Source: https://www.irs.gov/irb/2018-13_IRB
Timestamp: 2019-12-06 17:10:19
Document Index: 333763782

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 801', '§ 801', 'art 801', '§ 801', '§ 801', '§ 801']

Internal Revenue Bulletin: 2018-13 | Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Bulletin: 2018-13
Rev. Rul. 201807
T.D. 9831
Announcement 201805
Announcement 2018–05 Announcement 2018–05
This announcement provides that the IRS intends to issue opinion and advisory letters for master and prototype and volume submitter defined benefit plans (pre-approved) that were restated for changes in plan qualification requirements listed in Notice 2012–76, 2012–52 I.R.B. 775 (2012 Cumulative List) and that were filed with the IRS during the submission period for the second remedial amendment cycle. The IRS intends to issue the letters on March 30, 2018 or as soon as possible thereafter. The period for employer adoption of these plans will end on April 30, 2020. Starting May 1, 2018, and ending April 30, 2020, the IRS will accept applications for individual determination letters from employers who adopt such plans and are otherwise eligible to submit a determination letter request. This announcement also provides that a delayed beginning date for the third six-year remedial amendment cycle will be announced in future guidance.
Rev. Rul. 2018–07 Rev. Rul. 2018–07
Interest rates: underpayments and overpayments. The rates for interest determined under Section 6621 of the code for the calendar quarter beginning April 1, 2018, will be 5 percent of overpayments (4 percent in the case of a corporation), 5 percent for underpayments, and 7 percent for large corporate underpayments. The rate of interest paid on the portion of a corporate overpayment exceeding $10,000 will be 2.5 percent.
T.D. 9831 T.D. 9831
This final regulation modifies the current regulations at 26 CFR 801.5 to permit the IRS to measure employee satisfaction at levels higher than the first-level supervisory level which will, in turn, allow the IRS to use data obtained from government-wide surveys to measure employee satisfaction and eliminate the need for the IRS to administer is own separate internal survey.
Rev. Rul. 2018–07
The federal short-term rate determined in accordance with section 1274(d) during January 2018 is the rate published in Revenue Ruling 2018–5, 2018–6 IRB 341, to take effect beginning February 1, 2018. The federal short-term rate, rounded to the nearest full percent, based on daily compounding determined during the month of January 2018 is 2 percent. Accordingly, an overpayment rate of 5 percent (4 percent in the case of a corporation) and an underpayment rate of 5 percent are established for the calendar quarter beginning April 1, 2018. The overpayment rate for the portion of a corporate overpayment exceeding $10,000 for the calendar quarter beginning April 1, 2018 is 2.5 percent. The underpayment rate for large corporate underpayments for the calendar quarter beginning April 1, 2018, is 7 percent. These rates apply to amounts bearing interest during that calendar quarter.
Sections 6654(a)(1) and 6655(a)(1) provide that the underpayment rate established under section 6621 applies in determining the addition to tax under sections 6654 and 6655 for failure to pay estimated tax for any taxable year. Thus, the 5 percent rate also applies to estimated tax underpayments for the second calendar quarter beginning April 1, 2018. Pursuant to section 6621(b)(2)(B), however, in determining the addition to tax under section 6654 for any taxable year for an individual, the federal short-term rate that applies during the third month following the taxable year also applies during the first 15 days of the 4th month following the taxable year. Thus, for the period of April 1 – 15, 2018, the 4 percent rate applicable to the first quarter of 2018 applies to the addition to tax under section 6654. See Revenue Ruling 2017–25, 2017–52 IRB 586. In addition, pursuant to section 6603(d)(4), the rate of interest on section 6603 deposits is 2 percent for the second calendar quarter in 2018.
* The asterisk reflects the interest factors for daily compound interest for annual rates of 0.5 percent published in Appendix A of this Revenue Ruling
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Internal Revenue Service 26 CFR Part 801
This document contains final regulations regarding management and personnel within the IRS. The final regulations relate to the “employee satisfaction measures” utilized by the IRS in its Balanced System for Measuring Organizational and Employee Performance. These regulations affect internal operations of the IRS and the systems employed to evaluate the performance of organizations within the IRS and individuals employed by the IRS.
Effective Date: These regulations are effective on March 7, 2018.
Applicability Date: These regulations are applicable for the reporting of employee satisfaction information within the meaning of 26 CFR 801.5 that occurs on or after March 7, 2018.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie Barry, at (202) 317-5759 (not a toll-free number).
On November 13, 2014, the IRS published in the Federal Register (79 FR 67351) a temporary regulation (TD 9703) modifying the regulations governing the IRS Balanced System for Measuring Organizational and Employee Performance. A notice of proposed rulemaking (REG–138605–13) cross-referencing the temporary regulation was published in the Federal Register (79 FR 67396) on the same day. The text of the temporary regulation served as the text of the proposed regulation.
The IRS provided an opportunity for comment and an opportunity for a public hearing. No public hearing was requested, and the IRS received one written comment. The written comment did not substantively address the proposed change, but instead expressed appreciation for the IRS’s efforts to obtain public feedback to support an open, measurable, and user-friendly government.
The regulation being modified concerns “employee satisfaction measures” and requires the collection of information from employees through various means, including employee surveys. Once collected, the information is used to measure and report on employee satisfaction, one of three elements comprising the IRS balanced performance measurement system. To be consistent with other government-wide employee satisfaction surveys, the proposed regulation provides that employee satisfaction measures can be reported at a higher agency level.
Specifically, the proposed regulation relates to the employee satisfaction measure, § 801.5, of the IRS Balanced System for Measuring Organizational and Employee Performance (26 CFR part 801). As originally implemented in 1999, the employee satisfaction measure required the IRS to gauge and report the satisfaction of employees in pay and duty status (non-seasonal employees) to the first-level supervisor organizational level, as well as to all succeeding management levels of the organization. Consequently, the IRS utilized and modified a pre-existing survey to enable the reporting of data to first-level supervisors. Other surveys, such as OPM’s Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), however, report employee satisfaction data to a level of agency management higher than that of the first-level supervisor. Consequently, the IRS conducted both the FEVS survey and the internal survey that complied with § 801.5. The administration of both surveys resulted in an unnecessary expenditure of funds, an undue burden on employees, and the duplication of efforts by the IRS.
The proposed regulation permits the IRS to report employee satisfaction data at higher organization levels, thereby permitting the IRS to use the FEVS and eliminate the use of its internal survey. The corresponding temporary regulation was effective on or after November 13, 2014, and expired on or before November 10, 2017. This document adopts, without modification, the proposed regulation as final and removes the corresponding temporary regulation.
Certain IRS regulations, including this one, are exempt from the requirements of Executive Order 12866, as supplemented and reaffirmed by Executive Order 13563. Therefore, a regulatory impact assessment is not required. Because the regulation would 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, the notice of proposed rulemaking preceding this final regulation was submitted to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration for comment on its impact on small business. No comments were received from the Small Business Administration.
The principal author of these regulations is Julie A. Barry, Office of Associate Chief Counsel (General Legal Services). However, other personnel from the Treasury Department and the IRS participated in their development.
§ 801.5 Employee satisfaction measures.
§ 801.5T [Removed]
Par. 3. Section 801.5 T is removed.
Approved: January 24, 2018.
(Filed by the Office of the Federal Register on March 6, 2018, 8:45 a.m., and published in the issue of the Federal Register for March 7, 2018, 83 F.R. 9700)
Announcement 2018–05
Issuance of Opinion and Advisory Letters for Pre-approved Defined Benefit Plans for the Second Six-Year Cycle, Deadline for Employer Adoption of the Pre-approved Plans, and Opening of Determination Letter Program for the Pre-approved Plan Adopters
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) intends to issue opinion and advisory letters for pre-approved master and prototype (M&P) and volume submitter (VS) defined benefit plans that were restated for changes in plan qualification requirements listed in Notice 2012–76, 2012–52 I.R.B. 775 (2012 Cumulative List), and that were filed with the IRS during the submission period for the second six-year remedial amendment cycle under Rev. Proc. 2007–44, 2007–2 C.B. 54. The IRS expects to issue the opinion and advisory letters on March 30, 2018, or, in some cases, as soon as possible thereafter. An employer using these pre-approved plan documents to restate a plan for the plan qualification requirements included on the 2012 Cumulative List will be required to adopt the plan document by April 30, 2020.
Starting May 1, 2018, and ending April 30, 2020, the IRS will accept an application for an individual determination letter from an employer eligible to submit a determination letter request under the second six-year remedial amendment cycle for defined benefit pre-approved plans. See Rev. Proc. 2018–4, 2018–1 I.R.B. 146, including sections 12 and 13, for guidance on when an adopter of an M&P or VS plan may submit a determination letter application. The IRS will announce in future guidance a delayed beginning date for the third six-year remedial amendment cycle for pre-approved defined benefit plans.
Rev. Proc. 2016–37, 2016–29 I.R.B. 136, provides that every pre-approved plan has a regular, six-year remedial amendment cycle and that M&P sponsors and VS practitioners, as defined in Rev. Proc. 2015–36, 2015–27 I.R.B. 20, may apply for new opinion or advisory letters once every six years. M&P sponsors and VS practitioners generally are able to submit applications for opinion and advisory letters until January 31st of the calendar year following the opening of the six-year remedial amendment cycle, although the application period may be modified and extended. Rev. Proc. 2007–44, 2007–2 C.B. 54, and Rev. Proc. 2011–49, 2011–44 I.R.B. 608, provided that the original submission period for the second six-year remedial amendment cycle for pre-approved defined benefit plans was February 1, 2013, through January 31, 2014, but Rev. Proc. 2015–36 later extended the end of the period to October 30, 2015. Rev. Proc. 2015–36 required M&P sponsors and VS practitioners to restate their pre-approved defined benefit plans for the qualification requirements included on the 2012 Cumulative List and to apply for new opinion or advisory letters during this submission period.[1]
Section 14.03 of Rev. Proc. 2016–37 provides that when the review process for a cycle of pre-approved plans has neared completion, the IRS will publish an announcement providing the date by which adopting employers must adopt the newly approved plans. This date is intended to provide adopting employers a window of approximately two years in which to adopt plans and, if they are otherwise eligible, apply for an individual determination letter.
Deadline for Employer Adoption of Pre-approved Defined Benefit M&P and VS Plans
Rev. Proc. 2016–37 provides that the second six-year remedial amendment cycle for pre-approved defined benefit plans would end on January 31, 2019 unless the IRS were to revise these timing requirements and that any such revisions would be announced in future guidance. Consistent with Rev. Proc. 2016–37, this announcement extends the end of a pre-approved defined benefit plan’s remedial amendment cycle with respect to the changes in plan qualification requirements included on the 2012 Cumulative List to April 30, 2020. An adopting employer whose defined benefit plan is eligible for the six-year remedial amendment cycle system under section 19 of Rev. Proc. 2016–37, and who adopts, by April 30, 2020, an M&P or VS defined benefit plan that was approved based on the 2012 Cumulative List, will be considered to have adopted the plan within the second six-year remedial amendment cycle.
Opening of Individual Determination Letter Program for Pre-approved Defined Benefit Plans
An adopting employer of an M&P or VS plan may apply for an individual determination letter (if otherwise eligible) during the period beginning May 1, 2018, and ending April 30, 2020. Additional information regarding determination letter applications for pre-approved plans, including requirements for applications filed on Form 5300 and 5307, may be found in Rev. Proc. 2018–4. (See sections 12 and 13 of Rev. Proc. 2018–4.)
Section 16.01 of Rev. Proc. 2016–37 provides that the third six-year remedial amendment cycle for defined benefit pre-approved plans begins on February 1, 2019. The IRS will announce in future guidance a later starting date for this third six-year remedial amendment cycle.
The principal author of this announcement is Kathleen Herrmann of the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Tax Exempt and Government Entities). For further information regarding this announcement, contact Employee Plans (513) 975–6319 (not a toll-free number).
[1] Although Rev. Proc. 2015–36 has been modified and superseded in part by Rev. Proc. 2017–41, 2017–29 I.R.B. 92, the provisions of Rev. Proc. 2015–36 continue to apply to opinion and advisory letter applications submitted with respect to a pre-approved plan’s second six-year remedial amendment cycle.
Bulletin 2018–1 through 2018–13