Bulletin No. 2015–15 April 13, 2015

Rev. Proc. 2015–26, page 875. The revenue procedure provides instructions, in cases in which the common parent of a consolidated group ceases to exist, for all communications relating to the identification of the agent to act on behalf of the consolidated group pursuant to § 1.1502–77(c) of the Income Tax Regulations. The revenue procedure is the exclusive procedure under § 1.1502–77(c) for making the communications identified in section 3 of this revenue procedure.

Rev. Proc. 2015–29, page 882. Revenue Procedure 2015–29 amplifies section 3.01 of Revenue Procedure 2015–3 and provides that the Service will no longer issue rulings to taxpayers concerning whether the taxpayer meets the requirements of section 45 or Notice 2010– 54, 2010–40 I.R.B. 403 for refined coal.

T.D. 9715, page 851. Final regulations under section 1502 of the Code address certain issues raised by the existing regulations concerning the agent for a consolidated group filing a Federal income tax return, as well as questions with respect to the authority of the agent for the group. These final regulations clarify that the agent for the consolidated group that becomes either a partnership or an entity that is disregarded from its owner for Federal income tax purposes remains as the agent for the group. Another change is that in situations where the agent for the group may no longer continue to be the agent for the group, the final regulations provide, under most circumstances, that the continuing agent for the group will be automatically determined by a default selection.

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T.D. 9716, page 863. Section 162(m) generally limits the otherwise allowable deduction for compensation paid with respect to a covered employee of a publicly held corporation to no more than $1,000,000 per year. These final regulations clarify that qualified performancebased compensation attributable to stock options and stock appreciation rights must specify the maximum number of shares with respect to which options or rights may be granted to each individual employee. These final regulations also clarify the application of the transition rule for taxpayers that are not publicly held corporations and then become publicly held corporations.