Part IV. Items of General Interest

amounts reported in box 13. Descriptions of the amounts to be designated by the codes are given below. See Publication 553, Highlights of 1996 Tax Changes, and the 1997 Instructions for Form W–2, for more information.

Code R—Medical Savings Account (MSA)

Employer contributions to a medical savings account for an employee.

Code S—Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees of Small Employ- ers (SIMPLE) Retirement Account Salary reduction contributions to a SIMPLE.

Code T—Adoption Assistance Benefits

Employer payments under an adoption assistance plan for qualified adoption expenses.

Tax on Certain Imported Substances; Filing of Petitions

Announcement 96–135

This announces the acceptance, under Notice 89–61, 1989–1 C.B. 717, of a petition requesting that diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A be added to the list of taxable substances in § 4672(a)(3). Publication of this notice is in compliance with Notice 89–61. This is not a determination that the list of taxable substances should be modified. Any modification of the list of taxable substances based upon this petition would be effective April 1, 1992.

Before a determination is made, consideration will be given to any written comments (a signed original and eight (8) copies) that are submitted timely to the IRS. Written comments and requests for a public hearing relating to these petitions must be received by February 4, 1997. Send submissions to: CC:DOM:CORP:R (Petition), room 5228, Internal Revenue Service, POB 7604, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, DC 20044. In the alternative, submissions may be hand delivered between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to: CC:DOM:CORP:R (Petition), Courier’s Desk, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC. All comments will be available for public inspection and copying. A public hearing may be scheduled if requested in writing by a person that timely submits written comments. If a public hearing is scheduled, notice of the date,

Employee Plans and Exempt Organizations; Requests for Certain Determination Letters and Applications for Recognition of Exemption

Announcement 96–133

PURPOSE

This is to announce new ‘‘Where to File’’ instructions for applications for employee plan determination and other letters, as well as exempt organization applications for recognition of exemption from federal income tax, previously submitted to the Chicago and Dallas Key District Offices of Internal Revenue.

BACKGROUND

The Internal Revenue Service is in the process of centralizing the filing of requests for determination and other letters and applications for recognition of tax exemption. Currently, plan sponsors and organizations file with a designated district office depending on the geographic location of the plan’s or organization’s principal office or place of business. Announcement 95–51, published in Internal Revenue Bulletin 1995–25 at page 132, announced that centralization will be phased in by district. Announcement 96–92, published in Internal Revenue Bulletin 1996–38 at page 151, announced that beginning September 1, 1996, requests formerly sent to the key district offices in Atlanta, Georgia, and Baltimore, Maryland, should be sent to the Internal Revenue Service Center in Covington, Kentucky.

The Service is also consolidating the employee plan volume submitter and regional prototype programs that are presently maintained by each individual key district office. Plans previously approved by a key district office, whose determination letter processing program is being transferred to Cincinnati, will be reviewed using the same criteria and procedures used by the original district office. New guidelines are being developed that will combine the best features and procedures currently in use by the districts. Guidelines for the revised volume submitter and regional prototype programs will be explained in a future announcement.

INSTRUCTIONS

Beginning January 1, 1997, letter requests and applications previously sub

mitted to the key district offices in Chicago, Illinois, and Dallas, Texas, should be sent to the Internal Revenue Service Center in Covington, Kentucky, at the address shown below. (For a period of time, requests and applications mistakenly sent to the Chicago and Dallas Key District Offices will be forwarded.) The new address applies to requests for determination letters, regional prototype notification letters and volume submitter advisory letters, on the qualified status of employee plans under sections 401, 403(a), and 409, and the exempt status of any related trust under section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code, applications for recognition of tax exemption on Form 1023, Form 1024, and Form 1028 and other applications for recognition of qualification or exemption. The affected plan sponsors and organizations are those whose principal office or place of business is located in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. These requests or applications, as well as those formerly submitted to the Atlanta, Baltimore, and Cincinnati Key Districts, should be sent to:

Internal Revenue Service P.O. Box 192 Covington, KY 41012–0192 Until further notice, plans and organizations in all other locations will continue to file their requests or applications in accordance with the applicable user fee instructions, currently in Section 7 of Revenue Procedure 96–8, published in Internal Revenue Bulletin 1996–1 at page 187, and the instructions for Form 8717, User Fee for Employee Plan Determination Letter Request, or Form 8718, User Fee for Exempt Organization Determination Letter Request.

Comments or concerns regarding the centralization of the determination process or applications submitted to the Covington address, may be directed to the EP/EO Customer Service Unit in Cincinnati at (513) 684–3957 (not a toll-free number).

New Codes for the 1997 Form W–2, Box 13

Announcement 96–134

On the 1997 Form W–2, three new codes must be used to designate time, and place for the hearing will be published in the Federal Register.

The petition was received on July 1, 1991. The petitioner is Dow Chemical Company, a manufacturer and exporter of this substance. The following is a summary of the information contained in the petition. The complete petition is available in the Internal Revenue Service Freedom of Information Reading Room. HTS number: 3907.3 CAS number: 025085–99–8 Diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA) is derived from the taxable chemicals benzene, propylene, chlorine,

and sodium hydroxide and produced predominantly from epichlorohydrin and bisphenol-A via a two-step reaction. The stoichiometric material consumption formula for this substance is: 2 C6H6 (benzene) + 4 C3H6 (propylene)

• 4 Cl2 (chlorine) + 6 NaOH (sodium hydroxide) + 2 O2 (oxygen) - – – – –� (CH3)2C(C6H4OC3H50)2 (DGEBA) + CH3COCH3 (acetone) + 2 HCl (hydrogen chloride) + 6 NaCl (sodium chloride) + 5 H2O (water)

According to the petition, taxable chemicals constitute 92.95 percent by weight of the materials used to produce this substance. The rate of tax for this

substance would be $7.08 per ton. This is based upon a conversion factor for benzene of 0.459, a conversion factor for propylene of 0.494, a conversion factor for chlorine of 0.833, and a conversion factor for sodium hydroxide of 0.705.

The principal author of this announcement is Ruth Hoffman, Office of Assistant Chief Counsel (Passthroughs and Special Industries). For further information regarding this announcement contact Ruth Hoffman on (202) 622–3130 (not a toll-free number).

61 1996–53 I.R.B.