LIFO; price indexes; department stores. The April 2005 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, April 30, 2005.

Final, temporary, and proposed regulations under section 752 of the Code relate to the definition of liabilities. These regulations provide rules regarding a partnership’s assumption of certain fixed and contingent obligations in connection with the issuance of a partnership interest and provide conforming changes to certain regulations. These regulations also provide rules under section 358(h) for assumptions of liabilities by corporations from partners and partnerships. In addition, to prevent the abuse that section 358(h) was designed to prevent, these regulations also provide rules that, with respect to an exchange to which section 358(a)(1) applies, remove the exception for transfers in which substantially all of the assets associated with a liability are transferred to the person assuming the liability as part of the exchange.

Final, temporary, and proposed regulations under section 752 of the Code relate to the definition of liabilities. These regulations provide rules regarding a partnership’s assumption of certain fixed and contingent obligations in connection with the issuance of a partnership interest and provide conforming changes to certain regulations. These regulations also provide rules under section 358(h) for assumptions of liabilities by corporations from partners and partnerships. In addition, to prevent the abuse that section 358(h) was designed to prevent, these regulations also provide rules that, with respect to an exchange to which section 358(a)(1) applies, remove the exception for transfers in which substantially all of the assets associated with a liability are transferred to the person assuming the liability as part of the exchange.

This procedure provides safe harbors for determining the finality of the adoption of eligible foreign-born children for purposes of the adoption credit and the exclusion for employer-provided assistance for qualified adoption expenses. The expenses of a re-adoption proceeding may be qualified adoption expenses. Notice 2003-15 modified and superseded.

This announcement discusses comments received in response to a revenue procedure proposed in Notice 2003-15, 2003-1 C.B. 540, and differences between the proposed revenue procedure and Rev. Proc. 2005-31.

Individual Retirement Account (IRA); decedent; beneficiary's disclaimer. This ruling discusses whether a beneficiary's disclaimer of a beneficial interest in a decedent's IRA is a qualified disclaimer under section 2518 of the Code even though prior to making the disclaimer, the beneficiary receives from the IRA the required minimum distribution for the year of the decedent's death.

Weighted average interest rate update; corporate bond indices; 30-year Treasury securities. The weighted average interest rate for June 2005 and the resulting permissible range of interest rates used to calculate current liability and to determine the required contribution are set forth.

E.N.Y.P. Charity Fund of Brooklyn, NY, no longer qualifies as an organization to which contributions are deductible under section 170 of the Code.

Individual Retirement Account (IRA); decedent; beneficiary's disclaimer. This ruling discusses whether a beneficiary's disclaimer of a beneficial interest in a decedent's IRA is a qualified disclaimer under section 2518 of the Code even though prior to making the disclaimer, the beneficiary receives from the IRA the required minimum distribution for the year of the decedent's death.

Individual Retirement Account (IRA); decedent; beneficiary's disclaimer. This ruling discusses whether a beneficiary's disclaimer of a beneficial interest in a decedent's IRA is a qualified disclaimer under section 2518 of the Code even though prior to making the disclaimer, the beneficiary receives from the IRA the required minimum distribution for the year of the decedent's death.

This notice provides an interim definition of state or local bond opinions under section 10.35(b)(9) of Treasury Department Circular No. 230 and provides information relating to changes to the proposed requirements for state or local bond opinions that are under consideration.

The IRS announces that effective upon the publication of this announcement, filers of Form 8693 no longer have to attach the approved and returned copy to their income tax return.