Governmental Bonds Increasingly Issued Instead of Private Activity Bonds Because of Preferential Treatment, Joint Committee Notes
Author: L. Nicholas Deane.
Source: Volume 24, Number 01, Fall 2006 , pp.71-84(14)
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Abstract:
In March 2006, the Joint Committee on Taxation prepared a report, “Present Law and Background Relating to State and Local Government Bonds” (“Joint Committee Report”), which finds that the benefit of tax-exempt financing is being increasingly transferred to private parties, rather than State and local governments, which is inconsistent with the purpose of the effective subsidy provided by governmental and qualified private activity bonds. The Joint Committee also notes that permitting nongovernmental private entities to issue tax-credit bonds for an expanded list of activities, as advocated by some, would represent “a significant change in tax policy.” In addition to the increased volume of financing for private activities that may not serve a public purpose, governmental units would lose the ability to determine which projects should receive the benefit of subsidized financing.Keywords:
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