[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 229 (Wednesday, November 27, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 70856-70858]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-28381]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service

26 CFR Part 1

[TD 9642]
RIN 1545-BL48


Information Reporting of Mortgage Insurance Premiums

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury.

ACTION: Final regulations and removal of temporary regulations.

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SUMMARY: This document contains final regulations that require 
information reporting by persons who receive mortgage insurance 
premiums, including prepaid premiums, aggregating $600 or more during 
any calendar year. The final regulations implement reporting 
requirements that result from the extension of the treatment of 
mortgage insurance premiums made by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 
2012. These regulations will affect any person who, in the course of a 
trade or business, receives from an individual mortgage insurance 
premiums that in the aggregate total $600 or more during a calendar 
year.

DATES: Effective Date: These regulations are effective on November 27, 
2013.
    Applicability Date: For dates of applicability, see Sec.  1.6050H-
3(g).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janet Engel Kidd at (202) 317-6844 
(not a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    This document contains amendments to the Income Tax Regulations (26 
CFR part 1) under section 6050H(h) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) 
relating to reporting requirements for mortgage insurance premiums. 
Section 6050H(h)(1), enacted on December 20, 2006, by section 419(c) of 
the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, Public Law 109-432 (120 
Stat. 2967), provides that the Secretary may, by regulations, require 
any person who, in the course of a trade or business, receives payments 
of mortgage insurance premiums from an individual aggregating $600 or 
more during any calendar year to file a return regarding those payments 
in the form, at the time, and containing the information prescribed by 
the Secretary. Under section 6050H(h)(2), on or before January 31 of 
the year following the year in which the premium is received, a person 
required to file an information return under section 6050H(h)(1) must 
send a written statement to the individual to whom the information 
return relates showing the information prescribed by the Secretary. 
Section 6050H(h)(3)(A) provides that rules similar to the rules in 
section 6050H(c), relating to the applicability of the section 6050H 
reporting requirements to governmental units, will apply with respect 
to mortgage insurance premiums. Section 6050H(h)(3)(B) defines the term 
``mortgage insurance'' to mean mortgage insurance provided by the 
Veterans Administration (the predecessor to the Department of

[[Page 70857]]

Veterans Affairs), the Federal Housing Administration, or the Rural 
Housing Administration (the predecessor to the Rural Housing Service), 
and private mortgage insurance (as defined by section 2 of the 
Homeowners Protection Act of 1998) (12 U.S.C. 4901), as in effect on 
the date of enactment of section 6050H(h), which is the same definition 
as ``qualified mortgage insurance'' in section 163(h)(4)(E).
    In general, section 163(h)(3)(E) treats premiums paid for qualified 
mortgage insurance by a taxpayer during the taxable year in connection 
with acquisition indebtedness with respect to a qualified residence as 
qualified residence interest. Prior to amendment in 2013, section 
163(h)(3)(E) was effective for amounts paid or accrued between January 
1, 2007, and December 31, 2011, or properly allocable to any period 
ending on or before December 31, 2011, on mortgage insurance contracts 
issued on or after January 1, 2007. Section 204 of the American 
Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA), Public Law 112-240, 126 Stat. 2313, 
enacted on January 2, 2013, retroactively applied the tax treatment of 
qualified mortgage insurance premiums as qualified residence interest 
for 2012, and it extended that treatment to premiums paid or accrued on 
or before December 31, 2013, or properly allocable to any period ending 
on or before December 31, 2013, on mortgage insurance contracts issued 
on or after January 1, 2007. Unless extended or made permanent by 
further legislation, section 163(h)(3)(E) will not apply to amounts 
paid or accrued after 2013 or properly allocable to any period after 
2013.
    On May 7, 2009, the Treasury Department and the IRS published 
temporary regulations (TD 9449) under section 163 in the Federal 
Register (74 FR 21256) that explained how to allocate prepaid qualified 
mortgage insurance premiums to determine the amount of the prepaid 
premium that is treated as qualified residence interest each taxable 
year. The temporary regulations also provided guidance as to reporting 
requirements under section 6050H(h) to reporting entities receiving 
premiums, including prepaid premiums, for mortgage insurance. On the 
same day, the Treasury Department and the IRS published a notice of 
proposed rulemaking (REG-107271-08) cross-referencing the temporary 
regulations in the Federal Register (74 FR 21295). No public hearing 
was requested or held. No comments responding to the notice of proposed 
rulemaking were received.
    On May 7, 2012, the Treasury Department and the IRS published final 
regulations (TD 9588) in the Federal Register (77 FR 26698) adopting 
the proposed regulations under section 163 relating to the allocation 
of prepaid qualified mortgage insurance premiums, as amended. Those 
final regulations did not finalize the proposed regulations relating to 
the reporting requirements under section 6050H(h) for entities 
receiving mortgage insurance premiums. At that time, the deduction for 
qualified mortgage insurance premiums under section 163 did not apply 
to amounts paid or accrued after December 31, 2011, and the Treasury 
Department and the IRS determined not to require the reporting of 
nondeductible premiums. The temporary regulations on the reporting 
requirements, which were in Sec.  1.6050H-3T, expired on May 4, 2012.

Explanation of Revisions

    The final regulations adopt the proposed regulations under Sec.  
1.6050H-3 with two minor revisions. The first is the addition of new 
paragraph (d), which cross-references Sec.  1.6050H-2 regarding the 
time, form, and manner of reporting qualified mortgage interest. The 
addition of this cross-reference is intended to clarify that rules 
similar to the rules applicable to the time, form, and manner of 
reporting interest received on qualified mortgages apply to amounts 
required to be reported under Sec.  1.6050H-3(a) . For instance, 
mortgage insurance premiums are reported on a Form 1098, ``Mortgage 
Interest Statement,'' if the premiums received from that individual in 
the aggregate total $600 or more.
    The second revision relates to the effective date and applicability 
of these final regulations. On January 2, 2013, ATRA extended section 
163(h) for premiums paid or accrued on or before December 31, 2013, or 
properly allocable to any period ending on or before December 31, 2013, 
on mortgage insurance contracts issued on or after January 1, 2007. In 
addition, ATRA extended section 163(h) retroactively for qualified 
mortgage insurance premiums paid or accrued during 2012. These final 
regulations under Sec.  1.6050H-3 require information reporting for 
mortgage insurance premiums received on or after January 1, 2013, and 
during periods to which section 163(h)(3)(E) is applicable. However, 
there were no final or temporary regulations requiring information 
reporting with respect to qualified mortgage insurance premiums paid or 
accrued during 2012. Therefore, information reporting with respect to 
qualified mortgage insurance premiums was not required for premiums 
paid or accrued during 2012.
    Because information reporting with respect to mortgage insurance 
premiums received during 2012 was not required, no penalty under 
section 6721 or section 6722 will apply with respect to the failure to 
report mortgage insurance premiums received during 2012.
    Further, the fact that an individual did not receive a Form 1098 
reporting the amount of mortgage insurance premiums paid for 2012 does 
not affect whether the individual satisfied the requirements under 
section 163(h) to treat qualified mortgage insurance premiums as 
qualified residence interest. Accordingly, any individual who paid or 
accrued qualified mortgage insurance premiums in the calendar year 
ending December 31, 2012, or properly allocated these premiums to the 
calendar year ending December 31, 2012, on mortgage insurance contracts 
issued on or after January 1, 2007, and who did not previously treat 
those amounts as qualified residence interest, may, within the 
applicable period of limitations, file a Form 1040X, ``Amended U.S. 
Individual Income Tax Return,'' for 2012 to claim a refund based on the 
treatment of those amounts as qualified residence interest.

Special Analyses

    It has been determined that this Treasury decision is not a 
significant regulatory action as defined in Executive Order 12866, as 
supplemented by Executive Order 13563. Therefore, a regulatory 
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 these regulations. It is hereby certified that this rule 
will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of 
small entities. This certification is based on the fact that this rule 
merely reinstates the mortgage insurance information reporting 
requirements on the Form 1098 that previously existed from 2007 through 
2011. In addition, persons receiving mortgage insurance premiums 
already are required to file the Form 1098 to report interest received 
on qualified mortgages and completing the mortgage insurance premiums 
box imposes little or no incremental burden in time or expense. 
Therefore, a Regulatory Flexibility Analysis under the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. Chapter 6) is not required. Pursuant to 
section 7805(f) of the Code, the notice of proposed rulemaking that 
preceded these final regulations was submitted to the Chief Counsel for 
Advocacy of the

[[Page 70858]]

Small Business Administration for comment on its impact on small 
business, and no comments were received.

Drafting Information

    The principal author of these regulations is Janet Engel Kidd, 
Office of the Associate Chief Counsel, Procedure and Administration.

List of Subjects in 26 CFR Part 1

    Income taxes, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

Adoption of Amendments to the Regulations

    Accordingly, 26 CFR part 1 is amended as follows:

PART 1--INCOME TAXES

0
Paragraph 1. The authority citation for part 1 is amended by adding an 
entry in numerical order to read in part as follows:

    Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805 * * *
    Section 1.6050H-3 is also issued under 26 U.S.C. 6050H(h). * * *

0
Par. 2. Section 1.6050H-3 is added to read as follows:


Sec.  1.6050H-3  Information reporting of mortgage insurance premiums.

    (a) Information reporting requirements. Any person who, in the 
course of a trade or business, receives premiums, including prepaid 
premiums, for mortgage insurance (as described in paragraph (b) of this 
section) from any individual aggregating $600 or more for any calendar 
year, must make an information return setting forth the total amount 
received from that individual during the calendar year.
    (b) Scope. Paragraph (a) of this section applies to mortgage 
insurance provided by the Federal Housing Administration, Department of 
Veterans Affairs, or the Rural Housing Service (or their successor 
organizations), or to private mortgage insurance (as defined by section 
2 of the Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 (12 U.S.C. 4901) as in 
effect on December 20, 2006). The rule stated in paragraph (a) of this 
section applies to the receipt of all payments of mortgage insurance 
premiums, by cash or financing, without regard to source.
    (c) Aggregation. Whether a person receives $600 or more of mortgage 
insurance premiums is determined on a mortgage-by-mortgage basis. A 
recipient need not aggregate mortgage insurance premiums received on 
all of the mortgages of an individual to determine whether the $600 
threshold is met. Therefore, a recipient need not report mortgage 
insurance premiums of less than $600 received on a mortgage, even 
though it receives a total of $600 or more of mortgage insurance 
premiums on all of the mortgages for an individual for a calendar year.
    (d) Time, form, and manner of reporting. Mortgage insurance 
premiums required to be reported under paragraph (a) of this section 
must be reported on the Form 1098 or successor form that is filed 
pursuant to Sec.  1.6050H-2(a) with respect to the mortgage of the 
individual who paid the mortgage insurance premiums. For the 
requirements for furnishing statements with respect to Forms 1098 filed 
with the Internal Revenue Service, see Sec.  1.6050H-2(b).
    (e) Cross reference. For rules concerning the allocation of certain 
prepaid qualified mortgage insurance premiums, see Sec.  1.163-11 of 
this chapter.
    (f) Limitation on the reporting of mortgage insurance premiums. 
This section applies to mortgage insurance premiums described in 
paragraph (b) of this section that are paid or accrued on or after 
January 1, 2013, and during periods to which section 163(h)(3)(E) 
applies. This section does not apply to any amounts of mortgage 
insurance premiums that are allocable to any periods to which section 
163(h)(3)(E) does not apply.
    (g) Effective/applicability date. This section applies to mortgage 
insurance premiums received on or after January 1, 2013. For 
regulations applicable before May 5, 2012, see Sec.  1.6050H-3T as 
contained in 26 CFR part 1 (revised as of April 1, 2012).


Sec.  1.6050H-3T  [Removed]

0
Par. 3. Section 1.6050H-3T is removed.

 John M. Dalrymple,
Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement.
    Approved: October 1, 2013.
Mark J. Mazur,
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (Tax Policy).
[FR Doc. 2013-28381 Filed 11-26-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4830-01-P