Tax audits

“This is a preliminary determination, not a proposed adverse determination or a final determination,” the county said.

Sinking fund overfunding is the primary driver of these audits, with the IRS making sure the overfunding does not result in an arbitrage situation.

The audit involved four CUSIPs for $53.995 million in bonds issued in 2009.

The proceeds of the bonds were used for the construction of a 232,100 square foot residential facility with 108 living units located on the main campus of an existing facility in Dallas known as The Overlook.

Jail bonds are being targeted for audits by the IRS this year with respect to whether federal government use of locally built facilities or management contracts with localities causes excessive private business use.

The new alternative reference rates cited by Treasury and the IRS include the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Federal Funds Rate.

The Idaho audit involved $1.485 million general obligation bonds issued with a taxable direct-pay federal subsidy under the Qualified School Construction Bonds program.

Public safety and jail bonds, sinking fund overfunding and variable rate bonds are the top IRS compliance and enforcement priorities for the municipal bond market in fiscal 2020.

Six of the eight audits — including the Building Authority audit disclosed Monday — involve IRS Form 8038-CP.

This latest IRS action is one of a series of bond audits involving various government agencies in Puerto Rico.

The audit concluded a year and one day after the sports authority received a letter dated April 4, 2018, informing it that the tax-exempt status of the bonds was being examined.

A fourth audit in two months fuels the perception that the IRS has launched an enforcement initiative involving the island territory.

The IRS audit of the Puerto Rico Municipal Finance Agency's $59 million in 2005 Series B Refunding Bonds is the third IRS audit of tax-advantaged bonds involving the commonwealth announced over the last six weeks.

The $11 million in tax exempt bonds that financed the construction of the K through 6 school are being paid off by the owner of the apartment building developed on part of the 1.67-acre site.

Telley Meier, IRS field operations manager for the Indian Tribal Government/Tax Exempt Bonds office, advises bond attorneys to call the examination agent if they think an audit has been erroneously selected.

“Major banking organizations have now used this abusive tax shelter scheme to illegally shelter well over $1 billion in taxable income,” said the letter by W. Mark Scott.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ordered a district judge to review four documents totaling 16 pages in an IRS Office of Professional Responsibility case file for possible release under the federal Freedom of Information Act.

Federal subsidy payments made to issuers of Build America Bonds are continuing even as Congress remains deadlocked over funding for government agencies.

The proposed settlement involves the Jan. 3 issuance of $7.3 million in transportation development refunding revenue bonds that are being used in the hope of resolving the tax audit of $9.55 million in tax-exempt bonds issued in 2009 for construction of a parking garage.

It’s unclear if monthly federal subsidy payments on Build America Bonds will be made.