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

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 Special Form of Request For Payment of United States Savings and Retirement Securities Where Use of a Detached Request is Authorized.

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 Report/Application For Relief on Account of Loss, Theft, or Destruction of United States Bearer Securities (Organizations).

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 Affidavit Of Forgery For United States Savings Bonds.

This is Supplement No. 15 to the Treasury Department Circular 570, 2005 Revision, published July 1, 2005, at 70 FR 38502.

This document corrects final and temporary regulations (TD 9257) that were published in the Federal Register on Monday, April 10, 2006 (71 FR 17990) applying 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.

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.

An open meeting of the Wage & Investment Reducing Taxpayer Burden (Notices) Issue Committee of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel 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.

This document amends the regulations implementing the statute generally known as the Bank Secrecy Act to require mutual funds to report suspicious transactions to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The amendment constitutes a further step in the enhancement of the comprehensive system for the reporting of suspicious transactions by major categories of financial institutions operating in the United States, as a part of the Department of the Treasury's counter-money laundering program.

The Department of the Treasury (``Treasury'') is considering whether it should make available an additional, temporary supply of Treasury securities on rare occasions when market shortages threaten to impair the functioning of the market for Treasury securities and broader financial markets, and, if so, how Treasury should accomplish this. This document is intended as a vehicle to facilitate public discussion. Treasury has not taken any position on the basic question of whether it should establish a securities lender of last resort facility (SLLR), or, if it does so, how Treasury should implement such a facility.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau proposes to rename the ``Sonoma County Green Valley'' viticultural area as the ``Green Valley of Russian River Valley'' viticultural area. The area's size and boundaries would remain unchanged. This northern California viticultural area is totally within the Russian River Valley viticultural area, the Sonoma Coast viticultural area, and the multi- county North Coast viticultural area. We designate viticultural areas to allow vintners to better describe the origin of wines and to allow consumers to better identify the wines they may purchase. We invite comments on this proposed change to our regulations.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is adopting as a final rule, with some changes, a proposed amendment to the regulations pertaining to wine vintage date labeling.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests nominations of individuals to be considered for selection as Information Reporting Program Advisory Committee (IRPAC) members. Individuals or interested organizations may nominate themselves and/or a qualified person for membership. Nominations will be accepted for current vacancies and should describe and document the applicants qualifications for membership. IRPAC can be comprised of no more than twenty-three (23) members. There are six (6) positions open for calendar year 2007. It is important that the IRPAC continue to represent a diverse taxpayer and stakeholder base. Accordingly, to maintain membership diversity, selection is based on applicant's qualifications as well as the segment or group he/she represents. The IRPAC advises the IRS on information reporting issues of mutual concern to the private sector and the federal government. The committee works with the Commissioner and other IRS executives to provide recommendations on a wide range of information reporting administration issues. Membership is balanced to include representation from the tax professional community, small and large businesses, state tax administration, colleges and universities, insurance, securities, payroll and other industries.

This notice is provided in accordance with IRC section 6039G, as amended, by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) of 1996. This listing contains the name of each individual losing United States citizenship (within the meaning of section 877(a)) with respect to whom the Secretary received information during the quarter ending March 31, 2006.

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 944-SS, Employer's ANNUAL Federal Tax Return (American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Form 944-PR, Planilla para la Declaracion ANNUAL de la Cotribucion Federal del Patrono.