IRS to Consolidate 51 Information-Return Forms Under Single OMB Control Number; NRC Affirms Reactor-Design Rule

IRS Information-Return Consolidation

The Department of the Treasury will submit an information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, on or after the date of publication of the notice. The public is invited to submit comments, which should be received on or before November 23, 2026 to be assured of consideration.

At the center of the submission is a structural change in how the Internal Revenue Service accounts for the paperwork burden imposed by information returns. The IRS currently uses a methodology known as the RAAS Taxpayer Burden Model, which the agency describes as based on taxpayers' tax reporting experience, taking into account the forms and schedules used by those taxpayers and the recordkeeping and other activities needed to complete those forms. According to the notice, this model supersedes the prior methodology — the legacy Arthur D. Little (ADL) model developed in the mid-1980s — which estimated burden on a form-by-form, line-by-line basis. The notice explains that the ADL model was designed for an era in which almost all tax returns were prepared manually, either by the taxpayer or a paid preparer. Because information returns are increasingly being prepared using software or with preparer assistance, the IRS states that estimating burden on a form-by-form basis is no longer an appropriate method, and that the RAAS model provides a much more accurate and useful estimate of taxpayer burden.

The practical consequence of this methodological shift is a consolidation of OMB approvals. Currently, there are 51 forms used by information return issuers when complying with Federal tax laws, including Forms 1098, 1099-B, 1099-DA, 1099-DIV, 1099-INT, 1099-MISC, 1099-NEC, 1099-R, 5498, W-9, and their schedules. For most of these forms, the IRS has in the past obtained separate OMB approval under unique OMB Control Numbers with separate burden estimates. Under the new approach, the IRS will seek OMB approval of all 51 information reporting tax forms as a single "collection of information." The aggregate burden of these tax forms will be accounted for under OMB Control Number 1545-0108, which is currently assigned to Form 1096, and that control number will be displayed on all information returns and related information collections going forward.

The notice notes that under the PRA and OMB regulations, agencies have the discretion to seek separate OMB approvals or to combine related forms, recordkeeping requirements, and third-party disclosure requirements under one OMB Control Number, with decisions based largely on considerations of administrative practicality. The IRS states that this transition represents its continued effort to improve the ability of IRS to measure the burden imposed on various groups of taxpayers by the Federal tax system. The notice also clarifies that inclusion or exclusion of forms in this collection is not a legal determination that a form is or is not an information return as defined by Section 7434, and that the term "information return" is used only as a general description of the most prevalent forms by filing numbers included in the collection.

NRC Affirms Final Rule on Previously Authorized Reactor Designs

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) held an Affirmation Session on October 22, 2026, via teleconference, to affirm a final rule concerning NRC Reviews of Reactor Designs Previously Authorized by the U.S. Department of Energy or Department of War (RIN 3150-AL60). The Commission determined, by a vote of 5-0 on October 19 and October 20, 2026, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b(e)(1) and 10 CFR 9.107, that this item be affirmed with less than one week's notice to the public. The meeting was held as a public meeting, open to the public via teleconference in listen-only mode.

What to Watch

• November 23, 2026: Deadline for public comments to be assured of consideration on the Treasury/IRS OMB information collection submission regarding the consolidation of all 51 information return forms under OMB Control Number 1545-0108.

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