In the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Bulletin, the IRS is issuing temporary regulations relating to the branded prescription drug fee. This fee was enacted by section 9008 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by section 1404 of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, and the Health Care and Reconciliation Act of 2010 (collectively the ACA). The proposed regulations modify the definition of controlled group for purposes of the branded prescription drug fee. The proposed regulations affect persons engaged in the business of manufacturing or importing certain branded prescription drugs. The text of the temporary regulations also serves as the text of the proposed regulations.
Send submissions to: CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG–123286–14), room 5205, Internal Revenue Service, PO Box 7604, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, DC 20044. Submissions may be hand-delivered to: CC:PA:LPD:PR Monday through Friday between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to: CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG–123286–14), Courier’s Desk, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, or sent electronically via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov (IRS REG–123286–14).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Concerning the proposed regulations, Celia Gabrysh, (202) 317-6855; concerning submissions of comments and request for a hearing, Oluwafunmilayo Taylor, (202) 317-6901 (not toll-free numbers).
Temporary regulations in the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Bulletin amend §§ 51.2(e)(3) and 51.11(c) of the Branded Prescription Drug Fee Regulations, 26 CFR Part 51. The text of those regulations also serves as the text of these proposed regulations. The preamble to the temporary regulations explains the amendment.
It has been determined that this notice of proposed rulemaking is not a significant regulatory action as defined in Executive Order 12866, as supplemented by Executive Order 13563. Therefore, a regulatory flexibility assessment is not required. It also has been determined that section 553(b) of the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. chapter 5) does not apply to these regulations. Because these regulations do not impose a collection of information on small entities, 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 Internal Revenue Code, this notice of proposed rulemaking 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 comments that are submitted timely to the IRS as prescribed in this preamble under the “Addresses” heading. Comments are requested on all aspects of the proposed regulations. All comments will be available at www.regulations.gov or upon request. A public hearing may be scheduled if requested in writing by any person that timely submits written comments. If a public hearing is scheduled, notice of the date, time, and place for the hearing will be published in the Federal Register.
The principal author of these regulations is Celia Gabrysh, Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Passthroughs and Special Industries). However, other personnel from the IRS and the Treasury Department participated in their development.
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Accordingly, 26 CFR part 51 is proposed to be amended as follows:
Paragraph 1. The authority citation for part 51 continues to read in part as follows:
Authority: Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805; sec. 9008, Public Law 111–347 (124 Stat. 119).
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Par. 2. Section 51.2 is amended by revising paragraph (e)(3) to read as
follows:
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(e) * * *
(3) [The text of proposed § 51.2(e)(3) is the same as the text of § 51.2T(e)(3) published elsewhere in this issue of the Bulletin.]
Par. 3. Section 51.11 is amended by revising paragraph (c) to read as follows:
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(c) [The text of proposed § 51.11(c) is the same as the text of § 51.11T(c) published elsewhere in this issue of the Bulletin.]
John Dalrymple, Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement.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.