Bonds must be registered to be tax exempt; other requirements
Bonds must be registered to be tax exempt
General rule
Registration-required bond
For purposes of paragraph (1), the term “registration-required bond” means any bond other than a bond which—
is not of a type offered to the public, or
has a maturity (at issue) of not more than 1 year.
Special rules
Book entries permitted
Nominees
Federally guaranteed bond is not tax exempt
In general
Federally guaranteed defined
For purposes of paragraph (1), a bond is federally guaranteed if—
the payment of principal or interest with respect to such bond is guaranteed (in whole or in part) by the United States (or any agency or instrumentality thereof),
such bond is issued as part of an issue and 5 percent or more of the proceeds of such issue is to be—
used in making loans the payment of principal or interest with respect to which are to be guaranteed (in whole or in part) by the United States (or any agency or instrumentality thereof), or
invested (directly or indirectly) in federally insured deposits or accounts, or
the payment of principal or interest on such bond is otherwise indirectly guaranteed (in whole or in part) by the United States (or an agency or instrumentality thereof).
Exceptions
Certain insurance programs
A bond shall not be treated as federally guaranteed by reason of—
any guarantee by the Federal Housing Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, or the Government National Mortgage Association,
any guarantee of student loans and any guarantee by the Student Loan Marketing Association to finance student loans,
any guarantee by the Bonneville Power Authority pursuant to the Northwest Power Act (16 U.S.C. 839d) as in effect on the date of the enactment of the Tax Reform Act of 1984, or
subject to subparagraph (E), any guarantee by a Federal home loan bank made in connection with the original issuance of a bond during the period beginning on the date of the enactment of this clause and ending on
Debt service, etc.
Paragraph (1) shall not apply to—
proceeds of the issue invested for an initial temporary period until such proceeds are needed for the purpose for which such issue was issued,
investments of a bona fide debt service fund,
investments of a reserve which meet the requirements of section 148(d),
investments in bonds issued by the United States Treasury, or
other investments permitted under regulations.
Exception for housing programs
In general
Except as provided in clause (ii), paragraph (1) shall not apply to—
a private activity bond for a qualified residential rental project or a housing program obligation under section 11(b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937,
a qualified mortgage bond, or
a qualified veterans’ mortgage bond.
Exception not to apply where bond invested in federally insured deposits or accounts
Loans to, or guarantees by, financial institutions
Safety and soundness requirements for Federal home loan banks
Exception for spaceports
Definitions
For purposes of this subsection—
Treatment of certain entities with authority to borrow from United States
Federally insured deposit or account
Tax exemption must be derived from this title
General rule
Certain prior exemptions
Prior exemptions continued
Additional requirements for bonds issued after 1983
Description of bond
A bond is described in this subparagraph (and treated as described in subparagraph (A)) if—
such bond is issued pursuant to the Northwest Power Act (16 U.S.C. 839d), as in effect on
such bond is issued pursuant to section 608(a)(6)(A) of Public Law 97–468, as in effect on the date of the enactment of the Tax Reform Act of 1986; or
such bond is issued before
Advance refundings
In general
Advance refunding
Regulations
Information reporting
In general
Information reporting requirements
A bond satisfies the requirements of this paragraph if the issuer submits to the Secretary, not later than the 15th day of the 2d calendar month after the close of the calendar quarter in which the bond is issued (or such later time as the Secretary may prescribe with respect to any portion of the statement), a statement concerning the issue of which the bond is a part which contains—
the name and address of the issuer,
the date of issue, the amount of net proceeds of the issue, the stated interest rate, term, and face amount of each bond which is part of the issue, the amount of issuance costs of the issue, and the amount of reserves of the issue,
where required, the name of the applicable elected representative who approved the issue, or a description of the voter referendum by which the issue was approved,
the name, address, and employer identification number of—
each initial principal user of any facility provided with the proceeds of the issue,
the common parent of any affiliated group of corporations (within the meaning of section 1504(a)) of which such initial principal user is a member, and
if the issue is treated as a separate issue under section 144(a)(6)(A), any person treated as a principal user under section 144(a)(6)(B),
a description of any property to be financed from the proceeds of the issue,
a certification by a State official designated by State law (or, where there is no such official, the Governor) that the bond meets the requirements of section 146 (relating to cap on private activity bonds), if applicable, and
such other information as the Secretary may require.
Subparagraphs (C) and (D) shall not apply to any bond which is not a private activity bond. The Secretary may provide that certain information specified in the 1st sentence need not be included in the statement with respect to an issue where the inclusion of such information is not necessary to carry out the purposes of this subsection.
Extension of time
Treatment of certain pooled financing bonds
In general
Reasonable expectation requirement
In general
The requirements of this paragraph are met with respect to an issue if the issuer reasonably expects that—
as of the close of the 1-year period beginning on the date of issuance of the issue, at least 30 percent of the net proceeds of the issue (as of the close of such period) will have been used directly or indirectly to make or finance loans to ultimate borrowers, and
as of the close of the 3-year period beginning on such date of issuance, at least 95 percent of the net proceeds of the issue (as of the close of such period) will have been so used.
Certain factors may not be taken into account in determining expectations
Net proceeds
Refunding bonds
Cost of issuance payment requirements
The requirements of this paragraph are met with respect to an issue if—
the payment of legal and underwriting costs associated with the issuance of the issue is not contingent, and
at least 95 percent of the reasonably expected legal and underwriting costs associated with the issuance of the issue are paid not later than the 180th day after the date of the issuance of the issue.
Written loan commitment requirement
In general
Exception
Subparagraph (A) shall not apply with respect to any issuer which—
is a State (or an integral part of a State) issuing pooled financing bonds to make or finance loans to subordinate governmental units of such State, or
is a State-created entity providing financing for water-infrastructure projects through the federally-sponsored State revolving fund program.
Redemption requirement
The requirement of this paragraph is met if to the extent that less than the percentage of the proceeds of an issue required to be used under clause (i) or (ii) of paragraph (2)(A) is used by the close of the period identified in such clause, the issuer uses an amount of proceeds equal to the excess of—
the amount required to be used under such clause, over
the amount actually used by the close of such period,
to redeem outstanding bonds within 90 days after the end of such period.
Pooled financing bond
For purposes of this subsection—
In general
Exceptions
Such term shall not include any bond if—
section 146 applies to the issue of which such bond is a part (other than by reason of section 141(b)(5)) or would apply but for section 146(i), or
section 143(l)(3) applies to such issue.
Definition of loan; treatment of mixed use issues
Loan
For purposes of this subsection, the term “loan” does not include—
any loan which is a nonpurpose investment (within the meaning of section 148(f)(6)(A), determined without regard to section 148(b)(3)), and
any use of proceeds by an agency of the issuer unless such agency is a political subdivision or instrumentality of the issuer.
Portion of issue to be used for loans treated as separate issue
Treatment of hedge bonds
In general
Section 103(a) shall not apply to any hedge bond unless, with respect to the issue of which such bond is a part—
the requirement of paragraph (2) is met, and
the requirement of subsection (f)(3) is met.
Reasonable expectations as to when proceeds will be spent
An issue meets the requirement of this paragraph if the issuer reasonably expects that—
10 percent of the spendable proceeds of the issue will be spent for the governmental purposes of the issue within the 1-year period beginning on the date the bonds are issued,
30 percent of the spendable proceeds of the issue will be spent for such purposes within the 2-year period beginning on such date,
60 percent of the spendable proceeds of the issue will be spent for such purposes within the 3-year period beginning on such date, and
85 percent of the spendable proceeds of the issue will be spent for such purposes within the 5-year period beginning on such date.
Hedge bond
In general
For purposes of this subsection, the term “hedge bond” means any bond issued as part of an issue unless—
the issuer reasonably expects that 85 percent of the spendable proceeds of the issue will be used to carry out the governmental purposes of the issue within the 3-year period beginning on the date the bonds are issued, and
not more than 50 percent of the proceeds of the issue are invested in nonpurpose investments (as defined in section 148(f)(6)(A)) having a substantially guaranteed yield for 4 years or more.
Exception for investment in tax-exempt bonds not subject to minimum tax
In general
Such term shall not include any bond issued as part of an issue 95 percent of the net proceeds of which are invested in bonds—
the interest on which is not includible in gross income under section 103, and
which are not specified private activity bonds (as defined in section 57(a)(5)(C)).
Amounts in bona fide debt service fund
Amounts held pending reinvestment or redemption
Exception for refunding bonds
In general
General rule for refunding of pre-effective date bonds
A refunding bond shall be treated as meeting the requirements of this subsection if—
this subsection does not apply to the original bond,
the average maturity date of the issue of which the refunding bond is a part is not later than the average maturity date of the bonds to be refunded by such issue, and
the amount of the refunding bond does not exceed the outstanding amount of the refunded bond.
Refunding of pre-effective date bonds entitled to 5-year temporary period
A refunding bond shall be treated as meeting the requirements of this subsection if—
this subsection does not apply to the original bond,
the issuer reasonably expected that 85 percent of the spendable proceeds of the issue of which the original bond is a part would be used to carry out the governmental purposes of the issue within the 5-year period beginning on the date the original bonds were issued but did not reasonably expect that 85 percent of such proceeds would be so spent within the 3-year period beginning on such date, and
at least 85 percent of the spendable proceeds of the original issue (and all other prior original issues issued to finance the governmental purposes of such issue) were spent before the date the refunding bonds are issued.
Special rules
For purposes of this subsection—
Construction period in excess of 5 years
Rules for determining expectations
Regulations
Source
(Added Pub. L. 99–514, title XIII, § 1301(b),Notes
Editorial Notes
References in Text
Amendments
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 2025 Amendment
Effective Date of 2017 Amendment
Effective Date of 2010 Amendment
Effective Date of 2008 Amendment
Effective Date of 2006 Amendment
Effective Date of 1996 Amendment
Effective Date of 1989 Amendment
In general.—
Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall apply to bonds issued after
Bonds sold before september 15, 1989.—
The amendment made by subsection (a) shall not apply to any bond sold before
Bonds with respect to which preliminary offering materials mailed.—
The amendment made by subsection (a) shall not apply to any issue issued after the date of the enactment of this Act [
Certain other bonds.—
In the case of a bond issued before
Bonds issued to finance self-insurance funds.—
The amendment made by subsection (a) shall not apply to any bonds issued before
Effective Date of 1988 Amendment
In general.—
The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall apply to bonds issued after
Special rule for refunding bonds.—
In the case of a bond issued to refund a bond issued before
if the 3-year period described in section 149(f)(2)(A) of the 1986 Code would (but for this paragraph) expire on or before
if such period expires after