Federal / Agency News

A recent Associate Chief Counsel Memorandum (2011-004) discusses the federal income tax treatment of the receipt of excessive payments under Section 1603 of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

PowerPoint presentations from the Affordable Housing Underwriting Forum & NCAHMA Annual Meeting are now available for download.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) has introduced S. 1575, the Energy-Efficient Cool Roof Jobs Act. The legislation provides economic incentives to upgrade and modernize commercial roofs by reducing the depreciation schedule for commercial roof retrofits.

Last week, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) urging them to extend the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program and called for its inclusion in a Congressional jobs strategy.

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).