Department of Treasury December 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

For the period beginning January 1, 2012, and ending on June 30, 2012, the prompt payment interest rate is 2 per centum per annum.

Appearing elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, the IRS is issuing temporary regulations that provide guidance on the application of sections 162(a) and 263(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) to amounts paid to acquire, produce, or improve tangible property. The temporary regulations clarify and expand the standards in the current regulations under sections 162(a) and 263(a), and provide certain bright-line tests (for example, a de minimis rule for certain acquisitions) for applying these standards. The temporary regulations also provide guidance under section 168 regarding the accounting for, and dispositions of, property subject to section 168. The temporary regulations also amend the general asset account regulations. The temporary regulations will affect all taxpayers that acquire, produce, or improve tangible property. The text of the temporary regulations published in the Federal Regulations also serves as the text of these proposed regulations. This document also provides notice of public hearing on these proposed regulations and withdraws the proposed regulations published in the Federal Register on March 10, 2008 (73 FR 47).

The OCC, the Board, and the FDIC (collectively, the ``agencies'') are amending their Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations to adjust the asset-size thresholds used to define ``small bank'' or ``small savings association'' and ``intermediate small bank'' or ``intermediate small savings association.'' As required by the CRA regulations, the adjustment to the threshold amount is based on the annual percentage change in the Consumer Price Index.

This document contains final regulations that modify existing regulations related to the tax return preparer penalties under section 6695 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). The final regulations are necessary to monitor and to improve compliance with the tax return preparer due diligence requirements of section 6695(g). The final regulations affect paid tax return preparers.

This document contains temporary regulations relating to the provisions of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act that require foreign financial assets to be reported to the Internal Revenue Service for taxable years beginning after March 18, 2010. In particular, the temporary regulations provide guidance relating to the requirement that individuals attach a statement to their income tax return to provide required information regarding foreign financial assets in which they have an interest. The temporary regulations affect individuals required to file Form 1040, ``U.S. Individual Income Tax Return,'' and certain individuals required to file Form 1040-NR, ``Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return.'' The text of these temporary regulations also serves as the text of proposed regulations contained in a cross-reference notice of proposed rulemaking (REG-130302-10) published in the Proposed Rules section in this issue of the Federal Register.

This document contains proposed regulations concerning the continuity of interest requirement for corporate reorganizations. The guidance is necessary to clarify the manner in which the continuity of interest requirement is measured in particular circumstances. The proposed regulations affect corporations and their shareholders.

This document contains a correction to a notice of proposed rulemaking and notice of public hearing (REG-102988-11) that was published in the Federal Register on Friday, November 25, 2011 (76 FR 72652) relating to reporting by brokers for transactions related to debt instruments and options.

An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Face-to-Face Service Methods 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.

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 continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). This notice requests comments on all forms used by individual taxpayers: Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, and Schedules A, B, C, C-EZ, D, D-1, E, EIC, F, H, J, R, and SE; Form 1040A; Form 1040EZ; Form 1040NR; Form 1040NR-EZ; Form 1040X; and all attachments to these forms (see the Appendix to this notice).

This document contains final regulations relating to the Employers' Annual Federal Tax Program (the Form 944 Program) and the requirements for depositing social security, Medicare, and withheld Federal income taxes (collectively ``employment taxes''). These final regulations allow certain employers to file a Form 944, ``Employer's ANNUAL Federal Tax Return,'' rather than Forms 941, ``Employer's QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return.'' Additionally, these final regulations provide guidance related to the lookback periods and deposit requirements for employers required to file Forms 941 and Form 944. These final regulations affect taxpayers that file Forms 941, Form 944, and any related Spanish-language returns or returns for U.S. possessions.

An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Refund Processing 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 Toll-Free 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.

This final rule establishes the 11,075-acre ``Coombsville'' viticultural area in Napa County, California. The viticultural area lies within the Napa Valley viticultural area and the multicounty North Coast viticultural area. TTB designates viticultural areas to allow vintners to better describe the origin of their wines and to allow consumers to better identify wines they may purchase.

This Treasury decision establishes the 27,500-acre ``Fort Ross-Seaview'' viticultural area in the western part of Sonoma County, California. TTB designates viticultural areas to allow vintners to better describe the origin of their wines and to allow consumers to better identify wines they may purchase.

An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel 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.

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 14242, Reporting Abusive Tax Promotions or Preparers.

The Financial Management 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 a continuing information collection. By this notice, ``Request for Payment of Federal Benefit by Check, EFT Waiver Form.''

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), 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. On June 17, 2011, OMB approved the agencies' emergency clearance requests to implement assessment-related reporting revisions to the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Report) for banks, the Thrift Financial Report (TFR) for savings associations, the Report of Assets and Liabilities of U.S. Branches and Agencies of Foreign Banks (FFIEC 002), and the Report of Assets and Liabilities of a Non-U.S. Branch that is Managed or Controlled by a U.S. Branch or Agency of a Foreign (Non-U.S.) Bank (FFIEC 002S), all of which currently are approved collections of information, effective as of the June 30, 2011, report date. OMB's emergency approval of the assessment- related reporting revisions extends through the December 31, 2011, report date. (As separately approved by OMB, December 31, 2011, is also the final report date as of which the TFR will be collected; savings associations will begin to file the Call Report as of the March 31, 2012, report date (76 FR 39986)). Because of the limited approval period associated with OMB's emergency clearance, the agencies, under the auspices of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), requested public comment for 60 days on July 27, 2011, on the assessment-related reporting revisions to which the emergency approval pertained (76 FR 44987). After considering the comments received on these revisions, the transition guidance for the reporting of subprime and leveraged loans and securities by large and highly complex institutions that was adopted by the agencies in connection with their emergency clearance request to OMB has been extended to April 1, 2012. Furthermore, the FDIC has decided to review the subprime and leveraged loan definitions in its February 2011 final rule on assessments (76 FR 10672) to determine whether changes to these definitions could alleviate concerns expressed by bankers without sacrificing accuracy in risk differentiation for deposit insurance pricing purposes. The instructions for reporting subprime and leveraged loans and securities for assessment purposes in the agencies' regulatory reports will be conformed to any revised definitions of these terms in the FDIC's assessment regulations that may result from the FDIC's review process, including any necessary rulemaking. In addition, the agencies have made certain other modifications to the assessment-related reporting revisions covered by OMB's emergency approval in response to comments received.

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 miscellaneous sections affected by the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2 and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.

This document contains final regulations relating to conduit financing arrangements. The final regulations apply to multiple-party financing arrangements that are effected through disregarded entities, and are necessary in order to determine which of those arrangements should be recharacterized as a conduit financing arrangement.

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)). The IRS is soliciting comments concerning information collection requirements related to income, excise, and estate and gift taxes; effective dates and other issues arising under the employee benefit provisions of the tax reform act of 1984.

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 13704, Health Coverage Tax Credit Registration Update Form.

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)). The IRS is soliciting comments concerning information collection requirements related to bad debt reserves of banks.

This document contains corrections to advance notice of proposed rulemaking (REG-157714-06) that describes the rules that the Treasury Department and IRS are considering proposing relating to the determination of whether a plan is a governmental planwithin the meaning of section 414(d) and contains an appendix that includes a draft notice of proposed rulemaking on which the Treasury Department and IRS invite comments from the public. The document was published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, November 8, 2011(76 FR 69172).

This document describes a correction to final and temporary regulations (TD 9554) extending the exceptions from taxes under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (``FICA'') and the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (``FUTA'') under sections 3121(b)(3) (concerning individuals who work for certain family members), 3127 (concerning members of religious faiths), and 3306(c)(5) (concerning persons employed by children and spouses and children under 21 employed by their parents) of the Internal Revenue Code (``Code'') to entities that are disregarded as separate from their owners for Federal tax purposes. The temporary regulations also clarify the existing rule that the owners of disregarded entities, except for qualified subchapter S subsidiaries, are responsible for backup withholding and related information reporting requirements under section 3406. These regulations were published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, November 1, 2011 (76 FR 67363).