Tax

A bill recently introduced in the House would make permanent the Build America Bond program and also includes other bond-related items.

Congress should not wait until the 11th hour to increase the nation's borrowing authority, and there are areas such as infrastructure investment and tax reform where it may be able to act in a bipartisan manner to help the economy, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said Monday.

A number of different types of bonds are likely to be audited in fiscal 2014 as part of the market segment approach to examinations, an Internal Revenue Service official said Friday.

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan introduced legislation to cut the state's business tax in half as state lawmakers shift their focus in the new legislative session from pension reform to taxes.

The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $12.84 million of unlimited tax school building bonds issued in 2010 by the Anahuac Independent School District in Texas as part of an examination of small governmental bond issues.

A bipartisan agreement on a farm bill includes a one-year extension of funding for the federal payments in lieu of taxes program through fiscal 2014.

The American Bar Association's taxation section warned the IRS and Treasury Department that their proposed issue price rules will upend long established market practices and increase uncertainty for issuers and other market participants.

Identical bills introduced in the House and the Senate would make permanent the federal payments in lieu of taxes program, a key source of funds for counties and local governments.

Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman said the state has recorded a record-high cash reserve and that he will push lawmakers to pass $500 million in tax cuts this year.

Internal Revenue Service auditors will no longer able to conclude there is automatic conflict of interest when lawyers who served as bond counsel in a transaction represent the issuer before the IRS in an examination of the bonds.

The nation's governors support maintaining the tax exemption for municipal bonds, though tax reform appears to be unlikely this year, leaders of the National Governors Association said Wednesday.

The final federal hurdle – Internal Revenue Service approval -- has been cleared in securing recovery zone bonds for financing the complete construction of the 80-story 3 World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer announced.

The Internal Revenue Service has closed an audit of $21.13 million of tax-exempt contract revenue refunding bonds issued by the Canyon Regional Water Authority in Texas in 2006 with no change to the bonds' tax-exempt status. However, it advised the authority that it had not completely filled out an IRS form.

The Internal Revenue Service has preliminarily concluded that $35.38 million of bonds issued in 2008 by the Burnet County, Tex. Public Facility Corp. to finance a jail are taxable.

The Internal Revenue Service has concluded that $720 million of student-loan bonds issued by a New Hampshire authority are taxable, leading the issuer to move toward requesting an administrative appeal and asking the IRS to reopen its audits of the bonds.

A proposal for energy tax reform unveiled by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus would not allow new clean renewable energy bonds and qualified energy conservation bonds to be issued after Dec. 31, 2016.

Rebecca Harrigal, the new director of the Internal Revenue Service's tax-exempt bond office, said one of her goals is to streamline and improve the closing agreement or settlement process.

States will be allowed to issue 5.2% more of private activity bonds in 2014, freeing money for projects that would otherwise be ineligible for tax-exempt financing.

The Internal Revenue Service approved tax exemption for bonds issued by the PSEG-run Long Island Public Authority.

Municipal bond market participants, on guard against proposals to limit or eliminate the tax exemption, doubt 2014 will bring comprehensive tax reform.