26 U.S.C. § 7528 — Internal Revenue Service user fees

Page 3970 TITLE 26—INTERNAL REVENUE CODE § 7528 sion unless such possession elects to have this section be so treated. (C) Administrative expenses of advance pay- ments (i) Mirror code possessions In the case of any possession described in subparagraph (B) which makes the elec- tion described in such subparagraph, the amount otherwise paid by the Secretary to such possession under section 24(k)(1)(A) with respect to taxable years beginning in 2021 shall be increased by $300,000 if such possession has a plan, which has been ap- proved by the Secretary, for making ad- vance payments consistent with such elec- tion. (ii) American Samoa The amount otherwise paid by the Sec- retary to American Samoa under subpara- graph (A) of section 24(k)(3) with respect to taxable years beginning in 2021 shall be increased by $300,000 if the plan described in subparagraph (B) of such section in- cludes a program, which has been approved by the Secretary, for making advance pay- ments under rules similar to the rules of this section. (iii) Timing of payment The Secretary may pay, upon the re- quest of the possession of the United States to which the payment is to be made, the amount of the increase deter- mined under clause (i) or (ii) immediately upon approval of the plan referred to in such clause, respectively. (f) Application No payments shall be made under the program established under subsection (a) with respect to— (1) any period before July 1, 2021, or (2) any period after December 31, 2021. (g) Regulations The Secretary shall issue such regulations or other guidance as the Secretary determines nec- essary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this section and subsections (i)(1) and (j) of section 24, including regulations or other guid- ance which provides for the application of such provisions where the filing status of the tax- payer for a taxable year is different from the status used for determining the annual advance amount. (Added Pub. L. 117–2, title IX, § 9611(b)(1), Mar. 11, 2021, 135 Stat. 146.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section applicable to taxable years beginning after Dec. 31, 2020, see section 9611(c)(1) of Pub. L. 117–2, set out as an Effective Date of 2021 Amendment note under section 24 of this title. ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVANCE PAYMENT PROGRAM Pub. L. 117–2, title IX, § 9611(c)(2), Mar. 11, 2021, 135 Stat. 150, provided that: ‘‘The Secretary of the Treas- ury (or the Secretary’s designee) shall establish the program described in section 7527A of the Internal Rev- enue Code of 1986 as soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act [Mar. 11, 2021], except that the Secretary shall ensure that the timing of the estab- lishment of such program does not interfere with car- rying out section 6428B(g) as rapidly as possible.’’ § 7528. Internal Revenue Service user fees (a) General rule The Secretary shall establish a program re- quiring the payment of user fees for— (1) requests to the Internal Revenue Service for ruling letters, opinion letters, and deter- mination letters, and (2) other similar requests. (b) Program criteria (1) In general The fees charged under the program required by subsection (a)— (A) shall vary according to categories (or subcategories) established by the Secretary, (B) shall be determined after taking into account the average time for (and difficulty of) complying with requests in each category (and subcategory), and (C) shall be payable in advance. (2) Exemptions, etc. (A) In general The Secretary shall provide for such ex- emptions (and reduced fees) under such pro- gram as the Secretary determines to be ap- propriate. (B) Exemption for certain requests regarding pension plans The Secretary shall not require payment of user fees under such program for requests for determination letters with respect to the qualified status of a pension benefit plan maintained solely by 1 or more eligible em- ployers or any trust which is part of the plan. The preceding sentence shall not apply to any request— (i) made after the later of— (I) the fifth plan year the pension ben- efit plan is in existence, or (II) the end of any remedial amend- ment period with respect to the plan be- ginning within the first 5 plan years, or (ii) made by the sponsor of any prototype or similar plan which the sponsor intends to market to participating employers. (C) Definitions and special rules For purposes of subparagraph (B)— (i) Pension benefit plan The term ‘‘pension benefit plan’’ means a pension, profit-sharing, stock bonus, an- nuity, or employee stock ownership plan. (ii) Eligible employer The term ‘‘eligible employer’’ means an eligible employer (as defined in section 408(p)(2)(C)(i)(I)) which has at least 1 em- ployee who is not a highly compensated employee (as defined in section 414(q)) and is participating in the plan. The deter- mination of whether an employer is an eli- gible employer under subparagraph (B) shall be made as of the date of the request described in such subparagraph. Page 3971 TITLE 26—INTERNAL REVENUE CODE § 7529 (iii) Determination of average fees charged For purposes of any determination of av- erage fees charged, any request to which subparagraph (B) applies shall not be taken into account. (3) Average fee requirement The average fee charged under the program required by subsection (a) shall not be less than the amount determined under the fol- lowing table: Average Category Fee Employee plan ruling and opinion ... $250 Exempt organization ruling ............. $350 Employee plan determination ......... $300 Exempt organization determination $275 Chief counsel ruling ......................... $200. (4) Certified professional employer organiza- tions The fee charged under the program in con- nection with the certification by the Sec- retary of a professional employer organization under section 7705 shall be an annual fee not to exceed $1,000 per year. (Added Pub. L. 108–89, title II, § 202(a), Oct. 1, 2003, 117 Stat. 1132; amended Pub. L. 108–357, title VIII, § 891(a), Oct. 22, 2004, 118 Stat. 1644; Pub. L. 110–28, title VIII, § 8244, May 25, 2007, 121 Stat. 200; Pub. L. 113–295, div. B, title II, § 206(f), Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 4071.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2014—Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 113–295 added par. (4). 2007—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 110–28 struck out heading and text of subsec. (c). Text read as follows: ‘‘No fee shall be imposed under this section with respect to re- quests made after September 30, 2014.’’ 2004—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 108–357 substituted ‘‘Sep- tember 30, 2014’’ for ‘‘December 31, 2004’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2014 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 113–295 applicable with re- spect to wages for services performed on or after Janu- ary 1 of the first calendar year beginning more than 12 months after Dec. 19, 2014, see section 206(g)(1) of Pub. L. 113–295, set out as a note under section 3302 of this title. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2004 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 108–357, title VIII, § 891(b), Oct. 22, 2004, 118 Stat. 1644, provided that: ‘‘The amendment made by this section [amending this section] shall apply to re- quests after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 22, 2004].’’ EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2003 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 108–89, title II, § 202(d), Oct. 1, 2003, 117 Stat. 1133, provided that: ‘‘The amendments made by this section [enacting this section, enacting provisions set out as a note under this section, and repealing provi- sions set out as notes under section 7801 of this title] shall apply to requests made after the date of the en- actment of this Act [Oct. 1, 2003].’’ LIMITATIONS Pub. L. 108–89, title II, § 202(c), Oct. 1, 2003, 117 Stat. 1133, provided that: ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provi- sion of law, any fees collected pursuant to section 7528 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as added by sub- section (a), shall not be expended by the Internal Rev- enue Service unless provided by an appropriations Act.’’ § 7529. Notification of suspected identity theft (a) In general If the Secretary determines that there has been or may have been an unauthorized use of the identity of any individual, the Secretary shall, without jeopardizing an investigation re- lating to tax administration— (1) as soon as practicable— (A) notify the individual of such deter- mination, (B) provide instructions on how to file a report with law enforcement regarding the unauthorized use, (C) identify any steps to be taken by the individual to permit law enforcement to ac- cess personal information of the individual during the investigation, (D) provide information regarding actions the individual may take in order to protect the individual from harm relating to the un- authorized use, and (E) offer identity protection measures to the individual, such as the use of an identity protection personal identification number, and (2) at the time the information described in paragraph (1) is provided (or, if not available at such time, as soon as practicable there- after), issue additional notifications to such individual (or such individual’s designee) re- garding— (A) whether an investigation has been ini- tiated in regards to such unauthorized use, (B) whether the investigation substan- tiated an unauthorized use of the identity of the individual, and (C) whether— (i) any action has been taken against a person relating to such unauthorized use, or (ii) any referral has been made for crimi- nal prosecution of such person and, to the extent such information is available, whether such person has been criminally charged by indictment or information. (b) Employment-related identity theft (1) In general For purposes of this section, the unauthor- ized use of the identity of an individual in- cludes the unauthorized use of the identity of the individual to obtain employment. (2) Determination of employment-related iden- tity theft For purposes of this section, in making a de- termination as to whether there has been or may have been an unauthorized use of the identity of an individual to obtain employ- ment, the Secretary shall review any informa- tion— (A) obtained from a statement described in section 6051 or an information return relat- ing to compensation for services rendered other than as an employee, or (B) provided to the Internal Revenue Serv- ice by the Social Security Administration