us-irs-revenue-procedures-irb-2007-39-pdf•Internal Revenue Bulletin 2007-39 (PDF rendition): IRS Revenue Procedures
Internal Revenue Bulletin 2007-39 (PDF rendition): IRS Revenue Procedures
us-irs-revenue-procedures-irb-2007-39-pdfInternal Revenue Bulletin 2007-39 (PDF rendition): IRS Revenue ProceduresGuidance
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Bulletin No. 200 7-39 September 24, 20 07 HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS ISSUE These synopses are intended only as aids to the reader in identifying the subject matter covered. They may not be relied upon as authoritative interpretations. INCOME TAX Rev. Rul. 2007–56, page 668. Interest rates; underpayments and overpayments.The rates of interest determined under section 6621 of the Code for the calendar quarter beginning October 1, 2007, will be 8 percent for overpayments (7 percent in the case of a cor- poration), 8 percent for underpayments, and 10 percent for large corporate underpayments. The rate of interest paid on the portion of a corporate overpayment exceeding $10,000 will be 5.5 percent. T.D. 9349 , page 668. This docu ment removes temporary regulations under section 125 of the Code relating to benefits that may be offered to particip ants under a cafeteria plan. Rev. Proc. 2007–60, page 679. This procedure corrects the inflation adjusted amounts set forth in Rev. Proc. 2006–53, 2006–48 I.R.B. 996, that apply to taxpayers who elect to expense certain depreciable assets under section 179 of the Code. This correction reflects statutory changes enacted subsequent to the publication of Rev. Proc. 2006–53. Rev. Proc. 2006–53 modified. EMPLOY EE PLANS REG–14 2695–05, page 681. Propos ed regulations under section 125 of the Code pro- vide gu idance on cafeteria plans. EE–16–79, EE–130–86, REG–24 3025–96, and REG–117162–99 withdrawn. Rev. Ruls. 6 9–141, 2002–41, 2003–102, 2005–24, 2006–36, and Notices 89–110 and 2002–45 modified. A public hearing is scheduled for November 15, 2007. REG–148393–06, page 714. Proposed regulations under section 402 of the Code clarify that a payment from a qualified plan for an accident or health insurance premium generally constitutes a distribution under section 402(a) that is taxable to the distributee under sec- tion 72 in the taxable year in which the premium is paid. The taxable amount generally would equal the amount of the pre- mium charged against the participant’s benefits under the plan. These regulations would also provide that a distribution for the payment of the premium by a qualified plan generally is not excluded from gross income under section 104, 105 or 106, but such distribution would constitute an amount paid for acci- dent or health insurance under section 213. A public hearing is scheduled for December 6, 2007. Notice 2007–75, page 679. Weighted average interest rate update; corporate bond indices; 30-year Treasury securities.The weighted aver- age interest rate for September 2007 and the resulting permis- sible range of interest rates used to calculate current liability and to determine the required contribution are set forth. (Continued on the next page) Finding Lists begin on page ii. Index for July through September begins on page v. EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS Announcement 2007–86, page 719. The IRS has revoked its determination that Museum of Amer- ican Piano of Bangor, PA; Transitional Living Collaborative of Moraga, CA; Ken-Ray, Incorporated, of Orem, UT; DreamHome Foundation of Sherwood, OR; Creativity Innovation Productivity, Incorporated, DBA Horizon Event Foundation of Highwood, MT; Community Fellowship for Battered Women of Silicon Valley, Inc.,ofSanJose,CA;AltaCrossing,Inc.,ofNampa,ID;Home Buyers Assistance Foundation, Inc., of Denver, CO; Interna- tional Housing Solutions, Inc., of Sacramento, CA; and Filipino American Community Development Council, Inc., of San Jose, CA, qualify as organizations described in sections 501(c)(3) and 170(c)(2) of the Code. EMPLOYMENT TAX T.D. 9356, page 675. Final regulations under section 7701 of the Code explain that certain disregarded entities (qualified subchapter S sub- sidiaries and single-owner eligible entities) are to be treated as entities separate from their owners for purposes of paying and reporting federal employment and certain excise taxes. Notice 99–6 obsoleted as of January 1, 2009. EXCISE TA X T.D. 9356 ,page675. Final reg ulations under section 7701 of the Code explain that cert ain disregarded entities (qualified subchapter S sub- sidiarie s and single-owner eligible entities) are to be treated as entiti es separate from their owners for purposes of paying and repor ting federal employment and certain excise taxes. Notice 9 9–6 obsoleted as of January 1, 2009. ADMINISTRATIVE Announcement 2007–85, page 719. This document provides notice of cancellation of a public hearing on proposed regulations (REG–143797–06, 2007–26 I.R.B. 1495) providing guidance on employer comparable contributions to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). September 24, 20072007–39 I.R.B. The IRS Mission Provide America’s taxpayers top quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and by applying the tax law with integrity and fairness to all. Introduction The Internal Revenue Bulletin is the authoritative instrument of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for announcing official rulings and procedures of the Internal Revenue Service and for publishing Treasury Decisions, Executive Orders, Tax Conven- tions, legislation, court decisions, and other items of general interest. It is published weekly and may be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents on a subscription basis. Bulletin contents are compiled semiannually into Cumulative Bulletins, which are sold on a single-copy basis. It is the policy of the Service to publish in the Bulletin all sub- stantive rulings necessary to promote a uniform application of the tax laws, including all rulings that supersede, revoke, mod- ify, or amend any of those previously published in the Bulletin. All published rulings apply retroactively unless otherwise indi- cated. Procedures relating solely to matters of internal man- agement are not published; however, statements of internal practices and procedures that affect the rights and duties of taxpayers are published. Revenue rulings represent the conclusions of the Service on the application of the law to the pivotal facts stated in the revenue ruling. In those based on positions taken in rulings to taxpayers or technical advice to Service field offices, identifying details and information of a confidential nature are deleted to prevent unwarranted invasions of privacy and to comply with statutory requirements. Rulings and procedures reported in the Bulletin do not have the force and effect of Treasury Department Regulations, but they may be used as precedents. Unpublished rulings will not be relied on, used, or cited as precedents by Service personnel in the disposition of other cases. In applying published rulings and procedures, the effect of subsequent legislation, regulations, court decisions, rulings, and procedures must be considered, and Service personnel and others concerned are cautioned against reaching the same conclusions in other cases unless the facts and circumstances are substantially the same. The Bulletin is divided into four parts as follows: Part I.—19 86 Code. This part i ncludes rulings and decisions based on provisions of the Intern al Revenue Code of 1986. Part II.—Treaties and Tax Legislation. This part is divided into two subparts as follows: Subpart A, Tax Conventions and Other Related Items, and Subpart B, Leg- islation and Related Committee Reports. Part III.—Administrative, Procedural, and Miscellaneous. To the extent practicable, pertinent cross references to these subjects are contained in the other Parts and Subparts. Also included in this part are Bank Secrecy Act Administrative Rul- ings. Bank Secrecy Act Administrative Rulings are issued by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of the Assistant Sec- retary (Enforcement). Part IV .—Items of General Interest. This par t includes notices of proposed rulemakings, disbar- ment an d suspension lists, and announcements. The last Bulletin for each month includes a cumulative index for the matters published during the preceding months. These monthly indexes are cumulated on a semiannual basis, and are published in the last Bulletin of each semiannual period. The c ontents of this publication are not copyrighted and may be reprinted freely. A citation of the Internal Revenue Bulletin as the source would be appropriate. For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S.Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. 2007–39 I.R.B.September 24, 2007 Place missing child here. September 24, 20072007–39 I.R.B. Part I. Rulings and Decisions Under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 Section 125.—Cafeteria Plans 26 CFR 1.125–2T: Cafeteria plan elections. T.D. 9349 DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Internal Revenue Service 26 CFR Part 1 Employee Benefits — Cafeteria Plans AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Removal of temporary regula- tions. SUMMARY: This document removes the temporary regulations pertaining to ben- efits that may be offered to participants under a section 125 cafeteria plan. The temporary regulations were published in theFederal Registeron February 4, 1986. Guidance issued by the IRS and the Trea- sury Department under section 125 have made these temporary regulations obso- lete. DATES:Effective Dates:These regula- tions are effective August 1, 2007. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mireille Khoury at (202) 622–6080 (not a toll-free number). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background On February 4, 1986, the IRS and Trea- sury Department published temporary reg- ulations on section 125. The temporary regulations were published in theFederal Register(T.D. 8073, 1986–1 C.B. 45 [51 FR 4318]) as section 1.125–2T. A notice of proposed rulemaking issued under section 125 (REG–142695–05, this Bulletin) and other guidance issued by the IRS and the Treasury Department under section 125 have made these temporary regulations ob- solete. The temporary regulations are re- moved. Special Analyses It has been determined that this removal of temporary regulations is not a signifi- cant regulatory action as defined in Exec- utive Order 12866. Therefore, a regula- tory assessment is not required. It also has been determined that section 553(b) of the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. chapter 5) does not apply to this removal of temporary regulations. This removal of temporary regulations does not impose a collection of information on small en- tities, thus the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. chapter 6) does not apply. Pur- suant to section 7805(f) of the Code, the preceding temporary regulations were sub- mitted to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration for comment on its impact on small business. Drafting Information The principal author of this removal of temporary regulations is Mireille Khoury, Office of Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel (Tax Exempt and Govern- ment Entities). However, personnel from Treasury participated in its development. ***** Amendments to the Regulations Accordingly, 26 CFR part 1 is amended as follows: Paragraph 1. The authority citation for part 1 continues to read in part, as follows: Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805 * * * §1.125–2T [Removed] Par. 2. Section 1.125–2T is removed. Kevin M. Brown, Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement. Approved July 24, 2007. Eric Solomon, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (Tax Policy). (Filed by the Office of the Federal Register on July 31, 2007, 8:45 a.m., and published in the issue of the Federal Register for August 1, 2007, 72 F.R. 41891) Section 6621.—Determina- tion of Rate of Interest 26 CFR 301.6621–1: Interest rate. Interest rates; underpayments and overpayments.The rates of interest de- termined under section 6621 of the Code for the calendar quarter beginning Octo- ber 1, 2007, will be 8 percent for overpay- ments (7 percent in the case of a corpo- ration), 8 percent for underpayments, and 10 percent for large corporate underpay- ments. The rate of interest paid on the por- tion of a corporate overpayment exceeding $10,000 will be 5.5 percent. Rev. Rul. 2007–56 Section 6621 of the Internal Revenue Code establishes the rates for interest on tax overpayments and tax underpay- ments. Under section 6621(a)(1), the overpayment rate is the sum of the federal short-term rate plus 3 percentage points (2 percentage points in the case of a cor- poration), except the rate for the portion of a corporate overpayment of tax exceed- ing $10,000 for a taxable period is the sum of the federal short-term rate plus 0.5 of a percentage point. Under section 6621(a)(2), the underpayment rate is the sum of the federal short-term rate plus 3 percentage points. Section 6621(c) provides that for pur- poses of interest payable under section 6601 on any large corporate underpay- ment, the underpayment rate under section 6621(a)(2) is determined by substituting “5 percentage points” for “3 percentage points.” See section 6621(c) and section 301.6621–3 of the Regulations on Proce- dure and Administration for the definition of a large corporate underpayment and for the rules for determining the appli- cable date. Section 6621(c) and section 301.6621–3 are generally effective for periods after December 31, 1990. Section 6621(b)(1) provides that the Secretary will determine the federal short-term rate for the first month in each calendar quarter. Section 6621(b)(2)(A) provides that the federal short-term rate determined under section 6621(b)(1) for any month applies 2007–39 I.R.B.668September 24, 2007 during the first calendar quarter beginning after such month. Section 6621(b)(3) provides that the federal short-term rate for any month is the federal short-term rate determined during such month by the Secretary in accordance with section 1274(d), rounded to the nearest full percent (or, if a multiple of 1 /2of 1 percent, the rate is increased to the next highest full percent). Notice 88–59, 1988–1 C.B. 546, an- nounced that, in determining the quarterly interest rates to be used for overpayments and underpayments of tax under section 6621, the Internal Revenue Service will use the federal short-term rate based on daily compounding because that rate is most consistent with section 6621 which, pursuant to section 6622, is subject to daily compounding. Rounded to the nearest full percent, the federal short-term rate based on daily com- pounding determined during the month of July 2007 is 5 percent. Accordingly, an overpayment rate of 8 percent (7 percent in the case of a corporation) and an under- payment rate of 8 percent are established for the calendar quarter beginning October 1, 2007. The overpayment rate for the por- tion of a corporate overpayment exceeding $10,000 for the calendar quarter beginning October 1, 2007, is 5.5 percent. The un- derpayment rate for large corporate under- payments for the calendar quarter begin- ning October 1, 2007, is 10 percent. These rates apply to amounts bearing interest dur- ing that calendar quarter. Interest factors for daily compound in- terest for annual rates of 5.5 percent, 7 per- cent, 8 percent, and 10 percent are pub- lished in Tables 16, 19, 21, and 25 of Rev. Proc. 95–17, 1995–1 C.B. 556, 570, 573, 575, and 579. Annual interest rates to be compounded daily pursuant to section 6622 that apply for prior periods are set forth in the tables accompanying this revenue ruling. DRAFTING INFORMATION The principal author of this revenue ruling is Wendy Kribell of the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Procedure & Administration). For further informa- tion regarding this revenue ruling, contact Ms. Kribell at (202) 622–4570 (not a toll-free call). TABLE OF INTEREST RATES PERIODS BEFORE JUL. 1, 1975 — PERIODS ENDING DEC. 31, 1986 OVERPAYMENTS AND UNDERPAYMENTS PERIODRATE In 1995–1 C.B. DAILY RATE TABLE Before Jul. 1, 19756%Table 2, pg. 557 Jul. 1, 1975—Jan. 31, 19769%Table 4, pg. 559 Feb. 1, 1976—Jan. 31, 19787%Table 3, pg. 558 Feb. 1, 1978—Jan. 31, 19806%Table 2, pg. 557 Feb. 1, 1980—Jan. 31, 198212%Table 5, pg. 560 Feb. 1, 1982—Dec. 31, 198220%Table 6, pg. 560 Jan. 1, 1983—Jun. 30, 198316%Table 37, pg. 591 Jul. 1, 1983—Dec. 31, 198311%Table 27, pg. 581 Jan. 1, 1984—Jun. 30, 198411%Table 75, pg. 629 Jul. 1, 1984—Dec. 31, 198411%Table 75, pg. 629 Jan. 1, 1985—Jun. 30, 198513%Table 31, pg. 585 Jul. 1, 1985—Dec. 31, 198511%Table 27, pg. 581 Jan. 1, 1986—Jun. 30, 198610%Table 25, pg. 579 Jul. 1, 1986—Dec. 31, 19869%Table 23, pg. 577 TABLE OF INTEREST RATES FROM JAN. 1, 1987 — DEC. 31, 1998 OVERPAYMENTSUNDERPAYMENTS 1995–1 C.B.1995–1 C.B. RATE TABLEPGRATE TABLEPG J an. 1, 1987—Mar. 31, 1987 8%2 1 5 75 9%2 3 5 77 Apr. 1, 1987—Jun. 30, 19878%215759%23577 Jul. 1, 1987—Sep. 30, 19878%215759%23577 Oct. 1, 1987—Dec. 31, 19879%2357710%25579 Jan. 1, 1988—Mar. 31, 198810%7362711%75629 Apr. 1, 1988—Jun. 30, 19889%7162510%73627 Jul. 1, 1988—Sep. 30, 19889%7162510%73627 Oct. 1, 1988—Dec. 31, 198810%7362711%75629 Jan. 1, 1989—Mar. 31, 198910%2557911%27581 September 24, 20076692007–39 I.R.B. TABLE OF INTEREST RATES FROM JAN. 1, 1987 — DEC. 31, 1998 – Continued OVERPAYMENTSUNDERPAYMENTS 1995–1 C.B.1995–1 C.B. RATE TABLEPGRATE TABLEPG Apr. 1, 1989—Jun. 30, 198911%2758112%29583 Jul. 1, 1989— Sep. 30, 1989 11%2758112%29583 Oct. 1, 1989—Dec. 31, 198910%2557911%27581 Jan. 1, 1990—Mar. 31, 199010%2557911%27581 Apr. 1, 1990 —Jun. 30, 1990 10%2557911%27581 Jul. 1, 1990—Sep. 30, 199010%2557911%27581 Oct. 1, 1990—Dec. 31, 199010%2557911%27581 Jan. 1, 199 1—Mar. 31, 1991 10%2557911%27581 Apr. 1, 1991—Jun. 30, 19919%2357710%25579 Jul. 1, 1991—Sep. 30, 19919%2357710%25579 Oct. 1, 19 91—Dec. 31, 1991 9%2357710%25579 Jan. 1, 1992—Mar. 31, 19928%696239%71625 Apr. 1, 1992—Jun. 30, 19927%676218%69623 Jul. 1, 1 992—Sep. 30, 1992 7%676218%69623 Oct. 1, 1992—Dec. 31, 19926%656197%67621 Jan. 1, 1993—Mar. 31, 19936%175717%19573 Apr. 1, 1993—Jun. 30, 1993 6%175717%19573 Jul. 1, 1993—Sep. 30, 19936%175717%19573 Oct. 1, 1993—Dec. 31, 19936%175717%19573 Jan. 1, 1994—Mar. 31, 1994 6%175717%19573 Apr. 1, 1994—Jun. 30, 19946%175717%19573 Jul. 1, 1994—Sep. 30, 19947%195738%21575 Oct. 1 , 1994—Dec. 31, 1994 8%215759%23577 Jan. 1, 1995—Mar. 31, 19958%215759%23577 Apr. 1, 1995—Jun. 30, 19959%2357710%25579 Jul. 1, 1995—Sep. 30, 1995 8%215759%23577 Oct. 1, 1995—Dec. 31, 19958%215759%23577 Jan. 1, 1996—Mar. 31, 19968%696239%71625 Apr . 1, 1996—Jun. 30, 1996 7%676218%69623 Jul. 1, 1996—Sep. 30, 19968%696239%71625 Oct. 1, 1996—Dec. 31, 19968%696239%71625 Ja n. 1, 1997—Mar. 31, 1997 8%2157 5 9%2357 7 Apr. 1, 1997—Jun. 30, 19978%215759%23577 Jul. 1, 1997—Sep. 30, 19978%215759%23577 Oc t. 1, 1997—Dec. 31, 1997 8%2157 5 9%2357 7 Jan. 1, 1998—Mar. 31, 19988%215759%23577 Apr. 1, 1998—Jun. 30, 19987%195738%21575 J ul. 1, 1998—Sep. 30, 1998 7 % 1 9 5 73 8 % 2 1 5 75 Oct. 1, 1998—Dec. 31, 19987%195738%21575 TABLE OF INTEREST RATES FROM JANUARY 1, 1999 — PRESENT NONCORPORATE OVERPAYMENTS AND UNDERPAYMENTS 1995–1 C.B. RATETABLEPAGE Jan. 1, 1999—Mar. 31, 19997%19573 Apr. 1, 1999—Jun. 30, 19998%21575 Jul. 1, 1999—Sep. 30, 19998%21575 Oct. 1, 1999—Dec. 31, 19998%21575 Jan. 1, 2000—Mar. 31, 20008%69623 Apr. 1, 2000—Jun. 30, 20009%71625 Jul. 1, 2000—Sep. 30, 20009%71625 2007–39 I.R.B.670September 24, 2007 TABLE OF INTEREST RATES FROM JANUARY 1, 1999 — PRESENT – Continued NONCORPORATE OVERPAYMENTS AND UNDERPAYMENTS 1995–1 C.B. RATETABLEPAGE Oct. 1, 2000—Dec. 31, 20009%71625 Jan. 1, 2001—Mar. 31, 20019%23577 Apr. 1, 2001—Jun. 30, 20018%21575 Jul. 1, 2001—Sep. 30, 20017%19573 Oct. 1, 2001—Dec. 31, 20017%19573 Jan. 1, 2002—Mar. 31, 20026%17571 Apr. 1, 2002—Jun. 30, 20026%17571 Jul. 1, 2002—Sep. 30, 20026%17571 Oct. 1, 2002—Dec. 31, 20026%17571 Jan. 1, 2003—Mar. 31, 20035%15569 Apr. 1, 2003—Jun. 30, 20035%15569 Jul. 1, 2003—Sep. 30, 20035%15569 Oct. 1, 2003—Dec. 31, 20034%13567 Jan. 1, 2004—Mar. 31, 20044%61615 Apr. 1, 2004—Jun. 30, 20045%63617 Jul. 1, 2004—Sep. 30, 20044%61615 Oct. 1, 2004—Dec. 31, 20045%63617 Jan. 1, 2005—Mar. 31, 20055%15569 Apr. 1, 2005—Jun. 30, 20056%17571 Jul. 1, 2005—Sep. 30, 20056%17571 Oct. 1, 2005—Dec. 31, 20057%19573 Jan. 1, 2006—Mar. 31, 20067%19573 Apr. 1, 2006—Jun. 30, 20067%19573 Jul. 1, 2006—Sep. 30, 20068%21575 Oct. 1, 2006—Dec. 31, 20068%21575 Jan. 1, 2007—Mar. 31, 20078%21575 Apr. 1, 2007—Jun. 30, 20078%21575 Jul. 1, 2007—Sep. 30, 20078%21575 Oct. 1, 2007—Dec. 31, 20078%21575 TABLE OF INTEREST RATES FROM JANUARY 1, 1999 — PRESENT CORPORATE OVERPAYMENTS AND UNDERPAYMENTS OVERPAYMENTSUNDERPAYMENTS 1995–1 C.B.1995–1 C.B. RATE TABLEPGRATE TABLEPG Jan. 1, 1999—Mar. 31, 19996%175717%19573 Apr. 1, 1999—Jun. 30, 19997%195738%21575 J ul. 1, 1999—Sep. 30, 1999 7 % 1 9 5 73 8 % 2 1 5 75 Oct. 1, 1999—Dec. 31, 19997%195738%21575 Jan. 1, 2000—Mar. 31, 20007%676218%69623 Apr. 1, 2000—Jun. 30, 20008%696239%71625 Jul. 1, 2000—Sep. 30, 20008%696239%71625 Oct. 1, 2000—Dec. 31, 20008%696239%71625 Jan. 1, 2001—Mar. 31, 20018%215759%23577 Apr. 1, 2001—Jun. 30, 20017%195738%21575 Jul. 1, 2001—Sep. 30, 20016%175717%19573 Oct. 1, 2001—Dec. 31, 20016%175717%19573 Jan. 1, 2002—Mar. 31, 20025%155696%17571 Apr. 1, 2002—Jun. 30, 20025%155696%17571 Jul. 1, 2002—Sep. 30, 20025%155696%17571 September 24, 20076712007–39 I.R.B. TABLE OF INTEREST RATES FROM JANUARY 1, 1999 — PRESENT – Continued CORPORATE OVERPAYMENTS AND UNDERPAYMENTS OVERPAYMENTSUNDERPAYMENTS 1995–1 C.B.1995–1 C.B. RATE TABLEPGRATE TABLEPG Oct. 1, 2002—Dec. 31, 20025%155696%17571 Jan. 1, 2003—Mar. 31, 20034%135675%15569 Apr. 1, 2003 —Jun. 30, 2003 4%135675%15569 Jul. 1, 2003—Sep. 30, 20034%135675%15569 Oct. 1, 2003—Dec. 31, 20033%115654%13567 Jan. 1, 2004 —Mar. 31, 2004 3%596134%61615 Apr. 1, 2004—Jun. 30, 20044%616155%63617 Jul. 1, 2004—Sep. 30, 20043%596134%61615 Oct. 1, 200 4—Dec. 31, 2004 4%616155%63617 Jan. 1, 2005—Mar. 31, 20054%135675%15569 Apr. 1, 2005—Jun. 30, 20055%155696%17571 Jul. 1, 20 05—Sep. 30, 2005 5%155696%17571 Oct. 1, 2005—Dec. 31, 20056%175717%19573 Jan. 1, 2006—Mar. 31, 20066%175717%19573 Apr. 1, 2 006—Jun. 30, 2006 6%175717%19573 Jul. 1, 2006—Sep. 30, 20067%195738%21575 Oct. 1, 2006—Dec. 31, 20067%195738%21575 Jan. 1, 2007—Mar. 31, 2007 7%195738%21575 Apr. 1, 2007—Jun. 30, 20077%195738%21575 Jul. 1, 2007—Sep. 30, 20077%195738%21575 Oct. 1 , 2007—Dec. 31, 2007 7%195738%21575 TABLE OF INTEREST RATES FOR LARG E CORPORATE UNDERPAYMENTS FROM JANUARY 1, 1991 — PRESENT 1995–1 C.B. RATETABLEPG Jan. 1, 1991—Mar. 31, 199113%31585 Apr. 1, 1991—Jun. 30, 199112%29583 Jul . 1, 1991—Sep. 30, 1991 12%29583 Oct. 1, 1991—Dec. 31, 199112%29583 Jan. 1, 1992—Mar. 31, 199211%75629 Ap r. 1, 1992—Jun. 30, 1992 10%7362 7 Jul. 1, 1992—Sep. 30, 199210%73627 Oct. 1, 1992—Dec. 31, 19929%71625 J an. 1, 1993—Mar. 31, 1993 9%2 3 5 77 Apr. 1, 1993—Jun. 30, 19939%23577 Jul. 1, 1993—Sep. 30, 19939%23577 Oct. 1, 1993—Dec. 31, 19939%23577 Jan. 1, 1994—Mar. 31, 19949%23577 Apr. 1, 1994—Jun. 30, 19949%23577 Jul. 1, 1994—Sep. 30, 199410%25579 Oct. 1, 1994—Dec. 31, 199411%27581 Jan. 1, 1995—Mar. 31, 199511%27581 Apr. 1, 1995—Jun. 30, 199512%29583 Jul. 1, 1995—Sep. 30, 199511%27581 Oct. 1, 1995—Dec. 31, 199511%27581 Jan. 1, 1996—Mar. 31, 199611%75629 Apr. 1, 1996—Jun. 30, 199610%73627 Jul. 1, 1996—Sep. 30, 199611%75629 Oct. 1, 1996—Dec. 31, 199611%75629 2007–39 I.R.B.672September 24, 2007 TABLE OF INTEREST RATES FOR LARGE CORPORATE UNDERPAYMENTS FROM JANUARY 1, 1991 — PRESENT – Continued 1995–1 C.B. RATETABLEPG Jan. 1, 1997—Mar. 31, 199711%27581 Apr. 1, 1997—Jun. 30, 199711%27581 Jul. 1, 1997—Sep. 30, 199711%27581 Oct. 1, 1997—Dec. 31, 199711%27581 Jan. 1, 1998—Mar. 31, 199811%27581 Apr. 1, 1998—Jun. 30, 199810%25579 Jul. 1, 1998—Sep. 30, 199810%25579 Oct. 1, 1998—Dec. 31, 199810%25579 Jan. 1, 1999—Mar. 31, 19999%23577 Apr. 1, 1999—Jun. 30, 199910%25579 Jul. 1, 1999—Sep. 30, 199910%25579 Oct. 1, 1999—Dec. 31, 199910%25579 Jan. 1, 2000—Mar. 31, 200010%73627 Apr. 1, 2000—Jun. 30, 200011%75629 Jul. 1, 2000—Sep. 30, 200011%75629 Oct. 1, 2000—Dec. 31, 200011%75629 Jan. 1, 2001—Mar. 31, 200111%27581 Apr. 1, 2001—Jun. 30, 200110%25579 Jul. 1, 2001—Sep. 30, 20019%23577 Oct. 1, 2001—Dec. 31, 20019%23577 Jan. 1, 2002—Mar. 31, 20028%21575 Apr. 1, 2002—Jun. 30, 20028%21575 Jul. 1, 2002—Sep. 30, 20028%21575 Oct. 1, 2002—Dec. 31, 20028%21575 Jan. 1, 2003—Mar. 31, 20037%19573 Apr. 1, 2003—Jun. 30, 20037%19573 Jul. 1, 2003—Sep. 30, 20037%19573 Oct. 1, 2003—Dec. 31, 20036%17571 Jan. 1, 2004—Mar. 31, 20046%65619 Apr. 1, 2004—Jun. 30, 20047%67621 Jul. 1, 2004—Sep. 30, 20046%65619 Oct. 1, 2004—Dec. 31, 20047%67621 Jan. 1, 2005—Mar. 31, 20057%19573 Apr. 1, 2005—Jun. 30, 20058%21575 Jul. 1, 2005—Sep. 30, 20058%21575 Oct. 1, 2005—Dec. 31, 20059%23577 Jan. 1, 2006—Mar. 31, 20069%23577 Apr. 1, 2006—Jun. 30, 20069%23577 Jul. 1, 2006—Sep. 30, 200610%25579 Oct. 1, 2006—Dec. 31, 200610%25579 Jan. 1, 2007—Mar. 31, 200710%25579 Apr. 1, 2007—Jun. 30, 200710%25579 Jul. 1, 2007—Sep. 30, 200710%25579 Oct. 1, 2007—Dec. 31, 200710%25579 TABLE OF INTEREST RATES FOR CORPORATE OVERPAYMENTS EXCEEDING $10,000 FROM JANUARY 1, 1995 — PRESENT 1995–1 C.B. RATETABLEPG Jan. 1, 1995—Mar. 31, 19956.5%18572 Apr. 1, 1995—Jun. 30, 19957.5%20574 September 24, 20076732007–39 I.R.B. TABLE OF INTEREST RATES FOR CORPORATE OVERPAYMENTS E XCEEDING $10,000 FROM JANUARY 1, 1995 — PRESENT – Continued 1995–1 C.B. RATETABLEPG Jul. 1, 1995—Sep. 30, 19956.5%18572 Oct. 1, 1995—Dec. 31, 19956.5%18572 Jan. 1, 1996—Mar. 31, 19966.5%66620 Apr. 1, 1996—Jun. 30, 19965.5%64618 Jul. 1, 1996—Sep. 30, 19966.5%66620 Oct. 1, 1996—Dec. 31, 19966.5%66620 Jan. 1, 1997—Mar. 31, 19976.5%18572 Apr. 1, 1997—Jun. 30, 19976.5%18572 Jul. 1, 1997—Sep. 30, 19976.5%18572 Oct. 1, 1997—Dec. 31, 19976.5%18572 Jan. 1, 1998—Mar. 31, 19986.5%18572 Apr. 1, 1998—Jun. 30, 19985.5%16570 Jul. 1, 1998—Sep. 30, 19985.5%16570 Oct. 1, 1998—Dec. 31, 19985.5%16570 Jan. 1, 1999—Mar. 31, 19994.5%14568 Apr. 1, 1999—Jun. 30, 19995.5%16570 Jul. 1, 1999—Sep. 30, 19995.5%16570 Oct. 1, 1999—Dec. 31, 19995.5%16570 Jan. 1, 2000—Mar. 31, 20005.5%64618 Apr. 1, 2000—Jun. 30, 20006.5%66620 Jul. 1, 2000—Sep. 30, 20006.5%66620 Oct. 1, 2000—Dec. 31, 20006.5%66620 Jan. 1, 2001—Mar. 31, 20016.5%18572 Apr. 1, 2001—Jun. 30, 20015.5%16570 Jul. 1, 2001—Sep. 30, 20014.5%14568 Oct. 1, 2001—Dec. 31, 20014.5%14568 Jan. 1, 2002—Mar. 31, 20023.5%12566 Apr. 1, 2002—Jun. 30, 20023.5%12566 Jul. 1, 2002—Sep. 30, 20023.5%12566 Oct. 1, 2002—Dec. 31, 20023.5%12566 Jan. 1, 2003—Mar. 31, 20032.5%10564 Apr. 1, 2003—Jun. 30, 20032.5%10564 Jul. 1, 2003—Sep. 30, 20032.5%10564 Oct. 1, 2003—Dec. 31, 20031.5%8562 Jan. 1, 2004—Mar. 31, 20041.5%56610 Apr. 1, 2004—Jun. 30, 20042.5%58612 Jul. 1, 2004—Sep. 30, 20041.5%56610 Oct. 1, 2004—Dec. 31, 20042.5%58612 Jan. 1, 2005—Mar. 31, 20052.5%10564 Apr. 1, 2005—Jun. 30, 20053.5%12566 Jul. 1, 2005—Sep. 30, 20053.5%12566 Oct. 1, 2005—Dec. 31, 20054.5%14568 Jan. 1, 2006—Mar. 31, 20064.5%14568 Apr. 1, 2006—Jun. 30, 20064.5%14568 Jul. 1, 2006—Sep. 30, 20065.5%16570 Oct. 1, 2006—Dec. 31, 20065.5%16570 Jan. 1, 2007—Mar. 31, 20075.5%16570 Apr. 1, 2007—Jun. 30, 20075.5%16570 Jul. 1, 2007—Sep. 30, 20075.5%16570 Oct. 1, 2007—Dec. 31, 20075.5%16570 2007–39 I.R.B.674September 24, 2007 Section 7701.—Definitions 26 CFR 301.7701–2: Business entities; definitions. T.D. 9356 DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Internal Revenue Service 26 CFR Parts 1 and 301 Disregarded Entities; Employment and Excise Taxes AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Final regulations. SUMMARY: This document contains fi- nal regulations under which qualified sub- chapter S subsidiaries and single-owner eligible entities that currently are disre- garded as entities separate from their own- ers for Federal tax purposes will be treated as separate entities for employment tax and related reporting requirement purposes. This document also contains final regula- tions that treat such disregarded entities as separate entities for purposes of cer- tain excise taxes reported on Forms 720, “Quarterly Federal Excise Tax Return;” 730, “Monthly Tax Return for Wagers;” 2290, “Heavy Highway Vehicle Use Tax Return;” and 11–C, “Occupational Tax and Registration Return for Wagering;” excise tax refunds or payments claimed on Form 8849, “Claim for Refund of Excise Taxes;” and excise tax registrations on Form 637, “Application for Registration (For Certain Excise Tax Activities).” These regulations affect disregarded entities and the owners and employees of disregarded entities with respect to the payment and re- porting of Federal employment taxes and the reporting of wage payments. These regulations also affectdisregarded entities and their owners in the payment and re- porting of certain Federal excise taxes and in registration and claims related to certain Federal excise taxes. DATES:Effective Date:These regulations are effective on August 16, 2007. Applicability Dates:With respect to employment taxes, these regulations apply to wages paid on or after January 1, 2009. With respect to excise taxes, these regula- tions apply to liabilities imposed and ac- tions first required or permitted in periods beginning on or after January 1, 2008. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Richards at (202) 622–6040 (on the employment tax pro- visions) or Susan Athy at (202) 622–3130 (on the excise tax provisions) (not toll-free numbers). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background This document contains amendments to 26 CFR parts 1 and 301. On October 18, 2005, a notice of proposed rulemak- ing (REG–114371–05, 2005–2 C.B. 930) was published in theFederal Register (70 FR 60475) proposing to treat qual- ified subchapter S subsidiaries (QSubs) (under section 1361(b)(3)(B) of the In- ternal Revenue Code (Code)) and certain other single-owner eligible entities (un- der §§301.7701–1 through 301.7701–3 of the Procedure and Administrative Regu- lations) that currently are disregarded as entities separate from their owners (dis- regarded entities) as separate entities for purposes of employment tax and related reporting requirements and for purposes of certain excise taxes reported on Forms 720, 730, 2290, and 11–C; excise tax re- funds or payments claimed on Form 8849; and excise tax registrations on Form 637. Comments addressing employment taxes were received from the public in response to the notice of proposed rulemaking. No comments were received regarding the excise tax provisions of the proposed reg- ulations. No public hearing was requested or held. After consideration of all the comments, the proposed regulations are adopted as revised by this Treasury deci- sion. Summary of Comments and Changes Made As provided in the proposed regula- tions, the final regulations provide that a disregarded entity is treated as a separate entity for purposes of employment taxes and related reporting requirements. The final regulations clarify that the separate entity is treated as a corporation for pur- poses of employment taxes and related re- porting requirements. As provided in the proposed regulations, a disregarded entity continues to be disregarded for other Fed- eral tax purposes. The final regulations clarify that an owner of a disregarded en- tity treated as a sole proprietorship is sub- ject to taxes under the Self-Employment Contributions Act (SECA) (section 1401 et. seq.). Additionally, the final regula- tions retain the example illustrating that an individual owner of a disregarded entity continues to be treated as self-employed for purposes of SECA taxes, and not as an employee of a disregarded entity for em- ployment tax purposes. Commentators suggested that the pro- posed regulations not be finalized, and that Notice 99–6, 1999–1 C.B. 321, be retained. Notice 99–6 provides that em- ployment taxes and other employment tax obligations with respect to employees of a disregarded entity may be satisfied in one of two ways: (1) calculation, report- ing, and payment of all employment tax obligations with respect to employees of the disregarded entity by its owner (as though the employees of the disregarded entity are employed directly by the owner) and under the owner’s name and taxpayer identification number;or (2) separate cal- culation, reporting, and payment of all employment tax obligations by each state law entity with respect to its employees under its own name and taxpayer identifi- cation number. Commentators stated that the regula- tions would increase administrative bur- den for taxpayers that currently choose to pay and report employment taxes at the owner level as permitted by Notice 99–6. Commentators also suggested that if the regulations were finalized, compli- cations could arise for states where state employment tax filings are required at the owner level. No written comments were received from any state. The IRS and the Treasury Department continue to believe that recognizing disregarded entities as employers for Federal employ- ment taxes will improve administration of the Federal tax laws and simplify Federal tax compliance with respect to reporting, payment, and collection of employment taxes. In addition, because most states recognize disregarded entities as employ- ers for reporting, payment, and collection September 24, 20076752007–39 I.R.B. of state employment taxes, these regula- tions will more closely align Federal and state reporting, payment and collection of employment taxes. Accordingly, this comment is not adopted. One commentator requested clari- fication of the applicability of section 3306(c)(8) to services performed for a disregardedentitythatisownedbyanor- ganization described in section 501(c)(3). Section 3306(c)(8) provides that services performed for an organization described in section 501(c)(3) are excepted from the definition of employment for Federal Un- employment Tax Act (FUTA) purposes. Even though a disregarded entity owned by a section 501(c)(3) organization will be regarded for employment tax purposes, the disregarded entity will continue to be considered an unincorporated branch or division of the section 501(c)(3) organi- zation for other Federal tax purposes. For example, the disregarded entity will be considered an unincorporated branch or division of the section 501(c)(3) organi- zation for purposes of the organization’s annual information reporting requirements under section 6033. See Announcement 99–102, 1999–2 C.B. 545. Because sec- tion 3306(c)(8) looks to the employer’s status for income tax purposes to establish the basis for exemption from FUTA, a disregarded entity owned solely by a sec- tion 501(c)(3) organization is considered exempt from tax under section 501(c)(3) for purposes of section 3306(c)(8). Thus, a disregarded entity owned solely by a section 501(c)(3) organization will not be subject to FUTA tax on wages it pays its employees. One commentator requested clarifi- cation of the applicability of the backup withholding provisions under section 3406 to disregarded entities. Section 3406 re- quires the payor of certain “reportable pay- ments” to withhold from such payments a tax at the rate of 28 percent. For instance, if the payee where required to do so does not provide a valid taxpayer identification number (TIN) to the payor, the payor must backup withhold on reportable payments to the payee. Reportable payments are payments that must be reported to a payee on Form 1099, “U.S. Information Return for Calendar Year 1971,” such as certain payments for services made in the course of a trade or business. Wage payments are not reportable payments however, and are not subject to backup withholding under section 3406. These regulations do not ap- ply to reportable payments under section 3406. Because the owner of a disregarded entity other than a QSub is required to file and furnish information returns with respect to non-wage reportable payments and that requirement is not affected by these regulations, the disregarded entity is not subject to the backup withholding requirements. Rather, the owner of the disregarded entity is responsible for any backup withholding that is required with respect to reportable payments consid- ered made by the owner. Under section 1361(b)(3)(E) disregarded entities that are QSubs are subject to information report- ing requirements on non-wage payments, unless the Secretary provides otherwise. These regulations do not address the in- formation reporting for QSubs. Availability of IRS Documents The IRS notice and announcement cited in this preamble are published in the Inter- nal Revenue Bulletin or Cumulative Bul- letin and are available atwww.irs.gov. Effective Date The employment tax provisions of these regulations apply to wages paid on or af- ter January 1, 2009. The notice of pro- posed rulemaking provided that these reg- ulations would become effective with re- spect to wages paid on January 1 follow- ing the year of publication of these fi- nal regulations in theFederal Register, which would have been January 1, 2008. However, in order to ensure that taxpay- ers have sufficient time to make any nec- essary changes to their systems in response to these regulations, the IRS and the Trea- sury Department have determined that it is appropriate to delay the effective date of these regulations until January 1, 2009. The IRS and the Treasury Department believe that the considerations that support a January 1, 2009, effective date for the employment tax provisions do not apply to the excise tax provisions. Thus, the ex- cise tax provisions of these regulations ap- ply to liabilities imposed and actions re- quired or permitted in periods beginning on or after January 1, 2008. For periods beginning before that date, the IRS will treat payments made by a disregarded en- tity, or other actions taken by a disregarded entity, with respect to the excise taxes af- fected by these regulations as having been made or taken by the sole owner of that en- tity. Thus, for such periods, the owner of a disregarded entity will be treated as satis- fying the owner’s obligations with respect to the excise taxes affected by these regu- lations, provided that those obligations are satisfied either (1) by the owner itself or (2)bythedisregardedentityonbehalfof the owner. Effect on Other Documents Disregarded entities, and the owners of such entities may continue to use the procedures permitted by Notice 99–6 for wages paid prior to January 1, 2009. No- tice 99–6 provides that if the owner calcu- lates and pays all employment taxes and satisfies all other employment tax obliga- tions with respect to employees of the dis- regarded entity under the owner’s name and taxpayer identification number (as per- mitted under method (1) of Notice 99–6) for a return period that begins on or af- ter April 20, 1999, then the owner must continue to use this method unless and un- til otherwise permitted by the Commis- sioner. However, Notice 99–6 is modified such that a taxpayer may switch to method (2) of Notice 99–6 with respect to wages paid on or after August 16, 2007, and be- fore January 1, 2009, without seeking per- mission of the Commissioner. Taxpayers whoswitchfrommethod(1)tomethod(2) with respect to wages paid prior to January 1, 2009, may consider wages paid by the owner to employees of the disregarded en- tity during the calendar year of the switch as having been paid by the disregarded en- tity for purposes of determining whether wages paid to the disregarded entity’s em- ployees have reached the contribution and benefit base as determined under section 230 of the Social Security Act and for pur- poses of the wage base under section 3306. However, as provided in Notice 99–6, re- gardless of whether the owner uses method (1) or method (2), the owner is ultimately responsible for employment tax liabilities and other employment tax responsibilities with respect to all wages paid prior to Jan- uary 1, 2009, to employees of the disre- garded entity. Notice 99–6 is obsoleted as of January 1, 2009. 2007–39 I.R.B.676September 24, 2007 Special Analyses It has been determined that this Trea- sury decision is not a significant regula- tory action as defined in Executive Order 12866. Therefore, a regulatory assessment is not required. It also has been deter- mined that section 553(b) of the Admin- istrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. chapter 5) does not apply to these regulations, and because the regulations do not impose a collection of information on small entities, the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. chapter 6) does not apply. Pursuant to sec- tion 7805(f) of the Code, the proposed reg- ulations preceding these regulations were submitted to the Chief Counsel for Advo- cacy of the Small Business Administration for comment on their impact on small busi- ness. Drafting Information The principal authors of these regula- tions are Susan Athy, Office of Associa te Chief Counsel (Passthroughs and Speci al Industries), and John Richards, Offic eof Associate Chief Counsel (Tax Exempt a nd Government Entities). However, othe r personnel from the IRS and the Treasu ry Department participated in their de velop- ment. ***** Adoption of Amendments to the Regulations Accordingly, 26 CFR parts 1 and 301 are amended as follows: PART 1—INCOME TAXES Paragraph 1. The authority citation for part 1 continues to read in part as follows: Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805 * * * Par. 2. Section 1.34–1 is revised to read as follows: §1.34–1 Special rulefor owners of certain business entities. Amounts payable under sections 6420, 6421, and 6427 to a business entity that is treated as separate from its owner un- der §1.1361–4(a)(8) (relating to certain qualified subchapter S subsidiaries) or §301.7701–2(c)(2)(v) of this chapter (re- lating to certain wholly-owned entities) are, for purposes of section 34, treated as payable to the owner of that entity. §§1.34–2, 1.34–3, 1.34–4, 1.34–5, and 1.34–6 [Removed] Par. 3. Sections 1.34–2, 1.34–3, 1.34–4, 1.34–5, and 1.34–6 are removed. Par. 4. Section 1.1361–4 is amended as follows: 1. In paragraph (a)(1) introductory text, the language “Except as otherwise pro- vided in paragraphs (a)(3) and (a)(6)” is re- moved, and the language “Except as other- wise provided in paragraphs (a)(3), (a)(6), (a)(7), and (a)(8)” is added in its place. 2. Paragraphs (a)(7) and (a)(8) are added. The additions read as follows: §1.1361–4 Effect of QSub election. (a) * * * (7)Treatment of QSubs for purposes of employment taxes—(i)In general.A QSub is treated as a separate corporation for purposes of Subtitle C — Employ- ment Taxes and Collection of Income Tax (Chapters 21, 22, 23, 23A, 24, and 25 of the Internal Revenue Code). (ii)Effective/applicability date.This paragraph (a)(7) applies with respect to wages paid on or after January 1, 2009. (8)Treatment of QSubs for purposes of certain excise taxes—(i)In general.A QSub is treated as a separate corporation for purposes of— (A) Federal tax liabilities imposed by Chapters 31, 32 (other than section 4181), 33, 34, 35, 36 (other than section 4461), and 38 of the Internal Revenue Code, or any floor stocks tax imposed on articles subject to any of these taxes; (B) Collection of tax imposed by Chap- ter 33 of the Internal Revenue Code; (C) Registration under sections 4101, 4222, and 4412; and (D) Claims of a credit (other than a credit under section 34), refund, or pay- ment related to a tax described in para- graph (a)(8)(i)(A) of this section or under section 6426 or 6427. (ii)Effective/applicability date.This paragraph (a)(8) applies to liabilities im- posed and actions first required or permit- tedinperiodsbeginningonorafterJan- uary 1, 2008. §1.1361–6 [Amended] Par. 5. Section 1.1361–6 is amended by removing the language “Except as provided in §§1.1361–4(a)(3)(iii), 1.1361–4(a)(5)(i), and 1.1361–5(c)(2)” and by adding the language “Except as provided in §§1.1361–4(a)(3)(iii), 1.1361–4(a)(5)(i), 1.1361–4(a)(6)(iii), 1.1361–4(a)(7)(ii), 1.1361–4(a)(8)(ii), and 1.1361–5(c)(2)” in its place. PART 301—PROCEDURE AND ADMINISTRATION Par. 6. The authority citation for part 301 continues to read in part as follows: Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805 * * * Par. 7. Section 301.7701–2 is amended as follows: 1. A sentence is added at the end of paragraph (a). 2. Paragraph (c)(2)(i) is revised. 3. Paragraphs (c)(2)(iv), (c)(2)(v), (e)(5), and (e)(6) are added. The additions read as follows: §301.7701–2 Business entities; definitions . (a) * * * But see paragraphs (c)(2)(iv) and (v) of this section for special employ- ment and excise tax rules that apply to an eligible entity that is otherwise disregarded as an entity separate from its owner. ***** (c) * * * (2)Wholly owned entities—(i)In gen- eral. Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph (c), a business entity that has a single owner and is not a corporation under paragraph (b) of this section is disregarded as an entity separate from its owner. ***** (iv)Special rule for employment tax purposes—(A)In general. Paragraph (c)(2)(i) of this section (relating to certain wholly owned entities) does not apply to taxes imposed under Subtitle C — Em- ployment Taxes and Collection of Income Tax (Chapters 21, 22, 23, 23A, 24, and 25 of the Internal Revenue Code). Paragraph (c)(2)(i) of this section does apply to taxes imposed under Subtitle A, including Chap- ter 2 — Tax on Self-Employment Income. The owner of an entity that is treated in the same manner as a sole proprietorship September 24, 20076772007–39 I.R.B. under paragraph (a) of this section will be subject to the tax on self-employment income. (B)Treatment of entity. Anentitythat is otherwise disregarded as an entity sep- arate from its owner but for paragraph (c)(2)(iv)(A) of this section is treated as a corporation with respect to taxes imposed under Subtitle C — Employment Taxes and Collection of Income Tax (Chapters 21,22,23,23A,24,and25oftheInternal Revenue Code). (C)Example. The following example illustrates the application of paragraph (c)(2)(iv) of this section: Example. (i) LLCA is an eligible entity owned by individual A and is generally disregarded as an entity separate from its owner for Federal tax pur- poses. However, LLCA is treated as an entity sep- arate from its owner for purposes of subtitle C of the Internal Revenue Code. LLCA has employees and pays wages as defined in sections 3121(a), 3306(b), and 3401(a). (ii) LLCA is subject to the provisions of subtitle C of the Internal Revenue Code and related pro- visions under 26 CFR subchapter C, Employment Taxes and Collection of Income Tax at Source, parts 31 through 39. Accordingly, LLCA is required to perform such acts as are required of an employer under those provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and regulations thereunder that apply. All provisions of law (including penalties) and the regulations pre- scribed in pursuance of law applicable to employers in respect of such acts are applicable to LLCA. Thus, for example, LLCA is liable for income tax with- holding, Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes, and Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) taxes. See sections 3402 and 3403 (relating to in- come tax withholding); 3102(b) and 3111 (relating to FICA taxes), and 3301 (relating to FUTA taxes). In addition, LLCA must file under its name and EIN the applicable forms in the 94X series, for example, Form 941, “Employer’s QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return,” Form 940, “Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment(FUTA) Tax Return;” file with the So- cial Security Administration and furnish to LLCA’s employees statements on Forms W–2, “Wage and Tax Statement;” and make timely employment tax deposits. See §§31.6011(a)–1, 31.6011(a)–3, 31.6051–1, 31.6051–2, and 31.6302–1 of this chap- ter. (iii) A is self-employed for purposes of subtitle A, chapter 2, Tax on Self-Employment Income, of the Internal Revenue Code. Thus, A is subject to tax un- der section 1401 on A’s net earnings from self-em- ployment with respect to LLCA’s activities. A is not an employee of LLCA for purposes of subtitle C of the Internal Revenue Code. Because LLCA is treated as a sole proprietorship of A for income tax purposes, A is entitled to deduct trade or business expenses paid or incurred with respect to activities carried on through LLCA, including the employer’s share of employment taxes imposed under sections 3111 and 3301, on A’s Form 1040, Schedule C, “Profit or Loss From Business (Sole Proprietorship).” (v)Special rule for certain excise tax purposes—(A)In general. Paragraph (c)(2)(i) of this section (relating to certain wholly owned entities) does not apply for purposes of— (1) Federal tax liabilities imposed by Chapters 31, 32 (other than section 4181), 33, 34, 35, 36 (other than section 4461), and 38 of the Internal Revenue Code, or any floor stocks tax imposed on articles subject to any of these taxes; (2)CollectionoftaximposedbyChap- ter 33 of the Internal Revenue Code; (3) Registration under sections 4101, 4222, and 4412; and (4) Claims of a credit (other than a credit under section 34), refund, or pay- ment related to a tax described in para- graph (c)(2)(v)(A)(1)ofthissectionorun- der section 6426 or 6427. (B)Example. The following example illustrates the provisions of this paragraph (c)(2)(v): Example. (i) LLCB is an eligible entity that has a single owner, B. LLCB is generally disregarded as an entity separate from its owner. However, under paragraph (c)(2)(v) of this section, LLCB is treated as an entity separate from its owner for certain purposes relating to excise taxes. (ii) LLCB mines coal from a coal mine located in the United States. Section 4121 of chapter 32 of the Internal Revenue Code imposes a tax on the pro- ducer’s sale of such coal. Section 48.4121–1(a) of this chapter defines a “producer” generally as the per- son in whom is vested ownership of the coal under state law immediately after the coal is severed from the ground. LLCB is the person that owns the coal under state law immediately after it is severed from the ground. Under paragraph (c)(2)(v)(A)(1)ofthis section, LLCB is the producer of the coal and is liable for tax on its sale of such coal under chapter 32 of the Internal Revenue Code. LLCB must report and pay taxonForm720,“Quarterly Federal Excise Tax Re- turn,” under its own name and taxpayer identification number. (iii) LLCB uses undyed diesel fuel in an earth- mover that is not registered or required to be reg- istered for highway use. Such use is an off-high- way business use of the fuel. Under section 6427(l), the ultimate purchaser is allowed to claim an income tax credit or payment related to the tax imposed on diesel fuel used in an off-highway business use. Un- der paragraph (c)(2)(v) of this section, for purposes of the credit or payment allowed under section 6427(l), LLCB is the person that could claim the amount on its Form 720 or on a Form 8849, “Claim for Re- fund of Excise Taxes.” Alternatively, if LLCB did not claim a payment during the time prescribed in section 6427(i)(2) for making a claim under section 6427, §1.34–1 of this chapter provides that B, the owner of LLCB, could claim the income tax credit allowed un- der section 34 for the nontaxable use of diesel fuel by LLCB. ***** (e) * * * (5) Paragraph (c)(2)(iv) of this section applies with respect to wages paid on or after January 1, 2009. (6) Paragraph (c)(2)(v) of this section applies to liabilities imposed and actions first required or permitted in periods be- ginning on or after January 1, 2008. Kevin M. Brown, Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement. Approved July 25, 2007. Eric Solomon, Assistant Secretary of theTreasury(TaxPolicy). (Filed by the Office of the Federal Register on August 15, 2007, 8:45 a.m., and published in the issue of the Federal Register for August 16, 2007, 72 F.R. 45891) 2007–39 I.R.B.678September 24, 2007 Part III. Administrative, Procedural, and Miscellaneous Weighted Average Interest Rates Update Notice 2007–75 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 addi- tion, it provides guidance as to the interest rate on 30-year Treasury securities under § 417(e)(3)(A)(ii)(II). CORPORATE BOND WEIGHTED AVERAGE INTEREST RATE Sections412(b)(5)(B)(ii)and 412(l)(7)(C)(i), as amended by the Pension Funding Equity Act of 2004 and by the Pension Protection Act of 2006, provide that the interest rates used to calculate cur- rent liability and to determine the required contribution under § 412(l) for plan years beginning in 2004 through 2007 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, pro- vides guidelines for determining the cor- porate bond weighted average interest rate and the resulting permissible range of in- terest rates used to calculate current liabil- ity. That notice establishes that the corpo- rate bond weighted average is based on the monthly composite corporate bond rate de- rived from designated corporate bond in- dices. The methodology for determining the monthly composite corporate bond rate as set forth in Notice 2004–34 continues to apply in determining that rate. See Notice 2006–75, 2006–36 I.R.B. 366. The composite corporate bond rate for August 2007 is 6.33 percent. Pursuant to Notice 2004–34, the Service has de- termined 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 Corporate Bond90% to 100% Beginning in:WeightedPermissible MonthYearAverageRange September20075.865.27 to 5.86 30-YEAR TREASURY SECURITIES 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 applica- ble interest rate for a month is the annual interest rate on 30-year Treasury securi- ties 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 August 2007 is 4.93 percent. The Service has determined this rate as the average of the yield on the 30-year Trea- surybondmaturinginFebruary2037de- termined each day through August 8, 2007, and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond maturing in May 2037 determined each day for the balance of the month. Drafting Information The principal authors of this notice are Paul Stern and Tony Montanaro of the Em- ployee Plans, Tax Exempt and Govern- ment Entities Division. For further infor- mation regarding this notice, please con- tact the Employee Plans’ taxpayer assis- tance telephone service at 877–829–5500 (a toll-free number), between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday. Mr. Stern may be reached at 202–283–9703. Mr. Montanaro may be reached at 202–283–9714. The telephone numbers in the preceding sen- tences are not toll-free. 26 CFR 601.602: Tax forms and instructions. (Also: Part I, § 179.) Rev. Proc. 2007–60 SECTION 1. PURPOSE This revenue procedure corrects the in- flation adjusted amounts set forth in Rev. Proc. 2006–53, 2006–48 I.R.B. 996, that apply to taxpayers who elect to expense certain depreciable assets under § 179 of the Internal Revenue Code. This correc- tion reflects statutory changes enacted sub- sequent to the publication of Rev. Proc. 2006–53. SE CTION 2. BACKGROUND Prior to the enactment of the Small Business and Work Opportunity Tax Act of 2007, Pub. L. No. 110–28, 121 Stat. 190 (2007) (the Act), § 179(b)(1) prescribed a $100,000 limitation (the $100,000 amount) on the aggregate cost of section 179 property that could be treated as an expense for any taxable year beginning after 2002 and before 2010. For those same taxable years, sec- tion 179(b)(2) provided that the $100,000 amount is reduced by the amount by which the cost of section 179 property placed in service during the taxable year exceeds $400,000 (the $400,000 amount). Both the $100,000 amount and the $400,000 amount were adjusted for inflation annu- ally. For taxable years beginning in 2007, section 3.19 of Rev. Proc. 2006–53 pro- vides that the $100,000 amount and the September 24, 20076792007–39 I.R.B. $400,000 amount, adjusted for inflation, are $112,000 and $450,000, respectively. Section 8212 of the Act changes the $100,000 amount and the $400,000 amount to $125,000 (the $125,000 amount) and $500,000 (the $500,000 amount), respectively, for taxable years beginning in 2007 through 2010. Sec- tion 8212 of the Act also provides that the $125,000 amount and the $500,000 amount will be adjusted for inflation for taxable years beginning after 2007 and before 2011. SECTION 3. MODIFICATION OF SECTION 3.19 OF REV. PROC. 2006–53 To reflect the statutory changes made to section 179 by § 8212 of the Act, section 3.19 of Rev. Proc. 2006–53 is modified to read as follows: .19Election to Expense Certain Depre- ciable Assets.For taxable years begin- ning in 2007, under § 179(b)(1) the aggre- gate cost of any § 179 property a taxpayer may elect to treat as an expense cannot exceed $125,000. Under § 179(b)(2) the $125,000 limitation is reduced (but not be- low zero) by the amount by which the cost of § 179 property placed in service during the 2007 taxable year exceeds $500,000. For taxable years beginning after 2007 and before 2011, the $125,000 amount under § 179(b)(1) and $500,000 amount under § 179(b)(2) will be adjusted for inflation. SECTION 4. EFFECT ON OTHER DOCUMENTS Section 3.19 of Rev. Proc. 2006–53 is modified and superseded. SECTION 5. EFFECTIVE DATE This revenue procedure is effective for taxable years beginning in 2007. SECTION 6. DRAFTING INFORMATION The principal author of this revenue procedure is Winston H. Douglas of the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (In- come Tax & Accounting). For further information regarding this revenue proce- dure, contact Winston H. Douglas at (202) 622–4930 (not a toll-free call). 2007–39 I.R.B.680September 24, 2007 Part IV. Items of General Interest Withdrawal of Prior Notices of Proposed Rulemaking, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Public Hearing Employee Benefits — Cafeteria Plans REG–142695–05 AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Withdrawal of prior notices of proposed rulemaking, notice of proposed rulemaking and notice of public hearing. SUMMARY: This document contains new proposed regulations providing guidance on cafeteria plans. This document also withdraws the notices of proposed rule- making relating to cafeteria plans under section 125 that were published on May 7, 1984, December 31, 1984, March 7, 1989, November 7, 1997 and March 23, 2000. In general, these proposed regulations would affect employers that sponsor a cafeteria plan, employees that participate in a cafe- teria plan, and third-party cafeteria plan administrators. DATES: Written or electronic comments must be received by November 5, 2007. Outlines of topics to be discussed at the hearing scheduled for November 15, 2007, at 10 a.m., must be received by October 25, 2007. ADDRESSES: Send submissions to: CC:PA:LPD:PR(REG–142695–05), room 5203, Internal Revenue Service, P.O. Box 7604, Ben Franklin Sta- tion, Washington, DC 20044. Submis- sions may be hand delivered Monday through Friday between the hours of 8a.m. and4p.m.toCC:PA:LPD:PR (REG–142695–05), Courier’s Desk, In- ternal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, or sent electronically via the Federal eRulemak- ing Portal atwww.regulations.gov(IRS REG–142695–05). The public hearing will be held at the IRS Auditorium, Inter- nal Revenue Building, 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Concerning the proposed regulations, Mireille T. Khoury at (202) 622–6080; concerning submissions of comments, the hearing, and/or to be placed on the building access list to attend the hearing, Oluwafunmilayo Taylor of the Publications and Regulations Branch at (202) 622–7180 (not toll-free numbers). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Paperwork Reduction Act The collections of information con- tained in this notice of proposed rulemak- ing have been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget for review in accordance with the Paperwork Reduc- tion Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507(d)). Comments on the collections of infor- mation should be sent to theOffice of Management and Budget,Attn: Desk Officer for the Department of Treasury, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Washington, DC 20503, with copies to theInternal Revenue Service, Attn: IRS Reports Clearance Officer, SE:W:CAR:MP:T:T:SP, Washington, DC 20224. Comments on the collections of information should be received by Octo- ber 5, 2007. Comments are specifically requested concerning: Whether the proposed collections of in- formation is necessary for the proper per- formance of the functions of the Internal Revenue Service, including whether the information will have practical utility; The accuracy of the estimated burden associated with the proposed collection of information; How the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected may be en- hanced; How the burden of complying with the proposed collections of information may be minimized, including through the appli- cation of automatic collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and Estimates of the capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of service to provide information. The collection of information in this proposed regulation is in §1.125–2 (cafete- ria plan elections); §1.125–6(b)–(g) (sub- stantiation of expenses), and §1.125–7 (cafeteria plan nondiscrimination rules). This information is required to file em- ployment tax returns and Forms W–2. The collection of information is voluntary to obtain a benefit. The likely respondents are Federal, state or local governments, business or other for-profit institutions, nonprofit institutions, and small busi- nesses or organizations. Estimated total annual reporting bur- den: 34,000,000 hours. Estimated average annual burden per respondent: 5 hours. Estimated annual frequency of re- sponses: once. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid control number assigned by the Of- fice of Management and Budget. Books or records relating to a collection of information must be retained as long as their contents may become material in the administration of any internal revenue law. Generally, tax returns and tax return information are confidential, as required by 26 U.S.C. 6103. Background This document contains proposed In- come Tax Regulations (26 CFR Part 1) under section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). On May 7, 1984, Decem- ber 31, 1984, March 7, 1989, November 7, 1997, and March 23, 2000, the IRS and Treasury Department published pro- posed amendments to 26 CFR Part 1 under section 125 in theFederal Reg- ister(EE–16–79, 1984–1 C.B. 563 [49 FR 19321], EE–16–79, 1985–1 C.B. 603 [49 FR 50733], EE–130–86, 1989–1 C.B. 944 [54 FR 9460], REG–243025–96, 1997–2 C.B. 626 [62 FR 60196] and REG–117162–99, 2000–1 C.B. 871 [65 FR 15587]). These 1984, 1989, 1997 and 2000 proposed regulations are hereby withdrawn. Also, the temporary regula- tions under section 125 that were pub- lished on February 4, 1986 in theFederal Register(T.D. 8073, 1986–1 C.B. 45 [51 FR 4318]) are being withdrawn in a separate document. The new proposed regulations that are published in this doc- ument replace those proposed regulations. September 24, 20076812007–39 I.R.B. Explanation of Provisions Overview The new proposed regulations are organized as follows: general rules on qualified and nonqualified benefits in cafeteria plans (new proposed §1.125–1), general rules on elections (new proposed §1.125–2), general rules on flexible spending arrangements (new proposed §1.125–5), general rules on substantia- tion of expenses for qualified benefits (new proposed §1.125–6) and nondiscrim- ination rules (new proposed §1.125–7). The new proposed regulations, new Pro- posed §§1.125–1, 1.125–2, 1.125–5, 1.125–6 and §1.125–7, consolidate and restate Proposed §1.125–1 (1984, 1997, 2000), §1.125–2 (1989, 1997, 2000) and §1.125–2T (1986). Unless otherwise in- dicated, references to “new proposed reg- ulations” or “these proposed regulations” mean the proposed section 125 regulations being published in this document. The new proposed regulations reflect changes in tax law since the prior reg- ulations were proposed, including: the change in the definition of dependent (section 152) and the addition of the fol- lowing as qualified benefits: adoption assistance (section 137), additional de- ferred compensation benefits described in section 125(d)(1)(B), (C) and (D), Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) (sec- tions 223, 125(d)(2)(D) and 4980G), and qualified HSA distributions from health FSAs (section 106(e)). Other changes include the prohibition against long-term care insurance and long-term care services (section 125(f)) and the addition of the key employee concentration test in section 125(b)(2). The prior proposed regulations, §§1.125–1 and 1.125–2, provide the basic framework and requirements for cafeteria plans and elections under cafeteria plans. The prior proposed regulations also out- lined the most significant rules for benefits under a health flexible spending arrange- ment (health FSA) offered by a cafeteria plan — the requirement that the maxi- mum reimbursement be available at all times during the coverage period (the uni- form coverage rule), the requirement of a 12-month period of coverage, the require- ment that the health FSA only reimburse medical expenses, the requirement that all medical expenses be substantiated by a third party before reimbursement, the requirement that expenses be incurred during the period of coverage, and the prohibition against deferral of compensa- tion (including the use-or-lose rule). The prior proposed regulations also provided guidelines for dependent care FSAs, and the application of section 125 to paid va- cation days offered under a cafeteria plan. These remain substantially unchanged in the new proposed regulations, with certain clarifications. Finally, the prior proposed regulations included a number of Q & As addressing transitional issues relating to the enactment of section 125, as well as the application of the now-repealed sec- tion 89 (special nondiscrimination rules with respect to certain employee benefit plans). These provisions are omitted from the new proposed regulations. I.New Proposed §1.125–1—Qualified and nonqualified benefits in cafeteria plans Section 125 exclusive noninclusion rule Section 125 provides that, except in the case of certain discriminatory benefits, no amount shall be included in the gross in- come of a participant in a cafeteria plan (as defined in section 125(d)) solely be- cause, under the plan, the participant may choose among the benefits of the plan. The new proposed regulations clarify and am- plify the general rule in the prior proposed regulations that section 125 is the exclu- sive means by which an employer can offer employees a choice between taxable and nontaxable benefits without the choice it- self resulting in inclusion in gross income by the employees. When employees may elect between taxable and nontaxable ben- efits, this election results in gross income to employees, unless a specific Internal Revenue Code (Code) section (such as sec- tion 125) intervenes to prevent gross in- come inclusion. Thus, except for an elec- tion made through a cafeteria plan that sat- isfies section 125 or another specific Code section (such as section 132(f)(4)), any op- portunity to elect among taxable and non- taxable benefits results in inclusion of the taxable benefit regardless of what benefit is elected and when the election is made. This interpretation of section 125 is con- sistent with the legislative history of sec- tion 125. The legislative history begins with the interim ERISA rules for cafeteria plans: Under ... ERISA, an employer con- tribution made before January 1, 1977, to a cafeteria plan in existence on June 27, 1974, is required to be included in an employees’ gross income only to the extent that the employee actually elects taxable benefits. In the case of a plan not in existence on June 27, 1974, the employer contribution is required to be included in an employee’s gross income to the extent the employee could have elected taxable benefits. S. Rep. No. 1263, 95 th Cong., 2d Sess. 74 (1978), reprinted in 1978 U.S.C.C.A.N. 6837; H.R. Rep. No. 1445, 95 th Cong., 2d Sess. 63 (1978); H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 1800, 95 th Cong., 2d Sess. 206 (1978). The legislative history also provides: [G]enerally, employer contributions under a written cafeteria plan which permits employees to elect between tax- able and nontaxable benefits are ex- cluded from the gross income of an employee to the extent that nontaxable benefits are elected. S. Rep. No. 1263, 95 th Cong., 2d Sess. 75 (1978), reprinted in 1978 U.S.C.C.A.N. 6838; H.R. Rep. No. 1445, 95 th Cong., 2d Sess. 63 (1978). See also H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 1800, 95 th Cong., 2d Sess. 206 (1978). The legislative history to the 1984 amendments to section 125 continues: The cafeteria plan rules of the Code provide that a participant in a nondis- criminatory cafeteria plan will not be treated as having received a taxable benefit offered under the plan solely because the participant has the op- portunity, before the benefit becomes available, to choose among the taxable and nontaxable benefits under the plan. H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 861, 98 th Cong., 2d Sess. 1173 (1984), reprinted in 1984 U.S.C.C.A.N. 1861. See also H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 736, 104 th Cong., 2d Sess. 295, reprinted in 1996 U.S.C.C.A.N. 2108. The new proposed regulations provide that unless a plan satisfies the requirements 2007–39 I.R.B.682September 24, 2007 of section 125 and the regulations, the plan is not a cafeteria plan. Reasons that a plan would fail to satisfy the section 125 requirements include: offering nonquali- fied benefits; not offering an election be- tween at least one permitted taxable bene- fit and at least one qualified benefit; defer- ring compensation; failing to comply with the uniform coverage rule or use-or-lose rule; allowing employees to revoke elec- tions or make new elections during a plan year, except as provided in §1.125–4; fail- ing to comply with substantiation require- ments; paying or reimbursing expenses in- curred for qualified benefits before the ef- fective date of the cafeteria plan or before a period of coverage; allocating experience gains (forfeitures) other than as expressly allowed in the new proposed regulations; andfailingtocomplywithgraceperiod rules. Definition of a cafeteria plan The new proposed regulations provide that a cafeteria planis a separate written plan that complies with the requirements of section 125 and the regulations, that is maintained by an employer for employees and that is operated in compliance with the requirements of section 125 and the reg- ulations. Participants in a cafeteria plan must be permitted to choose among at least one permitted taxable benefit (for exam- ple, cash, including salary reduction) and at least one qualified benefit. A plan offer- ing only elections among nontaxable ben- efits is not a cafeteria plan. Also, a plan offering only elections among taxable ben- efits is not a cafeteria plan. See Rev. Rul. 2002–27, 2002–1 C.B. 925, Situation 2, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b). Finally, a cafe- teria plan must not provide for deferral of compensation, except as specifically per- mitted in section 125(d)(2)(B), (C), or (D). Written plan Section 125(d)(1) requires that a cafe- teria plan be in writing. The cafeteria plan must be operated in accordance with the written plan terms. The new pro- posed regulations require that the written plan specifically describe all benefits, set forth the rules for eligibility to participate and the procedure for making elections, provide that all elections are irrevocable (except to the extend that the plan in- cludes the optional change in status rules in §1.125–4), and state how employer con- tributions may be made under the plan (for example, salary reduction or nonelective employer contributions), the maximum amount of elective contributions, and the plan year. If the plan includes a flexible spending arrangement (FSA), the written plan must include provisions comply- ing with the uniform coverage rule and the use-or-lose rule. Because section 125(d)(1)(A) states that a cafeteria plan is a written plan under which “all partic- ipants are employees,” the new proposed regulations require that the written cafete- ria plan specify that only employees may participate in the cafeteria plan. The new proposed regulations also require that all provisions of the written plan apply uni- formly to all participants. Individuals who may participate in a cafeteria plan All participants in a cafeteria plan must be employees. See section 125(d)(1)(A). These proposed regulations provide that employees include common law employ- ees, leased employees described in section 414(n), and full-time life insurance sales- men (as defined in section 7701(a)(20)). These proposed regulations further pro- vide that former employees (including laid-off employees and retired employees) may participate in a plan, but a plan may not be maintained predominantly for for- mer employees. See Rev. Rul. 82–196, 1982–2 C.B. 53; Rev. Rul. 85–121, 1985–2 C.B. 57, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b). All employees who are treated as em- ployed by a single employer under section 414(b), (c) or (m) are treated as employed by a single employer for purposes of section 125. See section 125(g)(4). A participant’s spouse or dependents may receive benefits through a cafeteria plan although they cannot participate in the cafeteria plan. Self-employed individuals are not treated as employees for purposes of section 125. Accordingly, the new pro- posed regulations make clear that sole proprietors, partners, and directors of cor- porations are not employees and may not participate in a cafeteria plan. In addition, the new proposed regulations clarify that 2-percent shareholders of an S corporation are not employees for purposes of section 125. The new proposed regulations pro- vide rules for dual status individuals and individuals moving between employee and non-employee status. A self-employed in- dividual may, however, sponsor a cafeteria plan for his or her employees. Election between taxable and nontaxable benefits The new proposed regulations require that a cafeteria plan offer employees an election among only permitted tax- able benefits (including cash) and qual- ified nontaxable benefits. See section 125(d)(1)(B). For purposes of section 125, cash means cash from current compensa- tion (including salary reduction), payment for annual leave, sick leave, or other paid time off, severance pay, property, and certain after-tax employee contributions. Distributions from qualified retirement plans are not cash or taxable benefits for purposes of section 125. See Rev. Rul. 2003–62, 2003–1 C.B. 1034 (distributions to former employees from a qualified employees’ trust, applied to pay health insurance premiums, are includible in former employees’ gross income under section 402), see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b). Qualified benefits In general, in order for a benefit to be a qualified benefit for purposes of sec- tion 125, the benefit must be excludible from employees’ gross income under a specific provision of the Code and must not defer compensation, except as specif- ically allowed in section 125(d)(2)(B), (C)or(D).Examplesofqualifiedben- efits include the following: group-term life insurance on the life of an employee (section 79); employer-provided acci- dent and health plans, including health flexible spending arrangements, and acci- dental death and dismemberment policies (sections 106 and 105(b)); a dependent care assistance program (section 129); an adoption assistanceprogram (section 137); contributions to a section 401(k) plan; contributions to certain plans main- tained by educational organizations, and contributions to HSAs. Section 125(f), (d)(2)(B), (C), (D). See Notice 97–9, 1997–1 C.B. 365 (adoption assistance), see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b); Notice 2004–2, 2004–1 C.B. 269, Q & A–33 (HSAs), see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b). A cafeteria plan may also offer long-term and short-term September 24, 20076832007–39 I.R.B. disability coverage as a qualified benefit (see section 106). However, see paragraph (q) in §1.125–1 for nonqualified benefits. Group-term life insurance An employer may provide group-term life insurance through a combination of methods. Generally, under section 79(a), the cost of $50,000 or less of group-term life insurance on the life of an employee provided under a policy (or policies) car- ried directly or indirectly by an employer is excludible from the employee’s gross income. (Special rules apply to key em- ployees if the group-term life insurance plan does not satisfy the nondiscrimina- tion rules in section 79(d)). However, if the group-term life insurance provided to an employee by an employer or employ- ers exceeds $50,000 (taking into account all coverage provided both through a cafe- teria plan and outside a cafeteria plan), the cost of coverage exceeding coverage of $50,000 is includible in the employee’s gross income. For this purpose, the cost of group-term life insurance is shown in §1.79–3(d)(2), Table I (Table I). The Ta- ble I cost of the excess group-term life in- surance (minus all after-tax contributions by the employee for group-term life insur- ance coverage) is includible in each cov- ered employee’s gross income. The new proposed regulations provide that the cost of group-term life insurance on the life of an employee, that either is less than or equal to the amount excludible from gross income under section 79(a) or provides coverage in excess of that amount, but not combined with any permanent benefit, is a qualified benefit that may be offered in a cafeteria plan. The new proposed regula- tions also provide that the entire amount of salary reduction and employer flex-credits for group-term life insurance coverage on the life of an employee is excludible from an employee’s gross income. The rule in the new proposed regula- tions differs from Notice 89–110, 1989–2 C.B. 447, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b). No- tice 89–110 provides that an employee includes in gross income the greater of the Table I cost of group-term life in- surance coverage exceeding $50,000 or the employee’s salary reduction and em- ployer flex-credits for excess group-term life insurance coverage. The new pro- posed regulations provide instead that the employee includes in gross income the Table I cost of the excess coverage (minus all after-tax contributions by the employee for group-term life insurance coverage) and that the entire amount of salary reduction and employer flex-credits for group-term life insurance coverage on the life of the employee is excludible from the employee’s gross income. As noted in this preamble, taxpayers may rely on the new proposed regulations for guidance pending the issuance of final regulations. Employer-provided accident and health plan Coverage under an employer-provided accident and health plan that satisfies the requirements of section 105(b) may be provided as a qualified benefit through a cafeteria plan and is excludible from employees’ gross income. Section 106; §1.106–1. The nondiscrimination rules under section 105(h) apply to self-insured medical reimbursement arrangements (in- cluding health FSAs). The new proposed regulations specif- ically permit a cafeteria plan (but not a health FSA) to pay or reimburse substan- tiated individual accident and health insur- ance premiums. SeeRev. Rul. 61–146, 1961–2 C.B. 25, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b). In addition, a cafeteria plan may provide for payment of COBRA premiums for an employee. For employer-provided accident and health plans and medical reimbursement plans, the definition of dependents is the definition in section 105(b) as amended by the Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004 (WFTRA), Public Law 108–311, section 207(9) (118 Stat. 1166) (that is, a dependent as defined in section 152, determined without regard to sec- tion 152(b)(1), (b)(2), or (d)(1)(B)). See Notice 2004–79, 2004–2 C.B. 898, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b). For purposes of the exclusion from employees’ gross income for accident and health plans and for med- ical reimbursementunder sections 105(b) and 106, the spouse or dependent of a former employee (including a retired em- ployee or a laid-off employee) or of a de- ceased employee is treated as a spouse or dependent. See Rev. Rul. 82–196, 1982–2 C.B. 53; Rev. Rul. 85–121, 1985–2 C.B. 57, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b). Dependent care assistance programs and adoption assistance programs If the requirements of section 129 are satisfied, up to $5,000 of employer-pro- vided assistance for amounts paid or in- curred by employees for dependent care is excludible from employees’ gross in- come. The new proposed regulations out- line the general requirements for providing dependent care assistance programs and adoption assistance programs under sec- tion 137 through a cafeteria plan. See No- tice 97–9, 1997–1 C.B. 365, section II, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b). Cafeteria plan year The new proposed regulations require that a cafeteria plan year must be 12 con- secutive months and must be set out in the written cafeteriaplan. A short plan year (or a change in plan year resulting in a short plan year) is permitted only for a valid business purpose. A change in plan year resulting in a short plan year, for other than a valid business purpose, is disre- garded. If a principal purpose of a change in plan year is to circumvent the rules of section 125, the change in plan year is in- effective. No deferral of compensation Qualified benefits must be current ben- efits. In general, a cafeteria plan may not offer benefits that defer compensation or operate to defer compensation. Section 125(d)(2)(A). In general, benefits may not be carried over to a later plan year or used in one plan year to purchase benefits to be provided in a later plan year. For ex- ample, life insurance with a cash value build-up or group-term life insurance with a permanent benefit (within the meaning of §1.79–0) defers the receipt of compensa- tion and thus is not a qualified benefit. The new proposed regulations clarify whether certain benefits and plan adminis- tration practices defer compensation. For example, the regulations permit an acci- dent and health insurance policy to pro- vide certain benefit features that apply for more than one plan year, such as reason- able lifetime limits on benefits, level pre- miums, premium waiver during disabil- ity, guaranteed renewability of coverage, coverage for specified accidental injury or specific diseases, and the payment of a 2007–39 I.R.B.684September 24, 2007 fixed amount per day for hospitalization. But these insurance policies must not pro- vide an investment fund or cash value to paypremiums,andnopartofthepremium may be held in a separate account for any beneficiary. The new proposed regulations also provide that the following benefits and practices do not defer compensation: a long-term disability policy paying bene- fits over more than one plan year; reason- able premium rebatesor policy dividends; certain two-year lock-in vision and den- tal policies; certain advance payments for orthodontia; salary reduction contributions in the last month of a plan year used to pay accident and health insurance premiums for the first month of the following plan year; reimbursement of section 213(d) ex- penses for durable medical equipment; and allocation of experience gains (forfeitures) among participants. Paid time off Under the prior proposed regulations, permitted taxable benefits included vari- ous forms of paid leave. Since the prior proposed regulations were issued, many employers have recharacterized and com- bined vacation days, sick leave and per- sonal days into a single category of “paid time off.” The new proposed regulations use the term “paid time off” to refer to va- cation days and other types of paid leave. The new proposed regulations contain the same ordering rule for elective and non- elective paid time off as set forth in Prop. §1.125–1, Q & A–7 (1984). A plan offer- ing an election solely between paid time off and taxable benefits is not a cafeteria plan. Grace period The new proposed regulations allow a written cafeteria plan to provide an op- tional grace period immediately following the end of each plan year, extending the period for incurring expenses for quali- fied benefits. A grace period may apply to one or more qualified benefits (for example, health FSA or dependent care assistance program) but in no event does it apply to paid time off or contributions to section 401(k) plans. Unused benefits or contributions for one qualified benefit mayonlybeusedtoreimburseexpenses incurred during the grace period for that same qualified benefit. The amount of un- used benefits and contributions available during the grace period may be limited by the employer. A grace period may extend to the fifteenth day of the third month after the end of the plan year (but may be for a shorter period). Benefits or contributions not used as of the end of the grace period are forfeited under the use-or-lose rule. The grace period ap- plies to all employees who are participants (including through COBRA), as of the last day of the plan year. Grace period rules must apply uniformly to all partic- ipants. The grace period rules in these proposed regulations are based on Notice 2005–42, 2005–1 C.B. 1204, modified in Notice 2007–22, 2007–10 I.R.B. 670, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b), amplified in Notice 2005–86, 2005–2 C.B. 1075, am- plified in Notice 2007–22, 2007–10 I.R.B. 670, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b). For eli- gibility to contribute to a Health Savings Account (HSA) during a grace period, see Notice 2005–86, 2005–2 C.B. 1075, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b). For Form W–2 reporting for unused dependent care assis- tance used for expenses incurred during a grace period, see Notice 2005–61, 2005–2 C.B. 607, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b). Contributions to section 401(k) plans through a cafeteria plan A cafeteria plan may include contri- butions to a section 401(k) plan. Section 125(d)(2)(B). The new proposed regu- lations clarify the interactions between section 125 and section 401(k). Contribu- tions to a section 401(k) plan expressed as a percentage of compensation are per- mitted. Pursuant to §1.401(k)–1(a)(3)(ii), elective contributions to a section 401(k) plan may be made through automatic enrollment (that is, when the employee does not affirmatively elect cash, the em- ployee’s compensation is reduced by a fixed percentage, which is contributed to a section 401(k) plan). Nonqualified benefits A cafeteria plan must not offer any of the following benefits: scholarships (section 117); employer-provided meals and lodging (section 119); educational assistance (section 127); fringe benefits (section 132); long-term care insurance. See section 125(f). Long-term care ser- vices are nonqualified benefits, H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 736, 104 th Cong., 2d Sess. 296, reprinted in 1996 U.S.C.C.A.N. 2109. (An HSA funded through a cafeteria plan may, however, be used to pay premiums for long-term care insurance or for long-term care services.) The new proposed regula- tions clarify that contributions to Archer Medical Savings Accounts (sections 220, 106(b)), group term life insurance for an employee’s spouse, child or dependent, and elective deferrals to section 403(b) plans are also nonqualified benefits. A plan offering any nonqualified benefit is not a cafeteria plan. Acafeteria plan may not offer a health FSA that provides for the carryover of unused benefits. See Notice 2002–45, 2002–2 C.B. 93, Part I; Rev. Rul. 2002–41, 2002–2 C.B. 75, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b). After-tax employee contributions The new proposed regulations allow a cafeteria plan to offer after-tax employee contributions for qualified benefits or paid time off. A cafeteria plan may only offer the taxable benefits specifically permitted in the new proposed regulations. Nonqual- ified benefits may not be offered through a cafeteria plan, even if paid with after-tax employee contributions. Employer contributions through salary reduction Employees electing aqualified bene- fit through salary reduction are electing to forego salary and instead to receive a ben- efit which is excludible from gross income because it is provided by employer contri- butions. Section 125 provides that the em- ployee is treated as receiving the qualified benefit from the employer in lieu of the taxable benefit. A cafeteria plan may also impose reasonable fees to administer the cafeteria plan which may be paid through salary reduction. A cafeteria plan is not re- quired to allow employees to pay for any qualified benefit with after-tax employee contributions. September 24, 20076852007–39 I.R.B. II.New Prop. §1.125–2—Elections in cafeteria plans Making, revoking and changing elections Generally, a cafeteria plan must require employees to elect annually between tax- able benefits and qualified benefits. Elec- tions must be made before the earlier of the first day of the period of coverage or when benefits are first currently avail- able. The determination of whether a tax- able benefit is currently available does not depend on whether it has been construc- tively received by the employee for pur- poses of section 451. Annual elections generally must be irrevocable and may not be changed during the plan year. However, §1.125–4 permits a cafeteria plan to pro- vide for changes in elections based on cer- tain changes in status. An employer that wishes to permit such changes in elections must incorporate the rules in §1.125–4 in its written cafeteria plan. These proposed regulations omit the rule in Q & A–6(b) in Prop. §1.125–2 (1989) (cessation of re- quired contributions), because the change in status rules in §1.125–4 superseded this provision of the 1989 proposed regula- tions. If HSA contributions are made through salary reduction undera cafeteria plan, em- ployees may prospectively elect, revoke or change salary reduction elections for HSA contributions at any time during the plan year with respect to salary that has not be- come currently available at the time of the election. A cafeteria plan is permitted to in- clude an automatic election for new employees or current employees. Rev. Rul. 2002–27, 2002–1 C.B. 925, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b). A new rule also permits a cafeteria plan to provide an optional election for new employees be- tween cash and qualified benefits. New employees avoid gross income inclusion if they make an election within 30 days after the date of hire even if benefits pro- vided pursuant to the election relate back to the date of hire. However, salary re- ductionamountsusedtopayforsuchan election must be from compensation not yet currently available on the date of the election. Also, this special election rule for new employees does not apply to any employee who terminates employment and is rehired within 30 days after ter- minating employment (or who returns to employment following an unpaid leave of absence of less than 30 days). New elections and revocations or changes in elections can be made elec- tronically. The safe harbor for electronic elections in §1.401(a)–21 is available. Only an employee can make an election or revoke or change his or her election. An employee’s spouse or dependent may not make an election under a cafeteria plan and may not revoke or change an employee’s election. III.New Prop. §1.125–5—Flexible spending arrangements Overview In general, a flexible spending arrange- ment (FSA) is a benefit designed to re- imburse employees for expenses incurred for certain qualified benefits, up to a max- imum amount not substantially in excess of the salary reduction and employer flex- credits allocated for the benefit. The max- imum amount of reimbursement reason- ably available must be less than five times the value of the coverage. Employer flex- credits are non-elective employer contri- butions that an employer makes available for every employee eligible to participate in the cafeteria plan, to be used at the employee’s election only for one or more qualified benefits (but not as cash or other taxable benefits). The three types of FSAs are dependent care assistance, adoption as- sistance and medical care reimbursements (health FSA). Uniform coverage rule The new proposed regulations retain the rule that the maximum amount of re- imbursement from a health FSA must be available at all times during the period of coverage (properly reduced as of any particular time for prior reimbursements). The uniform coverage rule does not apply to FSAs for dependent care assistance or adoption assistance. Use-or-lose rule An FSA must satisfy all the require- ments of section 125, including the prohi- bition against deferring compensation. In general, as discussed under “No deferral of compensation”, in order to satisfy this re- quirement of section 125, all benefits and contributions must be used by the end of the plan year (or graceperiod, if applica- ble), or are forfeited. The new proposed regulations continue the use-or-lose rule. Period of coverage The required period of coverage for all FSAs continues to be twelve months, with an exception for short plan years that sat- isfy the conditions in the new proposed regulations. The period of coverage and the plan year need not be the same. The beginning and end of a period of cover- age is clarified. The new proposed regu- lations also clarify that FSAs for different qualified benefits need not have the same coverage period. See also “Grace period”, discussed in this preamble. The new pro- posed regulations also continue to provide that expenses are incurred when services are provided. Expenses incurred before or after the period of coverage may not be re- imbursed. Health FSA A health FSA may only reimburse certain substantiated section 213(d) med- ical care expenses incurred by the em- ployee, or by the employee’s spouse or dependents. A health FSA may be limited to a subset of permitted section 213(d) medical expenses (for example, a health FSA is permitted to exclude re- imbursement of over-the-counter drugs described in Rev. Rul. 2003–102, 2003–2 C.B. 559, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b)). Similarly, a health FSA may be an HSA-compatible limited-purpose health FSA or post-deductible health FSA. Rev. Rul. 2004–45, 2004–1 C.B. 971, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b), amplified, Notice 2005–86, 2005–2 C.B. 1075. A health FSA may not reimburse premiums for ac- cident and health insurance or long-term care insurance. See section 125(f). A health FSA must satisfy all require- ments of section 105(b), §§1.105–1 and 1.105–2. The section 105(h) nondiscrim- ination rules apply to health FSAs. All medical expenses must be substantiated before expenses are reimbursed. SeeIn- curring and reimbursing expenses for qualified benefits, discussed in this pre- amble. The new proposed regulations also clarify when medical expenses are 2007–39 I.R.B.686September 24, 2007 incurred. 1 A cafeteria plan may limit enrollment in a health FSA to those em- ployees who participate in the employer’s accident and health plan. Qualified HSA distributions Section 106(e), enacted in section 302 of the Health Opportunity Patient Empowerment Act of 2006, Public Law 109–432 (120 Stat. 2922 (2006)) allows “qualified HSA distributions” from health FSAs to HSAs. Section 106(e) applies to distributions between December 20, 2006 and December 31, 2011. The pro- posed regulations incorporate the rules on qualified HSA distributions set forth in Notice 2007–22, 2007–10 I.R.B. 670. See §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b). Dependent care assistance after termination A new optional rule permits an em- ployer to reimburse a terminated em- ployee’s qualified dependent care ex- penses incurred after termination through a dependent care FSA, if all section 129 requirements are otherwise satisfied. Experience gains If an employee fails to use all contri- butions and benefits for a plan year be- fore the end of the plan year (and the grace period, if applicable), those unused con- tributions and benefits are forfeited un- der the use-or-lose rule. Unused amounts are also known as experience gains. The new proposed regulations retain the for- feiture allocation rules in the 1989 pro- posed regulations, and clarify that the em- ployer sponsoring the cafeteria plan may retain forfeitures, use forfeitures to defray expenses of administering the plan or al- locate forfeitures among employees con- tributing through salary reduction on a rea- sonable and uniform basis. FSA Administrative rules Salary reduction contributions may be made at whatever interval the employer se- lects, including ratably over the plan year based on the employer’s payroll periods or in equal installments at other regular inter- vals (for example, quarterly installments). These rules must apply uniformly to all participants. IV.New Prop. §1.125–6—Substantiation of expenses for all cafeteria plans Incurring and reimbursing expenses for qualified benefits The new proposed regulations provide that only expenses for qualified benefits incurred after the later of the effective date or the adoption date of the cafeteria plan are permitted to be reimbursed under the cafeteria plan. Similarly, if a plan amend- ment adds a new qualified benefit, only ex- penses incurred after the later of the effec- tive date or the adoption date are eligible for reimbursement. 2 This rule applies to all qualified benefits. Similarly, a cafeteria plan may pay or reimburse only expenses for qualified benefits incurred during a par- ticipant’s period of coverage. Substantiation and reimbursement of expenses for qualified benefits The new proposed regulations provide, after an employee incurs an expense for a qualified benefit during the coverage pe- riod, the expense must first be substanti- ated before the expense may be paid or re- imbursed. All expenses must be substanti- ated (substantiating only a limited number of total claims, or not substantiating claims below a certain dollar amount does not sat- isfy the requirements in the new proposed regulations). See §1.105–2; Rev. Rul. 2003–80; Rev. Rul. 2003–43, 2003–1 C.B. 935, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b); No- tice 2006–69, 2006–31 I.R.B. 107, Notice 2007–2, 2007–2 I.R.B. 254. FSAs for de- pendent care assistance and adoption assis- tance must follow the substantiation proce- dures applicable to health FSAs. Debit cards The new proposed regulations incor- porate previously issued guidance on substantiating, paying and reimbursing expenses for section 213(d) medical care incurred at a medical care provider when payment is made with a debit card. Rev. Rul. 2003–43, 2003–1 C.B. 935, am- plified, Notice 2006–69, 2006–31 I.R.B. 107, Notice 2007–2, 2007–2 I.R.B. 254; Rev. Proc. 98–25, 1998–1 C.B. 689, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b). Among the permissible substantiation methods are copayment matches, recurring expenses, and real-time substantiation. The new pro- posed regulations also allow point-of-sale substantiation through matching inventory information with a list of section 213(d) medical expenses. The employer is re- sponsible for ensuring that the inventory information approval system complies with the new regulations and with the recordkeeping requirements in section 6001. Rev. Rul. 2003–43, 2003–1 C.B. 935, amplified, Notice 2006–69, 2006–31 I.R.B. 107, Notice 2007–2, 2007–2 I.R.B. 254; Rev. Proc. 98–25, 1998–1 C.B. 689, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b). The new pro- posed regulations also provide rules under whichanFSAmaypayorreimbursede- pendent care expenses using debit cards. Pursuant to prior guidance (in Notice 2006–69, 2006–31 I.R.B. 107, amplified, Notice 2007–2, 2007–2 I.R.B. 254), for plan years beginning after December 31, 2006, the recordkeeping requirements de- scribed in paragraph (f) in §1.125–6 apply (that is, responsibility of employers rely- ing on the inventory information approval system for health FSA debit cards to en- sure that the system complies with the new proposed recordkeeping requirements, in- cluding Rev. Proc. 98–25, 1998–1 C.B. 689, Notice 2006–69, 2006–31 I.R.B. 107, amplified, Notice 2007–2, 2007–2 I.R.B. 254. For health FSA debit card transac- tions occurring on or before December 31, 2007, all supermarkets, grocery stores, discount stores and wholesale clubs that do not have a medical care merchant category code (as described in Rev. Rul. 2003–43, 1 See Rev. Rul. 2005–55, 2005–2 C.B. 284, and Rev. Rul. 2005–24, 2005–1 C.B. 892, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b) (section 105(b) exclusion only applicable to reimbursements for medical expenses incurred by employee, or by the employee’s spouse or dependents); Rev. Rul. 2002–3, 2002–1 C.B. 316 (purported reimbursements to employeesof health insurance premiums not paid by employees and therefore impermissible); Rev. Rul. 2002–80, 2002–2 C.B. 925, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b) (so-called advance reimbursements and purported loans are impermissible); Rev. Rul. 2003–43, 2003–1 C.B. 935, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b); Notice 2006–69, 2006–31 I.R.B. 107 (substantiation requirements for debit cards), amplified in Notice 2007–2, 2007–2 I.R.B. 254, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b). 2 SeeAmerican Family Mut. Ins. Co. v. United States, 815 F. Supp. 1206 (W.D. Wis. 1992);Wollenberg v. United States, 75 F. Supp.2d 1032 (D. Neb. 1999); Rev. Rul. 2002–58, 2002–2 C.B. 541, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b); Notice 97–9, section II (adoption assistance). September 24, 20076872007–39 I.R.B. 2003–1 C.B. 935, are nevertheless deemed to be an “other medical provider” as de- scribed in Rev. Rul. 2003–43. (For a list of merchant category codes, see Rev. Proc. 2004–43, 2004–2 C.B. 124.) During this time period, mail-order vendors and web-based vendors that sell prescription drugs are also deemed to be an “other medical provider” as described in Rev. Rul. 2003–43. After December 31, 2008, health FSA debit cards may not be used at stores with the Drug Stores and Phar- macies merchant category code unless (1) the store participates in the inventory information approval system described in Notice 2006–69, or (2) on a store loca- tion by store location basis, 90 percent of the store’s gross receipts during the prior taxable year consisted of items which qualify as expenses for medical care under section 213(d) (including nonprescrip- tion medications described in Rev. Rul. 2003–102, 2003–2 C.B. 559). Notice 2006–69, 2006–31 I.R.B. 107, amplified, Notice 2007–2, 2007–2 I.R.B. 254. V.New Prop. §1.125–7—Nondiscrimination rules Discriminatory benefits provided to highly compensated participants and indi- viduals and key employees are included in these employees’ gross income. See section 125(b), (c). The new proposed regulations reflect changes in tax law since Prop. §1.125–1, Q & A–9 through 13 and 19 were proposed in 1984, including the key employee concentration test, statutory nontaxable benefits (enacted in the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 (DEFRA), Public Law 98–369, section 531(b), (98 Stat. 881 (1984)), and the change in definition of dependent in WFTRA. The new proposed regulations provide additional guidanceon the cafeteria plan nondiscrimination rules, including defini- tions of key terms, guidance on the eligi- bility test and the contributions and ben- efits tests, descriptions of employees al- lowed to be excluded from testing and a safe harbor nondiscrimination test for pre- mium-only-plans. Specifically, the new proposed regula- tions define several key terms, including highly compensated individual or partic- ipant (consistent with the section 414(q) definition of highly compensated em- ployee), officer, five percent shareholder, key employee and compensation. The new proposed regulations also provide guid- ance on the nondiscrimination as to eligi- bility requirement by incorporating some of the rules under section 410(b) (specif- ically the rules under §1.410(b)–4(b) and (c) dealing with reasonable classification, the safe harbor percentage test and the unsafe harbor percentage component of the facts and circumstances test). The new proposed regulations also pro- vide additional guidance on the contribu- tions and benefits test and, unlike the prior proposed regulations, the new proposed regulations provide an objective test to de- termine when the actual election of bene- fits is discriminatory. Specifically, the new proposed regulations provide that a cafete- ria plan must give each similarly situated participant a uniform opportunity to elect qualified benefits, and that highly compen- sated participants must not actually dispro- portionately elect qualified benefits. Fi- nally, the new rules provide guidance on the safe harbor for cafeteria plans provid- ing health benefits and create a safe harbor for premium-only-plans that satisfy certain requirements. The example in Prop. §1.125–1, Q & A–11 (1984) is deleted because it concerns a qualified legal services plan, which is no longer a qualified benefit. Other issues These proposed regulations provide guidance under section 125 (26 U.S.C. 125). Other statutes may impose addi- tional requirements (for example, the Em- ployee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) (29 U.S.C. 1000), the Health Insurance Portability and Account- ability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), (sections 9801–9803); and the continuation cover- age requirements under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) (section 4980B). Proposed Effective Date With the exceptions noted in the “Effect on other documents” section of this pre- amble and under the “Debit cards” section of the preamble, it is proposed that these regulations apply for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2009. Taxpayers may rely on these regulations for guidance pending the issuance of final regulations. Prior published guidance on qualified ben- efits under sections 79, 105, 106, 129, 137 and 223 that is affected by these proposed regulations remains applicable through the effective date of the final regulations (ex- cept as modified in “Effect on other docu- ments” section of this preamble). Effect on Other Documents Notice 89–110, 1989–2 C.B. 447, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b), states that where group-term life insurance pro- vided to an employee by an employer exceeds $50,000, the employee includes in gross income the greater of the cost of group-term life insurance shown in §1.79–3(d)(2), Table I (Table I ) on the excess coverage or the employee’s salary reduction and employer flex-credits for excess coverage. Notice 89–110 is modi- fied, effective as of the date the proposed regulations are published in theFederal Register. Published guidance under §105(b) states that if any person has the right to receive cash or any other taxable or nontaxable benefit under a health FSA other than the reimbursement of section 213(d) medical expenses of the employee, employee’s spouse or employee’s depen- dents, then all distributions made from the arrangement are included in the em- ployee’s gross income, even amounts paid to reimburse medical care. See Rev. Rul. 2006–36, 2006–36 I.R.B. 353; Rev. Rul. 2005–24, 2005–1 C.B. 892; Rev. Rul. 2003–102, 2003–2 C.B. 559; No- tice 2002–45, 2002–2 C.B. 93; Rev. Rul. 2002–41, 2002–2 C.B. 75; Rev. Rul. 69–141, 1969–1 C.B. 48. New section 106(e) provides that a health FSA will not fail to satisfy the requirements of sec- tions 105 or 106 merely because the plan provides for a qualified HSA distribu- tion. Amounts rolled into an HSA may be used for purposes other than reimburs- ing the section 213(d) medical expenses of the employee, spouse or dependents. Accordingly, Rev. Rul. 2006–36, Rev. Rul. 2005–24, Rev. Rul. 2003–102, Notice 2002–45, Rev. Rul. 2002–41, and Rev. Rul. 69–141 are modified with respect to qualified HSA distributions described in section 106(e). See No- tice 2007–22, 2007–10 I.R.B. 670, see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b). 2007–39 I.R.B.688September 24, 2007 Special Analyses It has been determined that this notice of proposed rulemaking is not a significant regulatory action as defined in Executive Order 12866. Therefore, a regulatory as- sessment is not required. It also has been determined that section 553(b) of the Ad- ministrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. chap- ter 5) does not apply to this regulation. It is hereby certified that the collection of in- formation in this regulation will not have a significant economic impact on a substan- tial number of small entities. This certi- fication is based on the fact that the reg- ulations will only minimally increase the burdens on small entities. The require- ments under these regulations relating to maintaining a section 125 cafeteria plan are a minimal additional burden indepen- dent of the burdens encompassed under ex- isting rules for underlying employee ben- efit plans, which exist whether or not the benefits are provided through a cafeteria plan. In addition, most small entities that will maintain cafeteria plans already use a third-party plan administrator to adminis- ter the cafeteria plan. The collection of information required in these regulations, which is required to comply with the exist- ing substantiation requirements of sections 105, 106, 129 and 125, and the recordkeep- ing requirements of section 6001, will only minimally increase the third-party admin- istrator’s burden with respect to the cafete- ria plan. Therefore, an analysis under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. chap- ter 6) is not required. Pursuant to section 7805(f) of the Internal Revenue Code, this proposed regulation has been submitted to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration for com- ment on its impact on small business. Comments and Public Hearing Before these proposed regulations are adopted as final regulations, consideration will be given to any written comments (a signed original and eight (8) copies) or electronic comments that are submitted timely to the IRS. The IRS and Treasury Department specifically request comments on the clarity of the proposed rules and how they can be made easier to understand. In addition, comments are requested on the following issues: 1. Whether, consistent with section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code, mul- tiple employers (other than members of a controlled group described in section 125(g)(4)) may sponsor a single cafeteria plan; 2. Whether salary reduction contribu- tions may be based on employees’ tips and how that would work; 3. For cafeteria plans adopting the change in status rules in §1.125–4, when a participant has a change in status and changes his or her salary reduction amount, how should the participant’s uni- form coverage amount be computed after thechangeinstatus. All comments will be available for pub- lic inspection and copying. A public hearing has been scheduled for November 15, 2007, beginning at 10 a.m. in the Auditorium, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. Due to building security procedures, visitors must enter at the Con- stitution Avenue entrance. In addition, all visitors must presentphoto identification to enter the building. Because of access restrictions, visitors will not be admitted beyond the immediate entrance area more than 30 minutes before the hearing starts. For information about having your name placed on the building access list to attend the hearing, see the “FOR FURTHER IN- FORMATION CONTACT” section of this preamble. The rules of 26 CFR 601.601(a)(3) ap- ply to the hearing. Persons who wish to present oral comments at the hearing must submit written or electronic comments and an outline of the topics to be discussed and the amount of time to be devoted to each topic (a signed original and eight (8) copies) by October 25, 2007. A period of 10 minutes will be allotted to each person for making comments. An agenda show- ing the scheduling of the speakers will be prepared after the deadline for receiving outlines has passed. Copies of the agenda will be available free of charge at the hear- ing. Drafting Information The principal author of these proposed regulations is Mireille T. Khoury, Office of Division Counsel/Associate Chief Coun- sel(TaxExemptandGovernmentEnti- ties), Internal Revenue Service. However, personnel from other offices of the IRS and Treasury Department participated in their development. ***** Withdrawal of Proposed Regulations Accordingly, under the authority of 26 U.S.C. 7805, the notice of proposed rule- making (EE–16–79) that was published in theFederal Registeron Monday, May 7, 1984 (49 FR 19321), and Monday, De- cember 31, 1984 (49 FR 50733), the no- tice of proposed rulemaking (EE–130–86) that was published in theFederal Regis- teron Tuesday, March 7, 1989 (54 FR 9460), and Friday, November 7, 1997 (62 FR 60196) and the notice of proposed rule- making (REG–117162–99) that was pub- lished in theFederal Registeron Thurs- day, March 23, 2000 (65 FR 15587) are withdrawn. Proposed Amendment to the Regulations Accordingly, 26 CFR Part 1 is proposed to be amended as follows: PART 1—INCOME TAXES Paragraph 1. The authority citation for part 1 continues to read, in part, as follows: Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805 * * * Par. 2. Sections 1.125–0, 1.125–1 and 1.125–2 are added to read as follows: §1.125–0 Table of contents. This section lists captions contained in §§1.125–1, 1.125–2, 1.125–5, 1.125–6 and §1.125–7. §1.125–1 Cafeteria plans; general rules. (a) Definitions. (b) General rules. (c) Written plan requirements. (d) Plan year requirements. (e) Grace period. (f) Run-out period. (g) Employee for purpose of Section 125. (h) After-tax employee contributions. (i) Prohibited taxable benefits. (j) Coordination with other rules. (k) Group-term life insurance. (l) COBRA premiums. September 24, 20076892007–39 I.R.B. (m) Payment or reimbursement of em- ployees’ individual accident and health in- surance premiums. (n) Section 105 rules for accident and health plan offered through a cafeteria plan. (o) Prohibition against deferred com- pensation. (p) Benefits relating to more than one year. (q) Nonqualified benefits. (r) Employer contributions to a cafete- ria plan. (s) Effective/applicability date. §1.125–2 Cafeteria plans; elections. (a) Rules relating to making elections and revoking elections. (b) Automatic elections. (c) Election rules for salary reduction contributions to HSAs. (d) Optional election for new employ- ees. (e) Effective/applicability date. §1.125–5 Flexible spending arrangements. (a) Definition of flexible spending ar- rangement. (b) Flex-credits allowed. (c) Use-or-lose rule. (d) Uniform coverage rules applicable to health FSAs. (e) Required period of coverage for a health FSA, dependent care FSA and adop- tion assistance FSA. (f) Coverage on a month-by-month or expense-by-expense basis prohibited. (g) FSA administrative practices. (h) Qualified benefits permitted to be offered through a FSA. (i) Section 129 rules for dependent care assistance program offered through a cafe- teria plan. (j) Section 137 rules for adoption assis- tance program offered through a cafeteria plan. (k) FSAs and the rules governing the tax-favored treatment of employer-pro- vided health benefits. (l) Section 105(h) requirements. (m) HSA-compatible FSAs- lim- ited-purpose health FSAs and post-de- ductible health FSAs. (n) Qualified HSA distributions. (o) FSA experience gains or forfeitures. (p) Effective/applicability date. §1.125–6 Substantiation of expenses for all cafeteria plans. (a) Cafeteria plan payments and reim- bursements. (b) Rules for claims substantiation for cafeteria plans. (c) Debit cards — overview. (d) Mandatory rules for all debit cards usable to pay or reimburse medical ex- penses. (e) Substantiation of expenses incurred at medical care providers and certain other stores with Drug Stores and Pharmacies merchant category code. (f) Inventory information approval sys- tem. (g) Debit cards used to pay or reimburse dependent care assistance. (h) Effective/applicability date. §1.125–7 Cafeteria plan nondiscrimination rules. (a) Definitions. (b) Nondiscrimination as to eligibility. (c) Nondiscrimination as to contribu- tions and benefits. (d) Key employees. (e) Section 125(g)(2) safe harbor for cafeteria plans providing health benefits. (f) Safe harbor test for premium-only- plans. (g) Permissive disaggregation for nondiscrimination testing. (h) Optional aggregation of plans for nondiscrimination testing. (i) Employees of certain controlled groups. (j) Time to perform nondiscrimination testing. (k) Discrimination in actual operation prohibited. (l) Anti-abuse rule. (m) Tax treatment of benefits in a cafe- teria plan. (n) Employer contributions to employ- ees’ Health Savings Accounts. (o) Effective/applicability date. §1.125–1 Cafeteria plans; general rules. (a)Definitions. The definitions set forth in this paragraph (a) apply for purposes of section 125 and the regulations. (1) The termcafeteria planmeans a separate written plan that complies with the requirements of section 125 and the regulations, that is maintained by an em- ployer for the benefit of its employees and that is operated in compliance with the re- quirements of section 125 and the regula- tions. All participants in a cafeteria plan must be employees. A cafeteria plan must offer at least one permitted taxable benefit (as defined in paragraph (a)(2) of this sec- tion) and at least one qualified benefit (as defined in paragraph (a)(3) of this section). A cafeteria plan must not provide for defer- ral of compensation (except as specifically permitted in paragraph (o) of this section). (2) The termpermitted taxable benefit means cash and certain other taxable ben- efits treated as cash for purposes of sec- tion 125. For purposes of section 125, cashmeans cash compensation (includ- ing salary reduction), payments for annual leave, sick leave, or other paid time off and severance pay. A distribution from a trust described in section 401(a) is not cash for purposes of section 125.Other tax- able benefits treated as cashfor purposes of section 125 are: (i) Property; (ii) Benefits attributable to employer contributions that are currently taxable to the employee upon receipt by the em- ployee; and (iii) Benefits purchased with after-tax employee contributions, as described in paragraph (h) of this section. (3)Qualified benefit. Except as other- wise provided in section 125(f) and para- graph (q) of this section, the termquali- fied benefitmeans any benefit attributable to employer contributions to the extent that such benefit is not currently taxable to the employee by reason of an express provi- sion of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) and which does not defer compensation (except as provided in paragraph (o) of this section). The following benefits are qual- ified benefits that may be offered under a cafeteria plan and areexcludible from em- ployees’ gross income when provided in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Code— (A) Group-term life insurance on the life of an employee in an amount that is less than or equal to the $50,000 excludible from gross income under section 79(a), but not combined with any permanent benefit within the meaning of §1.79–0; (B) An accident and health plan ex- cludible from gross income under section 105 or 106, including self-insured medical 2007–39 I.R.B.690September 24, 2007 reimbursement plans (such as health FSAs described in §1.125–5); (C) Premiums for COBRA continuation coverage (if excludible under section 106) under the accident and health plan of the employer sponsoring the cafeteria plan or premiums for COBRA continuation cover- age of an employee of the employer spon- soring the cafeteria plan under an accident and health plan sponsored by a different employer; (D) An accidental death and dismem- berment insurance policy (section 106); (E) Long-term or short-term disability coverage (section 106); (F) Dependent care assistance program (section 129); (G) Adoption assistance (section 137); (H) A qualified cash or deferred ar- rangement that is part of a profit-sharing plan or stock bonus plan, as described in paragraph (o)(3) of this section (section 401(k)); (I) Certain plans maintained by educa- tional organizations (section 125(d)(2)(C) and paragraph (o)(3)(iii) of this section); and (J) Contributions to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) (sections 223 and 125(d)(2)(D)). (4)Dependent.Thetermdependent generally means a dependent as defined in section 152. However, the definition of de- pendent is modified to conform with the underlying Code section for the qualified benefit. For example, for purposes of a benefit under section 105, the term depen- dent means a dependent as defined in sec- tion 152, determined without regard to sec- tion 152(b)(1), (b)(2) or (d)(1)(B). (5)Premium-only-plan.Apre- mium-only-planis a cafeteria plan that offers as its sole benefit an election be- tween cash (for example, salary) and payment of the employee share of the employer-provided accident and health insurance premium (excludible from the employee’s gross income under section 106). (b)General rules—(1)Cafeteria plans. Section 125 is the exclusive means by which an employer can offer employees an election between taxable and nontax- able benefits without the election itself resulting in inclusion in gross income by the employees. Section 125 provides that cash (including certain taxable benefits) offered to an employee through a nondis- criminatory cafeteriaplan is not includible in the employee’s gross income merely because the employee has the opportu- nity to choose among cash and qualified benefits (within the meaning of section 125(e)) through thecafeteria plan. Sec- tion 125(a), (d)(1). However, if a plan offering an employee an election between taxable benefits (including cash) and non- taxable qualified benefits does not meet the section 125 requirements, the election between taxable and nontaxable benefits results in gross income to the employee, regardless of what benefit is elected and when the election is made. An employee who has an election among nontaxable benefits and taxable benefits (including cash) that is not through a cafeteria plan that satisfies section 125 must include in gross income the value of the taxable benefit with the greatest value that the em- ployee could have elected to receive, even if the employee elects to receive only the nontaxable benefits offered. The amount of the taxable benefit is includible in the employee’s income in the year in which the employee would have actually re- ceived the taxable benefit if the employee had elected such benefit. This is the result even if the employee’s election between the nontaxable benefits and taxable bene- fits is made prior to the year in which the employee would actually have received the taxable benefits. See paragraph (q) in §1.125–1 for nonqualified benefits. (2)Nondiscrimination rules for qual- ified benefits. Accident and health plan coverage, group-term life insurance cov- erage, and benefits under a dependent care assistance program or adoption assis- tance program do not fail to be qualified benefits under a cafeteria plan merely be- cause they are includible in gross income because of applicable nondiscrimina- tion requirements (for example, sections 79(d), 105(h),129(d), 137(c)(2)). See also §§1.105–11(k) and 1.125–7. (3)Examples. The following examples illustrate the rules of paragraph (b)(1) of this section. Example 1.Distributions from qualified pension plan used for health insurance premiums.(i)Em- ployer A maintains a qualified section 401(a) retire- ment plan for employees. Employer A also provides accident and health insurance (as described in sec- tion 106) for employees and former employees, their spouses and dependents. The health insurance premi- ums are partially paid through a cafeteria plan. None of Employer A’s employees are public safety officers. Employer A’s health plan allows former employees to elect to have distributions from the qualified re- tirement plan applied to pay for the health insurance premiums through the cafeteria plan. (ii) Amounts distributed from the qualified retire- ment plan which the former employees elect to have applied to pay health insurance premiums through the cafeteria plan are includible in their gross income. The same result occurs if distributions from the quali- fied retirement plan are applied directly to reimburse section 213(d) medical care expenses incurred by a former employee or his or her spouse or dependents. These distributions are includible in their income, and are not cash for purposes of section 125. The plan is not a cafeteria plan with respect to former employees. Example 2.Severance pay used to pay COBRA premiums. Employer B maintains a cafeteria plan, which offers employees an election between cash and employer-providedaccident and health insur- ance (excludible from employees’ gross income under section 106). Employer B pays terminating employees severance pay. The cafeteria plan also allows a terminating employee to elect between re- ceiving severance pay and using the severance pay to pay the COBRA premiums for the accident and health insurance. These provisions in the cafeteria plan are consistent with the requirements in section 125. (4)Election by participants.(i)In gen- eral. A cafeteria plan must offer partici- pants the opportunity to elect between at least one permitted taxable benefit and at least one qualified benefit. For example, if employees are given the opportunity to elect only among two or more nontaxable benefits, the plan is not a cafeteria plan. Similarly, a plan that only offers the elec- tion among salary, permitted taxable bene- fits, paid time off or other taxable benefits is not a cafeteria plan. See section 125(a), (d). See §1.125–2 for rules on elections. (ii)Premium-only-plan. A cafeteria plan may be a premium-only-plan. (iii)Examples. The following examples illustrate the rules of paragraph (b)(4)(i) of this section. Example 1.No election. Employer C covers all its employees under its accident and health plan (ex- cludible from employees’ gross income under sec- tion 106). Coverage is mandatory (that is, employees have no election between cash and the Employer C’s accident and health plan).This plan is not a cafeteria plan, because the plan offers employees no election between taxable and nontaxable benefits. The acci- dent and health coverage is excludible from employ- ees’ gross income. Example 2.Election between cash and at least one qualified benefit. Employer D offers its employ- ees a plan with an election between cash and an em- ployer-provided accident and health plan (excludible from employees’ gross income under section 106). If the plan also satisfies all the other requirements of section 125, the plan is a cafeteria plan because it of- fers an election between at least one taxable benefit and at least one nontaxable qualified benefit. September 24, 20076912007–39 I.R.B. Example 3.Election between employer flex-cred- its and qualified benefits. Employer E offers its em- ployees an election between an employer flex-credit (as defined in paragraph (b) in §1.125–5) and quali- fied benefits. If an employee does not elect to apply the entire employer flex-credit to qualified benefits, the employee will receive no cash or other taxable benefit for the unused employer flex-credit. The plan is not a cafeteria plan because it does not offer an elec- tion between at least one taxable benefit and at least one nontaxable qualified benefit. Example 4.No election between cash and qualified benefits for certain employees.(i)Em- ployer F maintains a calendar year plan offering employer-provided accident and health insurance coverage which includes employee-only and family coverage options. (ii) The plan provides for an automatic enrollment process when a new employee is hired, or during the annual election period under the plan: only employ- ees who certify that they have other health coverage are permitted to elect to receive cash. Employees who cannot certify are covered by the accident and health insurance on a mandatory basis. Employer F does not otherwise request or collect information from em- ployees regarding other health coverage as part of the enrollment process. If the employee has a spouse or child, the employee can elect between cash and fam- ily coverage. (iii) When an employee is hired, the employee re- ceives a notice explaining the plan’s automatic enroll- ment process. The notice includes the salary reduc- tion amounts for employee-only coverage and family coverage, procedures for certifying whether the em- ployee has other health coverage, elections for family coverage, information on the time by which a certi- fication or election must be made, and the period for which a certification or election will be effective. The notice is also given to each current employee before the beginning of each plan year, (except that the no- tice for a current employee includes a description of the employee’s existing coverage, if any). (iv) For a new employee, an election to receive cash or to have family coverage is effective if made when the employee is hired. For a current employee, an election is effective if made prior to the start of each calendar year or under any other circumstances permitted under §1.125–4. An election for any prior year carries over to the next succeeding plan year unless changed. Certification that the employee has other health coverage must be made annually. (v) Contributions used to purchase employer-pro- vided accident and health coverage under section 125 are not includible in an employee’s gross income if the employee can elect cash. Section 125 does not apply to the employee-only coverage of an employee who cannot certify that he or she has other health cov- erage and, therefore, does not have the ability to elect cash in lieu of health coverage. (5)No deferred compensation. Except as provided in paragraph (o) of this section, in order for a plan to be a cafeteria plan, the qualified benefits and the permitted tax- able benefits offered through the cafeteria plan must not defer compensation. For ex- ample, a cafeteria plan may not provide for retirement health benefits for current em- ployees beyond the current plan year or group-term life insurance with a perma- nent benefit, as defined under §1.79–0. (c)Writtenplanrequirements—(1) General rule. A cafeteria plan must con- tain in writing the information described in this paragraph (c), and depending on the qualified benefits offered in the plan, may also be required to contain additional information described in paragraphs (c)(2) and (c)(3) of this section. The cafeteria plan must be adopted and effective on or before the first day of the cafeteria plan year to which it relates. The terms of the plan must apply uniformly to all partici- pants. The cafeteria plan document may be comprised of multiple documents. The written cafeteria plan must contain all of the following information— (i) A specific description of each of the benefits available through the plan, includ- ing the periods during which the benefits are provided (the periods of coverage); (ii) The plan’s rules governing partic- ipation, and specifically requiring that all participants in the plan be employees; (iii) The procedures governing employ- ees’ elections under the plan, including the period when elections may be made, the periods with respect to which elections are effective, and providing that elections are irrevocable, except to the extent that the optional change in status rules in §1.125–4 are included in the cafeteria plan; (iv) The manner in which employer contributions may be made under the plan, (for example, through an employee’s salary reduction election or by non- elective employer contributions (that is, flex-credits, as defined in paragraph (b) in §1.125–5) or both); (v) The maximum amount of employer contributions available to any employee through the plan, by stating: (A) The maximum amount of elective contributions (i.e., salary reduction) avail- able to any employee through the plan, ex- pressed as a maximum dollar amount or a maximum percentage of compensation or the method for determining the maximum dollar amount; and (B) For contributions to section 401(k) plans, the maximum amount of elective contributions available to any employee through the plan, expressed as a maximum dollar amount or maximum percentage of compensation that maybe contributed as elective contributions through the plan by employees. (vi) The plan year of the cafeteria plan; (vii) If the plan offers paid time off, the required ordering rule for use of nonelec- tive and elective paid time off in paragraph (o)(4) of this section; (viii) If the plan includes flexible spending arrangements (as defined in §1.125–5(a)), the plan’s provisions com- plying with any additional requirements for those FSAs (for example, the uniform coverage rule and the use-or-lose rules in paragraphs (d) and (c) in §1.125–5); (ix) If the plan includes a grace period, the plan’s provisions complying with para- graph (e) of this section; and (x) If the plan includes distributions from a health FSA to employees’ HSAs, the plan’s provisions complying with para- graph (n) in §1.125–5. (2)Additional requirements under sec- tions 105(h), 129, and 137. A written plan is required for self-insured medical re- imbursement plans (§1.105–11(b)(1)(i)), dependent care assistance programs (sec- tion 129(d)(1)), and adoption assistance (section 137(c)). Any of these plans or programs offered through a cafeteria plan that satisfies the written plan require- ment in this paragraph (c) for the benefits under these plans and programs also sat- isfies the written plan requirements in §1.105–11(b)(1)(i), section 129(d)(1), and section 137(c) (whichever is applicable). Alternatively, a self-insured medical re- imbursement plan, a dependent care assis- tance program, or an adoption assistance program is permitted to satisfy the re- quirements in §1.105–11(b)(1)(i), section 129(d)(1), or section 137(c) (whichever is applicable) through a separate written plan, and not as part of the written cafete- ria plan. (3)Additional requirements under sec- tion 401(k). See §1.401(k)–1(e)(7) for ad- ditional requirements that must be satisfied in the written plan if the plan offers defer- rals into a section 401(k) plan. (4)Cross-reference allowed.Inde- scribing the benefits available through the cafeteria plan, the written cafeteria plan need not be self-contained. For example, the written cafeteria plan may incorpo- rate by reference benefits offered through otherseparate written plans,suchasa section 401(k) plan, or coverage under a dependent care assistance program (sec- 2007–39 I.R.B.692September 24, 2007 tion 129), without describing in full the benefits established through these other plans. But, for example, if the cafeteria plan offers different maximum levels of coverage for dependent care assistance programs, the descriptions in the separate written plan must specify the available maximums. (5)Amendments to cafeteria plan.Any amendment to the cafeteria plan must be in writing. A cafeteria plan is permitted to be amended at any time during a plan year. However, the amendment is only permitted to be effective for periods after the later of the adoption date or effective date of the amendment. For an amend- ment adding a new benefit, the cafeteria plan must pay or reimburse only those ex- penses for new benefits incurred after the later of the amendment’s adoption date or effective date. (6)Failure to satisfy written plan re- quirements. If there is no written cafete- ria plan, or if the written plan fails to sat- isfy any of the requirements in this para- graph (c) (including cross-referenced re- quirements), the plan is not a cafeteria plan and an employee’s election between taxable and nontaxable benefits results in gross income to the employee. (7)Operational failure—(i)In general. If the cafeteria plan fails to operate accord- ing to its written plan or otherwise fails to operate in compliance with section 125 and the regulations, the plan is not a cafete- ria plan and employees’ elections between taxable and nontaxable benefits result in gross income to the employees. (ii)Failure to operate according to writ- ten cafeteria plan or section 125.Exam- ples of failures resulting in section 125 not applying to a plan include the following— (A) Paying or reimbursing expenses for qualified benefits incurred before the later oftheadoptiondateoreffectivedateofthe cafeteria plan, before the beginning of a period of coverage or before the later of the date of adoption or effective date of a plan amendment adding a new benefit; (B) Offering benefits other than permit- ted taxable benefits and qualified benefits; (C) Operating to defer compensation (except as permitted in paragraph (o) of this section); (D) Failing to comply with the uni- form coverage rule in paragraph (d) in §1.125–5; (E) Failing to comply with the use-or- lose rule in paragraph (c) in §1.125–5; (F) Allowing employees to revoke elec- tions or make new elections, except as pro- vided in §1.125–4 and paragraph (a) in §1.125–2; (G) Failing to comply with the substan- tiation requirements of §1.125–6; (H) Paying or reimbursing expenses in an FSA other than expenses expressly per- mitted in paragraph (h) in §1.125–5; (I) Allocating experience gains other than as expressly permitted in paragraph (o) in §1.125–5; (J) Failing to comply with the grace pe- riod rules in paragraph (e) of this section; or (K) Failing to comply with the qualified HSA distribution rules in paragraph (n) in §1.125–5. (d)Plan year requirements—(1)Twelve consecutive months. The plan year must be specified in the cafeteria plan. The plan year of a cafeteria plan must be twelve con- secutive months, unless a short plan year is allowed under this paragraph (d). A plan year is permitted to begin on any day of any calendar month and must end on the preceding day in the immediately follow- ing year (for example, a plan year that be- gins on October 15, 2007, must end on Oc- tober 14, 2008). A calendar year plan year is a period of twelve consecutive months beginning on January 1 and ending on De- cember 31 of the same calendar year. A plan year specified in the cafeteria plan is effective for the first plan year of a cafete- ria plan and for all subsequent plan years, unless changed as provided in paragraph (d)(2) of this section. (2)Changing plan year. The plan year is permitted to be changed only for a valid business purpose. A change in the plan year is not permitted if a principal pur- pose of the change in plan year is to cir- cumvent the rules of section 125 or these regulations. If a change in plan year does not satisfy this subparagraph, the attempt to change the plan year is ineffective and the plan year of the cafeteria plan remains the same. (3)Short plan year. A short plan year of less than twelve consecutive months is permitted for a valid business purpose. (4)Examples. The following examples illustrate the rules in paragraph (d) of this section: Example 1.Employer with calendar year.Em- ployer G, with a calendar taxable year, first estab- lishes a cafeteria plan effective July 1, 2009. The cafeteria plan specifies a calendar plan year. The first cafeteria plan year is the period beginning on July 1, 2009, and ending on December 31, 2009. Employer G has a business purpose for a short first cafeteria plan year. Example 2.Employer changes insurance carrier. Employer H establishes a cafeteria plan effective January 1, 2009, with a calendar year plan year. The cafeteria plan offers an accident and health plan through Insurer X. In March 2010, Employer H contracts to provide accident and health insurance through another insurance company, Y. Y’s accident and health insurance is offered on a July 1-June 30 benefit year. Effective July 1, 2010, Employer H amends the plan to change to a July 1-June 30 plan year. Employer H has a business purpose for chang- ing the cafeteria plan year and for the short plan year ending June 30, 2010. (5)Significance of plan year. The plan year generally is the coverage period for benefits provided through the cafeteria plan to which annual elections for these benefits apply. Benefits elected pursuant to the employee’s election for a plan year generally may not be carried forward to subsequent plan years. However, see the grace period rule in paragraph (e) of this section. (e)Grace period—(1)In general.A cafeteria plan may, at the employer’s op- tion, include a grace period of up to the fif- teenth day of the third month immediately following the end of each plan year. If a cafeteria plan provides for a grace period, an employee who has unused benefits or contributions relating to a qualified benefit (for example, health flexible spending ar- rangement (health FSA) or dependent care assistance) from the immediately preced- ing plan year, and who incurs expenses for that same qualified benefit during the grace period, may be paid or reimbursed for those expenses from the unused bene- fits or contributions as if the expenses had been incurred in the immediately preced- ing plan year. A grace period is available for all qualified benefits described in para- graph (a)(3) of this section, except that the grace period does not apply to paid time off and elective contributions under a sec- tion 401(k) plan. The effect of the grace period is that the employee may have as long as 14 months and 15 days (that is, the 12 months in the current cafeteria plan year plus the grace period) to use the benefits or contributions for a plan year before those amounts areforfeitedunder theuse-or-lose rule in paragraph (c) in §1.125–5. If the September 24, 20076932007–39 I.R.B. grace period is added to a cafeteria plan through an amendment, all requirements in paragraph (c) of this section must be satis- fied. (2)Grace period optional features.A grace period provision may contain any or all of the following— (i) The grace period may apply to some qualified benefits described in paragraph (a)(3) of this section, but not to others; (ii) The grace period provision may limit the amount of unused benefits or contributions available during the grace period. The limit must be uniform and apply to all participants. However, the limit must not be based on a percentage of the amount of the unused benefits or contributions remaining at the end of the immediately prior plan year; (iii) The last day of the grace period may be sooner than the fifteenth day of the third month immediately following the end of the plan year (that is, the grace pe- riod may be shorter than two and one half months); (iv) The grace period provision is per- mitted to treat expenses for qualified ben- efits incurred during the grace period ei- ther as expenses incurred during the im- mediately preceding plan year or as ex- penses incurred during the current plan year (for example, the plan may first apply the unused contributions or benefits from the immediately preceding year to pay or reimburse grace period expenses and then, when the unused contributions and bene- fits from the prior year are exhausted, the grace period expenses may be paid from current year contributions and benefits.); and (v) The grace period provision may per- mit the employer to defer the allocation of expenses described in paragraph (e)(2)(iv) of this section until after the end of the grace period. (3)Grace period requirements. A grace period must satisfy the requirements in paragraph (c) of this section and all of the following requirements: (i) The grace period provisions in the cafeteria plan (including optional provi- sions in paragraph (e)(2) of this section) must apply uniformly to all participants in the cafeteria plan, determined as of the last day of the plan year. Participants in the cafeteria plan through COBRA and participants who were participants as of the last day of the plan year but termi- nate during the grace period are partici- pants for purposes of the grace period. See §54.4980B–2, Q & A–8 of this chapter; (ii) The grace period provision in the cafeteria plan must state that unused ben- efits or contributions relating to a particu- lar qualified benefit may only be used to pay or reimburse expenses incurred with respect to the same qualified benefit. For example, unused amounts elected to pay or reimburse medical expenses in a health FSA may not be used to pay or reimburse dependent care expenses incurred during the grace period; and (iii) The grace period provision in the cafeteria plan must state that to the extent any unused benefits or contributions from the immediately preceding plan year ex- ceed the expenses for the qualified benefit incurred during the grace period, those re- maining unused benefits or contributions may not be carried forward to any sub- sequent period (including any subsequent plan year), cannot be cashed-out and must be forfeited under the use-or-lose rule. See paragraph (c) in §1.125–5. (4)Examples. The following examples illustrate the rules in this paragraph (e). Example 1.Expenses incurred during grace period and immediately following plan year.(i) Employer I’s calendar year cafeteria plan includes a grace period allowing all participants to apply unused benefits or contributions remaining at the end of the plan year to qualified benefits incurred during the grace period immediately following that plan year. The grace period for the plan year ending December 31, 2009, ends on March 15, 2010. (ii) Employee X timely elected salary reduction of $1,000 for a health FSA for the plan year ending December 31, 2009. As of December 31, 2009, X has $200 remaining unused in his health FSA. X timely elected salary reduction for a health FSA of $1,500 for the plan year ending December 31, 2010. (iii) During the grace period from January 1 through March 15, 2010, X incurs $300 of unre- imbursed medical expenses (as defined in section 213(d)). The unused $200 from the plan year ending December 31, 2009, is applied to pay or reimburse $200 of X’s $300 of medical expenses incurred during the grace period. Therefore, as of March 16, 2010, X has no unused benefits or contributions remaining for the plan year ending December 31, 2009. (iv) The remaining $100 of medical expenses in- curred between January 1 and March 15, 2010, is paid or reimbursed from X’s health FSA for the plan year ending December 31, 2010. As of March 16, 2010, X has $1,400 remaining in the health FSA for the plan year ending December 31, 2010. Example 2.Unused benefits exceed expenses in- curred during grace period. Same facts asExample 1, except that X incurs $150of section 213(d) medical expenses during the grace period (January 1 through March 15, 2010). As of March 16, 2010, X has $50 of unused benefits or contributions remaining for the plan year ending December 31, 2009. The unused $50 cannot be cashed-out, converted to any other tax- able or nontaxable benefit, or used in any other plan year (including the plan year ending December 31, 2009). The unused $50 is subject to the use-or-lose rule in paragraph (c) in §1.125–5 and is forfeited. As of March 16, 2010, X has the entire $1,500 elected in the health FSA for the plan year ending December 31, 2010. Example 3.Terminated participants.(i)Em- ployer J’s cafeteria plan includes a grace period al- lowing all participants to apply unused benefits or contributions remaining at the end of the plan year to qualified benefits incurred during the grace period immediately following that plan year. For the plan year ending on December 31, 2009, the grace period ends March 15, 2010. (ii) Employees A, B, C, and D each timely elected $1,200 salary reduction for a health FSA for the plan year ending December 31, 2009. Employees A and B terminated employment on September 15, 2009. Each has $500 of unused benefits or contributions in the health FSA. (iii) Employee A elected COBRA for the health FSA. Employee A is a participant in the cafeteria plan as of December 31, 2009, the last day of the 2009 plan year. Employee A has $500 of unused benefits or contributions available during the grace period for the 2009 plan year (ending March 15, 2010). (iv) Employee B did not elect COBRA for the health FSA. Employee B is not a participant in the cafeteria plan as of December 31, 2009. The grace period does not apply to Employee B. (v) Employee C has $500 of unused benefits in his health FSA as of December 31, 2009, and termi- nated employment on January 15, 2010. Employee C is a participant in the cafeteria plan as of December 31, 2009 and has $500 of unused benefits or contribu- tions available during the grace period ending March 15, 2010, even though he terminated employment on January 15, 2010. (vi) Employee D continues to work for Employer H throughout 2009 and 2010, also has $500 of unused benefits or contributions in his health FSA as of De- cember 31, 2009, but made no health FSA election for 2010. Employee D is a participant in the cafe- teria plan as of December 31, 2009 and has $500 of unused benefits or contributions available during the grace period ending March 15, 2010, even though he is not a participant in a health FSA for the 2010 plan year. (f)Run-out period. A cafeteria plan is permitted to contain a run-out period as designated by the employer. A run-out pe- riod is a period after the end of the plan year (or grace period) during which a par- ticipant can submit a claim for reimburse- ment for a qualified benefit incurred dur- ing the plan year (or grace period). Thus, a plan is also permitted to provide a deadline on or after the end of the plan year (or grace period) for submitting a claim for reim- bursement for the plan year. Any run-out period must be provided on a uniform and 2007–39 I.R.B.694September 24, 2007 consistent basis with respect to all partici- pants. (g)Employee for purposes of section 125—(1)Current employees, former em- ployees. The term employee includes any current or former employee (including any laid-off employee or retired employee) of the employer. See paragraph (g)(3) of this section concerning limits on participation by former employees. Specifically, the termemployeeincludes the following— (i) Common law employee; (ii) Leased employee described in sec- tion 414(n); (iii) Full-time life insurance salesman (as defined in section 7701(a)(20)); and (iv) A current employee or former em- ployee described in paragraphs (g)(1)(i) through (iii) of this section. (2)Self-employed individual not an em- ployee.(i)In general.Thetermemployee does not include a self-employed individ- ual or a 2-percent shareholder of an S cor- poration, as defined in paragraph (g)(2)(ii) of this subsection. For example, a sole proprietor, a partner in a partnership, or a director solely serving on a corporation’s board of directors (and not otherwise pro- viding services to the corporation as an employee) is not an employee for purposes of section 125, and thus is not permitted to participate in a cafeteria plan. However, a sole proprietor may sponsor a cafete- ria plan covering the sole proprietor’s em- ployees (but not the sole proprietor). Sim- ilarly, a partnership or S corporation may sponsor a cafeteria plan covering employ- ees (but not a partner or 2-percent share- holder of an S corporation). (ii)Two percent shareholder of an S corporation. A 2-percent shareholder of an S corporation has the meaning set forth in section 1372(b). (iii)Certain dual status individuals.If an individual is an employee of an em- ployer and also provides services to that employer as an independent contractor or director (for example,an individual is both a director and an employee of a C corp), the individual is eligible to participate in that employer’s cafeteria plan solely in his or her capacity as an employee. This rule does not apply to partners or to 2-percent shareholders of an S corporation. (iv)Examples. The following examples illustrate the rules in paragraphs (g)(2)(ii) and (g)(2)(iii) of this section: Example 1.Two-percent shareholders of an S corporation. (i) Employer K, an S corporation, maintains a cafeteria planfor its employees (other than 2-percent shareholders of an S corporation). Employer K’s taxable year and the plan year are the calendar year. On January 1, 2009, individual Z owns 5 percent of the outstanding stock in Employer K. Y, who owns no stock in Employer K, is married to Z. Y and Z are employees of Employer K. Z is a 2-percent shareholder in Employer K (as defined in section 1372(b)). Y is also a 2-percent shareholder in Employer K by operation of the attribution rules in section 318(a)(1)(A)(i). (ii) On July 15, 2009, Z sells all his stock in Em- ployer K to an unrelated third party, and ceases to be a 2-percent shareholder. Y and Z continue to work as employees of Employer K during the entire 2009 calendar year. Y and Z are ineligible to participate in Employer K’s cafeteria plan for the 2009 plan year. Example 2.Director and employee.Tisanem- ployee and also a director of Employer L, a C corp that sponsors a cafeteria plan. The cafeteria plan al- lows only employees of Employer L to participate in the cafeteria plan. T’s annual compensation as an em- ployee is $50,000; T is also paid $3,000 annually in director’s fees. T makes a timely election to salary reduce $5,000 from his employee compensation for dependent care benefits. T makes no election with respect to his compensation as a director. T may par- ticipate in the cafeteria plan in his capacity as an em- ployee of Employer L. (3)Limits on participation by former employees. Although former employees are treated as employees, a cafeteria plan may not be established or maintained pre- dominantly for the benefit of former em- ployees of the employer. Such a plan is not a cafeteria plan. (4)No participation by the spouse or dependent of an employee.(i)Benefits al- lowed to participant’s spouse or depen- dents but not participation. The spouse or dependents of employees may not be par- ticipants in a cafeteria plan unless they are also employees. However, a cafeteria plan may provide benefits to spouses and de- pendents of participants. For example, al- though an employee’s spouse may benefit from the employee’s election of accident and health insurance coverage or of cov- erage through a dependent care assistance program, the spouse may not participate in a cafeteria plan (that is, the spouse may not be given the opportunity to elect or pur- chase benefits offered by the plan). (ii)Certain elections after employee’s death.Anemployee’sspouse is not a par- ticipant in a cafeteria plan merely because the spouse has the right, upon the death of the employee, to elect among various set- tlement options or to elect among permis- sible distribution options with respect to the deceased employee’s benefits through a section 401(k) plan, Health Savings Ac- count, or certain group-term life insurance offered through the cafeteria plan. See §54.4980B–2, Q & A 8 and §54.4980B–4, Q & A–1 of this chapter on COBRA rights of a participant’s spouse or dependents. (5)Employees of certain controlled groups. All employees who are treated as employed by a single employer under section 414(b), (c), (m), or (o) are treated as employed by a single employer for pur- poses of section 125. Section 125(g)(4); section 414(t). (h)After-tax employee contribu- tions—(1)Certain after-tax employee contributions treated as cash. In addition to the cash benefits described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, in general, a benefit is treated as cash for purposes of section 125 if the benefit does not defer compen- sation (except as provided in paragraph (o) of this section) and an employee who receives the benefit purchases such benefit with after-tax employee contributions or is treated, for all purposes under the Code (including, for example, reporting and withholding purposes), as receiving, at the time that the benefit is received, cash compensation equal to the full value of the benefit at that time and then purchasing the benefit with after-tax employee con- tributions. Thus, for example, long-term disability coverage is treated as cash for purposes of section125 if the cafeteria plan provides that an employee may pur- chase the coverage through the cafeteria plan with after-tax employee contributions or provides that the employee receiving such coverage is treated as having received cash compensation equal to the value of the coverage and then as having purchased the coverage with after-tax employee con- tributions. Also, for example, a cafeteria plan may offer employees the opportu- nity to purchase, with after-tax employee contributions, group-term life insurance on the life of an employee (providing no permanent benefits), an accident and health plan, or a dependent care assistance program. (2)Accident and health coverage pur- chased for someone other than the em- ployee’s spouse or dependents with af- ter-tax employee contributions.Ifthe requirements of section 106 are satisfied, employer-provided accident and health coverage for an employee and his or her spouse or dependents is excludible from September 24, 20076952007–39 I.R.B. the employee’s gross income. The fair market value of coverage for any other individual, provided with respect to the employee, is includible in the employee’s gross income. §1.106–1; §1.61–21(a)(4), and §1.61–21(b)(1). A cafeteria plan is permitted to allow employees to elect acci- dent and health coverage for an individual who is not the spouse or dependent of the employee as a taxable benefit. (3)Example. The following example illustrates the rules of this paragraph (h): Example.Accident and health plan coverage for individuals who are not a spouse or dependent of an employee. (i) Employee C participates in Employer M’s cafeteria plan. Employee C timely elects salary reduction for employer-provided accident and health coverage for himself and for accident and health cov- erage for his former spouse. C’s former spouse is not C’s dependent. A former spouse is not a spouse as defined in section 152. (ii) The fair market value of the coverage for the former spouse is $1,000. Employee C has $1,000 in- cludible in gross income for the accident and health coverage of his former spouse, because the section 106 exclusion applies only to employer-provided ac- cident and health coverage for the employee or the employee’s spouse or dependents. (iii) No payments or reimbursements received un- der the accident and health coverage result in gross income to Employee C or to the former spouse. The result is the same if the $1,000 for coverage of C’s former spouse is paid from C’s after-tax income out- side the cafeteria plan. (i)Prohibited taxable benefits.Any taxable benefit not described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section and not treated as cash for purposes of section 125 in paragraph (h) of this section is not permitted to be in- cluded in a cafeteria plan. A plan that of- fers taxable benefits other than the taxable benefits described in paragraph (a)(2) and (h) of this section is not a cafeteria plan. (j)Coordination with other rules—(1) In general. If a benefit is excludible from an employee’s gross income when pro- vided separately, the benefit is excludible from gross income when provided through a cafeteria plan. Thus, a qualified benefit is excludible from gross income if both the rules under section 125 and the specific rules providing for the exclusion of the benefit from gross income are satisfied. For example, if the nondiscrimination rules for specific qualified benefits (for ex- ample, sections 79(d),105(h), 129(d)(2), 137(c)(2)) are not satisfied, those qualified benefits are includible in gross income. Thus, if $50,000 in group-term life insur- ance is offered through a cafeteria plan, the nondiscrimination rules in section 79(d) must be satisfied in order to exclude the coverage from gross income. (2)Section 125 nondiscrimination rules. Qualified benefits are includible in the gross income of highly compen- sated participants or key employees if the nondiscrimination rules of section 125 are not satisfied. See §1.125–7. (3)Taxable benefits. If a benefit that is includible in gross income when offered separately is offered through a cafeteria plan, the benefit continues to be includible in gross income. (k)Group-term life insurance—(1) In general. In addition to offering up to $50,000 in group-term life insurance coverage excludible under section 79(a), a cafeteria plan may offer coverage in excess of that amount. The cost of cov- erage in excess of $50,000 in group-term life insurance coverage provided under a policy or policies carried directly or indi- rectly by one or more employers (taking into account all coverage provided both through a cafeteria plan and outside a cafe- teria plan) is includible in an employee’s gross income. Group-term life insurance combined with permanent benefits, within the meaning of §1.79–0, is a prohibited benefit in a cafeteria plan. (2)Determining cost of insurance in- cludible in employee’s gross income.(i) In general. If the aggregate group-term life insurance coverage on the life of the employee (under policies carried directly or indirectly by the employer) exceeds $50,000, all or a portion of the insurance is provided through a cafeteria plan, and thegroup-termlifeinsurance is provided through a plan that meets the nondis- crimination rules of section 79(d), the amount includible inan employee’s gross income is determined under paragraphs (k)(2)(i)(A) through (C) of this section. For each employee— (A) The entire amount of salary reduc- tion and employer flex-credits through a cafeteria plan for group-term life insur- ance coverage on the life of the employee is excludible from the employee’s gross income, regardless of the amount of em- ployer-provided group-term life insurance on the employee’s life (that is, whether or not the coverage provided to the employee both through the cafeteria plan and outside the cafeteria plan exceeds $50,000); (B) The cost of the group-term life in- surance in excess of $50,000 of cover- age is includible in the employee’s gross income. The amount includible in the employee’s income is determined using the rules of §1.79–3 and Table I (Uni- form Premiums for $1,000 of Group-Term Life Insurance Protection). See subpara- graph (C) of this paragraph (k)(2)(i) for determining the amount paid by the em- ployee for purposes of reducing the Ta- ble I amount includible in income under §1.79–3. (C) In determining the amount paid by the employee toward the purchase of the group-term life insurance for purposes of §1.79–3, only an employee’s after-tax con- tributions are treated as an amount paid by the employee. (ii)Examples. Therulesinthispara- graph (k) are illustrated by the following examples, in which the group-term life insurance coverage satisfies the nondis- crimination rules in section 79(d), provides no permanent benefits, is for a 12-month period, is the only group-term life insur- ance coverage provided under a policy car- ried directly or indirectly by the employer, and applies Table I (Uniform Premiums for $1,000 of Group-Term Life Insurance Pro- tection) effective July 1, 1999: Example 1.Excess group-term life insurance cov- erage provided through salary reduction in a cafete- ria plan. (i) Employer N provides group-term life in- surance coverage to its employees only through its cafeteria plan. Employer N’s cafeteria plan allows employees to elect salary reduction for group-term life insurance. Employee B, age 42, elected salary reduction of $200 for $150,000 of group-term life in- surance. None of the group-term life insurance is paid through after-tax employee contributions. (ii) B’s $200 of salary reduction for group-term life insurance is excludible from B’s gross income under paragraph (k)(2)(i)(A). (iii) B has a total of $150,000 of group-term life insurance. The group-term life insurance in excess of the dollar limitation of section 79 is $100,000 (150,000 - 50,000). (iv) The Table I cost is $120 for $100,000 of group-term life insurance for an individual between ages 40 to 44. The Table I cost of $120 is reduced by zero (because B paid no portion of the group-term life insurance with after-tax employee contributions), under paragraphs (k)(2)(i)(A)-(B) of this section. (v) The amount includible in B’s gross income for the $100,000 of excess group-term life insurance is $120. Example 2.Excess group-term life insurance coverage provided through salary reduction in a cafeteria plan where employee purchases a portion of group-term life insurance coverage with after-tax contributions.(i)SamefactsasExample 1, except that B elected salary reduction of $100 and makes an after-tax contribution of $100 toward the purchase of group-term life insurance coverage. 2007–39 I.R.B.696September 24, 2007 (ii) B’s $100 of salary reduction for group-term life insurance is excludible from B’s gross income, under paragraph (k)(2)(i)(A) of this section. (iii) B has a total of $150,000 of group-term life insurance. The group-term life insurance in excess of the dollar limitation of section 79 is $100,000 (150,000 - 50,000). (iv) The Table I cost is $120 for $100,000 of group-term life insurance for an individual between ages 40 to 44, under paragraph (k)(2)(i)(B). The Table I cost of $120 is reduced by $100 (because B paid $100 for the group-term life insurance with after-tax employee contributions), under paragraphs (k)(2)(i)(B) and (k)(2)(i)(C) of this section. (v) The amount includible in B’s gross income for the $100,000 of excess group-term life insurance coverage is $20. Example 3.Excess group-term life insurance coverage provided through salary reduction in a cafeteria plan and outside a cafeteria plan.(i)Same facts asExample 1except that Employer N also provides (at no cost to employees) group-term life insurance coverage equal to each employee’s annual salary. Employee B’s annual salary is $150,000. B has $150,000 of group-term life insurance directly from Employer N, and also $150,000 coverage through Employer N’s cafeteria plan. (ii) B’s $200 of salary reduction for group-term life insurance is excludible from B’s gross income, under paragraph (k)(2)(i)(A) of this section. (iii) B has a total of $300,000 of group-term life insurance. The group-term life insurance in excess of the dollar limitation of section 79 is $250,000 (300,000 - 50,000). (iv) The Table I cost is $300 for $250,000 of group-term life insurance for an individual between ages 40 to 44. The Table I cost of $300 is reduced by zero (because B paid no portion of the group-term life insurance with after-tax employee contributions), under paragraphs (k)(2)(i)(B) and (k)(2)(i)(C) of this section. (v) The amount includible in B’s gross income for the $250,000 of excess group-term life insurance is $300. Example 4.Excess group-term life insurance cov- erage provided through salary reduction in a cafete- ria plan and outside a cafeteria plan. (i) Same facts asExample 3except that Employee C’s annual salary is $30,000. C has $30,000 of group-term life insur- ance coverage provided directly from Employer N, and elects an additional $30,000 of coverage for $40 through Employer N’s cafeteria plan. C is 42 years old. (ii) C’s $40 of salary reduction for group-term life insurance is excludible from C’s gross income, under paragraph (k)(2)(i)(A) of this section. (iii) C has a total of $60,000 of group-term life insurance. The group-term life insurance in excess of the dollar limitation of section 79 is $10,000 (60,000 - 50,000). (iv) The Table I cost is $12 for $10,000 of group- term life insurance for an individual between ages 40 to 44. The Table I cost of $12 is reduced by zero (because C paid no portion of the group-term life in- surance with after-tax employee contributions), under paragraphs (k)(2)(i)(B) and (k)(2)(i)(C) of this sec- tion. (v) The amount includible in C’s gross income for the $10,000 of excess group-term life insurance coverage is $12. (l)COBRA premiums—(1)Paying COBRA premiums through a cafeteria plan. Under §1.125–4(c)(3)(iv), COBRA premiums for an employer-provided group health plan are qualified benefits if: (i) The premiums are excludible from an employee’s income under section 106; or (ii) The premiums are for the accident and health plan of the employer spon- soring the cafeteria plan, even if the fair market value of the premiums is includi- ble in an employee’s gross income. See also paragraph (e)(2) in §1.125–5 and §54.4980B–2, Q & A–8 of this chapter for COBRA rules for health FSAs. (2)Example. The following example illustratestherulesofthisparagraph(l): Example.COBRA premiums. (i) Employer O maintains a cafeteria plan for full-time employees, offering an election between cash and employer-pro- vided accident and health insurance and other quali- fied benefits. Employees A, B, and C participate in the cafeteria plan. On July 1, 2009, Employee A has a qualifying event (as defined in §54.4980B–4 of this chapter). (ii) Employee A was a full-time employee and be- came a part-time employee and for that reason, is no longer covered by Employer O’s accident and health plan. Under §1.125–4(f)(3)(ii), Employee A changes her election to salary reduce to pay her COBRA pre- miums. (iii) Employee B previously worked for another employer, quit and elected COBRA. Employee B be- gins work for Employer O on July 1, 2009, and be- comes eligible to participate in Employer O’s cafe- teria plan on July 1, 2009, but will not be eligible to participate in Employer O’s accident and health plan until October 1, 2009. Employee B elects to salary reduce to pay COBRA premiums for coverage under the accident and health plan sponsored by B’s former employer. (iv) Employee C and C’s spouse are covered by Employer O’s accident and health plan until July 1, 2009, when C’s divorcefrom her spouse became final. C continues to be covered by the accident and health plan. On July 1, 2009, C requests to pay COBRA premiums for her former spouse (who is not C’s dependent (as defined in section 152)) with after-tax employee contributions. (v) Salary reduction elections for COBRA premi- ums for Employees A and B are qualified benefits for purposes of section 125 and are excludible from the gross income of Employees A and B. Employer O al- lows A and B to salary reduce for these COBRA pre- miums. (vi) Employer O allows C to pay for COBRA premiums for C’s former spouse, with after-tax em- ployee contributions because although accident and health coverage for C’s former spouse is permitted in a cafeteria plan, the premiums are includible in C’s gross income. (vii) The operation of Employer O’s cafeteria plan satisfies the requirements of this paragraph (l). (m)Payment or reimbursement of em- ployees’ individual accident and health in- surance premiums—(1)In general.The payment or reimbursement of employees’ substantiated individual health insurance premiums is excludible from employees’ gross income under section 106 and is a qualified benefit for purposes of section 125. (2)Example. The following example illustrates the rule of this paragraph (m): Example.Payment or reimbursement of premi- ums. (i) Employer P’s cafeteria plan offers the fol- lowing benefits for employees who are covered by an individual health insurance policy. The employee substantiates the expenses for the premiums for the policy (as required in paragraph (b)(2) in §1.125–6) before any payments or reimbursements to the em- ployee for premiums are made. The payments or re- imbursements are made in the following ways: (ii) The cafeteria plan reimburses each employee directly for the amount of the employee’s substanti- ated health insurance premium; (iii) The cafeteria plan issues the employee a check payable to the health insurance company for the amount of the employee’s health insurance pre- mium, which the employee is obligated to tender to the insurance company; (iv) The cafeteria plan issues a check in the same manner as (iii), except that the check is payable jointly to the employee and the insurance company; or (v) Under these circumstances, the individual health insurance policies are accident and health plans as defined in §1.106–1. This benefit is a quali- fied benefit under section 125. (n)Section 105 rules for accident and health plan offered through a cafeteria plan—(1)General rule.Inorderforan accident and health plan to be a qualified benefit that is excludible from gross in- come if elected through a cafeteria plan, the cafeteria plan must satisfy section 125 and the accident and health plan must sat- isfy section 105(b) and (h). (2)Section 105(b) requirements in gen- eral. Section 105(b) provides an exclusion from gross income for amounts paid to an employee from an employer-funded accident and health plan specifically to reimburse the employee for certain ex- penses for medical care (as defined in section 213(d)) incurred by the employee or the employee’s spouse or dependents during the period for which the benefit is provided to the employee (that is, when the employee is covered by the accident and health plan). (o)Prohibition against deferred com- pensation—(1)In general. Any plan that September 24, 20076972007–39 I.R.B. offers a benefit that defers compensa- tion (except as provided in this paragraph (o)) is not a cafeteria plan. See section 125(d)(2)(A). A plan that permits em- ployees to carry over unused elective contributions, after-tax contributions, or plan benefits from one plan year to an- other (except as provided in paragraphs (e), (o)(3) and (4) and (p) of this sec- tion) defers compensation. This is the case regardless of how the contributions or benefits are used by the employee in the subsequent plan year (for example, whether they are automatically or elec- tively converted into another taxable or nontaxable benefit in the subsequent plan year or used to provide additional benefits of the same type). Similarly, a cafeteria plan also defers compensation if the plan permits employees to use contributions for one plan year to purchase a benefit that will be provided in a subsequent plan year (for example, life, health or disability if these benefits have a savings or investment feature, such as whole life insurance). See also Q & A–5 in §1.125–3, prohibiting de- ferring compensation from one cafeteria plan year to a subsequent cafeteria plan year. See paragraph (e) of this section for grace period rules. A plan does not defer compensation merely because it allocates experience gains (or forfeitures) among participants in compliance with paragraph (o) in §1.125–5. (2)Effect if a plan includes a benefit that defers the receipt of compensation or a plan operates to defer compensation.If a plan violates paragraph (o)(1) of this sec- tion, the availabilityof an election between taxable and nontaxable benefits under such a plan results in gross income to the em- ployees. (3)Cash or deferred arrangements that may be offered in a cafeteria plan.(i)In general. A cafeteria plan may offer the benefits set forth in this paragraph (o)(3), even though these benefits defer compen- sation. (ii)Elective contributions to a section 401(k) plan. A cafeteria plan may permit a covered employee to elect to have the employer, on behalf of the employee, pay amounts as contributions to a trust that is part of a profit-sharing or stock bonus plan or rural cooperative plan (within the mean- ing of section 401(k)(7)), which includes a qualified cash or deferred arrangement (as defined in section 401(k)(2)). In addition, after-tax employee contributions under a qualified plan subject to section 401(m) are permitted through a cafeteria plan. The right to make such contributions does not cause a plan to fail to be a cafeteria plan merely because, under the qualified plan, employer matching contributions (as de- fined in section 401(m)(4)(A)) are made with respect to elective or after-tax em- ployee contributions. (iii)Additional permitted deferred com- pensation arrangements.Aplanmain- tained by an educational organization de- scribed in section 170(b)(1)(A)(ii) to the extent of amounts which a covered em- ployee may elect to have the employer pay as contributions for post-retirement group life insurance is permitted through a cafe- teria plan, if— (A) All contributions for such insurance must be made before retirement; and (B) Such life insurance does not have a cash surrender value at any time. (iv)Contributions to HSAs. Contribu- tions to covered employees’ HSAs as de- fined in section 223 (but not contributions to Archer MSAs). (4)Paid time off.(i)In general. A cafe- teria plan is permitted to include elective paid time off (that is, vacation days, sick days or personal days) as a permitted tax- able benefit through the plan by permit- ting employees to receive more paid time off than the employer otherwise provides to the employees on a nonelective basis, but only if the inclusion of elective paid time off through the plan does not operate to permit the deferral of compensation. In addition, a plan thatonly offers the choice of cash or paid time off is not a cafete- ria plan and is not subject to the rules of section 125. In order to avoid deferral of compensation, the cafeteria plan must pre- clude any employee from using the paid time off or receiving cash, in a subsequent plan year, for any portion of such paid time off remaining unused as of the end of the plan year. (See paragraph (o)(4)(iii) of this section for the deadline to cash out unused elective paid time off.) For example, a plan that offers employees the opportunity to purchase paid time off (or to receive cash or other benefits through the plan in lieu of paid time off) is not a cafeteria plan if em- ployees who purchase the paid time off for a plan year are allowed to use any unused paid time off in a subsequent plan year. This is the case even though the plan does not permit the employee to convert, in any subsequent plan year, the unused paid time off into any other benefit. (ii)Ordering of elective and nonelec- tive paid time off. In determining whether a plan providing paid time off operates to permit the deferral of compensation, a cafeteria plan must provide that employees are deemed to use paid time off in the fol- lowing order: (A)Nonelective paid time off. Nonelec- tive paid time off (that is, paid time off with respect to which the employee has no elec- tion) is used first; (B)Elective paid time off. Elective paid time off is used after all nonelective paid time off is used. (iii)Cashing out or forfeiture of un- used elective paid time off, in general.The cafeteria plan must provide that all unused elective paid time off (determined as of the last day of the plan year) must either be paid in cash (within the time specified in this paragraph (o)(4)) or be forfeited. This provision must apply uniformly to all par- ticipants in the cafeteria plan. (A)Cash out of unused elective paid time off. A plan does not operate to permit the deferral of compensation merely be- cause the plan provides that an employee who has not used all elective paid time off for a plan year receives in cash the value of such unused paid time off. The em- ployee must receive the cash on or before the last day of the cafeteria plan’s plan year to which the elective contributions used to purchase the unused elective paid time off relate. (B)Forfeiture of unused elective paid time off. If the cafeteria plan provides for forfeiture of unused elective paid time off, the forfeiture must be effective on the last day of the plan year to which the elective contributions relate. (iv)No grace period for paid time off. The grace period described in paragraph (e) of this section does not apply to paid time off. (v)Examples. The following examples illustrate the rules of this paragraph (o)(4): Example 1.Plan cashes out unused elective paid time off on or before the last day of the plan year.(i) Employer Q provides employees with two weeks of paid time off for each calendar year. Employer Q’s human resources policy (thatis, outside the cafeteria plan), permits employees to carry over one nonelec- tive week of paid time off to the next year. Employer Q maintains a calendar year cafeteria plan that per- 2007–39 I.R.B.698September 24, 2007 mits the employee to purchase, with elective contri- butions, an additional week of paid time off. (ii) For the 2009 plan year, Employee A (with a calendar tax year), timely elects to purchase one addi- tional week of paid time off. During 2009, Employee A uses only two weeks of paid time off. Employee A is deemed to have used two weeks of nonelective paid time off and zero weeks of elective paid time off. (iii) Pursuant to the cafeteria plan, the plan pays Employee A the value of the unused elective paid time off week in cash on December 31, 2009. Em- ployer Q includes this amount on the 2009 Form W–2 for Employee A. This amount is included in Em- ployee A’s gross income in 2009. The cafeteria plan’s terms and operations do not violate the prohibition against deferring compensation. Example 2.Unused nonelective paid time off car- ried over to next plan year.(i)SamefactsasExam- ple 1, except that Employee A uses only one week of paid time off during the year. Pursuant to the cafeteria plan, Employee A is deemed to have used one non- elective week, and having retained one nonelective week and one elective week of paid time off. Em- ployee A receives in cash the value of the unused elective paid time off on December 31, 2009. Em- ployer Q includes this amount on the 2009 Form W–2 for Employee A. Employee A must report this amount as gross income in 2009. (ii) Pursuant to Employer Q’s human resources policy, Employee A is permitted to carry over the one nonelective week of paid time off to the next year. Nonelective paid time off is not part of the cafeteria plan (that is, neither Employer Q nor the cafeteria plan permit employees to exchange nonelective paid time off for other benefits). (iii) The cafeteria plan’s terms and operations do not violate the prohibition against deferring compen- sation. Example 3.Forfeiture of unused elective paid time off. Same facts asExample 2, except that pur- suant to the cafeteria plan, Employee A forfeits the remaining one week of elective paid time off. The cafeteria plan’s terms and operations do not violate the prohibition against deferring compensation. Example 4.Unused elective paid time off carried over to next plan year. Same facts asExample 1, except that Employee A uses only two weeks of paid time off during the 2009 plan year, and, under the terms of the cafeteria plan, Employee A is treated as having used the two nonelective weeks and as having retained the one elective week. The one remaining week (that is, the elective week) is carried over to the next plan year (or the value thereof used for any other purpose in the next plan year). The plan operates to permit deferring compensation and is not a cafeteria plan. Example 5.Paid time off exchanged for accident and health insurance premiums. Employer R pro- vides employees with four weeks of paid time off for a year. Employer R’s calendar year cafeteria plan permits employees to exchange up to one week of paid time off to pay the employee’s share of accident and health insurance premiums. For the 2009 plan year, Employee B (with a calendar tax year), timely elects to exchange one week of paid time off (valued at $769) to pay accident and health insurance premi- ums for 2009. The $769 is excludible from Employee B’s gross income under section 106. The cafeteria plan’s terms and operations do not violate the prohi- bition against deferring compensation. (p)Benefits relating to more than one year—(1)Benefits in an accident and health insurance policy relating to more than one year. Consistent with section 125(d), an accident and health insurance policy may include certain benefits, as set forth in this paragraph (p)(1), without violating the prohibition against deferred compensation. (i)Permitted benefits. The following features or benefits of insurance policies do not defer compensation— (A) Credit toward the deductible for un- reimbursed covered expenses incurred in prior periods; (B) Reasonable lifetime maximum limit on benefits; (C) Level premiums; (D) Premium waiver during disability; (E) Guaranteed policy renewability of coverage, without further evidence of in- surability (but not guaranty of the amount of premium upon renewal); (F) Coverage for a specified accidental injury; (G) Coverage for a specified disease or illness, including payments at initial diag- nosis of the specified disease or illness, and progressive payments of a set amount per month following the initial diagnosis (sometimes referred to as progressive di- agnosis payments); and (H) Payment of a fixed amount per day (or other period) of hospitalization. (ii)Requirements of permitted bene- fits. All benefits described in paragraph (p)(1)(i) of this section must in addition satisfy all of the following requirements— (A) No part of any benefit is used in one plan year to purchase a benefit in a subsequent plan year; (B) The policies remain in force only so long as premiums are timely paid on a cur- rent basis, and, irrespective of the amount of premiums paid in prior plan years, if the current premiums are not paid, all cover- age for new diseases or illnesses lapses. See paragraph (p)(1)(i)(D), allowing pre- mium waiver during disability; (C) There is no investment fund or cash value to rely upon for payment of premi- ums; and (D) No part of any premium is held in a separate account for any participant or beneficiary, or otherwise segregated from the assets of the insurance company. (2)Benefits under a long-term disabil- ity policy relating to more than one year. A long-term disability policy paying dis- ability benefits over more than one year does not violate the prohibition against de- ferring compensation. (3)Reasonable premium rebates or pol- icy dividends. Reasonable premium re- bates or policy dividends paid with re- spect to benefits provided through a cafe- teria plan do not constitute impermissi- ble deferred compensation if such rebates or dividends are paid before the close of the 12-month period immediately follow- ing the cafeteria plan year to which such rebates and dividends relate. (4)Mandatory two-year election for vi- sion or dental insurance. When a cafeteria plan offers vision or dental insurance that requires a mandatory two-year coverage period, but not longer (sometimes referred to as a “two-year lock-in”), the mandatory two-year coverage period does not result in deferred compensation in violation of sec- tion 125(d)(2), provided both of the fol- lowing requirements are satisfied— (i) The premiums for each plan year are paid no less frequently than annually; and (ii) In no event does a cafeteria plan use salary reduction or flex-credits relating to the first year of a two-year election to apply to vision or dental insurance for the second year of the two-year election. (5)Using salary reduction amounts from one plan year to pay accident and health insurance premiums for the first month of the immediately following plan year. (i)In general. Salary reduction amounts from the last month of one plan year of a cafeteria plan may be applied to pay accident and health insurance premi- ums for insurance during the first month of the immediately following plan year, if done on a uniform and consistent basis with respect to all participants (based on the usual payroll interval for each group of participants). (ii)Example. The following example il- lustrates the rules in this paragraph (p)(5): Example.Salary reduction payments in Decem- ber of calendar plan year to pay accident and health insurance premiums for January. Employer S main- tains a calendar year cafeteria plan. The cafeteria plan offers employees a salary reduction election for ac- cident and health insurance. The plan provides that employees’ salary reduction amounts for the last pay period in December are applied to pay accident and health insurance premiums for the immediately fol- September 24, 20076992007–39 I.R.B. lowing January. All employees are paid bi-weekly. For the plan year ending December 31, 2009, Em- ployee C elects salary reduction of $3,250 for acci- dent and health coverage. For the last pay period in December 2009, $125 (3,250/26) is applied to the accident and health insurance premium for January 2010. This plan provision does not violate the prohi- bition against deferring compensation. (q)Nonqualified benefits—(1)In gen- eral. The following benefits are nonqual- ified benefits that are not permitted to be offered in a cafeteria plan— (i) Scholarships described in section 117; (ii) Employer-provided meals and lodg- ing described in section 119; (iii) Educational assistance described in section 127; (iv) Fringe benefits described in section 132; (v) Long-term care insurance, or any product which is advertised, marketed or offered as long-term care insurance; (vi) Long-term care services (but see paragraph (q)(3) of this section); (vii) Group-term life insurance on the life of any individual other than an em- ployee (whether includible or excludible from the employee’s gross income); (viii) Health reimbursement arrange- ments (HRAs) that provide reimburse- ments up to a maximum dollar amount for a coverage period and that all or any unused amount at the end of a coverage period is carried forward to increase the maximum reimbursement amount in sub- sequent coverage periods; (ix) Contributions to Archer MSAs (section 220); and (x) Elective deferrals to a section 403(b) plan. (2)Nonqualified benefits not permit- tedinacafeteriaplan. The benefits de- scribed in this paragraph (q) are not qual- ified benefits or taxable benefits or cash for purposes of section 125 and thus may not be offered in a cafeteria plan regard- less of whether any such benefit is pur- chased with after-tax employee contribu- tions or on any other basis. A plan that of- fers a nonqualified benefit is not a cafeteria plan. Employees’ elections between tax- able and nontaxable benefits through such plan result in gross income to the partici- pants for any benefit elected. See section 125(f). See paragraph (q)(3) of this sec- tion for special rule on long-term care in- surance purchased through an HSA. (3)Long-term care insurance or ser- vices purchased through an HSA.Al- though long-term care insurance is not a qualified benefit and may not be offered in a cafeteria plan, a cafeteria plan is permit- ted to offer an HSA as a qualified benefit, and funds from the HSA may be used to pay eligible long-term care premiums on a qualified long-term care insurance contract or for qualified long-term care services. (r)Employer contributions to a cafete- ria plan—(1)Salary reduction-in general. The termemployer contributionsmeans amounts that are not currently available (after taking section 125 into account) to the employee but are specified in the cafe- teria plan as amounts that an employee may use for the purpose of electing ben- efits through the plan. A plan may provide that employer contributions may be made, in whole or in part, pursuant to employ- ees’ elections to reduce their compensation or to forgo increases in compensation and to have such amounts contributed, as em- ployer contributions, by the employer on their behalf. See also §1.125–5 (flexible spending arrangements). Also, a cafeteria plan is permitted to require employees to elect to pay the employees’ share of any qualified benefit through salary reduction and not with after-tax employee contribu- tions. A cafeteria plan is also permitted to pay reasonable cafeteria plan administra- tive fees through salary reduction amounts, and these salary reduction amounts are ex- cludible from an employee’s gross income. (2)Salary reduction as employer con- tribution. Salary reduction contributions are employer contributions. An em- ployee’s salary reduction election is an election to receive a contribution by the employer in lieu of salary or other com- pensation that is not currently available to the employee as of the effective date of the election and that does not subse- quently become currently available to the employee. (3)Employer flex-credits. A cafeteria plan may also provide that the employer contributions will or may be made on be- half of employees equal to (or up to) spec- ified amounts (or specified percentages of compensation) and that such nonelective contributions are available to employees for the election of benefits through the plan. (4)Elective contributions to a section 401(k) plan. See §1.401(k)–1 for general rules relating to contributions to section 401(k) plans. (s)Effective/applicability date.Itis proposed that these regulations apply on and after plan years beginning on or af- ter January 1, 2009, except that the rule in paragraph (k)(2)(i)(B) of this section is ef- fective as of the date the proposed regula- tions are published in theFederal Regis- ter. §1.125–2 Cafeteria plans; elections. (a)Rules relating to making and revok- ing elections—(1)Elections in general.A plan is not a cafeteria plan unless the plan provides in writing that employees are per- mitted to make elections among the per- mitted taxable benefits and qualified ben- efits offered through the plan for the plan year (and grace period, if applicable). All elections must be irrevocable by the date described in paragraph (a)(2) of this sec- tion except as provided in paragraph (a)(4) of this section. An election is not irrevo- cable if, after the earlier of the dates speci- fied in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, em- ployees have the right to revoke their elec- tions of qualified benefits and instead re- ceive the taxable benefits for such period, without regard to whether the employees actually revoke their elections. (2)Timing of elections.Inorderfor employees to exclude qualified benefits from employees’ gross income, benefit elections in a cafeteria plan must be made before the earlier of— (i) The date when taxable benefits are currently available; or (ii) The first day of the plan year (or other coverage period). (3)Benefit currently available to an em- ployee-in general . Cash or another taxable benefit is currently available to the em- ployee if it has been paid to the employee or if the employee is able currently to re- ceive the cash or other taxable benefit at the employee’s discretion. However, cash or another taxable benefit is not currently available to an employee if there is a sig- nificant limitation or restriction on the em- ployee’s right to receive the benefit cur- rently. Similarly, a benefit is not currently available as of a date if the employee may under no circumstances receive the benefit before a particular time in the future. The 2007–39 I.R.B.700September 24, 2007 determination of whether a benefit is cur- rently available to an employee does not depend on whether it has been construc- tively received by the employee for pur- poses of section 451. (4)Exceptions to rule on making and revoking elections. If a cafeteria plan in- corporates the change in status rules in §1.125–4, to the extent provided in those rules, an employee who experiences a change in status (as defined in §1.125–4) is permitted to revoke an existing election and to make a new election with respect to the remaining portion of the period of coverage, but only with respect to cash or other taxable benefits that are not yet cur- rently available. See paragraph (c)(1) of this section for a special rule for changing elections prospectively for HSA contri- butions and paragraph (r)(4) in §1.125–1 for section 401(k) elections. Also, only an employee of the employer sponsoring a cafeteria plan is allowed to make, revoke or change elections in the employer’s cafeteria plan. The employee’s spouse, dependent or any other individual other than the employee may not make, revoke or change elections under the plan. (5)Elections not required on written paper documents. A cafeteria plan does not fail to meet the requirements of section 125 merely because it permits employees to use electronic media for such transac- tions. The safe harbor in §1.401(a)–21 ap- plies to electronic elections, revocations and changes in elections under section 125. (6)Examples. The following examples illustrate the rules in this paragraph (a): Example 1.Election not revocable during plan year. Employer A’s cafeteria plan offers each em- ployee the opportunity to elect, for a plan year, between $5,000 cash for the plan year and a de- pendent care assistance program of up to $5,000 of dependent care expenses incurred by the employee during the plan year. The cafeteria plan requires employees to elect between these benefits before the beginning of the plan year. After the year has com- menced, employees are prohibited from revoking their elections. The cafeteria plan allows revocation of elections based on changesinstatus(asdescribed in §1.125–4). Employees who elected the dependent care assistance program do not include the $5,000 cash in gross income. The cafeteria plan satisfies the requirements in this paragraph (a). Example 2.Election revocable during plan year. Same facts asExample 1except that Employer A’s cafeteria plan allows employees to revoke their elec- tions for dependent care assistance at any time dur- ing the plan year and receive the unused amount of dependent care assistance as cash. The cafeteria plan fails to satisfy the requirements in this paragraph (a), and is not a cafeteria plan. All employees are treated as having received the $5,000 in cash even if they do not revoke their elections. The same result occurs even though the cash is not payable until the end of the plan year. (b)Automatic elections—(1)In gen- eral. For new employees or current em- ployees who fail to timely elect between permitted taxable benefits and qualified benefits, a cafeteria plan is permitted, but is not required, to provide default elections for one or more qualified benefits (for ex- ample, an election made for any prior year is deemed to be continued for every suc- ceeding plan year, unless changed). (2)Example. The following example illustrates the rules in this paragraph (b): Example.Automatic elections for accident and health insurance. (i) Employer B maintains a cal- endar year cafeteria plan. The cafeteria plan offers accident and health insurance with an option for em- ployee-only or family coverage. All employees are eligible to participate in the cafeteria plan immedi- ately upon hire. (ii) The cafeteria plan provides for an automatic enrollment process: each new employee and each current employee is automatically enrolled in em- ployee-only coverage under the accident and health insurance plan, and the employee’s salary is reduced to pay the employee’s share of the accident and health insurance premium, unless the employee affir- matively elects cash. Alternatively, if the employee has a spouse or child, the employee can elect family coverage. (iii) When an employee is hired, the employee re- ceives a notice explaining the automatic enrollment process and the employee’s right to decline coverage and have no salary reduction. The notice includes the salary reduction amounts for employee-only cover- age and family coverage, procedures for exercising the right to decline coverage, information on the time by which an election must be made, and the period for which an election is effective. The notice is also given to each current employee before the beginning of each subsequent plan year, except that the notice for a current employee includes a description of the employee’s existing coverage, if any. (iv) For a new employee, an election to receive cash or to have family coverage rather than em- ployee-only coverage is effective if made when the employee is hired. For a current employee, an election is effective if made prior to the start of each calendar year or under any other circumstances permitted under §1.125–4. An election made for any prior year is deemed to be continued for every succeeding plan year, unless changed. (v) Contributions used to purchase accident and health insurance through a cafeteria plan are not in- cludible in the gross income of the employee solely because the plan provides for automatic enrollment as a default election whereby the employee’s salary is reduced each year to pay for a portion of the acci- dent and health insurance through the plan (unless the employee affirmatively elects cash). (c)Election rules for salary reduction contributions to HSAs—(1)Prospective elections and changes in salary reduc- tion elections allowed. Contributions may be made to an HSA through a cafeteria plan. A cafeteria plan offering HSA con- tributions through salary reduction may permit employees to make prospective salary reduction elections or change or revoke salary reduction elections for HSA contributions (for example, to increase or decrease salary reduction elections for HSA contributions) at any time during the plan year, effective before salary becomes currently available. If a cafeteria plan offers HSA contributions as a qualified benefit, the plan must— (i) Specifically describe the HSA con- tribution benefit; (ii) Allow a participant to prospectively change his or her salary reduction election for HSA contributions on a monthly basis (or more frequently); and (iii) Allow a participant who becomes ineligible to make HSA contributions to prospectively revoke his or her salary re- duction election for HSA contributions. (2)Example. The following example illustrates the rules in this paragraph (c): Example.Prospective HSA salary reduction elec- tions. (i) A cafeteria plan with a calendar plan year allows employees to make salary reduction elections for HSA contributions through the plan. The cafe- teria plan permits employees to prospectively make, change or revoke salary contribution elections for HSA contributions, limited to one election, change or revocation per month. (ii) Employee M participates in the cafeteria plan. Before salary becomes currently available to M, M makes the following elections. On January 2, 2009, M elects to contribute $100 for each pay period to an HSA, effective January 3, 2009. On March 15, 2009, M elects to reduce the HSA contribution to $35 per pay period, effective April 1, 2009. On May 1, 2009, M elects to discontinue all HSA contributions, effec- tive May 15, 2009. The cafeteria plan implements all of Employee M’s elections, (iii) The cafeteria plan’s operation is consistent with the section 125 election, change and revocation rules for HSA contributions. (d)Optional election for new employ- ees. A cafeteria plan may provide new employees 30 days after their hire date to make elections between cash and qualified benefits. The election is effective as of the employee’s hire date. However, salary re- duction amounts used to pay for such an election must be from compensation not yet currently available on the date of the election. The written cafeteria plan must provide that any employee who terminates employment and is rehired within 30 days after terminating employment (or who re- turns to employment following an unpaid September 24, 20077012007–39 I.R.B. leave of absence of less than 30 days) is not a new employee eligible for the election in this paragraph (d). (e)Effective/applicability date.Itis proposed that these regulations apply on and after plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2009. Par. 3. Sections 1.125–5, 1.125–6 and 1.125–7 are added to read as follows: §1.125–5 Flexible spending arrangements. (a)Definition of flexible spending ar- rangement—(1)In general.AnFSA generally is a benefit program that pro- vides employees with coverage which reimburses specified, incurred expenses (subject to reimbursement maximums and any other reasonable conditions). An expense for qualified benefits must not be reimbursed from the FSA unless it is incurred during a period of coverage. See paragraph (e) of this section. After an expense for a qualified benefit has been incurred, the expense must first be substantiated before the expense is reim- bursed. See paragraphs (a) through (f) in §1.125–6. (2)Maximumamountofreimburse- ment. The maximum amount of reim- bursement that is reasonably available to an employee for a period of coverage must not be substantially in excess of the total salary reduction and employer flex-credit for such participant’s coverage. A maximum amount of reimbursement is not substantially in excess of the total salary reduction and employer flex-credit if such maximum amount is less than 500 percent of the combined salary reduction and employer flex-credit. A single FSA may provide participants with different levels of coverage and maximum amounts of reimbursement. See paragraph (r) in §1.125–1 and paragraphs (b) and (d) in this section for the definition of salary reduction, employer flex-credit, and uni- form coverage rule. (b)Flex-credits allowed—(1)In gen- eral. An FSA in a cafeteria plan must in- clude an election between cash or taxable benefits (including salary reduction) and one or more qualified benefits, and may include, in addition, “employer flex-cred- its.” For this purpose, flex-credits are non- elective employer contributions that the employer makes for every employee eligi- ble to participate in the employer’s cafete- ria plan, to be used at the employee’s elec- tion only for one or more qualified benefits (but not as cash or a taxable benefit). See §1.125–1 for definitions of qualified bene- fits, cash and taxable benefits. (2)Example. The following example illustrates the rules in this paragraph (b): Example.Flex-credit.Contribution to health FSA for employees electing employer-provided ac- cident and health plan. Employer A maintains a cafeteria plan offering employees an election be- tween cash or taxable benefits and premiums for employer-provided accident and health insurance or coverage through an HMO. The plan also provides an employer contribution of $200 to the health FSA of every employee who elects accident and health insurance or HMO coverage. In addition, these employees may elect to reduce their salary to make additional contributions to their health FSAs. The benefits offered in this cafeteria plan are consistent with the requirements of section 125 and this para- graph (b). (c)Use-or-lose rule—(1)In general. An FSA may not defer compensation. No contribution or benefit from an FSA may be carried over to any subsequent plan year or period of coverage. See paragraph (k)(3) in this section for specific excep- tions. Unused benefits or contributions re- maining at the end of the plan year (or at the end of a grace period, if applicable) are forfeited. (2)Example. The following example illustrates the rules in this paragraph (c): Example.Use-or-lose rule. (i) Employer B main- tains a calendar year cafeteria plan, offering an elec- tion between cash and a health FSA. The cafeteria plan has no grace period. (ii) Employee A plans to have eye surgery in 2009. For the 2009 plan year, Employee A timely elects salary reduction of $3,000 for a health FSA. During the 2009 plan year, Employee A learns that she cannot have eye surgery performed, but in- curs other section 213(d) medical expenses totaling $1,200. As of December 31, 2009, she has $1,800 of unused benefits and contributions in the health FSA. Consistent with the rules in this paragraph (c), she forfeits $1,800. (d)Uniform coverage rules applicable to health FSAs—(1)Uniform coverage throughout coverage period—in general. The maximum amount of reimbursement from a health FSA must be available at all times during the period of coverage (properly reduced as of any particular time for prior reimbursements for the same period of coverage). Thus, the maximum amount of reimbursement at any particular time during the period of coverage cannot relate to the amount that has been con- tributed to the FSA at any particular time prior to the end of the plan year. Similarly, the payment schedule for the required amount for coverage under a health FSA may not be based on the rate or amount of covered claims incurred during the cover- age period. Employees’ salary reduction payments must not be accelerated based on employees’ incurred claims and reim- bursements. (2)Reimbursement available at all times. Reimbursement is deemed to be available at all times if it is paid at least monthly or when the total amount of the claims to be submitted is at least a spec- ified, reasonable minimum amount (for example, $50). (3)Terminated participants.Whenan employee ceases to be a participant, the cafeteria plan must pay the former partic- ipant any amount the former participant previously paid for coverage or benefits to the extent the previously paid amount re- lates to the period from the date the em- ployee ceases to be a participant through the end of that plan year. See paragraph (e)(2) in this section for COBRA elections for health FSAs. (4)Example. The following example illustrates the rules in this paragraph (d): Example.Uniform coverage. (i) Employer C maintains a calendar year cafeteria plan, offering an election between cash and ahealth FSA. The cafeteria plan prohibits accelerating employees’ salary reduc- tion payments based on employees’ incurred claims and reimbursements. (ii) For the 2009 plan year, Employee N timely elects salary reduction of $3,000 for a health FSA. Employee N pays the $3,000 salary reduction amount through salary reduction of $250 per month through- out the coverage period. Employee N is eligible to receive the maximum amount of reimbursement of $3,000 at all times throughout the coverage period (reduced by prior reimbursements). (iii) N incurs $2,500 of section 213(d) medical expenses in January, 2009. The full $2,500 is re- imbursed although Employee N has made only one salary reduction payment of $250. N incurs $500 in medical expenses in February, 2009. The remaining $500 of the $3,000 is reimbursed. After Employee N submits a claim for reimbursement and substantiates the medical expenses, the cafeteria plan reimburses N for the $2,500 and $500 medical expenses. Employer C’s cafeteria plan satisfies the uniform coverage rule. (5)No uniform coverage rule for FSAs for dependent care assistance or adoption assistance. The uniform coverage rule ap- plies only to health FSAs and does not ap- ply to FSAs for dependent care assistance or adoption assistance. See paragraphs (i) and (j) of this section for the rules for FSAs for dependent care assistance and adoption assistance. 2007–39 I.R.B.702September 24, 2007 (e)Required period of coverage for a health FSA, dependent care FSA and adoption assistance FSA—(1) Twelve-month period of coverage—in general. An FSA’s period of coverage must be 12 months. However, in the case of a short plan year, the period of coverage is the entire short plan year. See paragraph (d) in §1.125–1 for rules on plan years and changing plan years. (2)COBRA elections for health FSAs. For the application of the health care con- tinuation rules of section 4980B of the Code to health FSAs, see Q & A–2 in §54.4980B–2 of this chapter. (3)Separate period of coverage per- mitted for each qualified benefit offered through FSA. Dependent care assistance, adoption assistance, and a health FSA are each permitted to have a separate period of coverage, which may be different from the plan year of the cafeteria plan. (f)Coverage on a month-by-month or expense-by-expense basis prohibited.In order for reimbursements from an accident and health plan to qualify for the section 105(b) exclusion, an employer-funded ac- cident and health plan offered through a cafeteria plan may not operate in a man- ner that enables employees to purchase the accident and health plancoverage only for periods when employees expect to incur medical care expenses. Thus, for example, if a cafeteria plan permits employees to re- ceive accident and health plan coverage on a month-by-month or an expense-by-ex- pense basis, reimbursements from the ac- cident and health plan fail to qualify for the section 105(b) exclusion. If, however, the period of coverage under an accident and health plan offered through a cafeteria plan is twelve months and the cafeteria plan does not permit an employee to elect spe- cific amounts of coverage, reimbursement, or salary reduction for less than twelve months, the cafeteria plan does not operate to enable participants to purchase coverage only for periods during which medical care will be incurred. See §1.125–4 and para- graph (a) in §1.125–2 regarding the revo- cation of elections during a period of cov- erage on account of changes in family sta- tus. (g)FSA administrative practices—(1) Limiting health FSA enrollment to employ- ees who participate in the employer’s ac- cident and health plan. At the employer’s option, a cafeteria plan is permitted to pro- vide that only those employees who partic- ipate in one or more specified employer- provided accident and health plans may participate in a health FSA. See §1.125–7 for nondiscrimination rules. (2)Interval for employees’ salary re- duction contributions. The cafeteria plan is permitted to specify any interval for employees’ salary reduction contributions. The interval specified in the plan must be uniform for all participants. (h)Qualified benefits permitted to be offered through an FSA. Dependent care assistance (section 129), adoption assis- tance (section 137) and a medical reim- bursement arrangement (section 105(b)) are permitted to be offered through an FSA in a cafeteria plan. (i)Section 129 rules for dependent care assistance program offered through a cafe- teria plan—(1)General rule.Inorderfor dependent care assistance to be a quali- fied benefit that is excludible from gross income if elected through a cafeteria plan, the cafeteria plan must satisfy section 125 and the dependent care assistance must sat- isfy section 129. (2)Dependent care assistance in gen- eral. Section 129(a) provides an employee with an exclusion from gross income both for an employer-funded dependent care as- sistance program and for amounts paid or incurred by the employer for dependent care assistance provided to the employee, if the amounts are paid or incurred through a dependent care assistance program. See paragraph (a)(4) in §1.125–6 on when de- pendent care expenses are incurred. (3)Reimbursement exclusively for de- pendent care assistance. A dependent care assistance program may not provide reimbursements other than for dependent care expenses; in particular, if an em- ployee has dependent care expenses less than the amount specified by salary re- duction, the plan may not provide other taxable or nontaxable benefits for any por- tion of the specified amount not used for the reimbursement of dependent care ex- penses. Thus, if an employee has elected coverage under the dependent care assis- tance program and the period of coverage has commenced, the employee must not have the right to receive amounts from the program other than as reimburse- ments for dependent care expenses. This is the case regardless of whether cover- age under the program is purchased with contributions made at the employer’s dis- cretion, at the employee’s discretion, or pursuant to a collective bargaining agree- ment. Arrangements formally outside of the cafeteria plan providing for the ad- justment of an employee’s compensation or an employee’s receipt of any other benefits on the basis of the assistance or reimbursements received by the employee are considered in determining whether a dependent care benefit is a dependent care assistance programunder section 129. (j)Section 137 rules for adoption assis- tance program offered through a cafeteria plan—(1)General rule. In order for adop- tion assistance to be a qualified benefit that is excludible from gross income if elected through a cafeteria plan, the cafeteria plan must satisfy section 125 and the adoption assistance must satisfy section 137. (2)Adoption assistance in general. Section 137(a) provides an employee with an exclusion from gross income for amounts paid or expenses incurred by the employer for qualified adoption expenses in connection with an employee’s adop- tion of a child, if the amounts are paid or incurred through an adoption assistance program. Certain limits on amount of expenses and employee’s income apply. (3)Reimbursement exclusively for adoption assistance. Rules and require- ments similar to the rules and requirements in paragraph (i)(3) of this section for de- pendent care assistance apply to adoption assistance. (k)FSAs and the rules governing the tax-favored treatment of employer-pro- vided health benefits—(1)Medical ex- penses. Health plans that are flexible spending arrangements, as defined in paragraph (a)(1) of this section, must conform to the generally applicable rules under sections 105 and 106 in order for the coverage and reimbursements under such plans to qualify for tax-favored treat- ment under such sections. Thus, health FSAs must qualify as accident and health plans. See paragraph (n) in §1.125–1. A health FSA is only permitted to reimburse medical expenses as defined in section 213(d). Thus, for example, a health FSA is not permitted to reimburse dependent care expenses. (2)Limiting payment or reimburse- ment to certain section 213(d) medical expenses. A health FSA is permitted to limit payment or reimbursement to only September 24, 20077032007–39 I.R.B. certain section 213(d) medical expenses (except health insurance, long-term care services or insurance). See paragraph (q) in §1.125–1. For example, a health FSA in a cafeteria plan is permitted to provide in the written plan that the plan reimburses all section 213(d) medical expenses allowed to be paid or reimbursed under a cafeteria plan except over-the-counter drugs. (3)Application of prohibition against deferred compensation to medical ex- penses.(i)Certain advance payments for orthodontia permitted. A cafeteria plan is permitted, but is not required to, reimburse employees for orthodontia services before the services are provided but only to the extent that the employee has actually made the payments in advance of the orthodon- tia services in order to receive the services. These orthodontia services are deemed to be incurred when the employee makes the advance payment. Reimbursing advance payments does not violate the prohibition against deferring compensation. (ii)Example. The following example illustrates the rules in paragraph (k)(3): Example.Advance payment to orthodontist. Employer D sponsors a calendar year cafeteria plan which offers a health FSA. Employee K elects to salary reduce $3,000 for a health FSA for the 2009 plan year. Employee K’s dependent requires orthodontic treatment. K’s accident and health insur- ance does not cover orthodontia. The orthodontist, following the normal practice, charges $3,000, all due in 2009, for treatment, to begin in 2009 and end in 2010. K pays the $3,000 in 2009. In 2009, Em- ployer D’s cafeteria plan may reimburse $3,000 to K, without violating the prohibition against deferring compensationinsection125(d)(2). (iii)Reimbursements for durable medi- cal equipment. A health FSA in a cafeteria plan that reimburses employees for equip- ment (described in section 213(d)) with a useful life extending beyond the period of coverage during which the expense is in- curred does not provide deferred compen- sation. For example, a health FSA is per- mitted to reimburse the cost of a wheel- chair for an employee. (4)No reimbursement of premiums for accident and health insurance or long-term care insurance or services.A health FSA is not permitted to treat em- ployees’ premium payments for other health coverage as reimbursable expenses. Thus, for example, a health FSA is not permitted to reimburse employees for pay- ments for other health plan coverage, in- cluding premiums for COBRA coverage, accidental death and dismemberment in- surance, long-term disability or short-term disability insurance or for health coverage under a plan maintained by the employer of the employee or the employer of the employee’s spouse or dependent. Also, a health FSA is not permitted to reimburse expenses for long-term care insurance premiums or for long-term care services for the employee or employee’s spouse or dependent. See paragraph (q) in §1.125–1 for nonqualified benefits. (l)Section 105(h) requirements. Sec- tion 105(h) applies to health FSAs. Sec- tion 105(h) provides that the exclusion provided by section 105(b) is not available with respect to certain amounts received by a highly compensated individual (as defined in section 105(h)(5)) from a dis- criminatory self-insured medical reim- bursement plan, which includes health FSAs. See §1.105–11. For purposes of section 105(h), coverage by a self-insured accident and health plan offered through a cafeteria plan is an optional benefit (even if only one level and type of coverage is offered) and, for purposes of the op- tional benefit rule in §1.105–11(c)(3)(i), employer contributions are treated as em- ployee contributions to the extent that taxable benefits are offered by the plan. (m)HSA-compatible FSAs-limited-pur- pose health FSAs and post-deductible health FSAs—(1)In general.Limited-pur- pose health FSAsandpost-deductible health FSAswhich satisfy all the require- ments of section 125 are permitted to be offered through a cafeteria plan. (2)HSA-compatible FSAs. Section 223(a) allows a deduction for certain con- tributions to a “Health Savings Account” (HSA)(asdefinedinsection223(d)). An eligible individual(as defined in section 223(c)(1)) may contribute to an HSA. An eligible individual must be covered under a “high deductible health plan” (HDHP) and not, while covered under an HDHP, under any health plan which is not an HDHP. A general purpose health FSA is not an HDHP and an individual covered by a general purpose health FSA is not el- igible to contributeto an HSA. However, an individual covered by an HDHP (and who otherwise satisfies section 223(c)(1)) does not fail to be an eligible individual merely because the individual is also cov- ered by a limited-purpose health FSA or post-deductible health FSA (as defined in this paragraph (m)) or a combination of a limited-purpose health FSA and a post-de- ductible health FSA. (3)Limited-purpose health FSA.A limited-purpose health FSA is a health FSA described in the cafeteria plan that only pays or reimburses permitted cov- erage benefits (as defined in section 223(c)(2)(C)), such as vision care, dental care or preventive care (as defined for purposes of section 223(c)(2)(C)). See paragraph (k) in this section. (4)Post-deductible health FSA—(i)In general. A post-deductible health FSA is a health FSA described in the cafeteria plan that only pays or reimburses medical ex- penses (as defined insection 213(d)) for preventive care or medical expenses in- curred after the minimum annual HDHP deductible under section 223(c)(2)(A)(i) is satisfied. See paragraph (k) in this sec- tion. No medical expenses incurred be- fore the annual HDHP deductible is sat- isfiedmaybereimbursedbyapost-de- ductible FSA, regardless of whether the HDHP covers the expense or whether the deductible is later satisfied. For example, even if chiropractic care is not covered un- der the HDHP, expenses for chiropractic care incurred before the HDHP deductible is satisfied are not reimbursable at any time by a post-deductible health FSA. (ii)HDHPandhealthFSAdeductibles. The deductible for a post-deductible health FSA need not be the same amount as the deductible for the HDHP, but in no event may the post-deductible health FSA or other coverage provide benefits before the minimum annual HDHP deductible under section 223(c)(2)(A)(i) is satisfied (other than benefits permitted under a limited-purpose health FSA). In addition, although the deductibles of the HDHP and the other coverage may be satisfied independently by separate expenses, no benefits may be paid before the mini- mum annual deductible under section 223(c)(2)(A)(i) has been satisfied. An individual covered by a post-deductible health FSA (if otherwise an eligible in- dividual) is an eligible individual for the purpose of contributing to the HSA. (5)Combination of limited-purpose health FSA and post-deductible health FSA. An FSA is a combination of a lim- ited-purpose health FSA and post-de- ductible health FSA if each of the bene- fits and reimbursements provided under the FSA are permitted under either a 2007–39 I.R.B.704September 24, 2007 limited-purpose health FSA or post-de- ductible health FSA. For example, be- fore the HDHP deductible is satisfied, a combination limited-purpose and post-de- ductible health FSA may reimburse only preventive, vision or dental expenses. A combination limited-purpose and post-de- ductible health FSA may also reimburse any medical expense that may otherwise be paid by an FSA (that is, no insurance premiums or long-term care benefits) that is incurred after the HDHP deductible is satisfied. (6)Substantiation. The substantiation rules in this section apply to limited-pur- pose health FSAs and to post-deductible health FSAs. In addition to providing third-party substantiation of medical ex- penses, a participant in a post-deductible health FSA must provide information from an independent third party that the HDHP deductible has been satisfied. A partici- pant in a limited-purpose health FSA must provide information from an independent third-party that the medical expenses are for vision care, dental care or preventive care. (7)Plan amendments. See paragraph (c) in §1.125–1 on the required effective date for amendments adopting or chang- ing limited-purpose, post-deductible or combination limited-purpose and post-de- ductible health FSAs. (n)Qualified HSA distributions—(1) In general. A health FSA in a cafeteria plan is permitted to offer employees the right to elect qualified HSA distributions describedinsection106(e). Noquali- fied HSA distribution may be made in a plan year unless the employer amends the health FSA written plan with respect to all employees, effective by the last day of the plan year, to allow a qualified HSA distribution satisfying all the requirements in this paragraph (n). See also section 106(e)(5)(B). In addition, a distribution with respect to an employee is not a qual- ified HSA distribution unless all of the following the requirements are satisfied— (i) No qualified HSA distribution has been previously made on behalf of the em- ployee from this health FSA; (ii) The employee elects to have the em- ployer make a qualified HSA distribution from the health FSA to the HSA of the em- ployee; (iii) The distribution does not exceed the lesser of the balance of the health FSA on— (A) September 21, 2006; or (B) The date of the distribution; (iv) For purposes of this paragraph (n)(1), balances as of any date are de- termined on a cash basis, without taking into account expenses incurred but not reimbursed as of a date, and applying the uniform coverage rule in paragraph (d) in this section; (v) The distribution is made no later than December 31, 2011; and (vi) The employer makes the distri- bution directly to the trustee of the em- ployee’s HSA. (2)Taxation of qualified HSA distribu- tions. A qualified HSA distribution from the health FSA covering the participant tohisorherHSAisarollovertothe HSA (as defined in section 223(f)(5)) and thus is generally not includible in gross in- come. However, if the participant is not an eligible individual (as defined in section 223(c)(1)) at any time during a testing pe- riod following the qualified HSA distribu- tion, the amount of the distribution is in- cludible in the participant’s gross income and he or she is also subject to an addi- tional 10 percent tax (with certain excep- tions). Section 106(e)(3). (3)No effect on health FSA elections, coverage, use-or-lose rule. A qualified HSA distribution does not alter an em- ployee’s irrevocable election under para- graph (a) of §1.125–2, or constitute a change in status under §1.125–4(a). If a qualified HSA distribution is made to an employee’s HSA, even if the balance in a health FSA is reduced to zero, the em- ployee’s health FSA coverage continues to the end of the plan year. Unused benefits and contributions remaining at the end of a plan year (or at the end of a grace period, if applicable) must be forfeited. (o)FSA experience gains or forfei- tures—(1)Experience gains in general. An FSA experience gain (sometimes re- ferred to as forfeitures in the use-or-lose rule in paragraph (c) in this section) with respect to a plan year (plus any grace period following the end of a plan year described in paragraph (e) in §1.125–1), equals the amount of the employer con- tributions, including salary reduction con- tributions, and after-tax employee contri- butions to the FSA minus the FSA’s total claims reimbursements for the year. Ex- perience gains (or forfeitures) may be— (i) Retained by the employer maintain- ing the cafeteria plan; or (ii) If not retained by the employer, may be used only in one or more of the follow- ing ways— (A) To reduce required salary reduc- tion amounts for the immediately follow- ing plan year, on a reasonable and uniform basis, as described in paragraph (o)(2) of this section; (B) Returned to the employees on a rea- sonable and uniform basis, as described in paragraph (o)(2) of this section; or (C) To defray expenses to administer the cafeteria plan. (2)Allocating experience gains among employees on reasonable and uniform ba- sis. If not retained by the employer or used to defray expenses of administering the plan, the experience gains must be al- located among employees on a reasonable and uniform basis. It is permissible to al- locate these amounts based on the differ- ent coverage levels of employees under the FSA. Experience gains allocated in com- pliance with this paragraph (o) are not a deferral of the receipt of compensation. However, in no case may the experience gains be allocated among employees based (directly or indirectly) on their individual claims experience. Experience gains may not be used as contributions directly or in- directly to any deferred compensation ben- efit plan. (3)Example. The following example illustrates the rules in this paragraph (o): Example.Allocating experience gains.(i)Em- ployer L maintains a cafeteria plan for its 1,200 em- ployees, who may elect one of several different an- nual coverage levels under a health FSA in $100 in- crements from $500 to $2,000. (ii) For the 2009 plan year, 1,000 employees elect levels of coverage under the health FSA. For the 2009 plan year, the health FSA has an experience gain of $5,000. (iii) The $5,000 may be allocated to all partici- pants for the plan year on aper capitabasis weighted to reflect the participants’ elected levels of coverage. (iv) Alternatively, the $5,000 may be used to re- duce the required salary reduction amount under the health FSA for all 2009 participants (for example, a $500 health FSA for the next year is priced at $480) or to reimburse claims incurred above the elective limit in 2010 as long as such reimbursements are made on a reasonable and uniform level. (p)Effective/applicability date.Itis proposed that these regulations apply on and after plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2009. September 24, 20077052007–39 I.R.B. §1.125–6 Substantiation of expenses for all cafeteria plans. (a)Cafeteria plan payments and reim- bursements—(1)In general. A cafeteria plan may pay or reimburse only those sub- stantiated expenses for qualified benefits incurred on or after the later of the effec- tive date of the cafeteria plan and the date the employee is enrolled in the plan. This requirement applies to all qualified bene- fits offered through the cafeteria plan. See paragraph (b) of this section for substanti- ation rules. (2)Expenses incurred.(i)Employees’ medical expenses must be incurred during the period of coverage. In order for re- imbursements to be excludible from gross income under section 105(b), the medical expenses reimbursed by an accident and health plan elected through a cafeteria plan must be incurred during the period when the participant is covered by the accident and health plan. A participant’s period of coverage includes COBRA coverage. See §54.4980B–2 of this chapter. Medical ex- penses incurred before the later of the ef- fective date of the plan and the date the em- ployee is enrolled in the plan are not in- curred during the period for which the em- ployee is covered by the plan. However, the actual reimbursement of covered med- ical care expenses may be made after the applicable period of coverage. (ii)When medical expenses are in- curred. For purposes of this rule, medical expenses are incurred when the employee (or the employee’s spouse or dependents) is provided with the medical care that gives rise to the medical expenses, and not when the employee is formally billed, charged for, or pays for the medical care. (iii)Example. The following example illustrates the rules in this paragraph (a)(2): Example.Medical expenses incurred after ter- mination. (i) Employer E maintains a cafeteria plan with a calendar year plan year. The cafeteria plan provides that participation terminates when an indi- vidual ceases to be an employee of Employer E, un- less the former employee elects to continue to par- ticipate in the health FSA under the COBRA rules in §54.4980B–2 of this chapter. Employee G timely elects to salary reduce $1,200 to participate in a health FSA for the 2009 plan year. As of June 30, 2009, Employee G has contributed $600 toward the health FSA, but incurred no medical expenses. On June 30, 2009, Employee G terminates employment and does not continue participation under COBRA. On July 15, 2009, G incurs a section 213(d) medical expense of $500. (ii) Under the rules in paragraph (a)(2) of this sec- tion, the cafeteria plan is prohibited from reimbursing any portion of the $500 medical expense because, at the time the medical expense is incurred, G is not a participant in the cafeteria plan. (3)Section 105(b) requirements for re- imbursement of medical expenses through a cafeteria plan.(i)In general.Inorder for medical care reimbursements paid to an employee through a cafeteria plan to be excludible under section 105(b), the reimbursements must be paid pursuant to an employer-fundedaccident and health plan, as defined in section 105(e) and §§1.105–2 and 1.105–5. (ii)Reimbursement exclusively for sec- tion 213(d) medical expenses. A cafeteria plan benefit through which an employee receives reimbursements of medical ex- penses is excludable under section 105(b) only if reimbursements from the plan are made specifically to reimburse the em- ployee for medical expenses (as defined in section 213(d)) incurred by the employee or the employee’s spouse or dependents during the period of coverage. Amounts paid to an employee as reimbursement are not paid specifically to reimburse the em- ployee for medical expenses if the plan provides that the employee is entitled, or operates in a manner that entitles the em- ployee, to receive the amounts, in the form of cash (for example, routine payment of salary) or any other taxable or nontax- able benefit irrespective of whether the employee (or the employee’s spouse or de- pendents) incurs medical expenses during the period of coverage. This rule applies even if the employee will not receive such amounts until the end or after the end of the period. A plan under which employees (or their spouses and dependents) will re- ceive reimbursement for medical expenses up to a specified amount and, if they incur no medical expenses, will receive cash or any other benefit in lieu of the reimburse- ments is not a benefit qualifying for the ex- clusion under sections 106 and 105(b). See §1.105–2. This is the case without regard to whether the benefit was purchased with contributions made at the employer’s dis- cretion, at the employee’s discretion (for example, by salary reduction election), or pursuant to a collective bargaining agree- ment. (iii)Other arrangements.Arrange- ments formally outside of the cafeteria plan that adjust an employee’s compen- sation or an employee’s receipt of any other benefits on the basis of the expenses incurred or reimbursements the employee receives are considered in determining whether the reimbursements are through a plan eligible for the exclusions under sections 106 and 105(b). (4)Reimbursements of dependent care expenses.(i)Dependent care expenses must be incurred. In order to satisfy sec- tion 129, dependent care expenses may not be reimbursed before the expenses are in- curred. For purposes of this rule, depen- dent care expenses are incurred when the care is provided and not when the em- ployee is formally billed, charged for, or pays for the dependent care. (ii)Dependent care provided during the period of coverage. In order for depen- dent care assistance tobe provided through a dependent care assistance program eligi- ble for the section 129 exclusion, the care must be provided to or on behalf of the employee during the period for which the employee is covered by the program. For example, if for a plan year, an employee elects a dependent care assistance program providing for reimbursement of dependent care expenses, only reimbursements for dependent care expenses incurred during that plan year are provided from a depen- dent care assistance program within the scope of section 129. Also, for purposes of this rule, expenses incurred before the later of the program’s effective date and the date the employee is enrolled in the program are not incurred during the period when the employee is covered by the program. Sim- ilarly, if the dependent care assistance pro- gram furnishes the dependent care in-kind (for example, through an employer-main- tained child care facility), only dependent care provided during the plan year of cov- erage is provided through a dependent care assistance program within the meaning of section 129. See also §1.125–5 for FSA rules. (iii)Period of coverage. In order for de- pendent care assistance through a cafete- ria plan to be provided through a depen- dent care assistance program eligible for the section 129 exclusion, the plan may not operate in a manner that enables employ- ees to purchase dependent care assistance only for periods during which the employ- ees expect to receive dependent care as- sistance. If the period of coverage for a dependent care assistance program offered 2007–39 I.R.B.706September 24, 2007 through a cafeteria plan is twelve months (or, in the case of a short plan year, at least equal to the short plan year) and the plan does not permit an employee to elect spe- cific amounts of coverage, reimbursement, or salary reduction for less than twelve months, the plan is deemed not to operate to enable employees to purchase coverage only for periods when dependent care as- sistance will be received. See paragraph (a) in §1.125–2 and §1.125–4 regarding the revocation of elections during the pe- riod of coverage on account of changes in family status. See paragraph (e) in this sec- tion for required period of coverage for de- pendent care assistance. (iv)Examples. The following examples illustrate the rules in paragraphs (a)(4)(i)- (iii)ofthissection: Example 1.Initial non-refundable fee for child care. (i) Employer F maintains a calendar year cafete- ria plan, offering employees an election between cash and qualified benefits, including dependent care as- sistance. Employee M has aone-year old dependent child. Employee M timely elected $5,000 of depen- dent care assistance for 2009. During the entire 2009 plan year, Employee M satisfies all the requirements in section 129 for dependent care assistance. (ii) On February 1, 2009, Employee M pays an initial non-refundable fee of $500 to a licensed child care center (unrelated to Employer F or to Employee M), to reserve a space at the child care center for M’s child. The child care center’s monthly charges for child care are $1,200. When the child care center first begins to care for M’s child, the $500 non-refundable fee is applied toward the first month’s charges for child care. (iii) On March 1, 2009, the child care center be- gins caring for Employee M’s child, and continues to care for the child through December 31, 2009. On March 1, 2009, M pays the child care center $700 (the balance of the $1,200 in charges for child care to be provided in March 2009). On April 1, 2009, M pays the child care center $1,200 for the child care to be provided in April 2009. (iv) Dependent care expenses are incurred when the services are provided. For dependent care ser- vices provided in March 2009, the $500 nonrefund- ablefeepaidonFebruary1,2009,andthe$700paid on March 1, 2009 may be reimbursed on or after the later of the date when substantiated or April 1, 2009. For dependent care services provided in April 2009, the $1,200 paid on April 1, 2009 may be reimbursed on or after the later of the date when substantiated or May 1, 2009. Example 2.Non-refundable fee forfeited.Same facts asExample 1, except that the child care center never cared for M’s child (who was instead cared for at Employer F’s onsite child care facility). Because the child care center never provided child care ser- vices to Employee M’s child, the $500 non-refund- able fee is not reimbursable. (v)Optional spend-down provision.At the employer’s option, the written cafete- ria plan may provide that dependent care expenses incurred after the date an em- ployee ceases participation in the cafeteria plan (for example, after termination) and through the last day of that plan year (or grace period immediately after that plan year) may be reimbursed from unused ben- efits, if all of the requirements of section 129 are satisfied. (vi)Example. The following example illustrates the rules in paragraph (a)(4)(v) of this section: Example.Terminated employee’s post-termina- tion dependent care expenses. (i) For calendar year 2009, Employee X elects $5,000 salary reduction for dependent care assistance through Employer G’s cafeteria plan. X works for Employer G from January 1 through June 30, 2009, when X termi- nates employment. As of June 30, 2009, X had paid $2,500 in salary reductionand had incurred and was reimbursed for $2,000 of dependent care expenses. (ii) X does not work again until October 1, 2009, when X begins work for Employer H. X was em- ployed by Employer H from October 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009. During this period, X also in- curred $500 of dependent care expenses. During all the periods of employment in 2009, X satisfied all re- quirements in section 129 for excluding payments for dependent care assistance from gross income. (iii) Employer G’s cafeteria plan allows termi- nated employees to “spenddown” unused salary re- duction amounts for dependent care assistance, if all requirements of section 129 are satisfied. After X’s claim for $500 of dependent care expenses is sub- stantiated, Employer G’s cafeteria plan reimburses X for $500 (the remaining balance) of dependent care expenses incurred during X’s employment for Em- ployer H between October 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009. Employer G’s cafeteria plan and operation are consistent with section 125. (b)Rules for claims substantiation for cafeteria plans—(1)Substantiation re- quired before reimbursing expenses for qualified benefits. This paragraph (b) sets forth the substantiation requirements that a cafeteria plan must satisfy before paying or reimbursing any expense for a qualified benefit. (2)All claims must be substantiated.As a precondition of payment or reimburse- ment of expenses for qualified benefits, a cafeteria plan must require substantiation in accordance with this section. Substanti- ating only a percentage of claims, or sub- stantiating only claims above a certain dol- lar amount, fails to comply with the sub- stantiation requirements in §1.125–1 and this section. (3)Substantiation by independent third-party.(i)In general. All expenses must be substantiated by information from a third-party that is independent of the employee and the employee’s spouse and dependents. The independent third-party must provide information describing the service or product, the date of the service or sale, and the amount. Self-substanti- ation or self-certification of an expense by an employee does not satisfy the sub- stantiation requirements of this paragraph (b). The specific requirements in sections 105(b), 129, and 137 must also be satisfied as a condition of reimbursing expenses for qualified benefits. For example, a health FSA does not satisfy the requirements of section 105(b) if it reimburses employees for expenses where the employees only submit information describing medical ex- penses, the amount of the expenses and the date of the expenses but fail to provide a statement from an independent third-party (either automatically or subsequent to the transaction) verifying the expenses. Un- der §1.105–2, all amounts paid under a plan that permits self-substantiation or self-certification are includible in gross income, including amounts reimbursed for medical expenses, whether or not sub- stantiated. See paragraph (m) in §1.125–5 for additional substantiation rules for lim- ited-purpose and post-deductible health FSAs. (ii)Rules for substantiation of health FSA claims using an explanation of ben- efits provided by an insurance company. (A)Written statement from an indepen- dent third-party. If the employer is pro- vided with information from an indepen- dent third-party (such as an “explanation of benefits”(EOB) from an insurance com- pany) indicating the date of the section 213(d) medical care and the employee’s responsibility for payment for that medi- cal care (that is, coinsurance payments and amounts below the plan’s deductible), and the employee certifies that any expense paid through the health FSA has not been reimbursed and that the employee will not seek reimbursement from any other plan covering health benefits, the claim is fully substantiated without the need for submis- sion of a receipt by the employee or further review. (B)Example. The following exam- ple illustrates the rules in this paragraph (b)(3): Example. Explanation of benefits. (i) During the plan year ending December 31, 2009, Employee Q is a participant in the health FSA sponsored by Em- ployer J and is enrolled in Employer J’s accident and health plan. September 24, 20077072007–39 I.R.B. (ii) On March 1, 2009, Q visits a physician’s of- fice for medical care as defined in section 213(d). The charge for the physician’s services is $150. Under the plan, Q is responsible for 20 percent of the charge for the physician’s services (that is, $30). Q has suffi- cient FSA coverage for the $30 claim. (iii) Employer J has coordinated with the accident and health plan so that Employer J or its agent au- tomatically receives an EOB from the plan indicat- ing that Q is responsible for payment of 20 percent of the $150 charged by the physician. Because Em- ployer J has received a statement from an independent third-party that Q has incurred a medical expense, the date the expense was incurred, and the amount of the expense, the claim is substantiated without the need for J to submit additional information regarding the expense. Employer J’s FSA reimburses Q the $30 medical expense without requiring Q to submit a re- ceipt or a statement from the physician. The substan- tiation rules in paragraph (b) in this section are satis- fied. (4)Advance reimbursement of expenses for qualified benefits prohibited.Reim- bursing expenses before the expense has been incurred or before the expense is sub- stantiated fails to satisfy the substantiation requirements in §1.105–2, §1.125–1 and this section. (5)Purportedloanfromemployerto employee. In determining whether, un- der all the facts and circumstances, em- ployees are being reimbursed for unsub- stantiated claims, special scrutiny will be given to other arrangements such as em- ployer-to-employee loans based on actual or projected employee claims. (6)Debit cards. For purposes of this section, adebit cardis a debit card, credit card, or stored value card. See also para- graphs (c) through (g) of this section for additional rules on payments or reimburse- ments made through debit cards. (c)Debit cards-overview—(1)Manda- tory rules for all debit cards usable to pay or reimburse medical expenses. Paragraph (d) of this section sets forth the mandatory procedures for debit cards to substantiate section 213(d) medical expenses. These rules apply to all debit cards used to pay or reimburse medical expenses. Paragraph (e) of this section sets forth additional substantiation rules that may be used for medical expenses incurred at medical care providers and certainstores with the Drug Stores and Pharmacies merchant category code. Paragraph (f) in this section sets forth the requirements for an inventory information approval system which must be used to substantiate medical expenses incurred at merchants or service providers that are not medical care providers or certain stores with the Drug Stores and Pharmacies merchant category code and that may be used for medical expenses incurred at all merchants. (2)Debit cards used for dependent care assistance. Paragraph (g) of this section sets forth additional rules for debit cards usable for reimbursing dependent care ex- penses. (3)Additional guidance.TheCom- missioner may prescribe additional guid- ance of general applicability, published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin (see §601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b)ofthischapter),to provide additional rules for debit cards. (d)Mandatory rules for all debit cards usable to pay or reimburse medical ex- penses. A health FSA paying or reim- bursing section 213(d) medical expenses through a debit card must satisfy all of the following requirements— (1) Before any employee participating in a health FSA receives the debit card, the employee agrees in writing that he or she will only use the card to pay for medical expenses (as defined in section 213(d)) of theemployeeorhisorherspouseordepen- dents, that he or she will not use the debit card for any medical expense that has al- ready been reimbursed, that he or she will not seek reimbursement under any other health plan for any expense paid for with a debit card, and that he or she will ac- quire and retain sufficient documentation (including invoices and receipts) for any expense paid with the debit card. (2) The debit card includes a statement providing that the agreements described in paragraph (d)(1) of this section are reaf- firmed each time the employee uses the card. (3) The amount available through the debit card equals the amount elected by the employee for the health FSA for the cafe- teria plan year, and is reduced by amounts paid or reimbursed for section 213(d) med- ical expenses incurred during the plan year. (4) The debit card is automatically can- celled when the employee ceases to partic- ipate in the health FSA. (5) The employer limits use of the debit card to— (i) Physicians, dentists, vision care offices, hospitals, other medical care providers (as identified by the merchant category code); (ii) Stores with the merchant category code for Drugstores and Pharmacies if, on a location by location basis, 90 percent of the store’s gross receipts during the prior taxable year consisted of items which qual- ify as expenses for medical care described in section 213(d); and (iii) Stores that have implemented the inventory information approval system un- der paragraph (f). (6) The employer substantiates claims based on payments to medical care providers and stores described in para- graphs (d)(5)(i) and (ii) of this section in accordance with either paragraph (e) or paragraph (f) of this section. (7) The employer follows all of the fol- lowing correction procedures for any im- proper payments using the debit card— (i) Until the amount of the improper payment is recovered, the debit card must be de-activated and the employee must request payments or reimbursements of medical expenses from the health FSA through other methods (for example, by submitting receipts or invoices from a merchant or service provider showing the employee incurred a section 213(d) medi- cal expense); (ii) The employer demands that the em- ployee repay the cafeteria plan an amount equal to the improper payment; (iii) If, after the demand for repayment of improper payment (as described in para- graph (d)(7)(ii) of this section), the em- ployee fails to repay the amount of the im- proper charge, the employer withholds the amount of the improper charge from the employee’s pay or other compensation, to the full extent allowed by applicable law; (iv) If any portion of the improper pay- ment remains outstanding after attempts to recover the amount (as described in para- graph (d)(7)(ii) and (iii) of this section), the employer applies a claims substitution or offset to resolve improper payments, such as a reimbursement for a later sub- stantiated expense claim is reduced by the amount of the improper payment. So, for example, if an employee has received an improper payment of $200 and subse- quently submits a substantiated claim for $250 incurred during the same coverage period, a reimbursement for $50 is made; and (v) If, after applying all the procedures described in paragraph (d)(7)(ii) through (iv) of this section, the employee remains indebted to the employer for improper pay- ments, the employer, consistent with its 2007–39 I.R.B.708September 24, 2007 business practice, treats the improper pay- ment as it would any other business indebt- edness. (e)Substantiation of expenses incurred at medical care providers and certain other stores with Drug Stores and Phar- macies merchant category code—(1)In general. A health FSA paying or reim- bursing section 213(d) medical expenses through a debit card is permitted to com- ply with the substantiation provisions of this paragraph (e), instead of complying with the provisions of paragraph (f), for medical expenses incurred at providers de- scribed in paragraph (e)(2) of this section. (2)Medical care providers and certain other stores with Drug Stores and Phar- macies merchant category code. Medical expenses may be substantiated using the methods described in paragraph (e)(3) of this section if incurred at physicians, phar- macies, dentists, vision care offices, hospi- tals, other medical care providers (as iden- tified by the merchant category code) and at stores with the Drug Stores and Pharma- cies merchant category code, if, on a store location-by-location basis, 90 percent of the store’s gross receipts during the prior taxable year consisted of items which qual- ify as expenses for medical care described in section 213(d). (3)Claims substantiation for copay- ment matches, certain recurring medical expenses and real-time substantiation. If all of the requirements in this para- graph (e)(3) are satisfied, copayment matches, certain recurring medical ex- penses and medical expenses substantiated in real-time are substantiated without the need for submission of receipts or further review. (i)Matching copayments—multiples of five or fewer. If an employer’s accident or health plan covering the employee (or the employee’s spouse or dependents) has copayments in specific dollar amounts, and the dollar amount of the transaction at a medical care provider equals an ex- act multiple of not more than five times the dollar amount of the copayment for the specific service (for example, phar- macy benefit copayment, copayment for a physician’s officevisit) under the acci- dent or health plan covering the specific employee-cardholder, then the charge is fully substantiatedwithout the need for submission of a receipt or further review. (A)Tiered copayments. If a health plan has multiple copayments for the same ben- efit, (for example, tiered copayments for a pharmacy benefit), exact matches of mul- tiples or combinations of up to five co- payments are similarly fully substantiated without the need for submission of a re- ceipt or further review. (B)Copayment match must be exact multiple. If the dollar amount of the trans- action is not an exact multiple of the co- payment (or an exact match of a multiple or combination of different copayments for a benefit in the case of multiple copay- ments), the transaction must be treated as conditional pending confirmation of the charge, even if the amount is less than five times the copayment. (C)No match for multiple of six or more times copayment. If the dollar amount of the transaction at a medical care provider equals a multiple of six or more times the dollar amount of the copayment for the specific service, the transaction must be treated as conditional pending confirma- tion of the charge by the submission of ad- ditional third-party information. See para- graph (d) of this section. In the case of a plan with multiple copayments for the same benefit, if the dollar amount of the transaction exceeds five times the maxi- mum copayment for the benefit, the trans- action must also be treated as conditional pending confirmation of the charge by the submission of additional third-party infor- mation. In these cases, the employer must require that additional third-party informa- tion, such as merchant or service provider receipts, be submitted for review and sub- stantiation, and the third-party information must satisfy the requirements in paragraph (b)(3) of this section. (D)Independent verification of copay- ment required. The copayment schedule required under the accident or health plan must be independently verified by the employer. Statements or other rep- resentations by the employee are not sufficient. Self-substantiation or self-cer- tification of an employee’s copayment in connection with copayment matching pro- cedures through debit cards or otherwise does not constitute substantiation. If a plan’s copayment matching system relies on an employee to provide a copayment amount without verification of the amount, claims have not been substantiated, and all amounts paid from the plan are included in gross income, including amounts paid for medical care whether or not substantiated. See paragraph (b) in this section. (4)Certain recurring medical expenses. Automatic payment or reimbursement satisfies the substantiation rules in this paragraph (e) for payment of recurring expenses that match expenses previously approved as to amount, medical care provider and time period (for example, for an employee who refills a prescrip- tion drug on a regular basis at the same provider and in the same amount). The payment is substantiated without the need for submission of a receipt or further re- view. (5)Real-time substantiation. If a third party that is independent of the employee and the employee’s spouse and dependents (for example, medical care provider, mer- chant, or pharmacy benefit manager) pro- vides, at the time and point of sale, infor- mation to verify to the employer (includ- ing electronically by email, the internet, in- tranet or telephone) that the charge is for a section 213(d) medical expense, the ex- pense is substantiated without the need for further review. (6)Substantiation requirements for all other medical expenses paid or reim- bursed through a health FSA debit card. All other charges to the debit card (other than substantiated copayments, recurring medical expenses or real-time substantia- tion, or charges substantiated through the inventory information approval system described in paragraph (f) of this section) must be treated as conditional, pending substantiation of the charge through addi- tional independent third-party information describing the goods or services, the date of the service or sale and the amount of the transaction. All such debit card payments must be substantiated, regardless of the amount of the payment. (f)Inventory information approval system—(1)In general.Aninventoryin- formation approval system that complies with this paragraph (f) may be used to substantiate payments made using a debit card, including payments at merchants and service providers that are not described in paragraph (e)(2) of this section. Debit card transactions using this system are fully substantiated without the need for submission of a receipt by the employee or further review. September 24, 20077092007–39 I.R.B. (2)Operation of inventory information approval system. An inventory informa- tion approval system must operate in the manner described in this paragraph (f)(2). (i) When an employee uses the card, the payment card processor’s or participat- ing merchant’s system collects informa- tion about the items purchased using the inventory control information (for exam- ple,stock keeping units(SKUs)). The sys- tem compares the inventory control infor- mation for the items purchased against a list of items, the purchase of which qual- ifies as expenses for medical care under section 213(d) (including nonprescription medications). (ii) The section 213(d) medical ex- penses are totaled and the merchant’s or payment card processor’s system ap- proves the use of the card only for the amount of the section 213(d) medical expenses eligible for coverage under the health FSA (taking into consideration the uniform coverage rule in paragraph (d) of §1.125–5); (iii) If the transaction is only partially approved, the employee is required to ten- der additional amounts, resulting in a split- tender transaction. For example, if, after matching inventory information, it is de- termined that all items purchased are sec- tion 213(d) medical expenses, the entire transaction is approved, subject to the cov- erage limitations of the health FSA; (iv) If, after matching inventory infor- mation, it is determined that only some of the items purchased are section 213(d) medical expenses, the transaction is ap- proved only as to the section 213(d) medi- cal expenses. In this case, the merchant or service-provider must request additional payment from the employee for the items that do not satisfy the definition of medical care under section 213(d); (v) The merchant or service-provider must also request additional payment from the employee if the employee does not have sufficient health FSA coverage to purchase the section 213(d) medical items; (vi) Any attempt to use the card at non-participating merchants or ser- vice-providers must fail. (3)Employer’s responsibility for en- suring inventory information approval system’s compliance with §1.105–2, §1.125–1, §1.125–6 and recordkeeping requirements. An employer that uses the inventory information approval system must ensure that the inventory infor- mation approval system complies with the requirements in §§1.105–2, 1.125–1, and §1.125–6 for substantiating, paying or reimbursing section 213(d) medical expenses and with therecordkeeping re- quirements in section 6001. (g)Debit cards used to pay or reim- burse dependent care assistance—(1)In general. An employer may use a debit card to provide benefits under its depen- dent care assistance program (including a dependent care assistance FSA). However, dependent care expenses may not be reim- bursed before the expenses are incurred. See paragraph (a)(4) in this section. Thus, if a dependent care provider requires pay- ment before the dependent care services are provided, the expenses cannot be reim- bursed at the time of payment through use of a debit card or otherwise. (2)Reimbursing dependent care assis- tance through a debit card.Anemployer offering a dependent care assistance FSA may adopt the following method to pro- vide reimbursements for dependent care expenses through a debit card— (i) At the beginning of the plan year or upon enrollment in the dependent care assistance program, the employee pays initial expenses to the dependent care provider and substantiates the initial ex- penses by submitting to the employer or plan administrator a statement from the dependent care provider substantiating the dates and amounts for the services pro- vided. (ii) After the employer or plan admin- istrator receives the substantiation (but not before the date the services are provided as indicated by the statement provided by the dependent care provider), the plan makes available through the debit card an amount equal to the lesser of— (A) The previously incurred and sub- stantiated expense; or (B) The employee’s total salary reduc- tion amount to date. (iii) The card may be used to pay for subsequently incurred dependent care ex- penses. (iv) The amount available through the card may be increased in the amount of any additional dependent care expenses only after the additional expenses have been in- curred. (3)Substantiating recurring dependent care expenses. Card transactions that col- lect information matching expenses pre- viously substantiated and approved as to dependent care provider and time period may be treated as substantiated without further review if the transaction is for an amount equal to or less than the previously substantiated expenses. Similarly, depen- dent care expenses previously substanti- ated and approved through nonelectronic methods may also be treated as substanti- ated without further review. In both cases, if there is an increase in previously sub- stantiated amounts or a change in the de- pendent care provider, the employee must submit a statement or receipt from the de- pendent care provider substantiating the claimed expenses before amounts relating to the increased amounts or new providers may be added to the card. (4)Example. The following example illustrates the rules in this paragraph (g): Example.Recurring dependent care expenses. (i)EmployerKsponsorsadependent care assistance FSA through its cafeteria plan. Salary reduction amounts for participating employees are made on a weekly payroll basis, which are available for depen- dent care coverage on a weekly basis. As a result, the amount of available dependent care coverage equals the employee’s salary reduction amount mi- nus claims previously paid from the plan. Employer K has adopted a payment card program for its depen- dent care FSA. (ii) For the plan year ending December 31, 2009, Employee F is a participant in the dependent care FSA and elected $5,000 of dependent care coverage. Employer K reduces F’s salary by $96.15 on a weekly basis to pay for coverage under the dependent care FSA. (iii) At the beginning of the 2009 plan year, F is issued a debit card with a balance of zero. F’s child- care provider, ABC Daycare Center, requires a $250 advance payment at the beginning of the week for dependent care services that will be provided during the week. The dependent care services provided for F by ABC qualify for reimbursement under section 129. However, because as of the beginning of the plan year, no services have yet been provided, F can- not be reimbursed for any of the amounts until the end of the first week of the plan year (that is, the week ending January 5, 2009), after the services have been provided. (iv) F submits a claim for reimbursement that in- cludes a statement from ABC with a description of the services, the amount of the services, and the dates of the services. Employer K increases the balance of F’s payment card to $96.15 after the services have been provided (i.e., the lesser of F’s salary reduction to date or the incurred dependent care expenses). F uses the card to pay ABC $96.15 on the first day of the next week (January 8, 2009) and pays ABC the remaining balance due for that week ($153.85) by check. (v) To the extent that this card transaction and each subsequent transaction is with ABC and is for an amount equal to or less than the previously sub- stantiated amount, the charges are fully substantiated 2007–39 I.R.B.710September 24, 2007 without the need for the submission by F of a state- ment from the provider or further review by the em- ployer. However, the subsequent amount is not made available on the card until the end of the week when the services have been provided. Employer K’s de- pendent care debit card satisfies the substantiation re- quirements of this paragraph (g). (h)Effective/applicability date.Itis proposed that these regulations apply on and after plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2009. However, the effective dates for the previously issued guidance on debit cards, which is incorporated in this section, remain applicable. §1.125–7 Cafeteria plan nondiscrimination rules (a)Definitions—(1)In general.The definitions set forth in this paragraph (a) apply for purposes of section 125(b), (c), (e) and (g) and this section. (2)Compensation.Thetermcompen- sationmeans compensation as defined in section 415(c)(3). (3)Highly compensated individual.(i) In general.Thetermhighly compensated individualmeans an individual who is— (A) An officer; (B) A five percent shareholder (as de- fined in paragraph (a)(8) of this section); or (C) Highly compensated. (ii)Spouse or dependent. A spouse or a dependent of any highly compensated in- dividual described in (a)(3)(i) of this sec- tion is a highly compensated individual. Section 125(e). (4)Highly compensated participant. The termhighly compensated participant means a highly compensated individual who is eligible to participate in the cafete- ria plan. (5)Nonhighly compensated individual. The termnonhighly compensated individ- ualmeans an individual who is not a highly compensated individual. (6)Nonhighly compensated partici- pant.Thetermnonhighly compensated participantmeans a participant who is not a highly compensated participant. (7)Officer. The term officer means any individual or participant who for the pre- ceding plan year (or the current plan year in the case of the first year of employment) was an officer. Whether an individual is an officeris determined based on all the facts and circumstances, including the source of the individual’s authority, the term for which he or she is elected or appointed, and the nature and extent of his or her du- ties. Generally, the term officer means an administrative executive who is in regu- lar and continued service. The term offi- cer implies continuity of service and ex- cludes individuals performing services in connection with a special and single trans- action. An individual who merely has the title of an officer but not the authority of an officer, is not an officer. Similarly, an in- dividual without the title of an officer but who has the authority of an officer is an officer. Sole proprietorships, partnerships, associations, trusts and labor organizations also may have officers. See §§301.7701–1 through –3. (8)Five percent shareholder.Afive percent shareholderis an individual who in either the preceding plan year or current plan year owns more than five percent of the voting power or value of all classes of stock of the employer, determined without attribution. (9)Highly compensated.Theterm highly compensatedmeans any individual or participant who for the preceding plan year (or the current plan year in the case of the first year of employment) had com- pensation from the employer in excess of the compensation amount specified in section 414(q)(1)(B),and, if elected by the employer, was also in the top-paid group of employees (determined by reference to section 414(q)(3)) for such preceding plan year (or for the current plan year in the case of the first year of employment). (10)Key employee.Akey employeeis a participant who is a key employee within the meaning of section 416(i)(1) at any time during the preceding plan year. A key employee covered by a collective bargain- ing agreement is a key employee. (11)Collectively bargained plan.A collectively bargained planis a plan or the portion of a plan maintained under an agreement which is a collective bargaining agreement between employee representa- tives and one or more employers, if there is evidence that cafeteria plan benefits were the subject of good faith bargaining be- tween such employee representatives and such employer or employers. (12)Year of employment. For purposes of section 125(g)(3)(B)(i), ayear of em- ploymentis determined by reference to the elapsed time method of crediting service. See §1.410(a)–7. (13)Premium-only-plan.Apremium- only-plan is described in paragraph (a)(5) in §1.125–1. (14)Statutory nontaxable benefits. Statutory nontaxable benefitsare qualified benefits that are excluded from gross in- come (for example, anemployer-provided accident and health plan excludible under section 106 or a dependent care assistance program excludible under section 129). Statutory nontaxable benefits also include group-term life insurance on the life of an employee includible in the employee’s gross income solely because the coverage exceeds the limit in section 79(a). (15)Total benefits.Total benefitsare qualified benefits and permitted taxable benefits. (b)Nondiscrimination as to eligibil- ity—(1)In general. A cafeteria plan must not discriminate in favor of highly compensated individuals as to eligibil- ity to participate for that plan year. A cafeteria plan does not discriminate in favor of highly compensated individuals if the plan benefits a group of employees who qualify under a reasonable classi- fication established by the employer, as defined in §1.410(b)–4(b), and the group of employees included in the classifica- tion satisfies the safe harbor percentage test or the unsafe harbor percentage com- ponent of the facts and circumstances test in §1.410(b)–4(c). (In applying the §1.410(b)–4 test, substitute highly com- pensated individual for highly compen- sated employee and substitute nonhighly compensated individual for nonhighly compensated employee). (2)Deadline for participation in cafe- teria plan. Any employee who has com- pleted three years of employment (and who satisfies any conditions for partici- pation in the cafeteria plan that are not related to completion of a requisite length of employment) must be permitted to elect to participate in the cafeteria plan no later than the first day of the first plan year beginning after the date the employee completed three years of employment (un- less the employee separates from service before the first day of that plan year). (3)The safe harbor percentage test.(i) In general. For purposes of the safe har- bor percentage test and the unsafe harbor percentage component of the facts and cir- cumstances test, if the cafeteria plan pro- vides that only employees who have com- September 24, 20077112007–39 I.R.B. pleted three years of employment are per- mitted to participate in the plan, employees who have not completed three years of em- ployment may be excluded from consider- ation. However, if the cafeteria plan pro- vides that employees are allowed to par- ticipate before completing three years of employment, all employees with less than three years of employment must be in- cluded in applying the safe harbor percent- age test and the unsafe harbor percentage component of the facts and circumstances test. See paragraph (g) of this section for a permissive disaggregation rule. (ii)Employees excluded from consider- ation. In addition, for purposes of the safe harbor percentage test and the unsafe har- bor percentage component of the facts and circumstances test, the following employ- ees are excluded from consideration — (A) Employees (except key employees) covered by a collectively bargained plan as defined in paragraph (a)(11) of this sec- tion; (B) Employees who are nonresident aliens and receive no earned income (within the meaning of section 911(d)(2)) from the employer which constitutes in- come from sources within the United States (within the meaning of section 861(a)(3)); and (C) Employees participating in the cafe- teria plan under a COBRA continuation provision. (iv)Examples. The following examples illustrate the rules in paragraph (b) of this section: Example 1.Same qualified benefit for same salary reduction amount. Employer A has one em- ployer-provided accident and health insurance plan. The cost to participants electing the accident and health plan is $10,000 per year for single coverage. All employees have the same opportunity to salary reduce $10,000 for accident and health plan. The cafeteria plan satisfies the eligibility test. Example 2.Same qualified benefit for unequal salary reduction amounts. Same facts asExample 1 except the cafeteria plan offers nonhighly compen- sated employees the election to salary reduce $10,000 to pay premiums for single coverage. The cafete- ria plan provides an $8,000 employer flex-credit to highly compensated employees to pay a portion of the premium, and provides an election to them to salary reduce $2,000 to pay the balance of the premium. The cafeteria plan fails the eligibility test. Example 3.Accident and health plans of unequal value. Employer B’s cafeteria plan offers two em- ployer-provided accident and health insurance plans: Plan X, available only to highly compensated partici- pants, is a low-deductible plan. Plan Y, available only to nonhighly compensated participants, is a high de- ductible plan (as defined in section 223(c)(2)). The annual premium for single coverage under Plan X is $15,000 per year, and $8,000 per year for Plan Y. Em- ployer B’s cafeteria plan provides that highly com- pensated participants may elect salary reduction of $15,000 for coverage under Plan X, and that non- highly compensated participants may elect salary re- duction of $8,000 for coverage under Plan Y. The cafeteria plan fails the eligibility test. Example 4.Accident and health plans of unequal value for unequal salary reduction amounts.Same facts asExample 3, except that the amount of salary reduction for highly compensated participants to elect Plan X is $8,000. The cafeteria plan fails the eligibil- ity test. (c)Nondiscrimination as to contribu- tions and benefits—(1)In general. A cafe- teria plan must not discriminate in favor of highly compensated participants as to con- tributions and benefits for a plan year. (2)Benefit availability and benefit elec- tion. A cafeteria plan does not discrim- inate with respect to contributions and benefits if either qualified benefits and total benefits, or employer contributions allocable to statutory nontaxable benefits and employer contributions allocable to total benefits, do not discriminate in favor of highly compensated participants. A cafeteria plan must satisfy this paragraph (c) with respect to both benefit availability and benefit utilization. Thus, a plan must give each similarly situated participant a uniform opportunity to elect qualified benefits, and the actual election of quali- fied benefits through the plan must not be disproportionate by highly compensated participants (while other participants elect permitted taxable benefits). Qualified benefits are disproportionately elected by highly compensated participants if the aggregate qualifiedbenefits elected by highly compensated participants, mea- sured as a percentage of the aggregate compensation of highly compensated par- ticipants, exceed the aggregate qualified benefits elected by nonhighly compen- sated participants measured as a percent- age of the aggregate compensation of nonhighly compensated participants. A plan must also give each similarly situ- ated participant a uniform election with respect to employer contributions, and the actual election with respect to em- ployer contributions for qualified benefits through the plan must not be dispropor- tionate by highly compensated participants (while other participants elect to receive employer contributions as permitted tax- able benefits). Employer contributions are disproportionately utilized by highly compensated participants if the aggregate contributions utilized by highly compen- sated participants, measured as a per- centage of the aggregate compensation of highly compensated participants, ex- ceed the aggregate contributions utilized by nonhighly compensated participants measured as a percentage of the aggregate compensation of nonhighly compensated participants. (3)Example. The following example illustrates the rules in paragraph (c) of this section: Example.Contributions and benefits test.Em- ployer C’s cafeteria plan satisfies the eligibility test in paragraph (b) of this section. Highly compen- sated participants in the cafeteria plan elect aggre- gate qualified benefits equaling 5 percent of aggre- gate compensation; nonhighly compensated partici- pants elect aggregate qualified benefits equaling 10 percent of aggregate compensation. Employer C’s cafeteria plan passes the contribution and benefits test. (d)Key employees—(1)In general.If for any plan year, the statutory nontaxable benefits provided to key employees exceed 25 percent of the aggregate of statutory nontaxable benefits provided for all em- ployees through the cafeteria plan, each key employee includes in gross income an amount equaling the maximum taxable benefits that he or she could have elected for the plan year. However, see safe harbor for premium-only-plans in paragraph (f) of this section. (2)Example. The following example illustrates the rules in paragraph (d) of this section: Example.(i)Key employee concentration test. Employer D’s cafeteria plan offers all employees an election between taxable benefits and qualified ben- efits. The cafeteria plan satisfies the eligibility test in paragraph (b) of this section. Employer D has two key employees and four nonhighly compensated em- ployees. The key employees each elect $2,000 of qualified benefits. Each nonhighly compensated em- ployee also elects $2,000 of qualified benefits. The qualified benefits are statutory nontaxable benefits. (ii) Key employees receive $4,000 of statutory nontaxable benefits and nonhighly compensated employees receive $8,000 of statutory nontaxable benefits, for a total of $12,000. Key employees receive 33 percent of statutory nontaxable benefits (4,000/12,000). Because the cafeteria plan provides more than 25 percent of the aggregate of statutory nontaxable benefits to key employees, the plan fails the key employee concentration test. (e)Safe harbor for cafeteria plans pro- viding health benefits—(1)In general.A cafeteria plan that provides health benefits is not treated as discriminatory as to bene- fits and contributions if: 2007–39 I.R.B.712September 24, 2007 (i) Contributions under the plan on be- half of each participant include an amount which equals 100 percent of the cost of the health benefit coverage under the plan of the majority of the highly compensated participants similarly situated, or equals or exceeds 75 percent of the cost of the health benefit coverage of the participant (similarly situated) having the highest cost health benefit coverage under the plan, and (ii) Contributions or benefits under the plan in excess of those described in para- graph (e)(1)(i) of this section bear a uni- form relationship to compensation. (2)Similarly situated. In determining which participants are similarly situated, reasonable differences in plan benefits may be taken into account (for example, variations in plan benefits offered to em- ployees working in different geographical locations or to employees with family cov- erage versus employee-only coverage). (3)Health benefits. Health benefits for purposes of this rule are limited to major medical coverage and exclude dental cov- erage and health FSAs. (4)Example. The following example illustrates the rules in paragraph (e) of this section: Example. (i) All 10 of Employer E’s employees are eligible to elect between permitted taxable ben- efits and salary reduction of $8,000 per plan year for self-only coverage in the major medical health plan provided by Employer E. All 10 employees elect $8,000 salary reduction for the major medical plan. (ii) The cafeteria plan satisfies the section 125(g)(2) safe harbor for cafeteria plans provid- ing health benefits. (f)Safe harbor test for pre- mium-only-plans—(1)In general.A premium-only-plan (as defined in para- graph (a)(13) of this section) is deemed to satisfy the nondiscrimination rules in sec- tion 125(c) and this section for a plan year if, for that plan year, the plan satisfies the safe harbor percentage test for eligibility in paragraph (b)(3) of this section. (2)Example. The following example illustrates the rules in paragraph (f) of this section: Example.Premium-only-plan. (i) Employer F’s cafeteria plan is a premium-only-plan (as defined in paragraph (a)(13) of this section). The written cafe- teria plan offers one employer-provided accident and health plan and offers all employees the election to salary reduce same amount or same percentage of the premium for self-only or family coverage. All key employees and all highly compensated employ- ees elect salary reduction for the accident and health plan, but only 20 percent of nonhighly compensated employees elect the accident and health plan. (ii) The premium-only-plan satisfies the nondis- crimination rules in section 125(b) and (c) and this section. (g)Permissive disaggregation for nondiscrimination testing—(1)General rule. If a cafeteria plan benefits employ- ees who have not completed three years of employment, the cafeteria plan is permit- ted to test for nondiscrimination under this section as if the plan were two separate plans— (i) One plan benefiting the employees who completed one day of employment but less than three years of employment; and (ii) Another plan benefiting the employ- ees who have completed three years of em- ployment. (2)Disaggregated plans tested sepa- rately for eligibility test and contributions and benefits test. If a cafeteria plan is dis- aggregated into two separate plans for pur- poses of nondiscrimination testing, the two separate plans must be tested separately for both the nondiscrimination as to eligibility test in paragraph (b) of this section and the nondiscrimination as to contributions and benefits test in paragraph (c) of this sec- tion. (h)Optional aggregation of plans for nondiscrimination testing.Anemployer who sponsors more than one cafeteria plan is permitted to aggregate two or more of the cafeteria plans for purposes of nondis- crimination testing. If two or more cafe- teria plans are aggregated into a combined plan for this purpose, the combined plan must satisfy the nondiscrimination as to el- igibility test in paragraph (b) of this section and the nondiscrimination as to contribu- tions and benefits test in paragraph (c) of this section, as though the combined plan were a single plan. Thus, for example, in order to satisfy the benefit availability and benefit election requirements in paragraph (c)(2) of this section, the combined plan must give each similarly situated partici- pant a uniform opportunity to elect qual- ified benefits and the actual election of qualified benefits by highly compensated participants must not be disproportionate. However, if a principal purpose of the ag- gregation is to manipulate the nondiscrimi- nation testing requirements or to otherwise discriminate in favor of highly compen- sated individuals or participants, the plans will not be permittedto be aggregated for nondiscrimination testing. (i)Employees of certain controlled groups. All employees who are treated as employed by a single employer under section 414(b), (c), (m), or (o) are treated as employed by a single employer for pur- poses of section 125. Section 125(g)(4); section 414(t). (j)Time to perform nondiscrimination testing—(1)In general. Nondiscrimina- tion testing must be performed as of the last day of the plan year, taking into ac- count all non-excludable employees (or former employees) who were employees on any day during the plan year. (2) The following example illustrates the rules in paragraph (j) of this section: Example.When to perform discrimination test- ing. (i) Employer H employs three employees and maintains a calendar year cafeteria plan. During the 2009 plan year, Employee J was an employee the entire calendar year, Employee K was an employee from May 1, through August 31, 2009, and Employee L worked from January 1, 2009 to April 15, 2009, when he retired. (ii) Nondiscrimination testing for the 2009 plan year must be performed on December 31, 2009, tak- ing into account employees J, K, and L’s compensa- tion in the preceding year. (k)Discrimination in actual operation prohibited. In addition to not discriminat- ing as to either benefit availability or bene- fit utilization, a cafeteria plan must not dis- criminate in favor of highly compensated participants in actual operation. For exam- ple, a plan may be discriminatory in ac- tual operation if the duration of the plan (or of a particular nontaxable benefit of- fered through the plan) is for a period dur- ing which only highly compensated partic- ipants utilize the plan (or the benefit). See also the key employee concentration test in section 125(b)(2). (l)Anti-abuse rule—(1)Interpretation. The provisions of this section must be in- terpreted in a reasonable manner consis- tent with the purpose of preventing dis- crimination in favor of highly compen- sated individuals, highly compensated par- ticipants and key employees. (2)Change in plan testing procedures. A plan will not be treated as satisfying the requirements of this section if there are re- peated changes to plan testing procedures or plan provisions that have the effect of manipulating the nondiscrimination test- ing requirements of this section, if a princi- pal purpose of the changes was to achieve this result. (m)Tax treatment of benefits in a cafeteria plan—(1)Nondiscriminatory September 24, 20077132007–39 I.R.B. cafeteria plan. A participant in a nondis- criminatory cafeteria plan (including a highly compensated participant or key employee) who elects qualified benefits is not treated as having received taxable ben- efits offered through the plan, and thus the qualified benefits elected by the employee are not includible in the employee’s gross income merely because of the availability of taxable benefits. But see paragraph (j) in §1.125–1 on nondiscrimination rules for sections 79(d), 105(h), 129(d), and 137(c)(2), and limitations on exclusion. (2)Discriminatory cafeteria plan.A highly compensated participant or key employee participating in a discrimina- tory cafeteria plan must include in gross income (in the participant’s taxable year within which ends the plan year with re- spect to which an election was or could have been made) the value of the taxable benefit with the greatest value that the employee could have elected to receive, even if the employee elects to receive only the nontaxable benefits offered. (n)Employer contributions to employ- ees’ Health Savings Accounts.Ifanem- ployer contributes to employees’ Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) through a cafe- teria plan (as defined in §54.4980G–5 of this chapter) those contributions are subject to the nondiscrimination rules in section 125 and this section and are not subject to the comparability rules in sec- tion 4980G. See §§54.4980G–0 through 54.4980G–5 of this chapter. (o)Effective/applicability date.Itis proposed that these regulations apply on and after plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2009. Kevin M. Brown, Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement. (Filed by the Office of the Federal Register on August 3, 2007, 8:45 a.m., and published in the issue of the Federal Register for August 6, 2007, 72 F.R. 43937) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Public Hearing Medical and Accident Insurance Benefits Under Qualified Plans REG–148393–06 AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking and notice of public hearing. SUMMARY: This document contains pro- posed regulations under section 402(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) regard- ing the tax treatment of payments by qual- ified plans for medical or accident insur- ance. These regulations would affect ad- ministrators of, participants in, and benefi- ciaries of qualified retirement plans. This document also provides notice of a public hearing on these proposed regulations. DATES: Written or electronic comments must be received by November 19, 2007. Outlines of topics to be discussed at the public hearing scheduled for December 6, 2007, at 10 a.m., must be received by November 15, 2007. ADDRESSES: Send submissions to: CC:PA:LPD:PR(REG–148393–06), room 5203, Internal Revenue Ser- vice, PO Box 7604, Ben Franklin Sta- tion, Washington, DC 20044. Submis- sions may be hand-delivered Monday through Friday between the hours of 8a.m. and4p.m.toCC:PA:LPD:PR (REG–148393–06), Courier’s Desk, In- ternal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, or sent electronically via the Federal eRulemak- ing Portal atwww.regulations.gov(IRS REG–148393–06). The public hearing will be held in the IRS Auditorium, Inter- nal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Concerning the proposed regulations, Pamela R. Kinard (202) 622–6060; concerning submissions of comments, the hearing, and/or to be placed on the building access list to attend the hearing, Kelly Banks, (202) 622–7180 (not toll-free numbers). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background This document contains proposed amendments to 26 CFR part 1 under section 402(a) of the Code, as well as con- forming amendments under sections 72, 105, 106, 401, 402(c), 403(a), and 403(b). Section 104(a)(3) provides, in gen- eral, that gross income does not include amounts received through accident or health insurance (or through an arrange- ment having the effect of accident or health insurance) for personal injuries or sickness. This exclusion does not apply to amounts attributable to (and not in ex- cess of) deductions allowed under section 213 for any prior taxable year, or to other amounts received by an employee to the extent such amounts either are attributable to contributions by the employer that were not includible in the gross income of the employee or are paid by the employer. Section 105(a) provides that, except as otherwise provided, amounts received by an employee through accident or health in- surance for personal injuries or sickness are included in gross income to the extent such amounts (1) are attributable to con- tributions by the employer which were not includible in the gross income of the em- ployee or (2) are paid by the employer. Section 105(b) generally provides that, except in the case of amounts attributable to deductions allowed under section 213 for any prior taxable year, gross income does not include amounts referred to in section 105(a) if such amounts are paid, directly or indirectly, to the taxpayer to re- imburse the taxpayerfor expenses incurred by the taxpayer for the medical care of the taxpayer and his or her spouse or depen- dents. Section 106 provides that the gross in- come of an employee does not include em- ployer-provided coverage under an acci- dent or health plan. Section 1.106–1 pro- vides that the gross income of an employee does not include contributions that the em- ployer makes to an accident or health plan for compensation (through insurance or a separate trust or fund) for personal injuries or sickness to the employee or the em- ployee’s spouse or dependents. 2007–39 I.R.B.714September 24, 2007 Section 7702B(a)(1) provides that, for purposes of the Code, a qualified long- term care insurance contract is treated as an accident and health insurance contract. Section 213 generally allows a deduc- tion for expenses paid during the taxable year, not compensated for by insurance or otherwise, for medical care of the taxpayer, his or her spouse, and dependents, to the extent that the expenses exceed 7.5 percent of the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income. Section 213(d)(1) provides that the term “medical care” includes amounts paid for insurance covering medical care (includ- ing eligible long-term care premiums with respect to qualified long-term care insur- ance contracts). Section 401(a) sets forth requirements for a trust forming part of a pension, profit- sharing, or stock bonus plan to be qualified under section 401(a). Section 401(h) provides that a pension or annuity plan may provide for the pay- ment of benefits for sickness, accident, hospitalization, and medical expenses of retired employees, their spouses and their dependents only if certain enumerated conditions are met. Those conditions include: (1) the aggregate actual contri- butions for medical benefits (when added to actual contributions for life insurance protection under the plan) may not exceed 25 percent of the total actual contributions to the plan (other than contributions to fund past service credits) after the date on which the account is established; (2) a separate account must be established and maintained for such benefits; (3) the employer’s contributions to the separate account must be reasonable and ascertain- able; (4) it must be impossible, at any time prior to the satisfaction of all liabilities un- der the plan to provide such benefits, for any part of the corpus or income of such separate account to be (within the taxable year or thereafter) used for, or diverted to, any purpose other than the providing of such benefits; (5) any amount remaining after satisfaction of all liabilities must, under the terms of the plan, be returned to the employer; and (6) special limitations for the accounts of key employees must be satisfied. Section 402(a) provides, in general, that any amount actually distributed by a qual- ified plan is taxable under section 72 in the taxable year in which distributed. Section 72(a) provides that, except as otherwise provided, gross income in- cludes any amount received as an annuity (whether for a period certain or during one or more lives) under an annuity, endow- ment, or life insurance contract. Sections 72(d) and (e) provide rules for determining the portion of any distribution that is not includable in gross income as a recovery of a participant’s investment in the contract (generally the amount of the unrecovered after-tax employee contributions) under a qualified employer retirement plan. Section 402(l), added by section 845(a) of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, Public Law 109–280 (120 Stat. 780) (PPA ’06), provides a limited exclusion from gross income for distributions from an eligible retirement plan used to pay health or long-termcare insurance pre- miums of an eligible retired public safety officer to the extent that the aggregate amount of the distributions for the taxable year is not in excess of the qualified health insurance premiums of the retired public safety officer and his or her spouse or de- pendents. The total amount excluded from gross income pursuant to section 402(l) shall not exceed $3,000. Section 1.72–15 provides rules relating to the tax treatment of amounts paid from an employer-established plan to which section 72 applies and which provides for distributions of accident or health ben- efits. With respect to benefits that are attributable to employer contributions, §1.72–15(d) provides that any amount received as an accident or health bene- fit is includible in gross income, except to the extent excludable from gross in- come under section 105(b) (relating to reimbursements of medical care expenses as defined in section 213(d)). 1 Section 1.72–15(e) provides that the taxability of benefits that are not accident or health benefits is determined under section 72 without regard to any exclusion under section 104 or 105. Section 1.401–1(b)(1)(i) provides that a plan is not a pension plan within the mean- ingofsection401(a)ifitprovidesforthe payment of benefits not customarily in- cluded in a pension plan such as layoff ben- efits or benefits for sickness, accident, hos- pitalization, or medical expenses (except for medical benefits described in section 401(h)). See §1.401(a)–1(b)(1)(ii). Section 1.401–1(b)(1)(ii) provides that a profit-sharing plan within the meaning of section 401(a) is primarily a plan of deferred compensation, but that amounts allocated to the account of a participant may be used to provide incidental life or accident or health insurance for the partic- ipant and the participant’s family. Section 1.401–1(b)(1)(iii) provides that a stock bonus plan is a plan established and main- tained by the employer to provide benefits similar to those of a profit-sharing plan. Rev. Rul. 61–164, 1961–2 C.B. 99, see §601.601(d)(2) of this chapter, holds that a profit-sharing plan does not violate the in- cidental benefit rule in §1.401–1(b)(1)(ii) merely because, in accordance with the terms of the plan, each participant’s ac- count under the plan is charged with the cost of health insurance for the participant under group hospitalization insurance for the employer’s employees, provided that the total amount used for life or accident or health insurance for the employee and the employee’s family is incidental. The rul- ing concludes that such insurance is treated as incidental if the amount expended does not exceed 25 percent of the funds allo- cated to a participant’s account that have not been accumulated for the period pre- scribed by the plan for the deferment of distributions. The ruling also concludes that the use of profit-sharing plan funds to pay for medical insurance for a participant and his or her beneficiary is a distribution within the meaning of section 402. Rev. Rul. 73–501, 1973–2 C.B. 127, see §601.601(d)(2) of this chapter, applies the incidental benefit rule to the purchase of life insurance by a profit-sharing plan. The ruling states that “[u]nder a qualified profit-sharing plan, the use of trust funds to pay the cost of life, accident, or health insurance for an employee is a distribution within the purview of section 402 of the Code.” Rev. Rul. 2003–62, 2003–1 C.B. 1034, see §601.601(d)(2) of this chapter, con- cludes that amounts distributed from a qualified retirement plan that the distribu- tee elects to have applied to pay health 1 Section 1.72–15(d) also refers to benefits excludible under section 105(c) (relating to certain payments unrelated to absence from work) or 105(d),which was repealed in 1983 (and which related to certain disability payments). September 24, 20077152007–39 I.R.B. insurance premiums under a cafeteria plan are includible in the distributee’s gross income. The ruling also holds that the same conclusion applies where amounts distributed from the plan are applied di- rectly to reimburse medical care expenses incurred by a participant. Rev. Rul. 2005–55, 2005–2 C.B. 284, see §601.601(d)(2) of this chapter, holds that a profit-sharing plan that provides a sub-account which permits distribu- tions only for the purpose of reimbursing the participant for substantiated medical expenses imposes conditions on the en- titlement of the participant to amounts held in the sub-account and, as a result of the conditions, does not meet the nonfor- feitability requirements of section 411. Explanation of Provisions The proposed regulations would clarify that a payment from a qualified plan for an accident or health insurance premium gen- erally constitutes a distribution under sec- tion 402(a) that is taxable to the distribu- tee under section 72 in the taxable year in which the premium is paid. The taxable amount generally equals the amount of the premium charged against the participant’s benefits under the plan. If a defined con- tribution plan pays these premiums from a current year contribution or forfeiture that has not been allocated to a participant’s ac- count, then the amount of the premium for each participant will be treated as first be- ing allocated to the participant and then charged against the participant’s benefits under the plan, so that the amount of the distribution is the same as determined un- der the preceding sentence. These regulations would also provide that a distribution for the payment of the premiums by a qualified plan generally is not excluded from gross income under sec- tion 104, 105, or 106, but such distribution would constitute an amount paid for acci- dent or health insurance under section 213. Furthermore, to the extent that the payment of premiums for accident or health insur- ance has been treated asa distribution from a qualified plan, amounts received through the accident or health insurance for per- sonal injuries or sickness are excludable from gross income under section 104(a)(3) and are not treated as distributions from the plan. A related issue is whether the purchase of accident and health insurance can be treated as if the trust merely purchased an investment under which an insurer’s pay- ments for medical expenses are made to the trust and then treated as a return on that investment. The proposed regulations would clarify that payments from accident or health insurance for medical expenses that are made to the trust (rather than made to the medical service provider or the par- ticipant as reimbursement for covered ex- penses) are treated as having been made to the participant and then contributed by the participant to the plan. Comments are re- quested on whether there should be limited exceptions to this general rule (such as an exception for a provision that has the ef- fect of a waiver of premium in the case of disability). The proposed regulations would not alter the incidental benefit rule of §1.401–1(b)(1)(ii) (which provides that a profit-sharing plan may provide incidental life or accident or health insurance for the participant and the participant’s family) nor would they alter the tax treatment of the payment of life insurance. For the tax treatment of payments for life insurance, see section 72(m)(3) and §1.72–16. The general rule that accident and health insurance premiums are taxable distributions would not apply to amounts held under a medical account that satisfies all the requirements of section 401(h). Accident or health insurance purchased through a section 401(h) account does not constitute a taxable distribution. See §1.72–15(h), providing that employer contributions to provide medical benefits in a section 401(h) account under a qual- ified plan or annuity are not includible in the gross income of the employee on whose behalf contributions were made. 2 The result is the same if the section 401(h) account is funded with a transfer from a qualified pension plan in accordance with section 420. Similarly, section 402(l), as added by PPA ’06, permits an exclusion from gross income, up to $3,000 annually, for distributions paid directly to an insurer to purchase accident or health insurance or qualified long-term care insurance for an eligible retired public safety officer and his or her spouse or dependents. The existence of narrow exceptions for retiree medical benefits under section 401(h) and for distributions for the payment of pre- miums on behalf of eligible retired public safety officers under section 402(l) is con- sistent with a general rule for inclusion in gross income of the payments of premi- ums for accident and health insurance. Section 402(a) provides that amounts actually distributed from a qualified plan are generally taxable to the distributee in the year of the distribution. There is no general exception in section 402 for a distribution in the form of accident or health insurance. 3 Moreover, Congress has carefully prescribed and strictly lim- ited the ability to pre-fund accident and health insurance benefits on a tax-favored basis. The rules specifically prescribed by Congress relating to the pre-funding of future health benefits on a tax-favored basis include the rules in section 223 (providing contribution limits and distri- bution rules for health savings accounts (HSAs)); sections 419 and 419A (limiting employer deductions for contributions to welfare benefit funds); section 501(c)(9) (providing requirements for tax-exempt Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Associ- ations (VEBAs)); section 512 (providing for the taxation of a VEBA’s unrelated business income); and by sections 401(h) and 420 (governing retiree health benefits provided through a separate health ben- efits account that is part of a pension or annuity plan). Therefore, because Con- gress specifically prescribed these limited provisions for favorable tax-treatment, a broad exclusion permitting tax-favored treatmentofanydistributionusedtopay accident or health insurance premiums would be inconsistent with this intentional statutory scheme. In addition, the existence of the inciden- tal benefit rule in §1.401–1(b)(1)(ii) is not 2 See also H.R. Rep. No. 2317, 87 th Cong., 2 nd Sess. at 4 (1962), stating that no part of the contributions paid by the employer to a section 401(h) account will be taxed currently to the employee. 3 See, for example, the Joint Committee on Taxation’s Technical Explanation,Technical Explanation of H.R. 4, the “Pension Protection Act of 2006” as passed by the House on July 28, 2006, and Considered by the Senate on August 3, 2006 (JCX–38–06), August 3, 2006, 109 th Cong., 2 nd Sess. 244 (2006), relating to the exception under section 402(l), which states that, under present law, distributions from a qualified planare generally included in gross income (subject to exceptions for investment in the contract and qualified distributions from a designated Roth account). 2007–39 I.R.B.716September 24, 2007 an indication that distributions used to pro- vide incidental life oraccident or health in- surance benefits are eligible for tax-favor- able treatment becausethe incidental bene- fit rule relates solely to the qualification of a profit-sharing plan, not to the tax treat- ment of amounts used to provide medical or accident insurance benefits under such plan. The proposed regulations also contain conforming amendments to the Income Tax Regulations under sections 72, 105, 106, 401, and 402(c). These conforming amendments would remove obsolete pro- visions, as well as cite to the rules in these proposed regulations for determining the tax treatment of the payment of premiums for accident and health insurance from a qualified plan. Conforming amendments under sections 403(a) and 403(b) would also add a cross-reference to the regu- lations under section 403(a) and section 403(b) that would apply the rules in these proposed regulations to those arrange- ments. In addition, the proposed regula- tions would revise the first sentence of §1.106–1 in order to update the definition of dependent in light of section 207 of the Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004, Pub. L. No. 108–311 (118 Stat. 1166) and Notice 2004–79, 2004–2 C.B. 898, see §601.601(d)(2). The proposed reg- ulations would also amend §1.402(c)–2, Q&A–4 to add distributions of premiums for accident or health insurance under §1.402(a)–1(e)(1) to the list of items that are not eligible rollover contributions. Fi- nally, these proposed regulations would also include a cross-reference to section 402(l), as added by PPA ’06. For ad- ditional guidance on section 402(l), see Notice 2007–7, 2007–5 I.R.B 395, see §601.601(d)(2). Proposed Effective Date It is expected that the regulations will apply for calendar years after the publi- cation of final regulations in theFederal Register. However, no inference should be drawn that the payment of premiums from a qualified plan does not constitute a taxable distribution if made prior to the effective date of these regulations. Special Analyses It has been determined that this notice of proposed rulemaking is not a significant regulatory action as defined in Executive Order 12866. Therefore, a regulatory as- sessment is not required. It also has been determined that section 553(b) of the Ad- ministrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. chap- ter 5) does not apply to these regulations, and because these regulations do not im- pose 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 Code, this pro- posed regulation has been submitted to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration for comment on its impact on small business. Comments and Public Hearing Before these proposed regulations are adopted as final regulations, consideration will be given to any written (a signed origi- nal and eight (8) copies) or electronic com- ments that are submitted timely to the IRS. The Treasury Department and the IRS re- quest comments on the clarity of the pro- posed rules and how they may be made easier to understand. All comments will be available for public inspection and copy- ing. A public hearing has been scheduled for December 6, 2007, beginning at 10 a.m. in the Auditorium, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Wash- ington, DC. Due to building security pro- cedures, visitors must enter at the Consti- tution Avenue entrance. In addition, all visitors must presentphoto identification to enter the building. Because of access restrictions, visitors will not be admitted beyond the immediate entrance area more than 30 minutes before the hearing starts. For information about having your name placed on the building access list to attend the hearing, see the “FOR FURTHER IN- FORMATION CONTACT” section of this preamble. The rules of 26 CFR 601.601(a)(3) ap- ply to the hearing. Persons who wish to present oral comments at the hearing must submit written or electronic comments by November 19, 2007, and an outline of the topics to be discussed and the amount of time to be devoted to each topic (a signed original and eight (8) copies) by Novem- ber 15, 2007. A period of 10 minutes will be allotted to each person for making com- ments. An agenda showing the scheduling of the speakers will be prepared after the deadline for receivingoutlines has passed. Copies of the agenda will be available free of charge at the hearing. Drafting Information The principal authors of these reg- ulations are Pamela R. Kinard and Michael P. Brewer, Office of Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel (Tax Exempt and Government Entities). How- ever, other personnel from the IRS and the Treasury Department participated in their development. ***** Proposed Amendments to the Regulations Accordingly, 26 CFR part 1 is proposed to be amended as follows: PART—INCOME TAXES Paragraph 1. The authority citation for part 1 continues to read in part as follows: Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805 * * * Par. 2. Section 1.72–15 is amended by: 1. Revising paragraphs (d), (h), and (i). 2. Removing paragraph (f). The revisions read as follows: §1.72–15 Applicability of section 72 to accident or health plans. ***** (d)Accident or health benefits attrib- utable to employer contributions.Any amounts received as accident or health benefits and not attributable to contri- butions of the employee are includible in gross income except to the extent that such amounts are excludable from gross income under section 105(b) or (c) and the regu- lations thereunder. See §1.402(a)–1(e) for rules relating to the use of a qualified plan under section 401(a) to pay premiums for accident or health insurance. ***** (h)Medical benefits for retired employ- ees, etc.See §1.402(a)–1(e)(2) for rules relating to the payment of medical benefits described in section 401(h) under a quali- fied pension or annuity plan. (i)Special rules—(1)In general.For purposes of section 72(b) and (d), and this section, the taxpayer shall maintain such records as are necessary to substantiate the September 24, 20077172007–39 I.R.B. amount treated as an investment in the tax- payer’s annuity contract. (2)DelegationtoCommissioner.The Commissioner may prescribe a form and instructions with respect to the taxpayer’s past and current treatment of amounts re- ceived under section 72 or 105, and the tax- payer’s computation, or recomputation, of the taxpayer’s investment in his or her an- nuity contract. This form may be required to be filed with the taxpayer’s returns for years in which such amounts are excluded under section 72 or 105. §1.105–4 [Removed] Par. 3. Section 1.105–4 is removed. §1.105–6 [Removed] Par. 4. Section 1.105–6 is removed. Par. 5. Section 1.106–1 is amended by revising the first sentence and adding a new sentence at the end of the paragraph to read as follows: §1.106–1 Contributions by employer to accident and health plans. The gross income of an employee does not include the contributions which the employer makes to an accident or health plan for compensation (through insurance or otherwise) to the employee for personal injuries or sickness incurred by the em- ployee, the employee’s spouse, or the em- ployee’s dependents (as defined in section 152 determined without regard to section 152(b)(1), (b)(2), or (d)(1)(B)). *** For the treatment of the payment of premiums for accident or health insurance from a qualified trust under section 401(a), see §§1.72–15 and 1.402(a)–1(e). Par. 6. Section 1.401–1 is amended by adding a new sentence at the end of paragraph (b)(1)(ii) to read as follows: §1.401–1 Qualified pension, profit-sharing, and stock bonus plans. ***** (b) * * * (1)(i) * * * (ii)***See§§1.72–15,1.72–16,and 1.402(a)–1(e) for rules regarding the tax treatment of incidental life or accident or health insurance. Par. 7. Section 1.402(a)–1 is amended by removing the last two sentences of para- graph (a)(1)(ii) and adding a new sentence in their place and by adding a new para- graph (e) to read as follows: §1.402(a)–1 Taxability of beneficiary under a trust which meets the requirements of section 401(a). (a)***(1)(i)*** (ii)***Paragraph(e)ofthissection provides rules relating to use of a qualified pension, annuity, profit-sharing, or stock bonus plan to provide accident or health benefits or coverage otherwise described in section 104, 105, or 106. ***** (e)Medical, accident, etc., benefits paid from a qualified pension, annuity, profit-sharing, or stock bonus plan—(1) Payment of premiums—(i)General rule. The payment of premiums from a quali- fied trust for accident or health insurance, including a qualified long-term care insur- ance contract under section 7702B, con- stitutes a distribution under section 402(a) to the participant against whose benefit the premium is charged. The amount of the distribution equals the amount of the premium charged against the participant’s benefits under the plan. If a defined con- tribution plan pays these premiums from a current year contribution or forfeiture that has not been allocated to a participant’s account, then the amount of the premium for each participant will be treated as first being allocated to the participant and then charged against the participant’s benefits under the plan, so that the amount of the distribution is treated in the same manner as determined under the preceding sen- tence. Except as described in paragraphs (e)(2) and (3) of this section, a distribution described in this paragraph (e)(1) is not excludable from gross income. (ii)Treatment of amounts received through accident or health insurance. To the extent that the premium for ac- cident or health insurance constitutes a distribution under this paragraph (e)(1), amounts received through accident or health insurance are neither attributable to contributions by the employer which are not includible in the gross income of theemployeenoraresuchamountspaid by the employer. Accordingly, amounts received through the accident or health insurance for personal injuries or sickness are excludable from gross income under section 104(a)(3) and are not treated as distributions from the plan. If amounts received through accident or health in- surance are paid to the plan instead of the employee, these amounts are treated as having been paid to the employee and then contributed by the employee to the plan (and these amounts must satisfy the qualification requirements applicable to employee contributions). (2)Medical benefits for retired employ- ees provided under an account described in section 401(h). The payment of medi- cal benefits described in section 401(h) un- der a pension or annuity plan is treated in the same manner as a payment of accident or health benefits attributable to employer contributions, or employer-provided cov- erage under an accident or health plan. See §1.401–14(a) for the definition of medi- cal benefits described in section 401(h). Accordingly, amounts applied for the pay- ment of accident or health benefits, or for the payment of accident or health cover- age, from a section 401(h) account are not includible in the gross income of the par- ticipant on whose behalf such contribu- tions are made to the extent they are ex- cludible from gross income under section 104, 105, or 106. (3)Distributions to eligible retired pub- lic safety officers. See section 402(l) for a limited exclusion from gross income for distributions used to pay for certain acci- dent or health premiums (including premi- ums for qualified long-term care insurance contracts). This limited exclusion applies to eligible retired public safety officers, as defined in section 402(l)(4)(B). (4)Effect of making a distribution of in- surance premiums on qualification.See §1.401–1(b)(1) for rules concerning the types and amount of medical coverage and benefits that are permitted to be provided under a plan that is part of a trust de- scribedinsection401(a). Forexample, §1.401–1(b)(1)(ii) provides that a profit- sharing plan is primarily a plan of de- ferred compensation,but the amounts al- located to the account of a participant may be used to provide incidental accident or health insurance for the participant and the participant’s family. See also, section 401(k)(2)(B) for certain restrictions on the distribution of elective contributions. (5)Application of this paragraph (e). This paragraph (e) applies to the payment of premiums charged against the benefits 2007–39 I.R.B.718September 24, 2007 of a beneficiary or an alternate payee in the same manner as the payment of premi- ums charged against the account of a par- ticipant. (6)Example. The provisions of this paragraph (e) are illustrated by the follow- ing example: Example.(i)Facts. Employer sponsors a profit- sharing plan qualified under section 401(a). The plan provides solely for non-elective employer profit-shar- ing contributions. The plan’s trustee enters into a contract with a third-party insurance carrier to pro- vide health insurance for certain plan participants. The insurance policy provides for the payment of medical expenses incurred by those participants. The plan limits the amounts used to provide medical ben- efits with respect to a participant to 25 percent of the funds held in the participant’s account. The trustee makes monthly payments of $1,000 to pay the pre- miums due for Participant A’s health insurance. The trustee also reduces Participant A’s account balance by $1,000 at the time of each premium payment. In June of a year, Participant A is admitted to the hospi- tal for covered medical care, and in July of the same year, the health insurer pays the hospital $5,000 for the medical care provided to Participant A in June. (ii)Conclusion. Under paragraph (e)(1) of this section, each of the trustee’s payments of $1,000 con- stitutes a distribution under section 402(a) to Partic- ipant A on the date of each payment. To the extent provided under section 213, the amount of these dis- tributions constitutes payments for medical care. The $5,000 payment to the hospital is excludable from Participant A’s gross income under section 104(a)(3) and is not treated as a distribution from the plan. Par. 8. Section 1.402(c)–2 is amended by redesignating paragraphs A–4(g) and A–4(h) as paragraphs A–4(h) and A–4(i) and adding a new paragraph A–4(g) to read as follows: §1.402(c)–2 Eligible rollover contributions; questions and answers. ***** A–4: * * * (g) Distributions of premiums for accident or health insurance under §1.402(a)–1(e). ***** Par. 9. Section 1.403(a)–1 is amended by revising paragraph (g) to read as fol- lows: §1.403(a)–1 Taxability of beneficiary under a qualified annuity plan. ***** (g) The rules of §1.402(a)–1(e) apply for purposes of determining the treatment of amounts paid to provide accident and health insurance benefits. Par. 10. Section 1.403(b)–6 is amended by adding a sentence following the first sentence of paragraph (g) to read as fol- lows: §1.403(b)–6 Timing of distributions and benefits. *****(g)Death benefits and other incidental benefits. ***Therulesof §1.402(a)–1(e) apply for purposes of de- termining when incidental benefits are treated as distributed and included in gross income. See §§1.72–15 and 1.72–16. *** ***** Linda E. Stiff, Acting Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement. (Filed by the Office of the Federal Register on August 10, 2007, 8:45 a.m., and published in the issue of the Federal Register for August 20, 2007, 72 F.R. 46421) Employer Comparable Contributions to Health Savings Accounts Under Section 4980G; Hearing Cancellation Announcement 2007–85 AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury. ACTION: Cancellation of notice of public hearing on proposed rulemaking. SUMMARY: This document cancels a public hearing on proposed regulations (REG–143797–06, 2007–26 I.R.B. 1495) providing guidance on employer com- parable contributions to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). DATES: The public hearing, originally scheduled for September 28, 2007 at 10 a.m. is cancelled. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelly Banks of the Publi- cations and Regulations Branch, Legal Processing Division, Associate Chief Counsel (Procedure and Administration) at (202) 622–0392 (not a toll-free num- ber). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A notice of proposed rulemaking and notice of public hearing that appeared in theFed- eral Registeron Friday, June 1, 2007 (72 FR 30501), announced that a public hear- ing was scheduled for September 28, 2007, at 10 a.m. in the IRS Auditorium, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Av- enue, NW, Washington, DC. The subject of the public hearing is under section 4980G of the Internal Revenue Code. The public comment period for these regulations expired on August 30, 2007. The notice of proposed rulemaking and no- tice of public hearing instructed those in- terested in testifying at the public hearing to submit a request to speak and an out- line of the topics to be addressed by August 28, 2007. As of September 6, 2007, no one has requested to speak and therefore, the public hearing scheduled for Septem- ber 28, 2007, is cancelled. LaNita Van Dyke, Branch Chief, Publications and Regulations Branch, Legal Processing Division, Associate Chief Counsel (Procedure and Administration). (Filed by the Office of the Federal Register on September 12, 2007, 8:45 a.m., and published in the issue of the Federal Register for September 13, 2007, 72 F.R. 52319) Deletions From Cumulative List of Organizations Contributions to Which are Deductible Under Section 170 of the Code Announcement 2007–86 The names of organizations that no longer qualify as organizations described in section 170(c)(2) of the Internal Rev- enue Code of 1986 are listed below. Generally, the Service will not disallow deductions for contributions made to a listed organization on or before the date of announcement in the Internal Revenue Bulletinthatanorganizationnolonger qualifies. However, the Service is not precluded from disallowing a deduction for any contributions made after an or- ganization ceases to qualify under section 170(c)(2) if the organization has not timely filed a suit for declaratory judgment under September 24, 20077192007–39 I.R.B. section 7428 and if the contributor (1) had knowledge of the revocation of the ruling or determination letter, (2) was aware that such revocation was imminent, or (3) was in part responsible for or was aware of the activities or omissions of the organization that brought about this revocation. If on the other hand a suit for declara- tory judgment has been timely filed, con- tributions from individuals and organiza- tions described in section 170(c)(2) that are otherwise allowable will continue to be deductible. Protection under section 7428(c) would begin on September 24, 2007, and would end on the date the court first determines that the organization is not described in section 170(c)(2) as more par- ticularly set forth in section 7428(c)(1). For individual contributors, the maximum deduction protected is $1,000, with a hus- band and wife treated as one contributor. This benefit is not extended to any indi- vidual, in whole or in part, for the acts or omissions of the organization that were the basis for revocation. Museum of American Piano Bangor, PA Transitional Living Collaborative Moraga, CA Ken-Ray, Incorporated Orem, UT DreamHome Foundation Sherwood, OR Creativity Innovation Productivity Incorporated DBA Horizon Event Foundation Highwood, MT Community Fellowship for Battered Women of Silicon Valley, Inc. San Jose, CA Alta Crossing, Inc. Nampa, ID Home Buyers Assistance Foundation, Inc. Denver, CO International Housing Solutions, Inc. Sacramento, CA Filipino American Community Development Council, Inc. San Jose, CA 2007–39 I.R.B.720September 24, 2007 Definition of Terms Revenue rulings and revenue procedures (hereinafter referred to as “rulings”) that have an effect on previous rulings use the following defined terms to describe the ef- fect: Amplifieddescribes a situation where no change is being made in a prior pub- lished position, but the prior position is be- ingextendedtoapplytoavariationofthe fact situation set forth therein. Thus, if an earlier ruling held that a principle ap- plied to A, and the new ruling holds that the same principle also applies to B, the earlier ruling is amplified. (Compare withmodi- fied,below). Clarifiedis used in those instances where the language in a prior ruling is be- ing made clear because the language has caused, or may cause, some confusion. It is not used where a position in a prior ruling is being changed. Distinguisheddescribes a situation where a ruling mentions a previously pub- lished ruling and points out an essential difference between them. Modifiedis used where the substance of a previously published position is being changed. Thus, if a prior ruling held that a principle applied to A but not to B, and the new ruling holds that it applies to both A and B, the prior ruling is modified because it corrects a published position. (Compare withamplifiedandclarified, above). Obsoleteddescribes a previously pub- lished ruling that is not considered deter- minative with respect to future transac- tions. This term is most commonly used in a ruling that lists previously published rul- ings that are obsoleted because of changes in laws or regulations. A ruling may also be obsoleted because the substance has been included in regulations subsequently adopted. Revokeddescribes situations where the position in the previously published ruling is not correct and the correct position is beingstatedinanewruling. Supersededdescribes a situation where the new ruling does nothing more than re- state the substance and situation of a previ- ously published ruling (or rulings). Thus, the term is used to republish under the 1986 Code and regulations the same po- sition published under the 1939 Code and regulations. The term is also used when it is desired to republish in a single rul- ing a series of situations, names, etc., that were previously published over a period of time in separate rulings. If the new rul- ing does more than restate the substance of a prior ruling, a combination of terms is used. For example,modifiedandsu- persededdescribes a situation where the substance of a previously published ruling is being changed in part and is continued without change in part and it is desired to restate the valid portion of the previously published ruling in a new ruling that is self contained. In this case, the previously pub- lished ruling is first modified and then, as modified, is superseded. Supplementedis used in situations in which a list, such as a list of the names of countries, is published in a ruling and that list is expanded by adding further names in subsequent rulings. After the original rul- ing has been supplemented several times, a new ruling may be published that includes the list in the original ruling and the ad- ditions, and supersedes all prior rulings in the series. Suspendedis used in rare situations to show that the previous published rul- ings will not be applied pending some future action such as the issuance of new or amended regulations, the outcome of cases in litigation, or the outcome of a Service study. Abbreviations The fol lowing abbreviations in current use and for merly used will appear in material publis hedintheBulletin. A—Individual. Acq.—A cquiescence. B—Individual. BE—Beneficiary. BK—Bank . B.T.A.—Board of Tax Appeals. C—Individual. C.B.—Cu mulative Bulletin. CFR—Code of Federal Regulations. CI—City. COOP—Coo perative. Ct.D.—Court Decision. CY—County. D—Decede nt. DC—Dummy Corporation. DE—Donee. Del. Order —Delegation Order. DISC—Domestic International Sales Corporation. DR—Donor. E—Estate. EE—Employee. E.O.—Executive Order. ER—Emp loyer. ERISA—Employee Retirement Income Security Act. EX—Executor. F—Fiduc iary. FC—Foreign Country. FICA—Federal Insurance Contributions Act. FISC—Fo reign International Sales Company. FPH—Foreign Personal Holding Company. F.R.—Federal Register. FUTA—Fed eral Unemployment Tax Act. FX—Foreign corporation. G.C.M.—Chief Counsel’s Memorandum. GE—Grante e. GP—General Partner. GR—Grantor. IC—Insura nce Company. I.R.B.—Internal Revenue Bulletin. LE—Lessee. LP—Limited Partner. LR—Lessor. M—Minor. Nonacq.—No nacquiescence. O—Organization. P—Parent Corporation. PHC—Persona l Holding Company. PO—Possession of the U.S. PR—Partner. PRS—Pa rtnership. PTE—Prohibited Transaction Exemption. Pub. L.—Public Law. REIT—Re al Estate Investment Trust. Rev. Proc.—Revenue Procedure. Rev. Rul.—Revenue Ruling. S—Subsi diary. S.P.R.—Statement of Procedural Rules. Stat.—Statutes at Large. T—Target Corporation. T.C.—Tax Court. T.D.—Treasury Decision. TFE—Trans feree. TFR—Transferor. T.I.R.—Technical Information Release. TP—Taxpay er. TR—Trust. TT—Trustee. U.S.C.—Uni ted States Code. X—Corporation. Y—Corporation. Z—Corporat ion. September 24, 2007i2007–39 I.R.B. Numerical Finding List 1 Bulletins 2007–27 through 2007–39 Announcements: 2007-61, 2007-28 I.R.B.84 2007-62, 2007-29 I.R.B.115 2007-63, 2007-30 I.R.B.236 2007-64, 2007-29 I.R.B.125 2007-65, 2007-30 I.R.B.236 2007-66, 2007-31 I.R.B.296 2007-67, 2007-32 I.R.B.345 2007-68, 2007-32 I.R.B.348 2007-69, 2007-33 I.R.B.371 2007-70, 2007-33 I.R.B.371 2007-71, 2007-33 I.R.B.372 2007-72, 2007-33 I.R.B.373 2007-73, 2007-34 I.R.B.435 2007-74, 2007-35 I.R.B.483 2007-75, 2007-36 I.R.B.540 2007-76, 2007-36 I.R.B.560 2007-77, 2007-38 I.R.B.662 2007-78, 2007-38 I.R.B.663 2007-80, 2007-38 I.R.B.667 2007-81, 2007-38 I.R.B.667 2007-85, 2007-39 I.R.B.719 2007-86, 2007-39 I.R.B.719 Notices: 2007-54, 2007-27 I.R.B.12 2007-55, 2007-27 I.R.B.13 2007-56, 2007-27 I.R.B.15 2007-57, 2007-29 I.R.B.87 2007-58, 2007-29 I.R.B.88 2007-59, 2007-30 I.R.B.135 2007-60, 2007-35 I.R.B.466 2007-61, 2007-30 I.R.B.140 2007-62, 2007-32 I.R.B.331 2007-63, 2007-33 I.R.B.353 2007-64, 2007-34 I.R.B.385 2007-65, 2007-34 I.R.B.386 2007-66, 2007-34 I.R.B.387 2007-67, 2007-35 I.R.B.467 2007-68, 2007-35 I.R.B.468 2007-69, 2007-35 I.R.B.468 2007-71, 2007-35 I.R.B.472 2007-72, 2007-36 I.R.B.544 2007-73, 2007-36 I.R.B.545 2007-74, 2007-37 I.R.B.585 2007-75, 2007-39 I.R.B.679 Proposed Regulations: REG-121475-03, 2007-35 I.R.B.474 REG-128274-03, 2007-33 I.R.B.356 REG-114084-04, 2007-33 I.R.B.359 REG-149036-04, 2007-33 I.R.B.365 Proposed Regulations— Continued: REG-149036-04, 2007-34 I.R.B.411 REG-101001-05, 2007-36 I.R.B.548 REG-119097-05, 2007-28 I.R.B.74 REG-128843-05, 2007-37 I.R.B.587 REG-142695-05, 2007-39 I.R.B.681 REG-147171-05, 2007-32 I.R.B.334 REG-148951-05, 2007-36 I.R.B.550 REG-163195-05, 2007-33 I.R.B.366 REG-118886-06, 2007-37 I.R.B.591 REG-128224-06, 2007-36 I.R.B.551 REG-138707-06, 2007-32 I.R.B.342 REG-139268-06, 2007-34 I.R.B.415 REG-142039-06, 2007-34 I.R.B.415 REG-144540-06, 2007-31 I.R.B.296 REG-148393-06, 2007-39 I.R.B.714 REG-103842-07, 2007-28 I.R.B.79 REG-116215-07, 2007-38 I.R.B.659 REG-118719-07, 2007-37 I.R.B.593 Revenue Procedures: 2007-42, 2007-27 I.R.B.15 2007-43, 2007-27 I.R.B.26 2007-44, 2007-28 I.R.B.54 2007-45, 2007-29 I.R.B.89 2007-46, 2007-29 I.R.B.102 2007-47, 2007-29 I.R.B.108 2007-48, 2007-29 I.R.B.110 2007-49, 2007-30 I.R.B.141 2007-50, 2007-31 I.R.B.244 2007-51, 2007-30 I.R.B.143 2007-52, 2007-30 I.R.B.222 2007-53, 2007-30 I.R.B.233 2007-54, 2007-31 I.R.B.293 2007-55, 2007-33 I.R.B.354 2007-56, 2007-34 I.R.B.388 2007-57, 2007-36 I.R.B.547 2007-58, 2007-37 I.R.B.585 2007-60, 2007-39 I.R.B.679 Revenue Rulings: 2007-42, 2007-28 I.R.B.44 2007-43, 2007-28 I.R.B.45 2007-44, 2007-28 I.R.B.47 2007-45, 2007-28 I.R.B.49 2007-46, 2007-30 I.R.B.126 2007-47, 2007-30 I.R.B.127 2007-48, 2007-30 I.R.B.129 2007-49, 2007-31 I.R.B.237 2007-50, 2007-32 I.R.B.311 2007-51, 2007-37 I.R.B.573 2007-52, 2007-37 I.R.B.575 2007-53, 2007-37 I.R.B.577 2007-54, 2007-38 I.R.B.604 2007-55, 2007-38 I.R.B.604 2007-56, 2007-39 I.R.B.668 Revenue Rulings— Continued: 2007-57, 2007-36 I.R.B.531 2007-58, 2007-37 I.R.B.562 2007-59, 2007-37 I.R.B.582 2007-60, 2007-38 I.R.B.606 Tax Conventions: 2007-75, 2007-36 I.R.B.540 Treasury Decisions: 9326, 2007-31 I.R.B.242 9327, 2007-28 I.R.B.50 9328, 2007-27 I.R.B.1 9329, 2007-32 I.R.B.312 9330, 2007-31 I.R.B.239 9331, 2007-32 I.R.B.298 9332, 2007-32 I.R.B.300 9333, 2007-33 I.R.B.350 9334, 2007-34 I.R.B.382 9335, 2007-34 I.R.B.380 9336, 2007-35 I.R.B.461 9337, 2007-35 I.R.B.455 9338, 2007-35 I.R.B.463 9339, 2007-35 I.R.B.437 9340, 2007-36 I.R.B.487 9341, 2007-35 I.R.B.449 9342, 2007-35 I.R.B.451 9343, 2007-36 I.R.B.533 9344, 2007-36 I.R.B.535 9345, 2007-36 I.R.B.523 9346, 2007-37 I.R.B.570 9347, 2007-38 I.R.B.624 9348, 2007-37 I.R.B.563 9349, 2007-39 I.R.B.668 9350, 2007-38 I.R.B.607 9351, 2007-38 I.R.B.616 9352, 2007-38 I.R.B.621 9355, 2007-37 I.R.B.577 9356, 2007-39 I.R.B.675 1 A cumulative list of all revenue rulings, revenueprocedures, Treasury decisions, etc., publishedin Internal Revenue Bulletins 2007–1 through 2007–26 is in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2007–26, dated June 25, 2007. 2007–39 I.R.B.iiSeptember 24, 2007 Finding List of Current Actions on Previously Published Items 1 Bulletins 2007–27 through 2007–39 Announcements: 84-26 Obsoleted by T.D. 9336, 2007-35 I.R.B.461 84-37 Obsoleted by T.D. 9336, 2007-35 I.R.B.461 Notices: 89-110 Modified by REG-142695-05, 2007-39 I.R.B.681 99-6 Obsoleted as of January 1, 2009 by T.D. 9356, 2007-39 I.R.B.675 2002-45 Modified by REG-142695-05, 2007-39 I.R.B.681 2003-81 Modified and supplemented by Notice 2007-71, 2007-35 I.R.B.472 2006-43 Modified by T.D. 9332, 2007-32 I.R.B.300 2006-56 Clarified by Notice 2007-74, 2007-37 I.R.B.585 2006-89 Modified by Notice 2007-67, 2007-35 I.R.B.467 2007-3 Modified by Notice 2007-69, 2007-35 I.R.B.468 2007-26 Modified by Notice 2007-56, 2007-27 I.R.B.15 Proposed Regulations: EE-16-79 Withdrawn by REG-142695-05, 2007-39 I.R.B.681 EE-130-86 Withdrawn by REG-142695-05, 2007-39 I.R.B.681 REG-243025-96 Withdrawn by REG-142695-05, 2007-39 I.R.B.681 Proposed Regulations— Continued: REG-117162-99 Withdrawn by REG-142695-05, 2007-39 I.R.B.681 REG-157711-02 Corrected by Ann. 2007-74, 2007-35 I.R.B.483 REG-119097-05 Hearing location change by Ann. 2007-81, 2007-38 I.R.B.667 REG-109367-06 Hearing scheduled by Ann. 2007-66, 2007-31 I.R.B.296 REG-143601-06 Corrected by Ann. 2007-71, 2007-33 I.R.B.372 REG-143797-06 Cancellation of hearing by Ann. 2007-85, 2007-39 I.R.B.719 REG-103842-07 Corrected by Ann. 2007-77, 2007-38 I.R.B.662 Revenue Procedures: 90-27 Superseded by Rev. Proc. 2007-52, 2007-30 I.R.B.222 95-28 Superseded by Rev. Proc. 2007-54, 2007-31 I.R.B.293 97-14 Modified and superseded by Rev. Proc. 2007-47, 2007-29 I.R.B.108 2002-9 Modified and amplified by Rev. Proc. 2007-48, 2007-29 I.R.B.110 Rev. Proc. 2007-53, 2007-30 I.R.B.233 2004-42 Superseded by Notice 2007-59, 2007-30 I.R.B.135 2005-16 Modified by Rev. Proc. 2007-44, 2007-28 I.R.B.54 2005-27 Superseded by Rev. Proc. 2007-56, 2007-34 I.R.B.388 2005-66 Clarified, modified, and superseded by Rev. Proc. 2007-44, 2007-28 I.R.B.54 2006-25 Superseded by Rev. Proc. 2007-42, 2007-27 I.R.B.15 Revenue Procedures— Continued: 2006-27 Modified by Rev. Proc. 2007-49, 2007-30 I.R.B.141 2006-33 Superseded by Rev. Proc. 2007-51, 2007-30 I.R.B.143 2006-53 Modified by Rev. Proc. 2007-60, 2007-39 I.R.B.679 2006-55 Superseded by Rev. Proc. 2007-43, 2007-27 I.R.B.26 2007-4 Modified by Notice 2007-69, 2007-35 I.R.B.468 2007-15 Superseded by Rev. Proc. 2007-50, 2007-31 I.R.B.244 Revenue Rulings: 54-378 Clarified by Rev. Rul. 2007-51, 2007-37 I.R.B.573 67-93 Obsoleted by T.D. 9347, 2007-38 I.R.B.624 69-141 Modified by REG-142695-05, 2007-39 I.R.B.681 74-299 Amplified by Rev. Rul. 2007-48, 2007-30 I.R.B.129 75-425 Obsoleted by Rev. Rul. 2007-60, 2007-38 I.R.B.606 76-450 Obsoleted by T.D. 9347, 2007-38 I.R.B.624 78-257 Obsoleted by T.D. 9347, 2007-38 I.R.B.624 78-369 Revoked by Rev. Rul. 2007-53, 2007-37 I.R.B.577 89-96 Amplified by Rev. Rul. 2007-47, 2007-30 I.R.B.127 92-17 Modified by Rev. Rul. 2007-42, 2007-28 I.R.B.44 1 A cumulative list of current actions on previously published items in Internal Revenue Bulletins 2007–1 through 2007–26 is in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2007–26, dated June 25, 2007. September 24, 2007iii2007–39 I.R.B. Revenue Rulings— Continued: 94-62 Supplemented by Rev. Rul. 2007-58, 2007-37 I.R.B.562 2001-48 Modified by T.D. 9332, 2007-32 I.R.B.300 2002-41 Modified by REG-142695-05, 2007-39 I.R.B.681 2003-102 Modified by REG-142695-05, 2007-39 I.R.B.681 2005-24 Modified by REG-142695-05, 2007-39 I.R.B.681 2006-36 Modified by REG-142695-05, 2007-39 I.R.B.681 2007-59 Amplified by Notice 2007-74, 2007-37 I.R.B.585 Treasury Decisions: 8073 Removed by T.D. 9349, 2007-39 I.R.B.668 9321 Corrected by Ann. 2007-68, 2007-32 I.R.B.348 Ann. 2007-78, 2007-38 I.R.B.663 9330 Corrected by Ann. 2007-80, 2007-38 I.R.B.667 2007–39 I.R.B.ivSeptember 24, 2007 INDEX Internal Revenue Bulletins 2007–27 through 2007–39 The abbreviation and number in parenthesis following the index entry refer to the specific item; numbers in roman and italic type following the parenthesis refers to the Internal Revenue Bulletin in which the item may be found and the page number on which it appears. Key to Abbreviations: AnnAnnouncement CDCourt Decision DODelegation Order EOExecutive Order PLPublic Law PTEProhibited Transaction Exemption RPRevenue Procedure RRRevenue Ruling SPRStatement of Procedural Rules TCTax Convention TDTreasury Decision TDOTreasury Department Order EMPLOYEE PLANS Bona fide severance pay plan under section 457(e)(11) and sub- stantial risk of forfeiture under section 457(f) (Notice 62) 32, 331 Cafeteria plans under section 125, guidance (REG–142695–05) 39,681 Determination letters, staggered remedial amendments (RP 44) 28,54 Disclosure requirements with respect to prohibited tax shelter transactions (TD 9335) 34,380 Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS), cor- rection program (RP 49) 30,141 Form 5500, Schedule P, elimination (Ann 63) 30,236 Full funding limitations, weighted average interest rate for: July 2007 (Notice 61) 30,140 August 2007 (Notice 68) 35,468 September 2007 (Notice 75) 39,679 Indian tribal government, Pension Protection Act of 2006 (Notice 67) 35,467 Individual retirement accounts (IRAs), deemed IRAs in govern- mental plans/qualified nonbank trustee rules (TD 9331) 32, 298 Mortality tables for determining present value, correction to REG–143601–06 (Ann 71) 33,372 Nonexempt employees’ trusts,income and employment tax con- sequences (RR 48) 30,129 Nonqualified deferred compensation plans, application of sec- tion 409A, correction to TD 9321 (Ann 68) 32,348; additional correctiontoTD9321(Ann78)38,663 Proposed Regulations: 26 CFR 1.72–15, amended; 1.105–4, –6, removed; 1.106–1, amended; 1.401–1, amended; 1.402(a)–1, amended; 1.402(c)–2, amended; 1.403(a)–1, amended; 1.403(b)–6, EMPLOYEE PLANS—Cont. amended; medical and accident insurance benefits under qualified plans (REG–148393–06) 39,714 26 CFR 1.125–0, –1, –2, –5, –6, –7, added; employee benefits – cafeteria plans (REG–142695–05) 39,681 26 CFR 1.430(h)(3)–2, amended;mortality tables for deter- mining present value, correction to REG–143601–06 (Ann 71) 33,372 26 CFR 1.6033–5, added; 53.4965–1 thru –9, added; 53.6071–1,amended;54.6011–1,amended; 301.6011(g)–1, added; 301.6033–5, added; excise taxes on prohibited tax shelter transactions and related dis- closure requirements, disclosure requirements with respect to prohibited tax shelter transactions, requirement of return and time for filing (REG–142039–06; REG–139268–06) 34,415 Qualified retirement plans: Pension plans, normal retirement age (Notice 69) 35,468 Pre-approved defined benefitplans, GUST amendments (Ann 61) 28,84 Regulations: 26 CFR 1.402(b)–1, amended; 1.402(g)(3)–1, added; 1.402A–1, revised; 1.403(b)–0, added; 1.403(b)–1, –2, –3, revised; 1.403(b)–4 thru –11, added; 1.403(d)–1, removed; 1.414(c)–5 redesignated as 1.414(c)–6; new 1.414(c)–5, added; 602.101, amended; revised regulations concerning section 403(b) tax-sheltered annuity contracts (TD 9340) 36,487 26 CFR 1.408–2(e)(8), revised; 1.408–2T, removed; deemed IRAs in governmental plans/qualified nonbank trustee rules (TD 9331) 32,298 26 CFR 1.409A–1, –2, –3, –6, amended; application of sec- tion 409A to nonqualified deferred compensation plans; correctiontoTD9321(Ann78)38,663 26 CFR 1.6033–5T, added; 301.6033–5T, added; disclosure requirements with respect to prohibited tax shelter transac- tions (TD 9335) 34,380 26 CFR 53.6011–1, amended; 53.6071–1, amended; 53.6071–1T, added; 54.6011–1, –1T, amended; require- ment of return and time for filing (TD 9334) 34,382 Requirement of return and time for filing with respect to section 4965 taxes (TD 9334) 34,382; (REG–142039–06) 34,415; (REG–139268–06) 34,415 Tax-sheltered annuities, section 403(b) contracts (TD 9340) 36, 487 Terminations and partial terminations, turnover of employees, presumption (RR 43) 28,45 Use of qualified plan amounts to pay health insurance premiums (REG–148393–06) 39,714 EMPLOYMENT TAX American Jobs Creation Act (AJCA), modifications to the sec- tion 6011 regulations (TD 9350) 38,607 Disregarded entities, employment and excise taxes (TD 9356) 39,675 September 24, 2007v2007–39 I.R.B. EMPLOYMENT TAX—Cont. Liens, changes to office to whichnotices of nonjudicial sale and requests for return of wrongfully levied property must be sent (TD 9344) 36,535; (REG–148951–05) 36,550 Nonexempt employees’ trusts,income and employment tax con- sequences (RR 48) 30,129 Penalties, transitional relief for the return preparer penalty pro- visions under section 6694 (Notice 54) 27,12 Proposed Regulations: 26 CFR 301.6343–2, amended; 301.7425–3, amended; changes to office to which notices of nonjudicial sale and requests for return of wrongfully levied property must be sent (REG–148951–05) 36,550 Publications: 1141, General Rules and Specifications for Substitute Forms W-2 and W-3, revised (RP 43) 27,26 4436, General Rules and Specifications for Substitute Form 941 and Schedule B (Form 941), revised (RP 42) 27,15 Regulations: 26 CFR 1.34–1, revised; 1.34–2 thru –6, removed; 1.1361–4, –6, amended; 301.7701–2, amended; disregarded entities, employment and excise taxes (TD 9356) 39,675 26 CFR 1.6011–4, revised; 1.6011–4T, removed; 20.6011–4, revised; 25.6011–4, revised; 31.6011–4, revised; 53.6011–4, revised; 54.6011–4, revised; 56.6011–4, revised; AJCA modifications to the section 6011 regula- tions (TD 9350) 38,607 26 CFR 31.3402(f)(2)–1,(f)(5)–1,amended; 31.3402(f)(2)–1T, (f)(5)–1T, removed; withholding exemptions (TD 9337) 35,455 26 CFR 301.6343–2, amended; 301.6343–2T, added; 301.7425–3, amended; 301.7425–3T, added; changes to office to which notices of nonjudicial sale and requests for return of wrongfully levied property must be sent (TD 9344) 36,535 Substitute forms: W-2 and W-3, general rules and specifications (RP 43) 27,26 941 and Schedule B (Form 941), general rules and specifica- tions (RP 42) 27,15 Withholding exemptions (TD 9337) 35,455 ESTATE TAX American Jobs Creation Act (AJCA), modifications to the sec- tion 6011 regulations (TD 9350) 38,607 Charitable lead annuity trust (CLAT): Inter vivos, sample forms (RP 45) 29,89 Testamentary, sample form (RP 46) 29,102 Generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax: Qualified severance of a trust (TD 9348) 37,563 Severance of a trust for GST tax purposes II (REG–128843–05) 37,587 Grantor retained interest trusts,application of sections 2036 and 2039 (REG–119097–05) 28,74; hearing location change (Ann 81) 38,667 ESTATE TAX—Cont. Interest rates for 2007, farm real property, special use value (RR 45) 28,49 Liens, changes to office to which notices of nonjudicial sale and requests for return of wrongfully levied property must be sent (TD 9344) 36,535; (REG–148951–05) 36,550 Penalties, transitional relief for the return preparer penalty pro- visions under section 6694 (Notice 54) 27,12 Proposed Regulations: 26 CFR 20.2036–1, amended; 20.2039–1, amended; grantor retained interest trusts-application of sections 2036 and 2039 (REG–119097–05) 28,74; hearing location change (Ann 81) 38,667 26 CFR 26.2600–1, amended; 26.2642–6, amended; 26.2654–1, amended; severance of a trust for gen- eration-skipping transfer (GST) tax purposes II (REG–128843–05) 37,587 26 CFR 301.6343–2, amended; 301.7425–3, amended; changes to office to which notices of nonjudicial sale and requests for return of wrongfully levied property must be sent (REG–148951–05) 36,550 Regulations: 26 CFR 1.1001–1, amended; 26.2600–1, amended; 26.2642–6, added; 26.2654–1, amended; 602.101, amended; qualified severance of a trust for genera- tion-skipping transfer (GST) tax purposes (TD 9348) 37, 563 26 CFR 1.6011–4, revised; 1.6011–4T, removed; 20.6011–4, revised; 25.6011–4, revised; 31.6011–4, revised; 53.6011–4, revised; 54.6011–4, revised; 56.6011–4, revised; AJCA modifications to the section 6011 regula- tions (TD 9350) 38,607 26 CFR 301.6343–2, amended; 301.6343–2T, added; 301.7425–3, amended; 301.7425–3T, added; changes to office to which notices of nonjudicial sale and requests for return of wrongfully levied property must be sent (TD 9344) 36,535 EXCISE TAX American Jobs Creation Act (AJCA), modifications to the sec- tion 6011 regulations (TD 9350) 38,607 Disclosure requirements with respect to prohibited tax shelter transactions (TD 9335) 34,380 Disregarded entities, employment and excise taxes (TD 9356) 39,675 Liens, changes to office to which notices of nonjudicial sale and requests for return of wrongfully levied property must be sent (TD 9344) 36,535; (REG–148951–05) 36,550 Penalties, transitional relief for the return preparer penalty pro- visions under section 6694 (Notice 54) 27,12 Proposed Regulations: 26 CFR 1.6033–5, added; 53.4965–1 thru –9, added; 53.6071–1,amended;54.6011–1,amended; 301.6011(g)–1, added; 301.6033–5, added; excise taxes on prohibited tax shelter transactions and related dis- 2007–39 I.R.B.viSeptember 24, 2007 EXCISE TAX—Cont. closure requirements, disclosure requirements with respect to prohibited tax shelter transactions, requirement of return and time for filing (REG–142039–06; REG–139268–06) 34,415 26 CFR 301.6343–2, amended; 301.7425–3, amended; changes to office to which notices of nonjudicial sale and requests for return of wrongfully levied property must be sent (REG–148951–05) 36,550 Regulations: 26 CFR 1.34–1, revised; 1.34–2 thru –6, removed; 1.1361–4, –6, amended; 301.7701–2, amended; disregarded entities, employment and excise taxes (TD 9356) 39,675 26 CFR 1.6011–4, revised; 1.6011–4T, removed; 20.6011–4, revised; 25.6011–4, revised; 31.6011–4, revised; 53.6011–4, revised; 54.6011–4, revised; 56.6011–4, revised; AJCA modifications to the section 6011 regula- tions (TD 9350) 38,607 26 CFR 1.6033–5T, added; 301.6033–5T, added; disclosure requirements with respect to prohibited tax shelter transac- tions (TD 9335) 34,380 26 CFR 48.4081–1, –3, –5, amended; 48.4081–1T, –3T, re- moved; 602.101, amended; entry of taxable fuel (TD 9346) 37,570 26 CFR 53.6011–1, amended; 53.6071–1, amended; 53.6071–1T, added; 54.6011–1, –1T, amended; require- ment of return and time for filing (TD 9334) 34,382 26 CFR 301.6343–2, amended; 301.6343–2T, added; 301.7425–3, amended; 301.7425–3T, added; changes to office to which notices of nonjudicial sale and requests for return of wrongfully levied property must be sent (TD 9344) 36,535 Requirement of return and time for filing with respect to section 4965 taxes (TD 9334) 34,382; (REG–142039–06) 34,415; (REG–139268–06) 34,415 Taxable fuel, entry into the United States (TD 9346) 37,570 EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS American Jobs Creation Act (AJCA), modifications to the sec- tion 6011 regulations (TD 9350) 38,607 Disclosure requirements with respect to prohibited tax shelter transactions (TD 9335) 34,380 Information and materials made available for public inspection (REG–116215–07) 38,659 Letter rulings and determination letters, exemption application determination letter rulings under sections 501 and 521 (RP 52) 30,222 List of organizations classifiedas private foundations (Ann 67) 32,345 Proposed Regulations: 26 CFR 1.6033–5, added; 53.4965–1 thru –9, added; 53.6071–1,amended;54.6011–1,amended; 301.6011(g)–1, added; 301.6033–5, added; excise taxes on prohibited tax shelter transactions and related dis- closure requirements, disclosure requirements with respect EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS—Cont. to prohibited tax shelter transactions, requirement of return and time for filing (REG–142039–06; REG–139268–06) 34,415 26 CFR 301.6104(a)–1, amended; 301.6110–1, amended; public inspection of material relating to tax-exempt orga- nizations (REG–116215–07) 38,659 Regulations: 26 CFR 1.402(b)–1, amended; 1.402(g)(3)–1, added; 1.402A–1, revised; 1.403(b)–0, added; 1.403(b)–1, –2, –3, revised; 1.403(b)–4 thru –11, added; 1.403(d)–1, removed; 1.414(c)–5 redesignated as 1.414(c)–6; new 1.414(c)–5, added; 602.101, amended; revised regulations concerning section 403(b) tax-sheltered annuity contracts (TD 9340) 36,487 26 CFR 1.6011–4, revised; 1.6011–4T, removed; 20.6011–4, revised; 25.6011–4, revised; 31.6011–4, revised; 53.6011–4, revised; 54.6011–4, revised; 56.6011–4, revised; AJCA modifications to the section 6011 regula- tions (TD 9350) 38,607 26 CFR 1.6033–5T, added; 301.6033–5T, added; disclosure requirements with respect to prohibited tax shelter transac- tions (TD 9335) 34,380 26 CFR 53.6011–1, amended; 53.6071–1, amended; 53.6071–1T, added; 54.6011–1, –1T, amended; require- ment of return and time for filing (TD 9334) 34,382 Requirement of return and time for filing with respect to section 4965 taxes (TD 9334) 34,382; (REG–142039–06) 34,415; (REG–139268–06) 34,415 Revocations (Ann 64) 29,125;(Ann65)30,236; (Ann 69) 33, 371; (Ann 73) 34,435; (Ann 76) 36,560; (Ann 86) 39,719 Suspension of tax-exempt statusof organizations identified with terrorism (Ann 70) 33,371 Tax-sheltered annuities, section 403(b) contracts (TD 9340) 36, 487 GIFT TAX American Jobs Creation Act (AJCA), modifications to the sec- tion 6011 regulations (TD 9350) 38,607 Charitable lead annuity trust (CLAT), inter vivos, sample forms (RP 45) 29,89 Liens, changes to office to which notices of nonjudicial sale and requests for return of wrongfully levied property must be sent (TD 9344) 36,535; (REG–148951–05) 36,550 Penalties, transitional relief for the return preparer penalty pro- visions under section 6694 (Notice 54) 27,12 Proposed Regulations: 26 CFR 301.6343–2, amended; 301.7425–3, amended; changes to office to which notices of nonjudicial sale and requests for return of wrongfully levied property must be sent (REG–148951–05) 36,550 Regulations: 26 CFR 1.6011–4, revised; 1.6011–4T, removed; 20.6011–4, revised; 25.6011–4, revised; 31.6011–4, revised; 53.6011–4, revised; 54.6011–4, revised; 56.6011–4, September 24, 2007vii2007–39 I.R.B. GIFT TAX—Cont. revised; AJCA modifications to the section 6011 regula- tions (TD 9350) 38,607 26 CFR 301.6343–2, amended; 301.6343–2T, added; 301.7425–3, amended; 301.7425–3T, added; changes to office to which notices of nonjudicial sale and requests for return of wrongfully levied property must be sent (TD 9344) 36,535 INCOME TAX Accounting methods: Automatic consent to change, Advance Trade Discount Method (RP 53) 30,233 Safe harbor method of accounting for rotable spare parts (RP 48) 29,110 Accounts and notes receivable,section 1221(a)(4) capital asset exclusion, hearing (Ann 66) 31,296 Agent for a consolidated group with foreign common parent (TD 9343) 36,533 American Jobs Creation Act (AJCA): Modifications to the section 6011 regulations (TD 9350) 38, 607 Modifications to the section 6111 regulations (TD 9351) 38, 616 Modifications to the section 6112 regulations (TD 9352) 38, 621 Cafeteria plans under section 125, removal of temporary regula- tions TD 8073 (TD 9349) 39,668 Charitable contribution of real property, deduction (Notice 72) 36,544 Charitable lead annuity trust (CLAT): Inter vivos, sample forms (RP 45) 29,89 Testamentary, sample form (RP 46) 29,102 Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) loans, tax treatment and information reporting of repayments (Notice 63) 33,353 Corporations: Consolidated returns, unified rule for loss on subsidiary stock, correction to REG–157711–02 (Ann 74) 35,483 Corporate reorganizations: Active trade or business requirement for spin offs, distri- butions under section 355 (Notice 60) 35,466 Spin offs, distributions under section 355 (RR 42) 28,44 Estimated tax payments by corporations (TD 9347) 38,624 Exclusions from gross income of foreign corporations (TD 9332) 32,300; (REG–138707–06) 32,342 Information returns required with respect to certain foreign corporations and certain foreign-owned domestic corpora- tions (TD 9338) 35,463 Real estate investment trust (REIT) distributions subject to section 897(h)(1) (Notice 55) 27,13 Section 382 treatment of prepaid income under built-in gain provisions of section 382(h) (TD 9330) 31,239; correction (Ann 80) 38,667; (REG–144540–06) 31,296 INCOME TAX—Cont. Credits: Clean renewable energy bonds, volume cap, change of ad- dress (Notice 56) 27,15 Enhanced oil recovery credit, 2007 inflation adjustment (No- tice 64) 34,385 Low-income housing credit: Carryovers to qualified states, 2007 National Pool (RP 55) 33,354 Guidance on application of the qualified contract provi- sions of section 42 (REG–114084–04) 33,359 Guidance on temporary relief of certain section 42 require- ments as a result of major disasters declared by the Pres- ident (RP 54) 31,293 Satisfactory bond, “bond factor” amounts for the period: January through September 2007 (RR 46) 30,126 Time extension for restoration of certain low-income hous- ing credit projects located within the Gulf Opportunity Zone damaged by Hurricane Katrina (Notice 66) 34,387 Utility allowances under section 42 (REG–128274–03) 33, 356 Overpayments, tax liabilities: Outstanding amounts, bankruptcy (RR 52) 37,575 Unassessed amounts, notice of deficiency (RR 51) 37,573 Disciplinary actionsinvolving attorneys,certified public accoun- tants, enrolled agents, and enrolled actuaries (Ann 72) 33,373 Disclosure of returns and return information in connection with written contracts or agreements for the acquisition of property or services for tax administrative purposes (TD 9327) 28,50 Electronic filing and burden reduction, guidance (TD 9329) 32, 312 Entertainment use of business aircraft (REG–147171–05) 32, 334 Estates or trusts, section 67 limitations (REG–128224–06) 36, 551 Financial services income under section 904(d), request for com- ments (Notice 58) 29,88 Forms: 1096, 1098, 1099, 5498, W-2G, and 1042-S, substitute form specifications (RP 50) 31,244 1098, 1099, 5498 and W-2G, requirements for filing electron- ically or magnetically, 2007 revision (RP 51) 30,143 1118, Foreign Tax Credit – Corporations, comments requested on proposed revisions (Ann 62) 29,115 Gambling winnings, reporting requirements (RP 57) 36,547 Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), employer comparable contri- butions to HSAs under section 4980G, cancellation of hearing on REG–143797–06 (Ann 85) 39,719 Hurricane Katrina filers, time for filing postponed to April 15, 2007, extension of time (Notice 74) 37,585 Inflation adjusted amounts under section 179 of the Code, cor- rection (RP 60) 39,679 2007–39 I.R.B.viiiSeptember 24, 2007 INCOME TAX—Cont. Insurance companies: Diversification requirements under section 817 (REG–118719–07) 37,593 Inevitable future costs as insurance risk (RR 47) 30,127 Life insurance, reserves for variable life insurance contracts and required interest under section 807(d)(2) (RR 54) 38, 604 Minimum effectively connectedincome, foreign insurance company, guidance regarding computation of amount (RP 58) 37,585 Treatment of certain nondiversified contracts, qualified pen- sion or retirement contracts (RR 58) 37,562 Interest: Investment: Federal short-term, mid-term, and long-term rates for: July 2007 (RR 44) 28,47 August 2007 (RR 50) 32,311 September 2007 (RR 57) 36,531 Rates: Underpayments and overpayments, quarter beginning: October 1, 2007 (RR 56) 39,668 Suspension of interest: General rules and exceptions (REG–149036–04) 34,411 Listed transactions (TD 9333) 33,350; (REG–149036–04) 33,365 Liens, changes to office to whichnotices of nonjudicial sale and requests for return of wrongfully levied property must be sent (TD 9344) 36,535; (REG–148951–05) 36,550 Life-nonlife tacking rule, taxable years of members of consoli- dated groups (TD 9342) 35,451 Listed transaction, loss importation transaction (Notice 57) 29, 87 Losses, deductions for abandoned stock or securities (REG–101001–05) 36,548 Marginal production rates, 2007 (Notice 65) 34,386 Nonexempt employees’ trusts,income and employment tax con- sequences (RR 48) 30,129 Partnerships, subpart F income (TD 9326) 31,242 Payment card transactions, procedure for payment card organi- zation to obtain Qualified Payment Card Agent (QPCA) deter- mination (Notice 59) 30,135 Penalties, transitional relief for the return preparer penalty pro- visions under section 6694 (Notice 54) 27,12 Presidentially declared disaster: Or combat zone, postponement of certain acts (RP 56) 34,388 Time for filing return (RR 59) 37,582 Private foundations, organizations now classified as (Ann 67) 32, 345 Proposed Regulations: 26 CFR 1.42–10, –12, amended; section 42 utility allowance regulations update (REG–128274–03) 33,356 26 CFR 1.42–18, added; section 42 qualified contract provi- sions (REG–114084–04) 33,359 26 CFR 1.61–21, amended; 1.274–9, –10, added; de- ductions for entertainment use of business aircraft (REG–147171–05) 32,334 INCOME TAX—Cont. 26 CFR 1.67–4, added; section 67 limitations on estates or trusts (REG–128224–06) 36,551 26 CFR 1.165–5, amended; losses for abandoned stock or securities (REG–101001–05) 36,548 26 CFR 1.199–3, –7, –8, amended; qualified films under sec- tion 199 (REG–103842–07) 28,79; correction (Ann 77) 38, 662 26 CFR 1.382–7, added; built-in gains and losses under sec- tion 382(h) (REG–144540–06) 31,296 26 CFR 1.817–5, amended; diversification requirements for variable annuity, endowment, and life insurance contracts (REG–118719–07) 37,593 26 CFR 1.883–0 thru –5, amended; exclusions from gross income of foreign corporations (REG–138707–06) 32,342 26 CFR 1.1397E–1, amended; qualified zone academy bonds, obligations of states and political subdivisions (REG–121475–03) 35,474 26 CFR 1.1502–13, –32, –35, –36, revised; unified rule for loss on subsidiary stock, correction to REG–157711–02 (Ann 74) 35,483 26 CFR 1.6411–2, –3, revised; clarification to section 6411 regulations (REG–118886–06) 37,591 26 CFR 31.3406(g)–1(f), amended; 301.6724–1, amended; information reporting and backup withholding for payment card transactions (REG–163195–05) 33,366 26 CFR 301.6343–2, amended; 301.7425–3, amended; changes to office to which notices of nonjudicial sale and requests for return of wrongfully levied property must be sent (REG–148951–05) 36,550 26 CFR 301.6404–0, amended; 301.6404–4, added; applica- tion of section 6404(g) of the Code suspension provisions (REG–149036–04) 33,365; (REG–149036–04) 34,411 Publications: 1141, General Rules and Specifications for Substitute Forms W-2 and W-3, revised (RP 43) 27,26 1179, General Rules and Specifications for Substitute Forms 1096, 1098, 1099, 5498, W-2G, and 1042-S, update (RP 50) 31,244 1220, Specifications for Filing Forms 1098, 1099, 5498 and W-2G Electronically or Magnetically, 2007 revision (RP 51) 30,143 4436, General Rules and Specifications for Substitute Form 941 and Schedule B (Form 941), revised (RP 42) 27,15 Qualified films under section 199 (REG–103842–07) 28,79;cor- rection (Ann 77) 38,662 Qualified Payment Card Agent (QPCA), payment card transac- tions (REG–163195–05) 33,366 Qualified zone academy bonds, obligations ofstates and political subdivisions (TD 9339) 35,437; (REG–121475–03) 35,474 Regulations: 26 CFR 1.56–0, amended; 1.56–1(e)(4), revised; 1.6154–1 thru –5, removed; 1.6425–2(a), revised; 1.6425–3, amended; 1.6655–0, –4, –5, –6, added; 1.6655–1, –2, –3, revised; 1.6655–7, removed; 1.6655–5 redesignated as 1.6655–7; new 1.6655–7, revised; 301.6154–1, removed; September 24, 2007ix2007–39 I.R.B. INCOME TAX—Cont. 301.6655–1, revised; 602.101, amended; corporate esti- mated tax (TD 9347) 38,624 26 CFR 1.125–2T, removed; employee benefits – cafeteria plans (TD 9349) 39,668 26 CFR 1.302–2, –4, amended; 1.302–2T, –4T, removed; 1.331–1, amended; 1.331–1T, removed; 1.332–6, added; 1.322–6T, removed; 1.338–0, –10, amended; 1.338–10T, removed; 1.351–3, added; 1.351–3T, removed; 1.355–0, amended; 1.355–5, added; 1.355–5T, removed; 1.368–3, added; 1.368–3T, removed; 1.381(b)–1, amended; 1.381(b)–1T, removed; 1.382–1, –8, amended; 1.382–8T, –11T, removed; 1.382–11, added; 1.1081–11, added; 1.1081–11T, removed; 1.1221–2, amended; 1.1221–2T, removed; 1.1502–13, –31, –32, –33, –90, –95, amended; 1.1502–13T, –31T, –32T, –33T, –95T, removed; 1.1563–3, amended; 1.1563–3T, removed; 1.6012–2, amended; 1.6012–2T, removed; guidance necessary to facilitate busi- ness electronic filing and burden reduction (TD 9329) 32, 312 26 CFR 1.367(b)–2, amended; 1.367(b)–4(d), revised; 1.1248–1, –2, –3, –7, revised; 1.1248–8, added; section 1248 attribution principles (TD 9345) 36,523 26 CFR 1.382–7T, added; built-in gains and losses under sec- tion 382(h) (TD 9330) 31,239; correction (Ann 80) 38,667 26 CFR 1.402(b)–1, amended; 1.402(g)(3)–1, added; 1.402A–1, revised; 1.403(b)–0, added; 1.403(b)–1, –2, –3, revised; 1.403(b)–4 thru –11, added; 1.403(d)–1, removed; 1.414(c)–5 redesignated as 1.414(c)–6; new 1.414(c)–5, added; 602.101, amended; revised regulations concerning section 403(b) tax-sheltered annuity contracts (TD 9340) 36,487 26 CFR 1.475–0, amended; 1.475(a)–4, added; 1.475(e)–1, redesignated as 1.475(g)–1; 1.475(g)–1, amended; 602.101, amended; safe harbor for valuation under section 475 (TD 9328) 27,1 26 CFR 1.883–0, thru –5, amended; 1.883–0T thru –5T, added; 602.101, amended; exclusions from gross income of foreign corporations (TD 9332) 32,300 26 CFR 1.954–2, amended; 1.954–2T, removed; guidance un- der subpart F relating to partnerships (TD 9326) 31,242 26 CFR 1.1397E–1, amended; 1.1397E–1T, added; 602.101, amended; qualified zoneacademy bonds, obligations of states and political subdivisions (TD 9339) 35,437 26 CFR 1.1502–19, –80, amended; 1.1502–19T, –80T, re- moved; treatment of excess loss accounts (TD 9341) 35, 449 26 CFR 1.1502–47, –76, amended; 1.1502–47T, –76T, re- moved; amendment of tacking rule requirements of life- nonlife consolidated regulations (TD 9342) 35,451 26 CFR 1.1502–77, amended; 1.1502–77T, removed; agent for a consolidated group with foreign common parent (TD 9343) 36,533 26 CFR 1.6011–4, revised; 1.6011–4T, removed; 20.6011–4, revised; 25.6011–4, revised; 31.6011–4, revised; 53.6011–4, revised; 54.6011–4, revised; 56.6011–4, INCOME TAX—Cont. revised; AJCA modifications to the section 6011 regula- tions (TD 9350) 38,607 26 CFR 1.6012–2, amended; return required by subchapter T cooperatives under section 6012 (TD 9336) 35,461 26 CFR 1.6038–2, amended; 1.6038–2T, revised; 1.6038A–2, amended; information returns required with respect to cer- tain foreign corporations and certain foreign-owned domes- tic corporations (TD 9338) 35,463 26 CFR 1.6411–2, –3, amended; 1.6411–2T, –3T, added; clar- ification of section 6411 regulations (TD 9355) 37,577 26 CFR 301.6103(n)–1, revised; disclosure of returns and re- turn information in connection with written contracts or agreements for the acquisition of property or services for tax administration purposes (TD 9327) 28,50 26 CFR 301.6111–3, added; 301.6111–3T, removed; AJCA modifications to the section 6111 regulations (TD 9351) 38, 616 26 CFR 301.6112–1, revised; AJCA modifications to the sec- tion 6112 regulations (TD 9352) 38,621 26 CFR 301.6343–2, amended; 301.6343–2T, added; 301.7425–3, amended; 301.7425–3T, added; changes to office to which notices of nonjudicial sale and requests for return of wrongfully levied property must be sent (TD 9344) 36,535 26 CFR 301.6404–0T, –4T, added; application of section 6404(g) of the Code suspension provisions (TD 9333) 33, 350 Research agreements, private business use (RP 47) 29,108 Revenue rulings, RR 75–425 obsolete (RR 60) 38,606 Revocations, exempt organizations (Ann 64) 29,125; (Ann 65) 30,236;(Ann69)33,371; (Ann 73) 34,435;(Ann76)36, 560; (Ann 86) 39,719 Safe harbor for valuation under section 475 for dealers in secu- rities and commodities (TD 9328) 27,1 Stocks: Attribution of earnings and profits to stock of controlled for- eign corporations (TD 9345) 36,523 Post-grantrestrictionsaddedtopreviouslyvestedstock(RR 49) 31,237 Standard Industry Fare Level (SIFL) formula (RR 55) 38,604 Subchapter T cooperatives, return required under section 6012 (TD 9336) 35,461 Substitute forms: W-2 and W-3, general rules and specifications (RP 43) 27,26 941 and Schedule B (Form 941), general rules and specifica- tions (RP 42) 27,15 1096, 1098, 1099, 5498, W-2G, and 1042-S, rules and speci- fications (RP 50) 31,244 Suspension of tax-exempt statusof organizations identified with terrorism (Ann 70) 33,371 Of tax-exempt status of organizations identified with terror- ism (Ann 70) 33,371 Tax avoidance transaction involving foreign currency options (Notice 71) 35,472 2007–39 I.R.B.xSeptember 24, 2007 INCOME TAX—Cont. Tax conventions, U.S.-Netherlands, qualification of certain pen- sion and other employee benefit arrangements (Ann 75) 36, 540 Tax-sheltered annuities, section 403(b) contracts (TD 9340) 36, 487 Tentative allowance of refund (RR 53) 37,577 Tentative carryback adjustment under section 6411, clarification relating to the computation and allowance (TD 9355) 37,577; (REG–118886–06) 37,591 Transaction of interest: Contribution of successor member interest (Notice 72) 36, 544 Identification of toggling grantor trust (Notice 73) 36,545 Treatment of excess loss accounts (TD 9341) 35,449 SELF-EMPLOYMENT TAX Liens, changes to office to whichnotices of nonjudicial sale and requests for return of wrongfully levied property must be sent (TD 9344) 36,535; (REG–148951–05) 36,550 Proposed Regulations: 26 CFR 301.6343–2, amended; 301.7425–3, amended; changes to office to which notices of nonjudicial sale and requests for return of wrongfully levied property must be sent (REG–148951–05) 36,550 Regulations: 26 CFR 301.6343–2, amended; 301.6343–2T, added; 301.7425–3, amended; 301.7425–3T, added; changes to office to which notices of nonjudicial sale and requests for return of wrongfully levied property must be sent (TD 9344) 36,535 September 24, 2007xi2007–39 I.R.B. 2007–39 I.R.B.September 24, 2007 September 24, 20072007–39 I.R.B. 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