Tax Credit Tuesday Podcasts

This week we'll replay some of the highlights of CDFI Fund Director Donna Gambrell's keynote address at Novogradac's New Markets Tax Credit Conference in San Diego a couple of week ago.

Michael J. Novogradac, CPA, reviews several general tax credit news items including the Small Business Jobs bill; a tax extenders update; an IRS Notice about economic substance; and the effect of Basel III on tax credit investment by banks. In the LIHTC news corner, he shares information about the 2011 DDAs, last week's Treasury Meeting of LIHTC stakeholders, and an audit issue affecting some LIHTC not-for-profits. Next, he examines the possible impact of a recent FASB lease accounting proposal on historic tax credit lease pass throughs. On the renewable energy front, he discusses an IRS notice on the tax credit for coal and three new reports about the renewable energy market. Finally, he shares news from the CDFI Fund about a job opportunity. '

Michael J. Novogradac, CPA, discusses the latest status of tax extenders legislation and other developments from the current, ongoing lame duck session of Congress. Then he discusses a bipartisan letter support for an extension of the Section 1603 renewable energy cash grant program in Congress, and describes a regulation change at the Department of the Interior that is expected to facilitate development of new energy projects on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf. In the low-income housing tax credit discussion, he shares an announcement from HUD regarding $16 million that is available for reallocation under the Tax Credit Assistance Program. He also discusses recent IRS guidance regarding bond issuance that has raised some doubts about the use of the draw down structure for affordable housing financing. In new markets tax credits news, he reviews the latest QEI issuance report from the CDFI Fund and shares news about the Capital Magnet Fund.

Today is Tuesday, October 13th, 2009. This week I will discuss the new difficult development areas and qualified census tracts that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development designated last week. Then I will review HR 3715, that's the Community Restoration and Revitalization Act of 2009, which was recently introduced in Congress and includes enhancements to the federal historic tax credit. And last, I have an update on the timing of the announcement by the CDFI Fund of its 2009 NMTC allocation awardees.

An expected red-wave election for Republicans in the Senate and the House of Representatives ended up being closer than expected, with the Democratic Party retaining control of the Senate and the House of Representatives undecided (although trending toward Republican control). In this week’s podcast, Michael Novogradac, CPA, and Peter Lawrence, Novogradac’s director of public policy and government policy, discuss the results and the repercussions for community development tax incentives. They begin with an overview of the election, the look at potential leadership for each party in each chamber of Congress, including the key tax-writing committees. Then they discuss the effect the election results will have on the lame-duck session of Congress as well as the next two years, before looking at the 2024 election and 2025 expiration date for many tax incentives. Finally, they discuss the Novogradac working groups and how listeners can benefit from being a part of them.