26 CFR Chapter I - INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

This document contains final Income Tax Regulations with respect to a provision of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) that addresses situations in which foreign income taxes have been separated from the related income. These regulations are necessary to provide guidance on applying the statutory provision, which was enacted as part of legislation commonly referred to as the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act (EJMAA) on August 10, 2010. These regulations affect taxpayers claiming foreign tax credits or deducting foreign income taxes.

This document contains final regulations authorizing the IRS to prescribe the procedures by which certain entities may apply to the IRS for recognition of exemption from Federal income tax. These regulations affect qualified nonprofit health insurance issuers participating in the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan program established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that seek exemption from federal income tax under the Internal Revenue Code.

This document contains corrections to final regulations (TD 9704) that were published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, November 19, 2014 (79 FR 68763) relating to the consequences to U.S. and foreign persons for failing to file gain recognition agreements (GRAs) or related documents, or to satisfy other reporting obligations, associated with certain transfers of property to foreign corporations in nonrecognition exchanges.

This document contains final regulations concerning the manner of filing Form 5472, “Information Return of a 25% Foreign-Owned U.S. Corporation or a Foreign Corporation Engaged in a U.S. Trade or Business.” The final regulations affect certain 25-percent foreign-owned domestic corporations and certain foreign corporations that are engaged in a trade or business in the United States that are required to file Form 5472.

This document contains final regulations providing guidance relating to the provisions of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act that require specified foreign financial assets to be reported to the Internal Revenue Service for taxable years beginning after March 18, 2010. In particular, the final regulations provide guidance relating to the requirement that individuals attach a statement to their income tax return to provide required information regarding specified foreign financial assets in which they have an interest. The final regulations affect individuals required to file Form 1040, “U.S. Individual Income Tax Return,” or Form 1040-EZ, “Income Tax Return for Single and Joint Filers With No Dependents,” and certain individuals required to file Form 1040-NR, “Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return,” or Form 1040NR-EZ, “U.S. Income Tax Return for Certain Nonresident Aliens with No Dependents.”

This document contains final regulations relating to the requirement to maintain minimum essential coverage enacted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, as amended by the TRICARE Affirmation Act and Public Law 111-173 (collectively, the Affordable Care Act). These final regulations provide individual taxpayers with guidance under section 5000A of the Internal Revenue Code on the requirement to maintain minimum essential coverage and rules governing certain types of exemptions from that requirement.

This document contains final and temporary regulations relating to the consequences to U.S. and foreign persons for failing to file gain recognition agreements (GRAs) or related documents, or to satisfy other reporting obligations, associated with certain transfers of property to foreign corporations in nonrecognition exchanges. The regulations are necessary to update and clarify the rules that apply when a U.S. or foreign person fails to file a GRA or related documents or to satisfy other reporting obligations. These regulations affect U.S. and foreign persons that transfer property to foreign corporations in nonrecognition exchanges.

This document contains a correction to final and temporary regulations (TD 9657), which were published in the Federal Register on Thursday, March 6, 2014 (79 FR 12812). The regulations relate to information reporting by foreign financial institutions (FFIs) with respect to U.S. accounts and withholding on certain payments to FFIs and other foreign entities.

This document contains final regulations regarding the determination of the basis of stock or securities in certain reorganizations where no stock or securities of the issuing corporation is issued and distributed in the transaction. These final regulations clarify that only a shareholder that owns actual shares in the issuing corporation in such a reorganization can designate the actual share of stock of the issuing corporation to which the basis, if any, of the stock or securities surrendered will attach. These regulations affect corporations engaging in such transactions and their shareholders.

This document contains final regulations under section 312 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) that clarify the regulations under section 312 regarding the allocation of earnings and profits in tax-free transfers from one corporation to another. These regulations affect corporations involved in these transfers and their shareholders. This document also contains final regulations under section 381 of the Code that modify the definition of an acquiring corporation for purposes of section 381 with regard to certain acquisitions of assets. These regulations affect corporations that acquire the assets of other corporations in corporate reorganizations.

This document contains corrections to final regulations (TD 9696) that were published in the Federal Register on October 1, 2014 (79 FR 59112). The final regulations are relating to the deductibility of expenses for lodging when an individual is not travelling away from home (local lodging).

This document contains final regulations that provide guidance on the mandatory electronic filing of Form 2290, “Heavy Highway Vehicle Use Tax Return,” for 25 or more vehicles; credits or refunds for sold, destroyed, or stolen vehicles; and the tax liability and computation of tax on the use of certain second-hand vehicles. The regulations affect owners and operators of highway motor vehicles with a taxable gross weight of 55,000 pounds or more. These final regulations also remove the temporary regulations that provide guidance on the filing of Form 2290 and payment of the associated highway use tax for the taxable period beginning July 1, 2011.

This document contains final 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 affect plan administrators and employers maintaining retirement plans that are subject to various employee benefit reporting requirements under the Internal Revenue Code (Code).

This document contains final regulations on the application of the $500,000 deduction limitation for remuneration provided by certain health insurance providers under section 162(m)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). These regulations affect certain health insurance providers providing remuneration that exceeds the deduction limitation.

This document contains final regulations providing guidance relating to applicable defined benefit plans. Applicable defined benefit plans are defined benefit plans that use a lump sum-based benefit formula, including cash balance plans and pension equity plans, as well as other hybrid retirement plans that have a similar effect. These regulations provide guidance relating to certain provisions that apply to applicable defined benefit plans that were added to the Internal Revenue Code (Code) by the Pension Protection Act of 2006, as amended by the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008. These regulations affect sponsors, administrators, participants, and beneficiaries of these plans.

This document contains final regulations under section 3402(p) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) relating to voluntary withholding agreements. The final regulations allow the Secretary to issue guidance in the Internal Revenue Bulletin to describe payments for which the Secretary finds that income tax withholding under a voluntary withholding agreement would be appropriate. The regulations affect persons making and persons receiving payments for which the IRS issues subsequent guidance authorizing the parties to enter into voluntary withholding agreements.

This document contains corrections to final regulations (TD 9676) that were published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, July 16, 2014 (79 FR 41424) providing guidance concerning the allocation and apportionment of interest expense by corporations owning a 10 percent or greater interest in a partnership, as well as the allocation and apportionment of interest expense using the fair market value method. These regulations also update the interest allocation regulations to conform to the statutory changes made by section 216 of the legislation commonly referred to as the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act (EJMAA), enacted on August 10, 2010, affecting the affiliation of certain foreign corporations for purposes of section 864(e). These regulations affect taxpayers that allocate and apportion interest expense.

This document contains final regulations regarding dispositions of property subject to depreciation under section 168 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) (Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS) property). The final regulations also amend the general asset account regulations and the accounting for MACRS property regulations. The final regulations provide rules for determining gain or loss upon the disposition of MACRS property, determining the asset disposed of, and accounting for partial dispositions of MACRS property. The final regulations affect taxpayers that dispose of MACRS property. The final regulations also remove temporary regulations under section 168 regarding general asset accounts and disposition of MACRS property.

This document contains final regulations relating to the retail inventory method of accounting. The regulations restate and clarify the computation of ending inventory values under the retail inventory method and provide a special rule for certain taxpayers that receive margin protection payments or vendor allowances that are required to reduce only cost of goods sold. The regulations affect taxpayers that are retailers and use a retail inventory method.

These regulations provide comprehensive guidance for the award program authorized under Internal Revenue Code (Code) section 7623. The regulations provide guidance on submitting information regarding underpayments of tax or violations of the internal revenue laws and filing claims for award, as well as on the administrative proceedings applicable to claims for award under section 7623. The regulations also provide guidance on the determination and payment of awards, and provide definitions of key terms used in section 7623. Finally, the regulations confirm that the Director, officers, and employees of the Whistleblower Office are authorized to disclose return information to the extent necessary to conduct whistleblower administrative proceedings. The regulations provide needed guidance to the general public as well as officers and employees of the IRS who review claims under section 7623.

This document amends final regulations (TD 9664) that were published in the Federal Register on May 9, 2014. The final regulations provide guidance on which costs incurred by estates or trusts other than grantor trusts (non-grantor trusts) are subject to the 2-percent floor for miscellaneous itemized deductions under section 67(a) of the Internal Revenue Code.

This document contains final regulations that provide guidance concerning the allocation and apportionment of interest expense by corporations owning a 10 percent or greater interest in a partnership, as well as the allocation and apportionment of interest expense using the fair market value method. These regulations also update the interest allocation regulations to conform to the statutory changes made by section 216 of the legislation commonly referred to as the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act (EJMAA), enacted on August 10, 2010, affecting the affiliation of certain foreign corporations for purposes of section 864(e). These regulations affect taxpayers that allocate and apportion interest expense.

This document contains corrections to final regulations (TD 9665) that were published in the Federal Register on Monday, May 12, 2014 (79 FR 26838) clarifying the rules regarding the tax treatment of payments by qualified retirement plans for accident or health insurance. The final regulations set forth the general rule under section 402(a) that amounts held in a qualified plan that are used to pay accident or health insurance premiums are taxable distributions unless described in certain statutory exemptions. The final regulations do not extend this result to arrangements under which amounts are used to pay premiums for disability insurance that replaces retirement plan contributions in the event of a participant's disability. These regulations affect sponsors, administrators, participants, and beneficiaries of qualified retirement plans.

This document contains final regulations on the tax credit available to certain small employers that offer health insurance coverage to their employees. The credit is provided under section 45R of the Internal Revenue Code (Code), enacted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. These regulations affect small employers, both taxable and tax-exempt that are or might be eligible for the tax credit.

These final regulations clarify the maximum allowed length of any reasonable and bona fide employment-based orientation period, consistent with the 90-day waiting period limitation set forth in section 2708 of the Public Health Service Act, as added by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Affordable Care Act), as amended, and incorporated into the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code.

This document contains temporary regulations modifying regulations promulgated under section 7602(a) of the Internal Revenue Code relating to administrative summonses. Specifically, these temporary regulations clarify that persons with whom the IRS or the Office of Chief Counsel (Chief Counsel) contracts for services described in section 6103(n) and its implementing regulations may be included as persons designated to receive summoned books, papers, records, or other data and to take summoned testimony under oath. These temporary regulations may affect taxpayers, a taxpayer's officers or employees, and any third party who is served with a summons, as well as any other person entitled to notice of a summons. The text of these temporary regulations serves as the text of the proposed regulations (REG-121542-14) 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 regulations on Form 5472, “Information Return of a 25% Foreign-Owned U.S. Corporation or a Foreign Corporation Engaged in a U.S. Trade or Business.” The final regulations affect certain 25-percent foreign-owned domestic corporations and certain foreign corporations that are engaged in a trade or business in the United States that are required to file Form 5472. Contemporaneously, new proposed regulations are being issued that would remove a current provision for timely filing of Form 5472 separately from an income tax return that is untimely filed. As a result, the proposed regulations would require Form 5472 to be filed in all cases only with the filer's income tax return for the taxable year by the due date (including extensions) of that return.

This document contains final and temporary regulations relating to the election of the alternative simplified credit. The final and temporary regulations will affect certain taxpayers claiming the credit. The text of these temporary regulations also serves as the text of the proposed regulations (REG-133495-13) published in the Proposed Rules section in this issue of the Federal Register .

This document contains corrections to final regulations (TD 9662) that were published in the Federal Register on Monday, March 31, 2014 (79 FR 17860) relating to section 3504 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) providing circumstances under which a person (payor) is designated to perform the acts required of an employer and is liable for employment taxes with respect to wages or compensation paid by the payor to individuals performing services for the payor's client pursuant to a service agreement between the payor and the client.

This document contains final regulations that provide guidance on which costs incurred by estates or trusts other than grantor trusts (non-grantor trusts) are subject to the 2-percent floor for miscellaneous itemized deductions under section 67(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. These regulations affect estates and non-grantor trusts.

This document contains final regulations relating to requirements for Affordable Insurance Exchanges (Exchanges) to report information relating to the health insurance premium tax credit enacted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. These final regulations apply to Exchanges that make qualified health plans available to individuals.

This document contains corrections to final and temporary regulations (TD 9658), which were published in the Federal Register on Thursday, March 6, 2014 (79 FR 12726). The regulations relate to the withholding of tax on certain U.S. source income paid to foreign persons, information reporting and backup withholding with respect to payments made to certain U.S. persons, portfolio interest paid to nonresident alien individuals and foreign corporations, and the associated requirements governing collection, refunds, and credits of withheld amounts under these rules.

This document contains final regulations under section 3504 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) providing circumstances under which a person (payor) is designated to perform the acts required of an employer and is liable for employment taxes with respect to wages or compensation paid by the payor to individuals performing services for the payor's client pursuant to a service agreement between the payor and the client.

This document contains final regulations relating to property transferred in connection with the performance of services under section 83 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). These final regulations affect certain taxpayers who receive property transferred in connection with the performance of services.

These final regulations implement the 90-day waiting period limitation under section 2708 of the Public Health Service Act, as added by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Affordable Care Act), as amended, and incorporated into the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code. These regulations also finalize amendments to existing regulations to conform to Affordable Care Act provisions. Specifically, these rules amend regulations implementing existing provisions such as some of the portability provisions added by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) because those provisions of the HIPAA regulations have become superseded or require amendment as a result of the market reform protections added by the Affordable Care Act.

This document contains corrections to final regulations (TD 9645) that were published in the Federal Register on Friday, November 29, 2013. The final regulations are relating to Additional Hospital Insurance Tax on income above threshold amounts, as added by the Affordable Care Act.

This document contains corrections to final regulations (TD 9649) that were published in the Federal Register on Thursday, December 12, 2013 (78 FR 75471). The final regulations are relating to agents authorized by the secretary under section 3504 of the Internal Revenue Code to perform acts required of employers who are home care service recipients.

This document contains temporary regulations that identify certain stock of a foreign corporation that is disregarded in calculating ownership of the foreign corporation for purposes of determining whether it is a surrogate foreign corporation. These regulations also provide guidance with respect to the effect of transfers of stock of a foreign corporation after the foreign corporation has acquired substantially all of the properties of a domestic corporation or of a trade or business of a domestic partnership. These regulations affect certain domestic corporations and partnerships (and certain parties related thereto), and foreign corporations that acquire substantially all of the properties of such domestic corporations or of the trades or businesses of such domestic partnerships. The text of the temporary regulations serves as the text of the proposed regulations set forth in the Proposed Rules section in this issue of the Federal Register . This document also contains a final regulation that provides a cross-reference to the temporary regulations.

This document contains final regulations that provide guidance on the tax treatment of a debt instrument with a bond premium carryforward in the holder's final accrual period. The regulations in this document provide guidance to holders of Treasury securities and other debt instruments acquired at a premium.

This document contains final regulations relating to the capitalization and allocation of royalties that are incurred only upon the sale of property produced or property acquired for resale (sales-based royalties). This document also contains final regulations relating to adjusting inventory costs for a type of an allowance, discount, or price rebate earned on the sale of merchandise (sales-based vendor chargebacks). These regulations modify the simplified production method and the simplified resale method of allocating capitalized costs between ending inventory and cost of goods sold. These regulations affect taxpayers that incur capitalizable sales-based royalties or earn sales-based vendor chargebacks.

This document contains final regulations that provide guidance to Blue Cross and Blue Shield organizations, and certain other qualifying 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 temporary regulations that provide guidance on determining ownership of a passive foreign investment company (“PFIC”) and on the annual filing requirements for shareholders of PFICs. These temporary regulations primarily affect shareholders of PFICs that do not currently file Form 8621, “Information Return by a Shareholder of a Passive Foreign Investment Company or Qualified Electing Fund,” with respect to their PFIC interests. In addition, these temporary regulations provide guidance on an exception to the requirement for certain shareholders of foreign corporations to file Form 5471, “Information Return of U.S. Persons with Respect to Certain Foreign Corporations.” These regulations also update certain rules related to Form 5471 to take into account statutory changes. The text of these temporary regulations also serves as the text of the proposed regulations (REG-140974-11) set forth in the notice of proposed rulemaking on this subject in the Proposed Rules section of this issue of the Federal Register .

This document contains final regulations relating to agents authorized by the Secretary under section 3504 of the Internal Revenue Code to perform acts required of employers who are home care service recipients. The final regulations affect employers and their designated agents who pay wages for home care services, which are subject to taxes under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act. The final regulations also modify the existing regulations under section 3504 to be consistent with the organizational structure of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and to update the citation to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

This document contains final regulations relating to certain dividend equivalents for purposes of section 871(m) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). The regulations provide guidance to nonresident alien individuals and foreign corporations that hold specified notional principal contracts providing for payments that are contingent upon or determined by reference to U.S. source dividend payments and to withholding agents.

This document contains final regulations that require information reporting by persons who receive mortgage insurance premiums, including prepaid premiums, aggregating $600 or more during any calendar year. The final regulations implement reporting requirements that result from the extension of the treatment of mortgage insurance premiums made by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. These regulations will affect any person who, in the course of a trade or business, receives from an individual mortgage insurance premiums that in the aggregate total $600 or more during a calendar year.

This document contains amendments to regulations relating to certain cash or deferred arrangements under section 401(k) and matching contributions and employee contributions under section 401(m). These regulations provide guidance on permitted mid-year reductions or suspensions of safe harbor nonelective contributions in certain circumstances for amendments adopted after May 18, 2009. These regulations also revise the requirements for permitted mid-year reductions or suspensions of safe harbor matching contributions for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2015. The regulations affect administrators of, employers maintaining, participants in, and beneficiaries of certain defined contribution plans that satisfy the nondiscrimination tests of section 401(k) and section 401(m) using one of the design-based safe harbors.

This document contains final rules implementing the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, which requires parity between mental health or substance use disorder benefits and medical/surgical benefits with respect to financial requirements and treatment limitations under group health plans and group and individual health insurance coverage. This document also contains a technical amendment relating to external review with respect to the multi-state plan program administered by the Office of Personnel Management.

This document contains final regulations relating to the transfer or assignment of certain derivative contracts. The final regulations provide guidance to the nonassigning counterparty to a derivative contract and an assignee on certain notional principal contracts that are derivative contracts. The final regulations provide that the nonassigning counterparty does not have an exchange for purposes of § 1.1001-1(a) when certain derivative contracts are transferred or assigned and clarify that the embedded loan rules of § 1.446-3(g)(4) do not apply to such transactions.

This document contains amendments to temporary regulations relating to guidance for taxpayers electing to establish a mixed straddle using straddle-by-straddle identification. These amendments include a change to the applicability date of the temporary regulations pursuant to which the temporary regulations apply to transactions established after the date of publication of the Treasury decision adopting these rules as final regulations in the Federal Register . The amendments to the temporary regulations will affect taxpayers who elect to establish a mixed straddle using straddle-by-straddle identification.

This document contains corrections to final and temporary regulations (TD 9629) that were published in the Federal Register on Thursday, August 15, 2013 (78 FR 49681). The regulations provide guidance to charitable hospital organizations regarding the requirement of a return to accompany payment of the excise tax, enacted as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, for failure to meet the community health needs assessment (CHNA) requirements for any taxable year.

This document contains corrections to final regulations (TD 9610), which were published in the Federal Register on Monday, January 28, 2013 (78 FR 5874). The regulations related to information reporting by foreign financial institutions (FFIs) with respect to U.S. accounts and withholding on certain payments to FFIs and other foreign entities.

This document contains final and temporary regulations relating to the application of the straddle rules to a debt instrument. The temporary regulations clarify that a taxpayer's obligation under a debt instrument can be a position in personal property that is part of a straddle. The temporary regulations primarily affect taxpayers that issue debt instruments that provide for one or more payments that reference the value of personal property or a position in personal property. The text of these temporary regulations also serves as the text of the proposed regulations (REG-111753-12) set forth in the Proposed Rules section in this issue of the Federal Register .

This document contains final regulations providing guidance relating to the determination of the amount of taxes paid for purposes of the foreign tax credit. These regulations address certain highly structured arrangements that produce inappropriate foreign tax credit results. The regulations affect individuals and corporations that claim direct and indirect foreign tax credits.