SECTION 1. PURPOSE AND NATURE

OF CHANGES

.01 The purpose of this revenue procedure is to update Rev. Proc. 95–3, 1995–1 C.B. 385, as amplified and modified by subsequent revenue procedures, by providing a revised list of those areas of the Internal Revenue Code under the jurisdiction of the Associate Chief Counsel (Domestic) and the Associate Chief Counsel (Employee Benefits and Exempt Organizations) relating to issues on which the Internal Revenue Service will not issue advance letter rulings or determination letters. For a list of areas under the jurisdiction of the Associate Chief Counsel (International) relating to international issues on which the Service will not issue advance letter rulings or determination letters, see Rev. Proc. 96–7, this Bulletin. For a list of areas under the jurisdiction of the Assistant Commissioner (Employee Plans and Exempt Organizations) relating to issues, plans or plan amendments on which the Service will not issue letter rulings and determination letters, see, respectively, section 8 of Rev. Proc. 96–4, this Bulletin, and section 3.02 of Rev. Proc. 96–6, this Bulletin. .02 Changes (1) Old section 4.01(21), dealing with § 302(b)(4) and (e), has been clarified. It now specifically states that this ordinarily no-rule area does not apply to partial liquidations that qualify as § 302(e)(2) business terminations.

(2) New sections 4.02(2) and (3) have been added to incorporate provisions contained in section 7.03 of Rev. Proc. 96–1, this Bulletin, dealing with integrated transactions and interrelated items or sub-methods of accounting.

(3) New section 5.05, dealing with § 104, has been added to the under study no-rule area to indicate that the Service will not rule as to whether amounts received are excludable from gross income under § 104(a)(2) in situations affected by Commissioner v. Schleier, 515 U.S. (1995), 115 S. Ct. 2159. See Notice 95–45, 1995–34 I.R.B. 20.

(4) Old section 5.14, dealing with certain aspects of the interrelationship between § 368(a)(1)(B) or § 351(a) and

§ 368(a)(1)(A) and (a)(2)(E), has been deleted. See preamble to T.D. 8648 published in the Federal Register on December 21, 1995 (60 Fed. Reg. 66077). (5) New section 5.23, dealing with § 2601, has been added to the under study no-rule area to indicate that the Service will not rule as to whether a trust that is excepted from the application of the generation-skipping transfer tax because it was irrevocable on September 25, 1985, will lose its excepted status if it is moved to a situs outside the United States. See Rev. Proc. 95–50, 1995–50 I.R.B. 16.

(6) Old section 6.02, dealing with § 446, has been revised to include method of accounting changes for (i) certain banks in the Eighth Circuit seeking to change to the cash method for stated interest on certain short-term loans; (ii) certain small resellers, formerly small resellers, or resellerproducers changing their method of accounting for costs subject to § 263A; (iii) certain taxpayers on a simplified production or simplified resale method of accounting for fewer than 3 taxable years electing an historic absorption ratio under § 263A; (iv) certain taxpayers changing their method of accounting for interest costs subject to § 263A; and, in some situations, certain taxpayers seeking to use an alternative method under § 461(h) for the inclusion of common improvement costs in basis. See Notice 95–57, 1995–45 I.R.B. 12; and Rev. Procs. 95–33, 1995–28 I.R.B. 7; 95–25, 1995–1 C.B. 701; 95–19, 1995–1 C.B. 664; and 92– 29, 1992–1 C.B. 748. Also, this section has been updated by deleting references to Rev. Procs. 84–28, 1984–1 C.B. 475, and 84–27, 1984–1 C.B. 469.