Federal / Agency News

ICAST’s IRA & BIL Instant Benefit Estimate Calculator is now available on NH&RA’s website under the Resources section.

U.S. Senator Mark Begich (D-AK), chairman of the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee, called for President Barack Obama to expand the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) as part of his jobs initiative.

Preliminary analysis by Novogradac & Company indicates that the HUD proposed fiscal year 2012 fair market rents (FMRs), released August 19, represent decreases in FMR levels for a vast majority of the country.

Reps. Jim Costa (D-CA), Dennis Cardoza (D-CA), and Jeff Denham (R-CA) recently introduced a bill that would treat certain population census tracts for which information is not available as low-income communities for purposes of the new markets tax credit (NMTC).

Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI), Spencer Bachus (R-AL), Richard Neal (D-MA), and Terri Sewell (D-AK), and Sens. John Kerry (D-MA), and Scott Brown (R-MA), yesterday introduced H.R. 2718 and S. 1456, respectively.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a directive to provide guidance to IRS examiners and their managers on how to determine when, during an examination, it is appropriate to seek the approval of the Director of Field Operations in order to raise the economic substance doctrine.

The New Markets Tax Credit Coalition (NMTCC) is circulating a letter of support for the new markets tax credit (NMTC) that urges lawmakers to co-sponsor S. 996, the New Markets Tax Credit Extension Act of 2011.

The Pew Charitable Trusts recently released a study regarding the costs and benefits of current housing-related tax expenditures.

Reps. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) last week introduced the Creating American Prosperity through Preservation Act of 2011 (H.R. 2479).

The U.S. Department of the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is conducting a national study of Disaster Housing Assistance Program (DHAP) families who transitioned from stepped-up rents and $0 rent to market rate or assisted housing and to track their housing, employment, and financial outcomes over time.

U.S. Representatives Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.) and Ronald Kind (D-Wis.) last week introduced the Renewable Energy for a Brighter Future Act (H.R. 2391).

An new report by The Real Estate Roundtable, the U.S. Green Building Council and the Natural Resources Defense Council finds that the Obama Administration’s Better Building Initiative would create more than 114,000 private-sector jobs, 77,000 of which would be in the construction industry.

Please join us July 21-24 at the Harbor View Hotel on Martha’s Vineyard for three days of thought provoking sessions, invaluable networking and relaxation. We will also be hosting our Summer New Markets Tax Credit Symposium immediately prior to the Summer Institute on Wednesday, July 20.