The IRS will permanently allow state and local governments to hold public hearings using a toll-free telephone number to satisfy the TEFRA hearing requirement for private activity bonds.[1] No in-person option will be required to satisfy the TEFRA public hearing requirement, but state and local governments must continue to follow applicable local laws, which may … Continue Reading
Following in the footsteps of pioneers such as Matthew Lesko, the White House has released a guidebook to the funding available under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. (It should be at least somewhat more authoritative than Gobs and Gobs of Free Stuff,[1] at least as it pertains to the legislation in question.) The approach in the … Continue Reading
This is the second in a series of posts about neutral principles that make for “good” tax-advantaged bond legislation. We pick up our series as the Senate prepares for a final vote on a bipartisan infrastructure bill in the coming days. In the last post, we stated the general rule that a good piece of … Continue Reading
This is the first in a series of posts about neutral principles that make for “good” tax-advantaged bond legislation. A good muni bond tax bill deals with refundings. For new programs, it provides the terms and conditions under which the new bonds may be refunded. … Continue Reading
Do you feel it? Good vibes for tax-advantaged bond legislation permeate the air around us. White smoke emerged from the White House on June 24, signifying that the President and key Senate leaders had reached a deal on an infrastructure bill. The deal includes “public private partnerships, private activity bonds, direct pay bonds and asset … Continue Reading
On March 31, 2021, President Biden officially unveiled the planned $2.25 trillion infrastructure bill, marking the beginning of what promises to be a lengthy debate over the appropriate size and scope of infrastructure investment and economic recovery in the country. Who better to guide you through it than our partner, Rodney Slater, former Secretary of … Continue Reading
We invite you to listen to our colleagues, Rep. Bill Shuster, former Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Secretary Rodney Slater, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation, in conversation with Paul Burton of The Bond Buyer about the prospects for federal infrastructure legislation. The conversation will happen next Monday, March 15, at 12:30 pm eastern. You can … Continue Reading
Our own Mike Cullers was quoted in Law360 on Wednesday in an article about renewed hope for a full restoration of tax-exempt advance refundings of tax-advantaged bonds after their repeal by the TCJA. The article describes the renewed optimism in the muni bond community that tax-exempt advance refundings can be restored, precipitated by the confirmation … Continue Reading
In a complaint filed directly with the U.S. Supreme Court under its original jurisdiction,[1] New Hampshire has sued Massachusetts for attempting to tax residents of the Granite State who normally work in Massachusetts but are working at home during the pandemic. Read Mike’s comments on the case in The Bond Buyer here ($).… Continue Reading
In Part 1, we introduced the cash flow relief technique/staple of your morning commute known as “Scoop and Chuck.” In particular, we discussed an issuer that will issue new bonds and use the proceeds to pay interest (but no principal) on a prior issue of bonds. The new bonds will have a debt service schedule … Continue Reading
The pandemic is forcing even the most frugal issuers to seek to reduce or postpone their debt repayment requirements. There are many ways to do this. Each approach has pros and cons from a business perspective. Not surprisingly, each approach also has tax consequences that are often not intuitive and sometimes downright devilish. We will … Continue Reading
Please join Squire Patton Boggs on Friday, May 8, at 12 pm Eastern time for a one-hour webinar covering the Federal Reserve’s Municipal Liquidity Facility, the CARES Act, and Chapter 9. Click here to register. The webinar will be led by our colleagues Karol Denniston, Alethia Nancoo, and David Stewart (former Majority Staff Director for the … Continue Reading
Over at our Restructuring GlobalView blog, our public finance colleagues Pedro Miranda and Pedro Hernandez make the case for bringing back tax-exempt advance refundings.… Continue Reading
The IRS has extended to July 15, 2020 the deadline for certain time-sensitive actions for tax-exempt bonds, including filing Form 8038 and paying rebate, if the deadline originally fell on or after April 1, 2020 and before July 15, 2020.… Continue Reading
As we’ve said, The Thing touches everything. Indeed, to quote No Country For Old Men: “It’s the dismal tide. It’s not the one thing.” State and local governments are no exception. Our public policy and public finance groups have a four-point action plan for state and local governments to start to pick up the pieces. We’re … Continue Reading
NABL has asked the IRS to issue a Notice that would allow issuers to hold TEFRA public hearings for private activity bonds by phone and that would allow issuers to purchase and sit on their own debt through the end of the COVID-19 crisis without extinguishing the debt, even if the issuer doesn’t use its … Continue Reading
With stories about stimulus and relief from COVID-19 swirling, municipal bond industry groups are springing into action to help Congress and Treasury help us all. NABL sent a letter on Sunday to Congress and Treasury, asking for broad relief on a number of tax topics affected by COVID-19. The request is stated in broad strokes … Continue Reading
Yes, The Thing touches everything. COVID-19 affects the muni bond world in some fairly obvious ways. The general mandate is “everybody do less.” Decreasing activity in general translates to decreased business revenues and decreased tax revenues, which means less money available to repay bonds. This has set the disclosure world ablaze, as securities lawyers ponder … Continue Reading
The IRS has issued proposed regulations that allow issuers to replace LIBOR rates associated with their bonds and swaps without triggering a reissuance of the bonds or a deemed termination of the swaps. The replacement rate must be a “qualified rate,” which includes the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”). A rate isn’t a “qualified rate” … Continue Reading
This Thursday and Friday, the National Association of Bond Lawyers, under the newly created “NABL U” umbrella, will be holding “The Institute” (formerly known as the Tax and Securities Law Institute) in Bonita Springs, FL. Those attending will be treated to in-depth discussions of lingering questions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the just-now-effective … Continue Reading
The March 1 deadline for submitting comments on the proposed reissuance regulations to the IRS is coming up fast. We make a general comment here – the existing guidance contains helpful ancillary rules that aren’t directly implicated by the core reissuance rules. The IRS should not exclude these helpful ancillary rules from the final regulations. … Continue Reading
On June 1, 2016, the New York Transportation Development Corporation issued over $2.25 billion in tax-exempt bonds as part of a public-private partnership to redevelop the Central Terminal building (known as Terminal B to passengers) at LaGuardia Airport in New York City. As The Bond Buyer reported, the deal broke all kinds of records – it … Continue Reading
The midterm elections are (mostly!) over. What’s coming next? No one is in a better position to tell you the answer than our Public Policy colleagues. Here for your reading and savoring are two pieces – a breakdown that spans all areas of law, and an analysis of what the election means specifically for tax … Continue Reading
For those who still had doubts, the IRS has now made it crystal clear: You can still issue tax-exempt bonds to advance refund most taxable bonds. In other words, the much-lamented “repeal of tax-exempt advance refunding bonds” in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act from December 2017 isn’t ironclad. The repeal prevents the issuance of … Continue Reading
