In this issue of the Bulletin, the IRS is issuing temporary regulations (T.D. 9498) relating to the application of section 108(i) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) to partnerships and S corporations. The temporary regulations provide 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. The regulations affect partnerships and S corporations with respect to reacquisitions of applicable debt instruments and their partners and shareholders. The text of the temporary regulations published in this issue of the Bulletin also serves as the text of these proposed regulations.
Written or electronic comments and requests for a public hearing must be received November 12, 2010.
Send submissions to: CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG-144762-09), Room 5203, Internal Revenue Service, P.O. Box 7604, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, DC 20044. Submissions may be hand-delivered Monday through Friday between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG-144762-09), Courier’s Desk, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, or sent electronically, via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov (IRS REG-144762-09).
Concerning the proposed regulations, Megan A. Stoner and Joseph R. Worst, Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Passthroughs and Special Industries) (202) 622-3070; concerning submissions of comments or a request for a public hearing, Richard Hurst, (202) 622-7180 (not toll-free numbers) and his e-mail address is Richard.A.Hurst@irscounsel.treas.gov.
The collection of information contained in these proposed regulations has been reviewed and approved by the Office of Management and Budget in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507) under control number 1545-2147. The collection of information in these regulations are in §1.108(i)-2(b)(3)(iv). Under §1.108(i)-2(b)(3)(iv), a partner in a partnership that makes an election under section 108(i) is required to provide certain information to the partnership so that the partnership can correctly determine the partner’s deferred section 752 amount with respect to an applicable debt instrument.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid control number assigned by the Office of Management and Budget.
Books or records relating to a collection of information must be retained as long as their contents may become material in the administration of any internal revenue law. Generally, tax returns and tax return information are confidential, as required by 26 U.S.C. 6103.
Temporary regulations in this issue of the Bulletin amend the Income Tax Regulations (26 CFR part 1) relating to section 108(i). The temporary regulations set forth rules for applying section 108(i) to partnerships and S corporations. The text of the temporary regulations also serves as the text of these proposed regulations. The preamble to the temporary regulations explains the temporary regulations and these proposed regulations.
It has been determined that this notice of proposed rulemaking is not a significant regulatory action as defined in Executive Order 12866. Therefore, a regulatory assessment is not required. It is hereby certified that the collection of information contained in these regulations will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. This certification is based on the fact that the collection of information imposed on partners of partnerships is minimal in that it requires partners to share information with partnerships that partners already maintain. Moreover, it should take a partner no more than one hour to satisfy the information-sharing requirement in these regulations. Therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. chapter 6) is not required. Pursuant to section 7805(f) of the Code, this regulation has been submitted to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration for comment on its impact on small business.
Before these proposed regulations are adopted as final regulations, consideration will be given to any written (a signed original and eight (8) copies) or electronic comments that are submitted timely to the IRS. The IRS and the Treasury Department request comments on the clarity of the proposed rules and how they can be made easier to understand. All comments will be available for public inspection and copying. A public hearing will be scheduled if requested in writing by any person that timely submits written or electronic comments. If a public hearing is scheduled, notice of the date, time, and place for the public hearing will be published in the Federal Register.
Accordingly, 26 CFR Part 1 is proposed to be amended as follows:
Paragraph 1. The authority citation for part 1 is amended by adding an entry in numerical order to read as follows:
Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805 * * *
Section 1.108(i)-2 also issued under 26 U.S.C. 108(i)(7). * * *
Par. 2. Section 1.108(i)-2 is added to read as follows:
[The text of proposed §1.108(i)-2 is the same as the text of §1.108(i)-2T(a) through (f) published elsewhere in this issue of the Bulletin].
Steven T. Miller,The Internal Revenue Bulletin is produced and published by the Internal Revenue Service and contains IRS pronouncements affecting tax analysis under the Code and the Regulations, including but not limited to Revenue Procedures, Revenue Rulings, Notices and Announcements. Access the IRS site at https://www.irs.gov/help/irsgov-accessibility for information concerning accessibility of IRS materials. While every effort has been made to ensure that the IRB database files available through the TouchTax application are accurate, those using TouchTax for legal research should verify their results against the printed versions of the IRBs available from the IRS.