Federal / Agency News

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.

The IRS has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking and an advance notice of rulemaking for the federal new markets tax credit program, proposing some changes to the program’s rules and soliciting public comments on these and on a series of questions.

Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, introduced a bill last week to extend the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) for five years and provide $5 billion for the program annually.

The proposed GOP FY-2012 budget resolution released last week proposes a number of cuts and policy option to cut discretionary.