Tax

WASHINGTON — States are ramping up pressure on online-only retailers to pay billions of dollars in state sales taxes, hoping the funds will help bring their tax collections into the 21st century.

Calls for the elimination of tax-exempt interest could seriously disrupt the municipal bond market, while incremental action to rein in the tax-exempt interest cost to the federal government is more likely than an all-out end to munis, market observers with the Bond Dealers of America said Monday.

Voters in North Little Rock will be surveyed over the next four weeks to determine if the electorate would support a 1% sales tax to finance a possible move of the Arkansas State Fair to the city.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service has closed its audit of $308 million of variable-rate bonds issued by Murray City, Utah, in a 2003 conduit health care transaction without any change to the bonds’ tax-exempt status.

Sen. John D. Rockefeller, D-W.Va., has introduced legislation to extend stimulus law authorizations for qualified zone academy bonds and qualified school construction bonds through 2015 and allow the debt to be issued with federal payments to issuers.

WASHINGTON — Rep. John Tierney, D-Mass., plans to soon introduce a bill that would require all new munis to be taxable direct-pay bonds with a 25% federal subsidy rate — a proposal drawing a frosty reception from issuers and underwriters.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded $1.7 billion of San Jose Redevelopment Agency tax allocation bonds after falling property values cut into debt service coverage.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $228.1 million of “green” bonds issued in February 2007 by the Syracuse, N.Y., Industrial Development Agency to determine if they violated tax laws.

WASHINGTON — President Obama announced the framework of a plan Wednesday to shrink the deficit $4 trillion over 12 years, and urged House and Senate leaders to appoint teams to negotiate a final bipartisan plan by the end of June.

Sen. Ron Wyden on Tuesday underscored his opposition to tax exemptions for new muni bonds, saying it is inefficient and that tax-credit bonds would benefit a broader set of taxpayers, not just high-net-worth individuals.

The top tax-writing lawmakers said Wednesday that while a debate about the tax-exempt status of state and local bonds will certainly be in the mix as part of a broader tax-reform debate, it is too early in the discussion to delve into specific issues.

CHICAGO — Kansas City, Mo., and St. Louis officials were breathing easier Wednesday after voters in both municipalities overwhelmingly endorsed the continued collection of a 1% tax on wages and salaries.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers on Tuesday moved forward with two legislative efforts to overhaul the U.S. tax code, which would either halt, or threaten, tax-exemption for new muni bonds.

The Internal Revenue Service has closed an audit of about $300 million of Series A special tax bonds issued by the Ernest N. Morial-New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority in 2003 to help finance a convention center expansion.

WASHINGTON — A congressional research report has underscored the high cost of tax-exempt debt to the federal government just as some members of Congress are weighing whether to propose curbs on such debt.

WASHINGTON — Market participants are questioning why Sen. Ron Wyden is drafting legislation that would create a new type of tax-credit bond for transportation projects, warning there is not much of a market for tax-credit bonds.

MIAMI BEACH — A bipartisan effort is under way to eliminate the tax exemption on municipal bonds, attorney Rosemary Becchi, a partner at Patton Boggs LLC, said at The Bond Buyer and Bond Dealers of America’s Third National Municipal Bond Summit here Thursday.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $21 million of variable-rate general obligation bonds that were issued in 2005 by the Spring Grove Area School District in Pennsylvania to finance school projects, but were redeemed in 2009.

A 21-member citizens oversight committee has decided to ask voters to levy a property tax to fund the replacement of two high schools, add classrooms to overcrowded schools, and repair aging facilities in Lafayette Parish.

The downturn in property tax receipts for municipal governments may finally have begun.