SECTION 1. PURPOSE

.01 The purpose of this revenue procedure is to provide the general rules for filing and to state the requirements of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) for reproducing paper substitutes for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, and Form W-3, Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements, for amounts paid during the 2001 calendar year. The information reported on Forms W-2 and W-3 is required to establish tax liability for employees

Nonconventional Source Fuel Credit, Section 29 Inflation Adjustment Factor, and Section 29 Reference Price

Notice 2001–31

This notice publishes the nonconventional source fuel credit, inflation adjustment factor, and reference price under § 29 of the Internal Revenue Code for calendar year 2000. These are used to determine the credit allowable on fuel produced from a nonconventional source under § 29. The calendar year 2000 inflation-adjusted credit applies to the sales of barrel-of-oil equivalent of qualified fuels sold by a taxpayer to an unrelated person during the 2000 calendar year, the domestic production of which is attributable to the taxpayer.

BACKGROUND

Section 29(a) provides for a credit for producing fuel from a nonconventional source, measured in barrel-of-oil equivalent of qualified fuels, the production of which is attributable to the taxpayer and sold by the taxpayer to an unrelated person during the tax year. The credit is equal to the product of $3.00 and the appropriate inflation adjustment factor.

Section 29(b)(1) and (2) provides for a phaseout of the credit. The credit allowable under § 29(a) must be reduced by an amount which bears the same ratio to the amount of the credit (determined without regard to § 29(b)(1)) as the amount by which the reference price for the calendar year in which the sale occurs exceeds $23.50 bears to $6.00. The $3.00 in § 29(a) and the $23.50 and $6.00 must each be adjusted by multiplying these amounts by the 2000 inflation adjustment factor. In the case of gas from a tight formation, the $3.00 amount in § 29(a) must not be adjusted.

Section 29(c)(1) defines the term “qualified fuels” to include oil produced from shale and tar sands; gas produced from geopressurized brine, Devonian shale, coal seams, or a tight formation, or biomass; and liquid, gaseous, or solid synthetic fuels produced from coal (including lignite), including such fuels when used as feedstocks.

Section 29(d)(1) provides that the credit is to be applied only for sale of qualified fuels the production of which is within the United States (within the meaning of § 638(1)) or a possession of the United States (within the meaning of § 638(2)).

Section 29(d)(2)(A) requires that the Secretary, not later than April 1 of each calendar year, determine and publish in the Federal Register the inflation adjustment factor and the reference price for the preceding calendar year.

Section 29(d)(2)(B) defines “inflation adjustment factor” for a calendar year as the fraction the numerator of which is the GNP implicit price deflator for the calendar year and the denominator of which is the GNP implicit price deflator for calendar year 1979. The term “GNP implicit price deflator” means the first revision of the implicit price deflator for the gross national product as computed and published by the Department of Commerce.

Section 29(d)(2)(C) defines “reference price” to mean with respect to a calendar year the Secretary’s estimate of the annual average wellhead price per barrel for all domestic crude oil the price of which is not subject to regulation by the United States.

Section 29(d)(3) provides that in the case of a property or facility in which more than one person has an interest, except to the extent provided in regulations prescribed by the Secretary, production from the property or facility (as the case may be) must be allocated among the persons in proportion to their respective interests in the gross sales from the property or facility.

Section 29(d)(5) and (6) provides that the term “barrel-of-oil equivalent” with respect to any fuel generally means that amount of the fuel which has a Btu content of 5.8 million.

INFLATION ADJUSTMENT FACTOR AND REFERENCE PRICE

The inflation adjustment factor for calendar year 2000 is 2.0454. The reference price for calendar year 2000 is $26.73. These amounts were published in the Federal Register on April 5, 2001.

2001–17 I.R.B. 1093 April 23, 2001

and their eligibility for Social Security and Medicare benefits.

.02 Forms W-2 and W-3 have significant changes for year 2001 . Please see “Nature of Changes” (Section 2 below) and the exhibits at the end of this revenue procedure for changes to Forms W-2 and W-3.

.03 For the purpose of this revenue procedure, a substitute form is one that is not printed by the IRS. A substitute Form W-2 or W-3 MUST conform to the specifications in this revenue proce- dure to be acceptable to the IRS and the SSA. No IRS office is authorized to allow deviations from this revenue procedure. Preparers should also refer to the separate, 2001 Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3, for details on how to complete these forms. See Part C, Sec. 4.01 for information on obtaining the official IRS forms and instructions. See Part B, Sec. 2, for requirements for substitute forms furnished to employees.

.04 IRS maintains its centralized call site at Martinsburg Computing Center (IRS/MCC) to answer questions related to information returns (Forms W-2, W-3, 1099, etc.). The call site phone number is 304-263-8700 (not a toll-free number) . The Telecommunication Device for the Deaf (TDD) number is 304-267-3367 (not a toll-free number) . The hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. Eastern Time. You may also send questions to the Call Site via the Internet at mccirp@irs.gov .

.05 This revenue procedure supersedes Rev. Proc. 2000–23, 2000–21 I.R.B. 1018, dated May 22, 2000. (Reprinted as Publication 1141).