Part IV. Items — Internal Revenue Bulletin 2000-52

sociate Chief Counsel, Procedure and Administration (Administrative Provisions and Judicial Practice Division). However, other personnel from the IRS and Treasury Department participated in their development.

Proposed Amendments to the Regulations

Accordingly, 26 CFR part 31 is proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 31—EMPLOYMENT TAXES AND COLLECTION OF INCOME TAX AT SOURCE

Paragraph 1. The authority citation for part 31 continues to read in part as follows:

Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805 * * * Par. 2. In §31.6302–1, paragraph (f)(4) is revised to read as follows:

§31.6302–1 Federal tax deposit rules for withheld income taxes and taxes under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) attributable to payments made after December 31, 1992.

(f) * * * (4) [The text of proposed §31.6302–1(f)(4) is the same as the text of §31.6302–1T(f)(4)].

Charles O. Rossotti, Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

(Filed by the Office of the Federal Register on December 5, 2000, 8:45 a.m., and published in the issue of the Federal Register for December 6, 2000, 65 F.R. 76194)

Form 1065 Electronic Filing Waiver Request Procedures

Announcement 2000–101

Section 6011(e) of the Internal Revenue Code and section 301.6011–3(a) of the Regulations on Procedure and Administration require partnerships with more than 100 partners to file their partnership returns (Form 1065 series) on magnetic media. The regulations define “magnetic

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking by Cross-Reference to Temporary Regulations

Federal Employment Tax Deposits— De Minimis Rule

REG–114423–00

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking by cross-reference to temporary regulations.

SUMMARY: These proposed regulations affect taxpayers required to make deposits of Federal employment taxes. This document contains proposed regulations which change the de minimis deposit rule for quarterly and annual return periods.

In T.D. 8909 on page 596, the IRS is issuing temporary regulations relating to the deposit of Federal employment taxes. The text of those regulations also serves as the text of these proposed regulations.

DATES: Written or electronically generated comments and requests for a public hearing must be received by Tuesday, March 6, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Send submissions to: CC:M&SP:RU (REG–114423–00), room 5226, Internal Revenue Service, POB 7604, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, DC 20044. Submissions may be hand delivered Monday through Friday between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to: CC:M&SP:RU (REG–114423–00), Courier’s Desk, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC. Alternatively, taxpayers may submit comments electronically via the Internet by selecting the “Tax Regs” option on the IRS Home Page, or by submitting comments directly to the IRS Internet site at http://www.irs.gov/tax_regs/regslist.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Concerning the proposed regulations, Brinton T. Warren, (202) 622-4940; concerning submissions of comments and requests for a public hearing, Treena Garrett of the Regulations Unit at (202) 6227180 (not toll-free numbers).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and Explanation of Provisions

Temporary regulations in T.D. 8909 amend the Employment Tax and Collection of Income Tax at Source Regulations (26 CFR part 31) relating to section 6302. The temporary regulations change the de min- imis rule for the deposit of Federal employment taxes. The text of those regulations also serves as the text of these proposed regulations. The preamble to the temporary regulations explains the amendments.

Special Analyses

It has been determined that this notice of proposed rulemaking is not a significant regulatory action as defined in Executive Order 12866. Therefore, a regulatory assessment is not required. It also has been determined that section 553(b) of the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. chapter 5) does not apply to these regulations, and, because these regulations do not impose a collection of information on small entities, the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. chapter 6) does not apply. Pursuant to section 7805(f) of the Internal Revenue Code, this notice of proposed rulemaking will be submitted to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration for comment on their impact.

Comments and Requests for a Public Hearing

Before these proposed regulations are adopted as final regulations, consideration will be given to any written (a signed original and 8 copies) and electronic comments that are submitted timely to the IRS. The IRS and Treasury specifically request comments on the clarity of the proposed regulations and how they can be made easier to understand. All comments will be available for public inspection and copying. A public hearing will be scheduled if requested in writing by any person that timely submits comments. If a public hearing is scheduled, notice of the date, time, and place for the public hearing will be published in the Federal Register .

Drafting Information

The principal author of the regulations is Brinton T. Warren of the Office of As

December 26, 2000 604 2000–52 I.R.B.

media” to include electronic filing, if electronic filing is required by the Internal Revenue Service (Service).

Beginning with taxable years ending on or after December 31, 2000, the Service will require partnerships with more than 100 partners to file their partnership returns electronically. IRS Publication 1524 contains instructions for filing partnership returns electronically, and excludes certain partnerships from the electronic filing requirement. For Tax Year 2000, the IRS has excluded Partnerships with the following type of returns from the electronic filing requirement:

fiscal year filers
final year tax returns
short year returns
foreign address partnerships
delinquent and amended returns

For a detailed list of the exclusions,

refer to Publication 1524.

Section 301.6011–3(b) of the regulations permits the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to waive the electronic filing requirement if the partnership demonstrates that a hardship would result if it were required to file its return electronically. The regulations require partnerships seeking a waiver to request one in the manner prescribed by the Service.

To request a waiver for the taxable year ending December 31, 2000, partnerships must file a written request containing the following information: (1) A notation at the top of the request stating, in large letters, “Waiver Request: IRC Section 6011(e)(2)”; (2) The name, federal tax identification number, and mailing address of the partnership; (3) The taxable year for which the waiver is requested; (4) A detailed statement which lists:

a) what steps the partnership has

taken in an attempt to meet its requirement to file its return electronically, b) why the steps were unsuccessful, c) the hardship that would result, in cluding any incremental cost to the partnership of complying with the electronic filing requirements. Incremental costs are those costs that are above and beyond the costs to file on paper. (5) A statement as to what steps the partnership will take to assure its ability to electronically file its partnership return for the next tax year. (6) A statement (signed by the Tax Matters Partner, as defined in section 6231(a)(7) of the Code) indicating: “Under penalties of perjury, I declare that the information contained in this waiver request is true, correct and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.”

All requests for waiver must be filed with the Memphis Submission Processing Center during one of the following periods:

For returns due April 16, 2001 (Form 8736 not filed); January 2, 2001 to February 2, 2001,
For returns due July 16, 2001 (Form 8736 filed); February 3, 2001 to May 1, 2001,
For returns due October 15, 2001 (Form 8800 filed and approved); May 2, 2001 to August 1, 2001. Requests from the partnership’s tax advisor/preparer must be accompanied by a valid power of attorney. The address for the Memphis Submission Processing Center is:

Internal Revenue Service P.O. Box 420 Memphis, TN 38101-0420

(Note: Do not attach the waiver request to the partnership’s paper tax return. Also, do not file extension requests with the waiver.)

The Service will approve or deny waiver requests based on the facts and circumstances of each request. In determining whether to approve or deny a waiver request, the Service will consider the ability of the partnership to file its return electronically without incurring an undue economic hardship.

Within 30 days after receipt of the waiver request, the Service will send a letter to the partnership either approving or denying the request for waiver. Partnerships may not appeal a denial of a waiver request. However, partnerships may request a waiver of any penalty imposed by the Service for failing to file their partnership returns electronically. For further information regarding penalty waivers, see IRS Notice 746. For questions concerning a request for waiver, contact the Memphis Submission Processing Center at 901-546-2690 (not a toll free call).

1999 AOD Footnotes; Correction

Announcement 2000–102

This document contains corrections to the footnotes for the Actions on Court Decisions published in Internal Revenue Bulletin 1999–40 on the page following the Introduction and in 1999–2 C.B. xvi. The correct text for these footnotes is as follows:

James J. and Sandra A. Gales v. Com- missioner, ¹ T.C. Memo. 1999–27

Dubin v. Commissioner, ² 99 T.C. 325 (1992)

1This AOD reflects the Service’s acquiescence as to whether advance commissions received on insurance written by taxpayer husband were income at the time paid or were loans such that income was reportable only as the commissions were subsequently earned.

2This AOD reflects the Service’s acquiescence as to whether partnership items reported on a joint return convert to nonpartnership items with respect to both spouses when a TEFRA conversion event, pursuant to I.R.C. § 6231, occurs as to only one spouse.

2000–52 I.R.B. 605 December 26, 2000