Did the Department of Treasury recently issue proposed or temporary treasury regulations concerning UBTI?
Tax Professional Answers
The Department of Treasury recently issued proposed treasury regulations on February 6, 2014 that govern how certain organizations that provide employee benefits must calculate Unrelated Business Taxable Income (hereinafter "UBTI"). The Service also withdrew the previous set of proposed treasury regulations in connection to UBTI that were originally published back in 1986.
Your inquiry is highly relevant to distinguish between whether the newly issued treasury regulations were in proposed or in temporary form. It should be duly noted that the Treasury Regulations provide the official interpretations of the Internal Revenue Code by the Treasury Department and have the force and effect of law.
The most common forms of Treasury Regulations include:
Proposed Treasury Regulations (e.g., binding only on the IRS and not the taxpayers);
Temporary and Final Treasury Regulations (e.g., binding on both the IRS and the taxpayers); and
Preambles (e.g., treated tantamount to legislative histories to demonstrate congressional intent and may underlie either type of the aforementioned treasury regulations regardless of status as Proposed, Temporary, or Final).