As part of the Trump administration’s government-wide push for deregulation and smaller overall workforce, the IRS and the Treasury Department in separate announcements said it is eliminating various forms of guidance and existing regs in coordination with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). (Notice 2025-22; 90 FR 15648, 4/14/2025)
IRS guidance cull. IRS Notice 2025-22, released Monday, identifies nine “extraneous and unnecessary” guidance documents, including previously issued notices, announcements, and revenue rulings. According to the IRS, the move is in-keeping with President Trump’s February 19 executive order to address “overbearing and burdensome” rules and overall “Federal overreach.”
The review is ongoing, the IRS said, as it continues to partner with DOGE and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to “reduce the volume of guidance that taxpayers and their advisors need to review for compliance with the tax laws” and “increase clarity” of the Tax Code.
The nine guidance documents set for elimination is the start of what the IRS expects will be a regulatory cull that will result in “revoking or obsoleting hundreds of similar guidance documents in the near future.”
Specifically, the notice queues the following guidance documents for removal:
- Notice 2015-73, Listing Notice Basket Option Contracts, 2015-46 IRB 660
- Notice 2009-49, Guidance Under 409A(a)(2)(A)(v) on Certain Transactions Pursuant to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, 2009-25 IRB 1093
- Notice 2018-10, Medical Device Excise Tax Deposit Penalty Relief, 2018-8 IRB 359
- Ann. 2013-23, Taxable Medical Devices; Correction, 2013-16 IRB 940
- Ann. 2013-19, Taxable Medical Devices; Correction, 2013-14 IRB 760
- Notice 2015-16, Excise Tax on High Cost Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage, 2015-10 IRB 732
- Notice 2015-52, Section 4980l Excise Tax on High Cost Employer Sponsored Health Coverage, 2015-35 IRB 227
- Notice 2005-64, Foreign Tax Credit and Other Guidance Under Section 965, 2005-36 IRB 471
- Rev Rul 91-32, Partnership Effectively Connected Income Lookthrough, 199-20 IRB 20
Treasury trims the CFR. Treasury the same day also issued a “direct final rule” that “streamlines” titles 12 and 31 of the Code of Federal Regulations by eliminating rules “that are no longer necessary or no longer have any current or future applicability.”
Effective June 15 barring “significant adverse” stakeholder feedback in public comments due May 15, the rule fully repeals or partially revises certain financial, banking, and procedural regs:
- Federal Financing Bank Bills, 12 CFR Part 810
- Book-Entry Procedure for Federal Financing Bank Securities, 12 CFR Part 811
- Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) Standards for Compensation and Corporate Governance, 31 CFR Part 30
- TARP Conflicts of Interest, 31 CFR 31.211-216
- Civil Penalty, 31 CFR 1010.820
Treasury says the rule is pursuant to another Trump order signed earlier in April that directs federal agencies to wind back “unlawful regulations.” The notice states that the proposed rulemaking process does not apply here, meaning a Regulatory Flexibility Act analysis is not required.
“Treasury’s planned actions are a part of President Trump’s bold agenda to unleash American prosperity by reining in burdensome regulations, in particular for small businesses that are the backbone of the American economy,” according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
A theme of deregulation. As also signaled by the IRS, Treasury intends to look for more “now-obsolete regulations dating back many years” to quickly remove from the Code, as well as rules and guidance from the Biden administration.
The Trump administration has already signed a joint resolution passed by Congress under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn a final IRS reg published weeks before Trump took office. Commonly referred to as the “DeFi” or “middleman” regs, the rule established digital asset broker definitions for decentralized digital asset entities subject to broker reporting rules under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Congress used CRA special procedures to pass a measure in both chambers rejecting the rule, which had taken effect for transactions beginning this year. Now that the president has signed the resolution, the rule is no longer in effect and will be treated as if it never had been issued.
Trump and congressional Republicans say they will continue reviewing Biden-era actions to nullify, especially guardrails in the digital asset market.
“This is a big win for good governance,” said House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-MO). To Smith, the DeFi regs “never should have been issued in the first place” and “went beyond the scope of the law.” It “would have subjected small businesses and taxpayers to impossible reporting requirements while forcing them to wade through miles of IRS red tape in the process,” he said.
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