. The instructions for reporting estimated uninsured deposits by banks with $1 billion or more in total assets and for reporting brokered deposits will be revised to reflect the new insurance limit for retirement deposit accounts. In addition, with the merger of the insurance funds administered by the FDIC, items in which banks with ``Oakar deposits'' have reported information on purchases and sales of deposits are no longer needed and will be eliminated. These reporting changes will take effect in the Call Report for June 30, 2006. In a separate action, the agencies have decided not to implement two new credit-derivative- related items that were to be added to the Call Report on September 30, 2006.