SECTION 7. OTHER

REQUIREMENTS

.01 Availability of records . A payment card organization must respond to any reasonable IRS request for inspection of any books and records that relate to the operation of TIN solicitation activity, including, but not limited to, reports, memoranda, budgets, and computer printouts. The payment card organization must allow the IRS reasonable access to the merchant/payee TIN data system, including instruction manuals describing the system.

.02 Change in information . The QPCA must promptly notify the IRS of any change in the information described in section 5.

.03 Confidentiality of information. The payment card organization must maintain the confidentiality of information obtained through its TIN solicitation activities in accordance with the requirements of § 31.3406(f)–1 of the Employment Tax Regulations. Except as permitted under § 31.3406(f)–1, the payment card organization may not disclose any merchant/ payee information to any person other than the cardholder/payor without prior written consent of the merchant/payee. The IRS will treat all information provided by a QPCA as confidential taxpayer return information under § 6103.

SECTION 8. TERM, RENEWALS, AND TERMINATION

.01 Term and renewal. In general, a QPCA determination will be effective for three years from the date of the determination. A QPCA may request a renewal of the QPCA determination by submitting an application for renewal to the IRS no earlier than six months and no later than three months before the expiration of the threeyear term. In the application for renewal, the QPCA must report any change in the information in the original application. Before renewal of the determination, the IRS may review the QPCA’s systems. In addition, the QPCA must demonstrate that the merchant/payee data continues to be reliable. The application for renewal must include the results from participation in the IRS TIN Matching Program during the current three-year term. The IRS will make every effort to issue a decision on a renewal

February 24, 2003 515 2003–8 I.R.B.

§ 412(1)(7)(C) of the Code to provide that for plan years beginning in 2002 and 2003 the permissible range is extended to 120 percent.

The following rates were determined for the plan years beginning in the month shown below.

month is the annual interest rate on 30year Treasury securities as specified by the Commissioner for that month in revenue rulings, notices or other guidance published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin.

The rate of interest on 30-year Treasury Securities for January 2003 is 4.94 per

cent. Pursuant to Notice 2002–26, 2002–15 I.R.B. 743, the Service has determined this rate as the monthly average of the daily determination of yield on the 30-year Treasury bond maturing in February 2031.

Section 405 of the Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002 amended

Month Year Weighted Average

90% to 110% Permissible

Range

90% to 120% Permissible

Range

February 2003 5.51 4.96 to 6.06 4.96 to 6.62

guidance the scope of and terms and conditions for participating in such programs.

.03 Section 31.3406(j)–1(b) provides that none of the matching details received by a payor through a TIN matching program will constitute a notice regarding an incorrect name/TIN combination under § 31.3406(d)– 5(c) for purposes of imposing backup withholding under § 3406(a)(1)(B).

.04 Section 31.3406(j)–1(c) provides that § 3406(f), relating to confidentiality of information, applies to any matching details received by a payor through a TIN matching program. A payor may not take into account any such matching details in determining whether to open or close an account with a payee.

.05 Section 6721 provides that a payor may be subject to a penalty for failure to file a complete and correct information return. Section 6722 provides that a payor may be subject to a penalty for failure to furnish a complete and correct information statement (payee statement) to a payee. Not including the correct payee TIN on an information return or payee statement is a failure subject to the §§ 6721 and 6722 penalties.

.06 Section 6724 provides that the Service may waive the penalties under §§ 6721 and 6722 if the filer (payor) shows that the failure was due to reasonable cause and was not due to willful neglect. The regulations under § 6724 provide that a filer may establish reasonable cause by showing, among other things, that the failure arose due to an event beyond the filer’s control.

.07 Section 31.3406(j)–1(d) provides that the Service will not use a payor’s decision not to participate in the TIN Matching Program as a basis to assert that the payor lacks reasonable cause under

DRAFTING INFORMATION

The principal authors of this notice are Tony Montanaro and Paul Stern of the Employee Plans, Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division. For further information regarding this notice, please contact the Employee Plans’ taxpayer assistance telephone service at 1–877–829– 5500 (a toll-free number), between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday. Mr. Montanaro may be reached at 1–202–283–9714 and Mr. Stern may be reached at 1–202–283– 9703. The telephone numbers in the preceding sentence are not toll-free.

26 CFR 601.602: Tax Forms and Instructions. (Also Part 1, §§ 3406; 6109; 31.3406(d)–5.)

Rev. Proc. 2003–9