Department of Treasury August 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document cancels a public hearing on proposed regulations that provide guidance to Blue Cross and Blue Shield organizations, and certain other health care organizations, on computing and applying the medical loss ratio added to the Internal Revenue Code by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

This document contains proposed regulations relating to the requirements for filing certain employee retirement benefit plan statements, returns, and reports on magnetic media. The term magnetic media includes electronic filing, as well as other magnetic media specifically permitted under applicable regulations, revenue procedures, publications, forms, instructions, or other guidance on the IRS.gov Internet Web site. These regulations would affect plan administrators and employers maintaining retirement plans that are subject to various employee benefit reporting requirements under the Internal Revenue Code (Code).

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 IRS is soliciting comments concerning Definitions Under Subchapter S of the Internal Revenue Code.

The Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities (ACT) will hold a public meeting on Thursday, September 12, 2013.

This document describes corrections to final regulations [TD 9619] that provide guidance under section 336(e) of the Internal Revenue Code (CODE), which authorizes the issuance of regulations under which an election may be made to treat sale, exchange or distribution of at least 80 percent of the voting power and value of the stock of a corporation (target) as a sale of all its underlying assets. These regulations were published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, May 15, 2013.

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 continuing information collections through CIIS, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A). Currently, the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, Department of the Treasury, is soliciting comments concerning the Community Development Financial Institutions FundAwardee/Allocatee Annual Report (OMB Number 1559-0027), comprising the Institution Level Report (ILR) and the Transaction Level Report (TLR). The two documents comprise certain reporting requirements for participants in the CDFI Program, the Native American CDFI Assistance (NACA) Program, and the New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) Program. The Annual Report forms (and related documents, including the CDFI Program assistance agreement, the NACA Program assistance agreement, and the NMTC Program allocation agreement) may be found at the CDFI Fund's Web site at www.cdfifund.gov.

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 IRS is soliciting comments concerning carryover allocations and other rules relating to the low-income housing credit, and the section 42 utility allowance regulations concerning the low-income housing tax credit.

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 patient protection and affordable care act; preexisting condition exclusions, lifetime and annual limits, rescissions, and patient protections.

This document contains proposed regulations provide guidance on the tax credit available to certain small employers that offer health insurance coverage to their employees under section 45R of the Internal Revenue Code (Code), enacted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. These proposed regulations affect certain taxable employers and certain tax-exempt employers.

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 8825, Rental Real Estate Income and Expenses of a Partnership or an S Corporation.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (collectively, the agencies) are seeking comment on a proposal that would strengthen the agencies' leverage ratio standards for large, interconnected U.S. banking organizations. The proposal would apply to any U.S. top-tier bank holding company (BHC) with at least $700 billion in total consolidated assets or at least $10 trillion in assets under custody (covered BHC) and any insured depository institution (IDI) subsidiary of these BHCs. In the revised capital approaches adopted by the agencies in July, 2013 (2013 revised capital approaches), the agencies established a minimum supplementary leverage ratio of 3 percent (supplementary leverage ratio), consistent with the minimum leverage ratio adopted by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), for banking organizations subject to the advanced approaches risk-based capital rules. In this notice of proposed rulemaking (proposal or proposed rule), the agencies are proposing to establish a ``well capitalized'' threshold of 6 percent for the supplementary leverage ratio for any IDI that is a subsidiary of a covered BHC, under the agencies' prompt corrective action (PCA) framework. The Board also proposes to establish a new leverage buffer for covered BHCs above the minimum supplementary leverage ratio requirement of 3 percent (leverage buffer). The leverage buffer would function like the capital conservation buffer for the risk-based capital ratios in the 2013 revised capital approaches. A covered BHC that maintains a leverage buffer of tier 1 capital in an amount greater than 2 percent of its total leverage exposure would not be subject to limitations on distributions and discretionary bonus payments. The proposal would take effect beginning on January 1, 2018. The agencies seek comment on all aspects of this proposal.

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 an information collection renewal, 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 OMB control number. Under the PRA, Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice. The OCC is soliciting comment concerning its information collection titled, ``Comptroller's Licensing Manual.''

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the OCC 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. The OCC is seeking renewal of the control number for its information collection titled, ``Real Estate Lending and Appraisals.'' The OCC also is giving notice that it has sent the collection to OMB for review.

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, Treatment of Disregarded Entities Under IRC section 752.

This document contains final regulations relating to the disclosure of return information under section 6103(l)(21) of the Internal Revenue Code, as enacted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. The regulations define certain terms and prescribe certain items of return information in addition to those items prescribed by statute that will be disclosed, upon written request, under section 6103(l)(21).

This document contains corrections to final regulations and removal of temporary regulations (TD 9623) that were published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, July 3, 2013 (78 FR 39973). The final regulations are relating to the application of section 108(i) of the Internal Revenue Code to partnerships and S corporations and provides rules regarding the deferral of discharge of indebtedness income and original issue discount deductions by a partnership or an S corporation with respect to reacquisitions of applicable debt instruments after December 31, 2008, and before January 1, 2011.

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. The agencies, under the auspices of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), have approved the publication for public comment of proposed revisions to regulatory capital components and ratios portion of Schedule RC-R, Regulatory Capital, in the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Report or FFIEC 031 and FFIEC 041) and to the Risk-Based Capital Reporting for Institutions Subject to the Advanced Capital Adequacy Framework (FFIEC 101). The proposed revisions to the Call Report and the FFIEC 101 are consistent with the revised regulatory capital rules approved by the agencies during July 2013 (revised regulatory capital rules).\1\

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 8866, Interest Computation Under the Look-Back Method for Property Depreciated Under the Income Forecast Method.

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 an existing final regulation regarding excise taxes on excess benefit transactions.

This document contains corrections to final regulations and removal of temporary regulations (TD 9622) that were published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, July 3, 2013 (78 FR 39984). The final regulations provide necessary guidance regarding the accelerated inclusion of deferred discharge of indebtedness (also known as cancellation of debt (COD)) income (deferred COD income) and the accelerated deduction of deferred original issue discount (OID) (deferred OID deductions) under section 108(i)(5)(D) (acceleration rules), and the calculation of earnings and profits as a result of an election under section 108(i). In addition, these regulations provide rules applicable to all taxpayers regarding deferred OID deductions under section 108(i) as a result of a reacquisition of an applicable debt instrument by an issuer or related party.

The Board, Bureau, FDIC, FHFA, NCUA, and OCC (collectively, the Agencies) are proposing to amend Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), and the official interpretation to the regulation. This proposal relates to a final rule issued by the Agencies on January 18, 2013 (2013 Interagency Appraisals Final Rule or Final Rule), which goes into effect on January 18, 2014. The Final Rule implements a provision added to TILA by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Dodd-Frank Act or Act) requiring appraisals for ``higher-risk mortgages.'' For certain mortgages with an annual percentage rate that exceeds the average prime offer rate by a specified percentage, the Final Rule requires creditors to obtain an appraisal or appraisals meeting certain specified standards, provide applicants with a notification regarding the use of the appraisals, and give applicants a copy of the written appraisals used. The Agencies are proposing amendments to the Final Rule implementing these requirements; specifically, the Agencies are proposing exemptions from the rules for: transactions secured by existing manufactured homes and not land; certain ``streamlined'' refinancings; and transactions of $25,000 or less.

An open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Notices and Correspondence 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 an existing regulation, TD 9353, Section 1045 Application to Partnerships.

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.