Links to Official IRS Bulletin Documents listed below are in the Adobe Acrobat PDF Format, and require the appropriate Acrobat Reader to view and/or print.

INCOME TAX

Notice 2004-5(PDF, 34K)
Pursuant to the authority granted under section 772(a)(11) of the Code, the Secretary has determined that it is appropriate for a partner of an electing large partnership to take into account separately the partner’s distributive share of the partnership’s dividends received that are qualified dividend income as defined in section 1(h)(11)(B). This requirement is effective for dividends received by a partnership after December 31, 2002.

Rev. Rul. 2004-3(PDF, 69K)
Service partnerships. This ruling provides guidance concerning the application of the U.S.-Germany income tax treaty to a nonresident partner in a service partnership that conducts activities in the United States. It makes clear that a nonresident partner is subject to U.S. income tax on his share of income from the partnership to the extent that such income is attributable to the partnership’s activities in the United States, without regard to whether the partner performs services in the United States. This ruling also applies to other U.S. income tax treaties that have the same or similar provisions as those in the U.S.-Germany treaty.

T.D. 9107(PDF, 740K)
Final regulations under section 263(a) of the Code provide rules for applying section 263(a) to amounts paid to acquire or create intangibles. These regulations also provide rules for applying section 263(a) to amounts paid to facilitate the acquisition of a trade or business, a change in the capital structure of a business entity, and certain other transactions. In addition, these regulations provide safe harbor amortization under section 167(a) for certain intangibles and explain the manner in which taxpayers may deduct debt issuance costs.

Rev. Proc. 2004-14(PDF, 62K)
This document provides procedures under which a corporation’s S status will not be terminated by a direct rollover of stock from its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) to a participant’s individual retirement account (IRA). Rev. Proc. 2003–23 modified and superseded.

Rev. Proc. 2004-15(PDF, 168K)
Minimum funding standards; waivers. This procedure sets forth guidelines for requesting waivers of the minimum funding standards with respect to defined benefit and defined contribution plans subject to section 412 of the Code. Rev. Procs. 2004–4, 2004–5, 2004–6 modified. Rev. Proc. 94–41 superseded.

Rev. Rul. 2004-10(PDF, 70K)
Significant detriment; defined contribution plan; allocation of expenses. This ruling describes the application of the significant detriment rule in regulations section 1.411(a)–11(c)(2)(i) in relationship to the Department of Labor’s Field Assistance Bulletin 2003–3 pertaining to the allocation of expenses in a defined contribution plan.

Rev. Rul. 2004-11(PDF, 123K)
Coverage; special rules; request for comments. This ruling describes the application of the special coverage rule for acquisitions and dispositions in section 410(b)(6)(C) of the Code in a situation involving a defined benefit plan and a profit sharing plan that includes a qualified cash or deferred arrangement under section 401(k)(2). In addition, the ruling holds that a significant change in a plan or in the coverage of a plan during the transition period under section 410(b)(6)(C)(ii) curtails the period effective as of the date of the change and does not make the plan retroactively ineligible to apply section 410(b)(6)(C). Finally, the ruling also asks for comments as to other situations that may arise under section 410(b)(6)(C).

Rev. Rul. 2004-12(PDF, 82K)
Plan qualification; rollovers. This ruling describes a situation where an eligible retirement plan separately accounts for amounts attributable to rollover contributions to the plan. As a result, distributions of those amounts are not subject to the restrictions on permissible timing that apply, under the applicable requirements of the Code, to distributions of other amounts from the plan.

Rev. Rul. 2004-13(PDF, 72K)
Top-heavy status; special rules. This ruling describes four situations where a non-governmental profit-sharing plan contains a cash or deferred arrangement described in section 401(k) of the Code that provides for safe harbor matching contributions. In the first situation, the ruling holds that the requirements of section 416(g)(4)(H) are met for that year. In the other situations, the ruling holds that the contributions do not meet the requirements of section 416(g)(4)(H).

TAX CONVENTIONS

Rev. Rul. 2004-3(PDF, 69K)
Service partnerships. This ruling provides guidance concerning the application of the U.S.-Germany income tax treaty to a nonresident partner in a service partnership that conducts activities in the United States. It makes clear that a nonresident partner is subject to U.S. income tax on his share of income from the partnership to the extent that such income is attributable to the partnership’s activities in the United States, without regard to whether the partner performs services in the United States. This ruling also applies to other U.S. income tax treaties that have the same or similar provisions as those in the U.S.-Germany treaty.

Announcement 2004-10(PDF, 58K)
This document contains corrections to final and temporary regulations (T.D. 9048, 2003–1 C.B. 644) under section 1502 of the Code that redetermine the basis of stock of a subsidiary member of a consolidated group immediately prior to certain transfers of such stock and certain deconsolidations of a subsidiary member and also suspend certain losses recognized on the disposition of stock of a subsidiary member.

Rev. Proc. 2004-14(PDF, 62K)
This document provides procedures under which a corporation’s S status will not be terminated by a direct rollover of stock from its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) to a participant’s individual retirement account (IRA). Rev. Proc. 2003–23 modified and superseded.