Tax

Democrats on the House Ways and Means committee are urging the committee’s Republican chairman to work in a bipartisan manner to write tax-reform legislation.

About 2,899 issues of Build America Bonds totaling $184.95 billion were issued in 2009 and 2010, according to statistics collected by the Internal Revenue Service, some of which were recently released.

More than a dozen additional Wisconsin issuers have recently disclosed that they can redeem their Build America Bonds and other direct-pay bonds because of sequestration-mandated cuts in their federal subsidy payments.

The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $43.26 million of subordinate revenue bonds that the Coral Springs, Fla., Improvement District sold in 2007 to finance water and sewer system improvements.

Internal Revenue Service officials are taking a position in the tax dispute over $427.2 million of bonds issued by the Village Center Community Development District that they previously said they would not take, according to the CDD's lawyer.

The Internal Revenue Service is auditing nearly $200.39 million of Series C gas revenue bonds issued by the M-S-R Energy Authority in California in 2009.

Federal proposals to curb or eliminate tax exemption for bonds used by nonprofits would result in losses in employment, gross domestic product and labor income, according to a report released Wednesday.

Leaders of financial groups and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew warned Thursday that brinkmanship over the debt limit is already hurting the financial markets and that a default would have catastrophic impacts domestically and globally, making it harder to deal with long-term U.S. debt issues.

Municipalities continue to suffer from the lingering effects of the economic downturn, though local and regional economies are improving and tax bases are gaining strength, the National League of Cities says in a new report.

The Internal Revenue Service has either resolved tax issues or closed audits with no changes to bonds in New Jersey, Louisiana, and Nassau County, N.Y., according to event notices filed on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's EMMA system.

Federal subsidy payments to issuers of Build America Bonds and other direct-pay bonds will be cut by 7.2% under Congressionally-mandated sequestration in fiscal year 2014, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

Bond lawyers were wrong to suggest that South Miami’s disclosure of a bond-related tax settlement with the Internal Revenue Service triggered Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement action.

Should municipal bond issuers be discouraged from disclosing voluntary settlements of tax disputes with the Internal Revenue Service, for fear the SEC will notice the disclosures and then take enforcement action against the issuer for securities fraud violations?

The Massachusetts Senate was debating the repeal of a new sales tax on software and computer services, although a $160 million budget gap loomed with passage.

Bond lawyers need to tell federal tax regulators what aspects of the proposed issue price rules are unworkable and then recommend alternatives or fixes, a Treasury Department official said Wednesday in Chicago.

The National Association of Bond Lawyers is working on projects aimed at shedding more light on the varying strength of general obligation bond pledges, as well post-issuance tax and disclosure compliance, NABL president-elect Allen Robertson said in a recent interview.

The Nebraska Public Power District has agreed to pay $350,000 to the Internal Revenue Service to settle a tax law dispute regarding $50.36 million of Build America Bonds it issued in 2009.

The Internal Revenue Service plans to release more streamlined resolution standards in October that provide penalties for certain types of bond-related tax violations that issuers report under the IRS' voluntary closing agreement program.

The Internal Revenue Service's proposed rules on issue price would drastically change market practices and raise major questions and concerns, representatives of issuer and dealer groups said Monday.

Indiana Secondary Market for Education Loans, Inc. entered into a voluntary closing agreement with the Internal Revenue Service over $221.65 million of student loan bonds issued from 2001 through 2004. Under the agreement, the issuer made a payment to the IRS and redeemed all outstanding bonds.