Peter Schroeder

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department wants to hear from the public about the form issuers must file to recover excess amounts of arbitrage they rebated to the federal government.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service has told the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority that $3.5 million of development revenue bonds it issued in 2005 to finance a manufacturing facility could be ­taxable.

The National Congress of American Indians is urging the Treasury Department to revoke the burdensome “essential governmental function” test for tribal tax-exempt financings, as well as allow tribes to take advantage of private-activity bonds and use federal guarantees.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers early Thursday approved a stopgap measure that would fund the federal government at current levels until Dec. 3, before breaking for an election recess. Their action sets the stage for a lame-duck session during which municipal market participants hope they will take up legislation to extend Build America Bonds and other expiring or expired bond-related programs authorized by the stimulus law.

Congress is expected to leave town either late Wednesday or early Thursday to campaign for the fall elections after approving stopgap spending legislation that would keep the federal government running in fiscal 2011, which starts on Oct. 1.

An issuer that wants to refund post-2003 commercial paper before the end of the year can take advantage of a stimulus provision that allows those refunding notes to be exempt from the alternative minimum tax, the Internal Revenue Service recently ruled.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are expected to take up a stopgap spending measure to continue funding federal agencies after Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, before they break to campaign for the November elections.

WASHINGTON — A public power provider can issue tax-exempt bonds to finance a wind facility even if it sells renewable energy certificates to private parties, the Internal Revenue Service has ruled.

Rep. Jim McDermott has introduced legislation that would allow for an unlimited amount of clean renewable energy bonds to be issued through 2013, but would revoke the ability of state and local governmental entities to issue them, leaving only public power providers, electric cooperatives, and tribal utilities as CREBs issuers.

WASHINGTON — The Internal ­Revenue Service is seeking public comment on existing regulations that outline how bond attorneys should practice ­before it.

WASHINGTON — Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus on Thursday proposed to extend the Build America Bonds program for only one year in legislation he unveiled that would extend several expiring or expired bond and tax provisions.

The top Republican on a House Financial Services Committee panel on Wednesday applauded the decision by the Federal Housing Finance Agency to block PACE energy programs nationwide.

WASHINGTON — Market participants are concerned that issuers of draw-down bonds with tax benefits provided by temporary stimulus provisions could lose some benefits if the provisions expire at the end of the year as scheduled.

The Internal Revenue Service has published a list of answers to frequently asked questions about new tax-credit bond programs.

Initial jobless claims fell more than economists expected the week ended Sept. 4, dropping by 27,000 filings to a two-month low of 451,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

WASHINGTON — The Cinco Municipal Utility District No. 1 near Houston announced that the Internal Revenue Service has closed an audit of $5.2 million of revenue bonds it issued with no change to their tax-exempt status.

WASHINGTON-- Initial jobless claims decreased to 451,000 for the week ending Sept. 4, the Labor Department reported today.

The Treasury Department announced several changes Wednesday to its new issue bond purchase program for housing finance agencies, most notably that it is extending by one year through 2011 its deadline for converting short-term taxable bonds to long-term, tax-exempt bonds.

The Internal Revenue Service Wednesday announced it is accepting applications from nonprofit electric cooperatives for $190.8 million of new clean renewable energy bonds that have not yet been allocated.

WASHINGTON – The Treasury Department announced today several changes to its new issue bond purchase program for housing finance agencies, most notably that it is pushing back by one year through 2011 a deadline for converting short-term taxable bonds to long-term, tax-exempt, fixed-rate bonds.