Self-insured medical reimbursement plans. This ruling holds that employer reimbursements of amounts paid by an employee to purchase nonprescription medicines and drugs are excludable from gross income under section 105(b) of the Code. However, amounts paid by an employee for dietary supplements that are merely beneficial to the general health of the employee or the employee's spouse or dependents are not reimbursable or excludable from gross income under section 105(b). Rev. Rul. 2003-58 distinquished.

LIFO; price indexes; department stores. The July 2003 Bureau of Labor Statistics price indexes are accepted for use by department stores employing the retail inventory and last-in, first-out inventory methods for valuing inventories for tax years ended on, or with reference to, July 31, 2003.

REG-143679-02

Final, temporary, and proposed regulations under section 338 of the Code provide that the step transaction doctrine will not be applied if a taxpayer makes a valid section 338(h)(10) election with respect to a step in a multi-step transaction, even if the transaction would otherwise qualify as a reorganization if the step, standing alone, is a qualified stock purchase.

Proposed regulations under section 817 of the Code propose removing provisions of the regulations that apply a look-through rule to assets of a nonregistered partnership for purposes of satisfying the diversification requirements of section 817(h).

Final regulations under section 417(a)(7) of the Code relate to a special rule which permits the required written explanations of certain benefits to be provided by qualified retirement plans after the annuity starting date.

Mortality tables; retirement plans. This notice seeks public comments with respect to the mortality tables in effect under section 412(l)(7)(C) of the Code and section 302(d)(7) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

Weighted average interest rate update. The weighted average interest rate for September 2003 and the resulting permissible range of interest rates used to calculate current liability for purposes of the full funding limitation of section 412(c)(7) of the Code are set forth.

EP determination letters; extension of application deadline for certain pre-approved plans. This procedure extends the deadline for filing EP determination letter requests for certain pre-approved qualified retirement plans. This procedure also extends the time for amending defined contribution plans to comply with regulations relating to required minimum distributions. Rev. Procs. 2000-20, 2002-29, and 2003-44 modified.

REG-142538-02

Temporary and proposed regulations under section 6104 of the Code provide guidance about the fees which the IRS and exempt organizations may charge for providing copies of material required to be publicly available.

Proposed regulations under section 6302 of the Code provide an additional exception to the FUTA deposit requirements for employers. The regulations would relieve employers from making deposits of FUTA taxes for a quarter if the amount of accumulated Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes and withheld income taxes for the quarter is less than $2,500.

REG-140808-02

Temporary and proposed regulations under section 6103 of the Code describe the circumstances under which officers and employees of the IRS, the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, and the Office of Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration may disclose return information for investigative purposes. The temporary regulations clarify and elaborate on the types and contexts in which investigative disclosures may be made.

Proposed regulations provide procedures for current and former IRS employees and contractors to follow when they receive requests and subpoenas for IRS records and information. The regulations also provide procedures for the public to follow when seeking testimony or IRS records in nontax litigation.

This document provides updated requirements for the private printing of Form 1099-B, Proceeds From Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions, and Form 1099-DIV, Dividends and Distributions. The rules and specifications for preparing other forms discussed in Rev. Proc. 2003-28, 2003-16 I.R.B. 759, remain the same.