Jennifer DePaul

A tax-exempt advisory group to the Internal Revenue Service plans to release a report on June 6 about recent changes the agency has made to forms that bond issuers and nonprofits must file with it.

The Internal Revenue Service has notified the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago that it has closed an audit without changing the tax-exempt status on $346.6 million of general obligation refunding bonds and $50.79 million of GO refunding bonds limited-tax series issued in May 2006.

The National Association of Bond Lawyers and the American Bar Association tax-exempt financing committee are urging the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service to develop guidance on the definition of issue price for tax-exempt bonds, Build America Bonds and other direct-pay tax credit bonds.

House Ways and Means Committee chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., and other Republican leaders hope by summer to have a broad framework for comprehensive tax reform so that they can fast-track it next year.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service's tax-exempt bond office plans to send a letter to several hundred bond issuers that have suffered covenant or payment defaults in recent years, alerting them that certain actions they take could inadvertently trigger a reissuance of the bonds.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that he expects the deficit reduction and tax reform debates will end with results that resemble the recommendations made by the Bowles-Simpson report.

The IRS’s new compliance practice research team will begin circulating a document internally for feedback that will identify red flags for issuers that are likely to occur over the life of a bond issue.

WASHINGTON — The American Bar Association’s taxation section has sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department urging them to update their rules and guidance on management contracts, which are important in determining that certain governmental and 501(c)(3) bonds remain tax-exempt and are not private-activity bonds.

Two members of the House Ways and Means Committee introduced bipartisan legislation that would permanently increase the bank-qualified debt limit to $30 million from $10 million and index it for inflation.

WASHINGTON — One of the goals of House Republican leaders is to pass a bill before the August recess that would extend expired and expiring tax provisions, some of which are muni related, as well as the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, House Ways and Means Committee member Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., said Thursday morning.

President Obama's nominee for assistant secretary of the Treasury Department for financial markets suggested that he is willing to work with lawmakers on developing tax-credit bonds such as the transportation and regional infrastructure project, or TRIP, bonds. Matthew Rutherford has been nominated for the post after serving as deputy assistant secretary for three years.

WASHINGTON — For the first time since before the recession, 29 states and the District of Columbia expect their fiscal year revenues to show modest surpluses, according to a new report.

WASHINGTON — For the first time since before the recession, 29 states and the District of Columbia expect their fiscal year revenues to show modest surpluses, according to a new report.

WASHINGTON — The National Association of Bond Lawyers is urging the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department to update their rules and guidance on management contracts, which are key to making sure many governmental and 501(c)(3) bonds remain tax-exempt and are not private-activity bonds.

WASHINGTON — A state hospital district and a state university can form a partnership without jeopardizing the tax-exempt status of their bonds, the Internal Revenue Service concluded in a recently issued favorable letter ruling.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service has notified the Cumberland County, Pa., Municipal Authority that $10 million of Series A revenue bonds it issued in February 2008 have been selected for examination.

WASHINGTON — State and local public employee retirement systems' investment holdings rose 10.6%, or $257.2 billion, to $2.7 trillion in 2010, after two consecutive years of losses, according to a new Census Bureau report released Monday.

The top Democrat on a House Ways and Means Committee panel said Build America Bonds are one of his top priorities for renewal as Congress examines more than 100 of the 2011 and 2012 tax extenders.

Five groups representing local governments are urging Senate Finance Committee leaders to maintain the federal tax-exemption for municipal bonds, ensure states and localities retain the authority to set their own tax policies, and refrain from preempting governments and threatening their fiscal health by granting preferential tax treatment to certain industries.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is asking 111 issuers of qualified school construction bonds to respond to questionnaires requesting information about their compliance with tax law requirements.