Treasury Department

The Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released a new notice of proposed rule making on Opportunity Zones. A public hearing will be held on July 9 at 10 am EDT at the New Carrollton Federal Building at 5000 Ellin Road in Lanham, Maryland 20706.

On April 4, 2019 the Senate voted 52-44 to confirm Mark Calabria as the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

The Treasury’s Community Development Financial Insinuations (CDFI) Fund released its fiscal year (FY) 2018 Year in Review. CDFI Program award recipients last year reported $11.1 billion of lending and investment activity – an increase of nearly 50 percent over the activity reported in FY 2017.

President Trump signed a memorandum that directs HUD and Treasury to draft administrative and legislative options for housing finance reform to be submitted to the President for approval as soon as practicable. HUD will prepare a reform plan for the housing finance agencies it oversees, and Treasury will prepare a reform plan for Fannie Mae […]

The Internal Revenue Service published Notice 2019-19, which provides population figures to use in calculating 2019 volume limits for the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) and private activity bonds (PABs). The LIHTC cap is the greater of the population multiplied by $2.75625 or $3,166,875 and the PAB cap is the greater of the population multiplied […]

The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service published final regulations that amend the compliance monitoring regulations concerning the low-income housing tax credit under section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code. These final regulations revise and clarify the requirement to conduct physical inspections and review low-income certifications and other documentation. The regulations are […]

Joseph Otting, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), told employees that the administration would not wait on Congress to overhaul the nation’s housing finance system. According to remarks obtained by POLITICO at a Jan. 17 FHFA staff meeting Otting said, in the next two to four weeks you’re going to be able […]

Seven Senators and nine members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in which they praise and raise concerns about Treasury’s proposed regulations. The signatories urge Sec. Mnuchin to address remaining questions on investments in operating businesses.

In a Washington Post op-ed, Jared Bernstein, former chief economist to former Vice President Joe Biden and senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, describes the early developments, including the Zone certification process, market reactions and some proposed investment targets of Opportunity Zones. While Bernstein notes the gentrification risk of Opportunity Zones, he concludes that the selected Zones have both the need and capacity to absorb new investment, development and people without displacing local residents. He calls on Treasury to dictate strong reporting requirements that will accommodate thorough evaluation.

The National Association for Opportunity Zone Investment (OZI) submitted its comment letter to Treasury’s proposed rule on Investing in Qualified Opportunity Funds. OZI’s comments seek to establish an informal safe harbor for plain vanilla, prudent and “down the middle of the fairway” transactions.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a proposed rule on reissuance of state or local bonds. The proposed rule provides steps for determining when tax-exempt bonds are treated as retired for purposes of sections 103 and 141 through 150 of title 26 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The proposed rule also amends §1.1001–3(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code to conform that section to the special rules in the proposed rule for retirement of qualified tender bonds.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a final rule that updates requirements for public approval of tax-exempt private activity bonds (PABs). All PABs are required to hold a hearing of public approval. The rule changes the reasonable public notice period from 14 to 7 days prior to the hearing and allows for the posting of the hearing on a website without other notice.