Part III. Administrative, Procedural, and Miscellaneous

Weighted Average Interest Rates Update

Notice 2005–54

This notice provides guidance as to the corporate bond weighted average interest rate and the permissible range of interest rates specified under § 412(b)(5)(B)(ii)(II) of the Internal Revenue Code. In addition, it provides guidance as to the interest rate on 30-year Treasury securities under § 417(e)(3)(A)(ii)(II), and the weighted average interest rate and permissible ranges of interest rates based on the 30-year Treasury securities rate.

CORPORATE BOND WEIGHTED AVERAGE INTEREST RATE

Sections 412(b)(5)(B)(ii) and 412(l)(7) (C)(i), as amended by the Pension Funding Equity Act of 2004, provide that the interest rates used to calculate current liability and to determine the required contribution under § 412(l) for plan years beginning in 2004 or 2005 must be within a permissible range based on the weighted average of the rates of interest on amounts invested conservatively in long term investment grade corporate bonds during the 4-year period ending on the last day before the beginning of the plan year.

Notice 2004–34, 2004–1 C.B. 848, provides guidelines for determining the corporate bond weighted average interest rate

Corporate

and the resulting permissible range of interest rates used to calculate current liability. That notice establishes that the corporate bond weighted average is based on the monthly composite corporate bond rate derived from designated corporate bond indices.

The composite corporate bond rate for June 2005 is 5.26 percent. Pursuant to Notice 2004–34, the Service has determined this rate as the average of the monthly yields for the included corporate bond indices for that month.

The following corporate bond weighted average interest rate was determined for plan years beginning in the month shown below.

For Plan Years Bond 90% to 100%

Beginning in: Weighted Permissible Month Year Average Range

July 2005 5.90 5.31 to 5.90

imum amount of the deduction allowed under § 404(a)(1).

The rate of interest on 30-year Treasury securities for June 2005 is 4.29 percent. Pursuant to Notice 2002–26, 2002–1 C.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.

The following 30-year Treasury rates were determined for the plan years beginning in the month shown below.

30-YEAR TREASURY SECURITIES WEIGHTED AVERAGE INTEREST RATE

Section 417(e)(3)(A)(ii)(II) defines the applicable interest rate, which must be used for purposes of determining the minimum present value of a participant’s benefit under § 417(e)(1) and (2), as the annual rate of interest on 30-year Treasury securities for the month before the date of distribution or such other time as the Secretary may by regulations prescribe. Section 1.417(e)–1(d)(3) of the Income

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

Section 404(a)(1) of the Code, as amended by the Pension Funding Equity Act of 2004, permits an employer to elect to disregard subclause (II) of § 412(b)(5)(B)(ii) to determine the max

30-Year

For Plan Years Treasury 90% to 105% 90% to 110%

Beginning in: Weighted Permissible Permissible Month Year Average Range Range

July 2005 4.97 4.47 to 5.21 4.47 to 5.46

1–202–283–9703. Mr. Montanaro may be reached at 1–202–283–9714. The telephone numbers in the preceding sentences are not toll-free.

Drafting Information

The principal authors of this notice are Paul Stern and Tony Montanaro 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. Stern may be reached at

July 25, 2005 127 2005–30 I.R.B.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

IRS/ECC-MTB now offers an Internet connection at http://fire.irs.gov for electronic filing. The FIRE System will be down from Dec. 23, 2005 through Jan. 3, 2006 for upgrading. It is not available during this time for submissions.

Beginning in Tax Year 2006, processing year 2007, IRS/ECC-MTB will no longer accept 3 ¹ /2-inch diskettes for filing information returns.

26 CFR 601.602: Tax forms and instructions.

Specifications for Filing Form W–4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, Electronically or Magnetically

Rev. Proc. 2005–42

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART A. GENERAL

SEC. 1. PURPOSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

SEC. 2. NATURE OF CHANGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129