Internal Revenue Service July 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document contains a correction to a notice of proposed rulemaking by cross-reference to temporary regulations (REG-121698-08) that was published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, July 2, 2008 (73 FR 37910) providing updated guidance affecting tax return preparers regarding the disclosure of a taxpayer's social security number to a tax return preparer located outside of the United States in order to provide an exception allowing such disclosure with the taxpayer's consent in limited circumstances.

This document contains a correction to final and temporary regulations (TD 9409) that was published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, July 2, 2008 (73 FR 37804) providing rules relating to the disclosure and use of tax return information by tax return preparers. These regulations provide updated guidance regarding the disclosure of a taxpayer's social security number to a tax return preparer located outside of the United States.

This document contains proposed regulations providing guidance on employer comparable contributions to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) under section 4980G of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) as amended by sections 302, 305 and 306 of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (the Act). The proposed regulations also provide guidance relating to the requirement of a return to accompany payment of the excise tax under section 4980B, 4980D, 4980E, or 4980G of the Code and the time for filing that return. These proposed regulations would affect employers that contribute to employees' HSAs and Archer MSAs, employers or employee organizations that sponsor a group health plan, and certain third parties such as insurance companies or HMOs or third-party administrators who are responsible for providing benefits under the plan. This document also provides notice of a public hearing on these proposed regulations.

This document contains final regulations providing guidance on the portion of property transferred to a trust or otherwise, that is properly includible in a grantor's gross estate under Internal Revenue Code (Code) sections 2036 and 2039 if the grantor has retained the use of the property or the right to an annuity, unitrust, or other payment from such property for life, for any period not ascertainable without reference to the grantor's death, or for a period that does not in fact end before the grantor's death. The final regulations affect estates that are required to file Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return.

This document contains proposed regulations under sections 401(a)(9) and 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) to permit a governmental plan to comply with the required minimum distribution rules by using a reasonable and good faith interpretation of the statute. These proposed regulations will affect administrators of, employers maintaining, participants in, and beneficiaries of governmental plans.

In the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal Register, the IRS is issuing temporary regulations relating to the election to expense qualified refinery property under section 179C of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) and affects taxpayers who own refineries located in the United States. The temporary regulations reflect changes to the law by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The text of those regulations also serves as the text of these proposed regulations. This document also provides notice of a public hearing.

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 990-EZ, Short Form Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax.

This document contains final and temporary regulations relating to elections to deduct start-up expenditures under section 195 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code), organizational expenditures of corporations under section 248, and organizational expenses of partnerships under section 709. The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 amended these three sections of the Code to provide similar rules for deducting these types of expenses that are paid or incurred after October 22, 2004. The regulations affect taxpayers that pay or incur these expenses and provide guidance on how to elect to deduct the expenses in accordance with the new rules. The text of these temporary regulations also serves as the text of the proposed regulations set forth in the notice of proposed rulemaking on this subject in the Proposed Rules section in this issue of the Federal Register.

This document contains final and temporary regulations addressing the treatment of certain income and assets related to the leasing of aircraft or vessels in foreign commerce under sections 367, 954, and 956 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). The regulations reflect statutory changes made by section 415 of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (AJCA). In general, the regulations will affect United States shareholders of controlled foreign corporations that derive income from the leasing of aircraft or vessels in foreign commerce and U.S. persons that transfer property subject to these leases to a foreign corporation. The text of these temporary regulations also serves as the text of the proposed regulations set forth in the Proposed Rules section in this issue of the Federal Register.

In the Procedure and Administration section of this issue of the Federal Register, the IRS is issuing temporary regulations that provide updated guidance affecting tax return preparers regarding the disclosure of a taxpayer's social security number to a tax return preparer located outside of the United States in order to provide an exception allowing such disclosure with the taxpayer's consent in limited circumstances. The text of those temporary regulations also serves as the text of these proposed regulations. This document invites comments from the public on these regulations, and provides notice of a public hearing on these proposed regulations.

This document contains final regulations relating to a claim that a child is a dependent by parents who are divorced, legally separated under a decree of separate maintenance, or separated under a written separation agreement, or who live apart at all times during the last 6 months of the calendar year. The regulations reflect amendments under the Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004 (WFTRA) and the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005.

This document contains final regulations relating to employment tax adjustments and employment tax refund claims. The final regulations modify the process for making interest-free adjustments for both underpayments and overpayments of Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) and Railroad Retirement Tax Act (RRTA) taxes and Federal income tax withholding (ITW) under sections 6205(a) and 6413(a), respectively, of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). These regulations also modify the process for filing claims for refund of overpayments of employment taxes under sections 6402 and 6414. This document contains final regulations relating to the return requirements under section 6011 to reflect the changes to the adjustment and refund processes, and to reflect additional statutory and process updates. This document also contains final regulations under section 6302 to clarify deposit obligations with respect to interest-free adjustments of underpayments and the effect of adjustments and refunds on the deposit schedule of a Form 943 filer.

In the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal Register, the IRS is issuing final and temporary regulations relating to the simplification of procedures for automatic extensions of time to file certain returns. These simplified procedures are aimed at reducing overall taxpayer burden. The text of the temporary regulations also serves as the text of these proposed regulations.