Notice 2003-75, Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSP) and Resgistered Retirement Income Funds (RRIF) Information Reporting

Part III. Administrative, Procedural, and Miscellaneous
RRSP and RRIF Information
Reporting
Notice 2003–75
SECTION 1. BACKGROUND.
Notice 2003–25, 2003–18 I.R.B. 855,
and Notice 2003–57, 2003–34 I.R.B. 397,
provided guidance to taxpayers regarding their 2002 taxable year information
reporting obligations with respect to
Canadian registered retirement savings
plans (“RRSPs”) and registered retirement income funds (“RRIFs”). These
Notices stated that Treasury and the IRS
intended to develop an alternative, simplified reporting regime for these Canadian
retirement plans for future taxable years.
This notice describes the new simplified
reporting regime that Treasury and the IRS
have developed for taxpayers who hold interests in RRSPs and RRIFs. The new reporting regime, which is effective for taxable years beginning after December 31,
2002, is in lieu of the filing obligations
under section 6048 (Form 3520, Annual
Return to Report Transactions With Foreign Trusts and Receipt of Certain Foreign
Gifts, and Form 3520–A, Annual Information Return of Foreign Trust With a U.S.
Owner) that otherwise apply to U.S. citizens and resident aliens who hold interests
in RRSPs and RRIFs and to the custodians
of such plans. The new simplified reporting regime is designed to permit taxpayers
to meet their reporting obligations by using information that is readily available to
them.
SECTION 2. NEW REPORTING
REGIME.
.01. New Form. Under the authority
of section 6001 of the Internal Revenue
Code, Treasury and the IRS are designing
a new form that a U.S. citizen or resident
alien who holds an interest in an RRSP or
RRIF must complete and attach to his or
her Form 1040. The new form also will
coordinate the reporting rules with the
procedure set forth in section 4 of Revenue Procedure 2002–23, 2002–1 C.B.
744, for making the election under Article
XVIII(7) of the U.S.-Canada income tax

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convention to defer U.S. income taxation
of income accrued in the RRSP or RRIF.
.02. Interim Reporting Rules for Beneficiaries Making the Election to Defer U.S.
Income Taxation on Income of an RRSP or
RRIF. Until the form referred to in section
2.01 of this notice is available, any U.S. citizen or resident alien who is a beneficiary
(as defined in section 2.06 of this notice)
of an RRSP or RRIF and who has made
the election described in section 4 of Revenue Procedure 2002–23 with respect to
the RRSP or RRIF, or who is making such
election effective for the 2003 taxable year
and subsequent taxable years, must
i.
ii.

attach a copy of each such election to
his or her Form 1040;
indicate the balance in each RRSP or
RRIF at the end of the taxable year
either on the copy of the election or by
attaching a copy of a statement issued
by the custodian of the RRSP or RRIF;
and

iii. comply with section 2.05 of this notice if he or she has received any distributions during the taxable year from
such RRSP or RRIF.
.03. Interim Reporting Rules for Beneficiaries Not Making the Election to Defer U.S. Income Taxation on Income of an
RRSP or RRIF. Until the form referred to
in section 2.01 of this notice is available,
any U.S. citizen or resident alien who is a
beneficiary (as defined in section 2.06 of
this notice) of an RRSP or RRIF and who
has not made the election described in section 4 of Revenue Procedure 2002–23 with
respect to the RRSP or RRIF, and who is
not making such election for the 2003 taxable year, must attach a statement to his or
her Form 1040 that includes the following
information:
i.

The caption “CANADIAN RRSP” or
“CANADIAN RRIF,” whichever is
applicable;

ii.

The taxpayer’s name and taxpayer
identification number;

iv. The name and address of the custodian
of the RRSP or RRIF and the plan
account number, if any;
v.

vi. The undistributed earnings of the
RRSP or RRIF during the taxable
year in each of the following categories: interest, dividends, capital
gains, and other;
vii. The total amount of distributions received from the RRSP or RRIF during
the taxable year; and
viii. The balance in the RRSP or RRIF at
the end of the taxable year.
The taxpayer must provide a separate statement for each RRSP or RRIF of which he
or she is a beneficiary. In addition to attaching the statement described in this section 2.03 to his or her Form 1040, the taxpayer must report the undistributed earnings for that taxable year of all such RRSPs
and RRIFs on Schedule B (Interest and Ordinary Dividends) or D (Capital Gains and
Losses), as appropriate, and on line 8a,
9, 13, or 21 of the Form 1040. The taxpayer must also comply with section 2.05
of this notice if the taxpayer has received
any distributions during the taxable year
from such RRSP or RRIF.
.04. Interim Reporting Rules for Annuitants of RRSPs and RRIFs. Until the
form referred to in section 2.01 of this notice is available, if a U.S. citizen or resident alien is an annuitant (as defined in section 2.06 of this notice) under an RRSP or
RRIF that has no beneficiary (as defined in
section 2.06 of this notice), and the annuitant receives a distribution from the RRSP
or RRIF, the annuitant must in the year of
distribution attach a statement to his or her
Form 1040 that includes the following information:
i.

The caption “ANNUITANT UNDER
CANADIAN RRSP” or “ANNUITANT UNDER CANADIAN RRIF,”
whichever is applicable;

ii.

The annuitant’s name and taxpayer
identification number;

iii. The taxpayer’s address;

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The amount of contributions to the
RRSP or RRIF during the taxable
year;

December 15, 2003

iii. The annuitant’s address;
iv. The name and address of the custodian
of the RRSP or RRIF and the plan
account number, if any;
v.

The total amount of distributions received from the RRSP or RRIF during
the taxable year; and

vi. The balance in the RRSP or RRIF at
the end of the taxable year.
The annuitant must provide a separate
statement for each such RRSP or RRIF
from which he or she has received a distribution during the taxable year. The
annuitant must comply with section 2.05
of this notice with respect to such distributions.
.05. Distributions. A U.S. citizen or
resident alien who has received any distributions during the taxable year from
an RRSP or RRIF must report the total
amount of distributions received during
the taxable year from all such RRSPs and
RRIFs on line 16a of the Form 1040 and
the taxable amount of all such distributions (as determined under section 72) on
line 16b of the Form 1040.
.06. Definition of Beneficiary and Annuitant. For purposes of the new simplified reporting regime described in this notice, a beneficiary of an RRSP or RRIF
is an individual who is subject to current
U.S. income taxation on income accrued in
the RRSP or RRIF or would be subject to
such taxation had the individual not made
the election under Article XVIII(7) of the
U.S.-Canada income tax convention to defer U.S. income taxation of income accrued in the RRSP or RRIF. For these purposes, an annuitant of an RRSP or RRIF is
an individual who is designated pursuant
to the RRSP or RRIF as an annuitant.
.07. Record Retention. Taxpayers must
retain supporting documentation relating
to information required by the new reporting regime, including Canadian Forms
T4RSP, T4RIF, or NR4, and periodic or
annual statements issued by the custodian
of the RRSP or RRIF.
SECTION 3. SECTIONS 6048 AND
6677 ARE NOT APPLICABLE
The new simplified reporting regime,
instituted under the authority of section
6001, provides the information needed for

December 15, 2003

tax compliance purposes. Therefore, pursuant to section 6048(d)(4), no reporting
will be required under section 6048 with
respect to RRSPs and RRIFs that have
beneficiaries or annuitants who are subject to the new simplified reporting regime.
Accordingly, the associated penalties described in section 6677 do not apply to
such RRSPs and RRIFs and their beneficiaries or annuitants. A beneficiary or annuitant of an RRSP or RRIF may, however,
be subject to other penalties.
SECTION 4. EFFECT ON OTHER
DOCUMENTS.
Notice 2003–25, Notice 2003–57, and
section II.E of Notice 97–34 (pertaining to
reporting for certain transfers to RRSPs),
1997–1 C.B. 422, are superseded to the
extent inconsistent with this notice.
SECTION 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This notice is effective for taxable years
beginning after December 31, 2002.

of taxpayers who hold interests in RRSPs
and RRIFs. Under the prior regime, the average estimated reporting burden was more
than 50 hours per Form 3520 (more than
100 hours per respondent). In addition,
the new simplified reporting regime eliminates the requirement to file Form 3520–A,
reducing the burden of a custodian by more
than 40 hours per RRSP or RRIF.
Books or records relating to a collection
of information must be retained as long
as their contents may become material in
the administration of any internal revenue
law. Generally, tax returns and tax return
information are confidential, as required
by 26 U.S.C. 6103.
SECTION 7. DRAFTING
INFORMATION.
The principal author of this notice is
Willard W. Yates of the Office of Associate
Chief Counsel (International). For further
information regarding this notice, contact
Willard W. Yates at (202) 622–3880 (not a
toll-free call).

SECTION 6. PAPERWORK
REDUCTION ACT.
The collection of information contained
in this notice has been reviewed and approved by the Office of Management and
Budget in accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3507) under
control number 1545–1865.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor,
and a person is not required to respond
to, a collection of information unless the
collection of information displays a valid
OMB control number.
The collection of information in this notice is in section 2. This information will
be used to compute and collect the right
amount of tax. The likely respondents are
individuals.
The estimated total annual reporting
burden under the new simplified reporting
regime for taxpayers who hold interests in
RRSPs and RRIFs is 1,500,000 hours. The
estimated annual burden per respondent
varies from 0.5 hour to 5 hours, depending
on individual circumstances, with an estimated average of 2 hours. The estimated
number of respondents is 750,000.
The estimated annual frequency of responses is once per respondent per plan.
The new simplified reporting regime
substantially reduces the reporting burden

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Tier 2 Tax Rates for 2004
Notice 2003–78
This notice publishes the tier 2 Railroad Retirement Tax Act (RRTA) tax rates
for 2004 under §§ 3201(b), 3221(b), and
3211(b) of the Internal Revenue Code for
railroad employees, employers, and employee representatives, respectively. For
2004, the tier 2 tax rate on employees is
4.9 percent of compensation and the tier 2
tax rate on employers and employee representatives is 13.1 percent of compensation.
BACKGROUND
Under RRTA, railroad employment is
subject to a separate and distinct system
of taxes from the taxes imposed under
the Federal Insurance Contributions Act
(Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (social security) and Hospital
Insurance (Medicare) taxes), which covers
most other employees. Parts of the RRTA
system are the responsibility of Internal
Revenue Service and parts of the system
are the responsibility of the U. S. Railroad
Retirement Board (RRB), an independent
agency of the Federal Government. The

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