IRS Seeks New Muni And Other Members for Advisory Panel

WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service is calling for applications and nominations to fill two upcoming vacancies on the tax-exempt bonds subcommittee of the Advisory Committee on Tax-Exempt and Government Entities.

New members of the committee, known as the ACT, will be appointed by the Treasury Department and will serve two-year terms that start in June 2015. The terms can be extended for a third year. Committee members present the IRS with "the interested public's observations about current or proposed IRS policies, programs, and procedures, as well as suggest improvements," according to an IRS notice in the Federal Register published Thursday.

The new tax-exempt bond subcommittee members will join Floyd Newton, a partner at King & Spalding in Atlanta, on the three-member team. They will replace Lorraine Tyson, a partner at Pugh, Jones & Johnson in Chicago, and Katherine Newell, director of risk management for the New Jersey Educational Facilities Authority. Newton is currently in his first year on the ACT, and Tyson and Newell are both in their third years.

In June, the subcommittee submitted a report asking the IRS for guidance on management contracts. A project on management contracts has since been added to the Treasury and IRS priority guidance plan. Last year, the subcommittee recommended that the IRS publish documents to provide small issuers and conduit borrowers of small 501(c)(3) bond issues guidance about complying with arbitrage requirements.

The subcommittee hasn't yet settled on the project that it will present next year, Newell said. However, it is hoping to find a project that would allow the IRS to make things more efficient and effective for the agency and members of the bond community, given the fact that the IRS tax-exempt bond office has fewer resources than it used to and issuers and borrowers face paperwork burdens and time constraints, she added.

In addition to the tax-exempt bond team, the ACT also has subcommittees on employee plans; exempt organizations; federal, state and local governments; and Indian tribal governments. Most of those subcommittees will also have at least one vacancy in June 2015.

Applicants should complete Form 12339-C. Individuals and groups affiliated with the areas covered by the committee can submit nominations that detail the nominees' qualifications. Applicants and nominees have to go through a clearance process before they are selected by Treasury. Committee members cannot be federally registered lobbyists, according to the notice.

Applications and nominations must be received by Nov. 3. They can be mailed to Mark O'Donnell, TE/GE Communications and Liaison Director, Internal Revenue Service; 1111 Constitution Ave., NW; SE:T:CL, NCA 676; Washington, DC 20224. They can also be emailed to O'Donnell at Mark.F.O'Donnell@irs.gov or faxed to 877-801-7395.

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