Proposed Discontinuance of the Cumulative Bulletin; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service

Proposed Discontinuance of the Cumulative Bulletin; Comment

Request

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Internal Revenue Bulletin (IRB), the weekly official

publication of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, contains revenue

rulings, revenue procedures, notices, announcements, and other tax

matters. The contents of the weekly bulletins are consolidated

semiannually and reissued in the Cumulative Bulletins. The IRS proposes

to discontinue production of the Cumulative Bulletins after volume

1997-2 (July-December 1997). They duplicate information already

available in the Internal Revenue Bulletins, including the cumulative

listings which appear semiannually. The IRBs can also be obtained

electronically with Internet access. A commercial distributor also

produces a cumulative product similar to the Cumulative Bulletin. The

IRS invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this

opportunity to comment on the proposed discontinuance of the Cumulative

Bulletins.

DATES: Written comments should be received on or before November 2,

1998 to be assured consideration.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Rene Mondesir, Jr., Internal

Revenue Service, OP:FS:FP:P:1, room 5617, 1111 Constitution Avenue,

NW., Washington, DC 20224. You may e-mail Mr. Mondesir at

R[email protected] or send him a fax at (202) 622-5004.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with section 3506(d)(3) of the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13, the IRS is

soliciting comments from the public on the discontinuance of the

Cumulative Bulletins.

Cumulative Bulletins

The Cumulative Bulletins are semiannual publications consolidating

Internal Revenue Bulletins. They span 6-month periods covering January

through June and July through December of each year. The Cumulative

Bulletins are divided into four parts as follows:

Part I--1986 Code, includes rulings and decisions based on

provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;

Part II--Treaties and Tax Legislation, includes revenue rulings

under tax conventions, tax legislation, and related committee reports;

Part III--Administrative, Procedural, and Miscellaneous, includes

revenue procedures, notices, and other miscellaneous material; and

Part IV--Items of General Interest, includes notices of proposed

rulemaking, and the disbarment and suspension list.

The IRS proposes to discontinue the Cumulative Bulletins for the

following reasons:

1. They are compilations of the weekly Internal Revenue Bulletins.

Information in the Cumulative Bulletins is already available to

customers in the Internal Revenue Bulletins. Cumulative listings of

actions relating to court decisions and declaratory judgement

proceedings, as well as an index of items published in the bulletins,

appear in the first weekly issue of the Internal Revenue Bulletins for

January and July of each year.

2. The Internal Revenue Bulletins can be accessed electronically;

therefore, the electronic on-line research option makes a cumulative

format unnecessary.

3. A document comparable to the IRS-produced Cumulative Bulletin is

available commercially for those customers still desiring a cumulative

format.

Approved:

Sheldon D. Schwartz,

National Director, Tax Forms and Publications Division.

[FR Doc. 98-26495 Filed 10-1-98; 8:45 am]

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