Final and temporary regulations under section 367 of the Code amend income tax regulations under sections 367, 884, and 6038B dealing with statutory mergers or consolidations under section 368(a)(1)(A) involving one or more foreign corporations, and provide guidance necessary to facilitate business electronic filing under section 6038B.

Final regulations under section 358 of the Code provide a tracing approach for the determination of basis of stock or securities received in exchange for or with respect to stock and securities in certain transactions. Temporary and proposed regulations under section 1502 of the Code provide additional guidance on the treatment of an excess loss account when a consolidated group member’s original shares have an excess loss account or the member would otherwise determine that new shares would have an excess loss account at the time of a basis adjustment or determination under the Internal Revenue Code. Rev. Rul. 55-355 obsoleted.

Final regulations under section 358 of the Code provide a tracing approach for the determination of basis of stock or securities received in exchange for or with respect to stock and securities in certain transactions. Temporary and proposed regulations under section 1502 of the Code provide additional guidance on the treatment of an excess loss account when a consolidated group member’s original shares have an excess loss account or the member would otherwise determine that new shares would have an excess loss account at the time of a basis adjustment or determination under the Internal Revenue Code. Rev. Rul. 55-355 obsoleted.

This notice announces that the IRS and Treasury intend to issue final regulations under section 1503(d) of the Code to provide that a reasonable cause standard similar to proposed regulations section 1.1503(d)-1(c)(1) will apply to cure all late filings under section 1503(d). Prior to issuance of those regulations, taxpayers may rely on the reasonable cause procedure set forth in proposed regulations section 1.1503(d)-1(c)(1), as modified by this notice, to cure late filings under the current regulations. Additionally, until the final regulations are issued, taxpayers may choose to apply for relief for untimely section 1503(d) filings under the provisions of regulations sections 301.9100-1 through 301.9100-3 or elect to use the reasonable cause standard set forth in the proposed regulations as modified by this notice.

This notice invites public comments on certain distributions treated as sales or exchanges under section 751(b) of the Code. The Treasury Department and the Service are conducting a study of the current section 751(b) regulations and are considering alternative approaches to achieving the purpose of the statute.

Proposed regulations under sections 402A, 408A, and 402(g) of the Code set forth the tax treatment of designated Roth contributions (and related earnings) that are distributed from an eligible retirement plan, the requirements that must be satisfied for tax-free treatment of these amounts, and the applicable restrictions on rollovers of such amounts to a tax-favored retirement plan or Roth individual retirement account (Roth IRA). The regulations also set forth the requirements for designated Roth contributions under a section 403(b) plan and address the application of the universal availability requirement to the right of any employee to make designated Roth contributions under a section 403(b) plan.

A list is provided of organizations now classified as private foundations.

Until further guidance is issued, the Service will disregard a spousal right of election for purposes of determining whether a charitable remainder annuity trust (CRAT) or charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT) meets the requirements of section 664(d)(1)(B) or (d)(2)(B) of the Code, provided that the right of election is not exercised. Rev. Proc. 2005-24 modified.

The recomputed differential earnings rate for 2004 is tentatively determined for use by mutual life insurance companies to compute their income tax liability for 2005.