Department of Treasury 2017 – 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. Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning Form 8874-B, Notice of Recapture Event for New Markets 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. Currently, the IRS is soliciting comments concerning an existing final regulation regarding excise taxes on excess benefit transactions.

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 6524, Office of Chief Counsel Application.

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 S Corporation Guidance under AJCA of 2004.

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 (PRA). In accordance with the requirements of the 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 soliciting comment concerning the renewal of its information collection titled ``Appraisals for Higher-Priced Mortgage Loans.'' The OCC also is giving notice that it has sent the collection to OMB for review.

This document provides guidance to nonresident alien individuals and foreign corporations that hold certain financial products providing for payments that are contingent upon or determined by reference to U.S. source dividend payments. This document also provides guidance to withholding agents that are responsible for withholding U.S. tax with respect to a dividend equivalent, as well as certain other parties to section 871(m) transactions and their agents.

This document contains corrections to the final and temporary regulations (T.D. 9790) that were published in the Federal Register on Friday, October 21, 2016 (81 FR 72858). The regulations relate to the determination of whether an interest in a corporation is treated as stock or indebtedness for all purposes of the Internal Revenue Code.

This document contains corrections to a notice of proposed rulemaking by cross-reference to temporary regulation (REG-133353-16) that was published in the Federal Register on Friday, December 9, 2016. The proposed regulations authorize the disclosure of specified return information to the Census Bureau (Bureau) for purposes of structuring the censuses and national economic accounts and conducting related statistical activities authorized by title 13.

This temporary rule amends the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) regulations to implement changes made to the definition of ``hard cider'' in the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 by the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015. The modified definition broadens the range of wines eligible for the hard cider tax rate. TTB is amending its regulations to reflect the modified definition of hard cider effective for products removed on or after January 1, 2017, and to set forth new labeling requirements to identify products to which the hard cider tax rate applies. The new labeling requirements include both a one-year transitional rule and a new labeling requirement that takes effect for products removed on or after January 1, 2018. TTB is also soliciting comments from all interested parties on these amendments through a notice of proposed rulemaking published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register.

This document contains proposed amendments to the definitions of qualified matching contributions (QMACs) and qualified nonelective contributions (QNECs) under regulations relating to certain qualified retirement plans that contain cash or deferred arrangements under section 401(k) or that provide for matching contributions or employee contributions under section 401(m). Under these regulations, employer contributions to a plan would be able to qualify as QMACs or QNECs if they satisfy applicable nonforfeitability and distribution requirements at the time they are allocated to participants' accounts, but need not meet these requirements when they are contributed to the plan. These regulations would affect participants in, beneficiaries of, employers maintaining, and administrators of tax-qualified plans that contain cash or deferred arrangements or provide for matching contributions or employee contributions.

In the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal Register, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury Department) and the IRS are amending portions of temporary regulations that address certain transactions that are structured to avoid the purposes of section 7874 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). The temporary regulations affect certain domestic corporations and domestic partnerships whose assets are directly or indirectly acquired by a foreign corporation and certain persons related to such domestic corporations and domestic partnerships. The text of the temporary regulations in the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal Register also serves as the text of these proposed regulations.

This document contains final regulations effecting the repeal of the General Utilities doctrine by the Tax Reform Act of 1986. The final regulations address the length of time during which a RIC or a REIT may be subject to corporate level tax on certain dispositions of property. The final regulations affect RICs and REITs.

This notice announces the next meeting of the Community Development Advisory Board (the Advisory Board), which provides advice to the Director of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (the CDFI Fund). The meeting will be conducted via telephone conference call.

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 211, Application for Reward for Original Information.

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 TD 8584, capitalization of interest.

This document informs the public that the maximum penalty for violations of the Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act (ABLA) is being adjusted in accordance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended. Prior to the publication of this document, any person who violated the provisions of the ABLA was subject to a civil penalty of not more than $19,787, with each day constituting a separate offense. This document announces that this maximum penalty is being increased to $20,111.

In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 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 August 15, 2016, the agencies, under the auspices of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), requested public comment for 60 days on a proposal for a new Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income for Eligible Small Institutions (FFIEC 051). The proposed FFIEC 051 is a streamlined version of the existing Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income for a Bank with Domestic Offices Only (FFIEC 041), which was created by (1) removing certain existing schedules and data items and replacing them with a limited number of data items in a new supplemental schedule, (2) eliminating certain other existing data items, and (3) reducing the reporting frequency of certain data items. The FFIEC 051 generally would be available to institutions with domestic offices only and assets of less than $1 billion, which currently file the FFIEC 041. Of the nearly 6,000 insured depository institutions, approximately 5,200 would be eligible to file the proposed FFIEC 051. When compared to the existing FFIEC 041, the proposed FFIEC 051 shows a reduction in the number of pages from 85 to 61. This decrease is the result of the removal of approximately 950 or about 40 percent of the nearly 2,400 data items in the FFIEC 041. Of the data items remaining from the FFIEC 041, the agencies have reduced the reporting frequency for approximately 100 data items in the proposed FFIEC 051. In addition, the FFIEC and the agencies requested public comment on proposed revisions to the FFIEC 041 and the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income for a Bank with Domestic and Foreign Offices (FFIEC 031), which are currently approved collections of information. The Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income are commonly referred to as the Call Report. The comment period for the August 2016 notice ended on October 14, 2016. As described in the Supplementary Information section, after considering the comments received on the proposals, the FFIEC and the agencies will proceed with the implementation of the proposed FFIEC 051, along with the proposed reporting revisions to the FFIEC 041 and FFIEC 031, with some modifications to the proposals for all three versions of the Call Report. With OMB approval, the proposed FFIEC 051 and the proposed reporting changes to the existing FFIEC 031 and FFIEC 041 would become effective as of March 31, 2017. The agencies also are giving notice that they have sent the collection to OMB for review.

The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund), Department of the Treasury, requests comments from the public regarding the current policies and procedures to certify an organization as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). Capitalized terms found in this notice are defined in the regulations that govern the CDFI Program, in our regulations.

This document contains proposed regulations under chapter 4 of Subtitle A (sections 1471 through 1474) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (Code) describing the verification requirements (including certifications of compliance) and events of default for entities that agree to perform the chapter 4 due diligence, withholding, and reporting requirements on behalf of certain foreign financial institutions (FFIs) or the chapter 4 due diligence and reporting obligations on behalf of certain non-financial foreign entities. These proposed regulations also describe the certification requirements and procedures for IRS's review of certain trustees of trustee-documented trusts and the procedures for IRS's review of periodic certifications provided by registered deemed-compliant FFIs. In addition, these proposed regulations describe the procedures for future modifications to the requirements for certifications of compliance for participating FFIs. These proposed regulations also describe the requirements for certifications of compliance for participating FFIs that are members of consolidated compliance groups. In addition, in the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal Register, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury Department) and IRS are issuing temporary regulations that provide additional guidance under chapter 4 (temporary chapter 4 regulations). The text of the temporary chapter 4 regulations also serves as the text of the regulations contained in this document that are proposed by cross-reference to the temporary chapter 4 regulations. The preamble to the temporary chapter 4 regulations explains the temporary chapter 4 regulations and these proposed regulations that cross-reference to the temporary chapter 4 regulations.

In the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal Register, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury Department) and the IRS are issuing temporary regulations (TD 9808) that revise certain provisions of the final regulations regarding withholding of tax on certain U.S. source income paid to foreign persons and requirements for certain claims for refund or credit of income tax made by foreign persons. The text of the temporary regulations also serves as the text of these proposed regulations.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is amending its regulations relating to alcohol excise taxes to implement certain changes made to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (IRC) by the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (PATH Act). This rulemaking implements section 332 of the PATH Act, which amends the IRC to change tax return due dates and remove bond requirements for certain eligible taxpayers. Section 332 authorizes a new annual return period for taxpayers paying taxes imposed with respect to distilled spirits, wines, and beer on a deferred basis who reasonably expect to be liable for not more than $1,000 in such taxes imposed for the calendar year and who are liable for not more than $1,000 in such taxes in the preceding calendar year. Section 332 also removes bond requirements for taxpayers who are eligible to pay excise taxes on distilled spirits, wines, and beer using quarterly or annual return periods and who pay those taxes on a deferred basis. Under section 332, such taxpayers are exempt from bond requirements with respect to distilled spirits and wine only to the extent those products are for nonindustrial use. TTB is soliciting comments from all interested parties on these amendments through a notice of proposed rulemaking published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register.