Tax Exempt &
 

Government Entitites
 

Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bonds
 

Publication 4078 (Rev. 9-2019) Catalog Number 34662G 

Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service www.irs.gov 
Contents 

Introduction .............................................................................................................................1
 

Background .............................................................................................................................1
 

Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bonds........................................................................................2
 

Post-Issuance Compliance Monitoring................................................................................14
 

What To Do When You Discover a Violation — TEB Voluntary Closing
 

Agreement Program..............................................................................................................16
 

More Information...................................................................................................................16
 
 

Introduction 

This publication provides state and local governments that issue tax-exempt bonds and 

borrowers or other users of bond proceeds (funds derived from the sale of bonds) an overview 

of the general federal tax law rules that apply to municipal financing arrangements commonly 

known as “qualified private activity bonds.” Certain exceptions or additional requirements to 

these rules, which are beyond the scope of this publication, may apply to particular financing 

arrangements. This publication is intended to help issuers meet federal tax law requirements 

to ensure that interest earned by bondholders is exempt from taxation under Internal Revenue 

Code (IRC) Section 103. 

This publication is an overview of the rules; it isn’t official guidance that you may rely on for 

planning purposes. It refers to IRC sections, Income Tax Regulations (Treas. Reg.), revenue 

procedures and other official guidance. Please refer to the official guidance for the rules 

that apply to qualified private activity bonds. Unless otherwise indicated, references in this 

publication to section numbers are references to sections of the IRC. 

For publications that discuss the general rules that apply to governmental bonds or qualified 

501(c)(3) bonds, see IRS Publication 4079, Tax-Exempt Governmental Bonds, IRS Publication 

4077, Tax-Exempt Bonds for 501(c)(3) Charitable Organizations and IRS Publication 5271, 

Complying with Arbitrage Requirements: A Guide for Issuers of Tax-Exempt Bonds. For an 

overview of an issuer’s responsibilities in a conduit financing arrangement, see IRS Publication 

5005,Your Responsibilities as a Conduit Issuer of Tax-Exempt Bonds. The IRS also provides 

detailed information at IRS.gov/bonds. 

See also More Information, at the end of this publication. 

Background 

State and local governments receive direct and indirect tax benefits under the IRC that lower 

borrowing costs on their valid debt obligations. Because interest paid to bondholders on these 

obligations is not includable in their gross income for federal income tax purposes, bondholders 

are willing to accept a lower interest rate than they would accept if the interest was taxable. 

These benefits apply to many different types of municipal debt financing arrangements including 

bonds, notes, loans, lease purchase contracts, lines of credit and commercial paper (collectively 

referred to as “bonds” in this publication). 

To receive these benefits, issuers must ensure that the requirements under the IRC are met, 

generally for as long as the bonds remain outstanding. These requirements include, but are not 

limited to, information filing and other requirements related to issuance, the proper and timely 

use of bond proceeds and bond-financed property, and limitations on how bond proceeds may 

be invested. Special additional rules apply to bonds that are private activity bonds for those 

bonds to be tax-exempt qualified private activity bonds. This publication describes rules that 

apply generally to all qualified private activity bonds. Requirements that apply to particular types 

of qualified private activity bonds are beyond the scope of this publication. For information about 

these unique requirements, visit IRS.gov/bonds. For information specific to the use requirements 

for qualified 501(c)(3) bonds, see Publication 4077, Tax-Exempt Bonds for 501(c)(3) Charitable 

Organizations. 

This publication also addresses practices and steps an issuer and others using bond proceeds 

can take to protect the tax-exempt status of qualified private activity bonds. For example, 

1
 
because the requirements and limitations generally apply at the time the bonds are issued and 

throughout the term of the bonds, this publication encourages issuers and beneficiaries of taxexempt bonds to create procedures for monitoring compliance throughout the life of the bonds. 

For more information, see Post-Isuance Compliance Monitoring. 

Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bonds 

Interest on a private activity bond is taxable unless the bond is a qualified private activity bond 

and meets other requirements, some of which apply to governmental bonds as well. In this 

section, we briefly discuss the tests for determining whether a bond is a private activity bond. 

This section also describes: 

 rules an issuer must meet for interest on a private activity bond to be excluded from federal 

income tax, by describing rules that apply at issuance (including elections that need to be 

made when the bonds are issued) and rules that apply both at issuance and throughout the 

life of the bonds; 

 rules that apply when modifications are made to bond terms; 

 recordkeeping requirements; and 

 rules that prevent certain bondholders from excluding interest even if all the other 

requirements for tax exemption are met. 

These discussions include any special remedial action provision that applies to the particular 

requirement. If a deliberate action that results in a violation of any of the federal tax requirements 

cannot be corrected under these special remedial action provisions, issuers may be able to 

enter into a closing agreement under the Tax Exempt Bonds (TEB) Voluntary Closing Agreement 

Program (TEB VCAP) described in Notice 2008-31, 2008-11 I.R.B. 592 (see What To Do When 

You Discover a Violation). 

Testing for Private Activity Bonds 

A state or local bond will be a private activity bond if, as of the bond issue date or at any time 

while the bonds are outstanding, the bond issue exceeds the limits set forth in either: 

 the private business tests of IRC Section 141(b), which consist of the private use test and 

private security and payment test, or 

 the private loan financing test of IRC Section 141(c). 

For a further description of the private business tests under Section 141(b) and the private loan 

test under Section 141(c), see Publication 4079, Tax-Exempt Governmental Bonds. 

Requirements Related to Issuance 

Some Private Activity Bonds Need to Obtain Volume Cap Under Section 146. The IRC 

limits the amount of private activity bonds that may be issued. The volume cap limit of Section 

146 restricts the amount of certain qualified private activity bonds that all issuers within a state 

may issue during a calendar year. Generally, a state allocates that limit or volume cap among 

issuers in the state. Within certain restrictions, state law determines how those allocations are 

made. If, during a given year, an issuing authority issues more qualified private activity bonds 

than its allocable volume cap, the tax-exempt status of those excess bonds is jeopardized. Not 

all private activity bonds are subject to the volume cap limitation. The following chart describes 

which qualified private activity bonds are subject to volume cap under Section 146. Certain other 

types of bonds are subject to volume limits under other IRC provisions. 

2
 
Volume Cap Under Section 146 

Type of Private Activity Bonds Subject to Volume Cap? 

Private activity bonds financing exempt facilities (Section 142): 

 airports No 

 docks and wharves No 

 mass commuting facilities Yes 

 facilities for the furnishing of water Yes 

 sewage facilities Yes 

 governmentally owned solid waste disposal facilities No 

 privately owned solid waste disposal facilities Yes 

 qualified residential rental projects Yes 

 facilities for the local furnishing of electric energy or gas Yes 

 local district heating or cooling facilities Yes 

 qualified hazardous waste facilities Yes 

 governmentally owned high-speed intercity rail facilities No 

 privately owned high-speed intercity rail facilities Yes1 

 environmental enhancements of hydro-electric generating facilities No 

 qualified public educational facilities No 

 qualified green building and sustainable design projects No 

 qualified highway or surface freight transfer facilities No 

 qualified enterprise zone facilities Yes 

 new empowerment zone facilities No 

Qualified mortgage bonds (Section 143) Yes2 

Qualified small issue bonds (Section 144(a)) Yes 

Qualified student loan bonds (Section 144(b)) Yes 

Qualified redevelopment bonds (Section 144(c)) Yes 

Qualified veterans’ mortgage revenue bonds No 

Qualified 501(c)(3) bonds No 

Current refunding bonds3

 that do not exceed the outstanding amount of the 

refunded bonds No4 

Current refunding bonds in excess of the outstanding amount of the refunded 

bonds Yes 

1

Volume cap required for only 25% of the bonds.
	 2

The amount of volume cap allocated to an issuer is reduced when it establishes a mortgage credit certificate program under IRC Section 25.
	 3

See the subsection below, Requirements That Apply at Issuance and Throughout the Life of the Bonds - Limitations on Refunding Private Activity Bonds
	

for a definition of “current refunding.”
	 4

Maturity limitations apply for refundings of qualified mortgage revenue bonds and qualified student loan bonds.
	

Carryforward of Unused Section 146 Volume Cap. Subject to state law requirements, an issuer may 

elect to carry forward any unused volume cap allocation it received in a calendar year for three 

calendar years. This election may be made for each of the qualified private activity bond purposes 

subject to volume cap except for the purpose of issuing qualified small issue bonds. This election is 

made by filing IRS Form 8328, Carryforward Election of Unused Private Activity Bond Volume Cap, 

by the earlier of (1) February 15 following the year in which the unused amount arises, or (2) the date of 

3 
issue of bonds pursuant to the carryforward election. Once Form 8328 is filed, the issuer may 

not revoke the carryforward election or amend the carryforward amounts shown on the form. 

Private Activity Bonds Need to Meet the Public Approval Requirements. IRC Section 147(f) 

generally provides that, prior to issuance, qualified private activity bonds must be approved 

by (1) the governmental entity issuing the bonds or on behalf of which the bonds were issued 

and (2) each governmental entity having jurisdiction over the area in which the bond-financed 

facility is to be located (although for bonds financing certain airport and high-speed intercity 

rail facilities, only the entity issuing the bonds must approve them). However, if more than one 

governmental unit within a state has jurisdiction over the entire area within the state in which 

the facility is located, only one unit need approve the issue. Current refunding bonds that meet 

certain maturity and principal amount limits are exempted from the public approval requirement 

(see Limitations on Refunding Private Activity Bonds, for the definition of current refunding 

bonds). 

Approval may be accomplished by either voter referendum or by an elected representative of the 

governmental entity approving the issue after a public hearing following reasonable notice to the 

public. IRC 147(f) and Treas. Reg. Section 1.147(f)-1 define the specific rules for this requirement. 

Special Remedial Action for Failure to Meet Public Approval Requirements. If an issuer fails to 

comply with the public approval requirements, the issuer may be able to cure the defect. Treas. 

Reg. Section 1.147-2 provides that issuers may use the remedial action rules under Treas. Reg. 

Section 1.142-2 (available to correct nonqualified uses of proceeds) to cure noncompliance with 

the public approval requirement (see Special Remedial Actions for Nonqualified Use). 

Issuers Must File Form 8038, Information Return for Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bond 

Issues. Issuers of qualified private activity bonds must comply with certain information filing 

requirements under IRC Section 149(e) by filing IRS Form 8038 by the 15th day of the second 

calendar month following the quarter in which the bonds were issued. For example, the due date 

of the return for bonds issued on February 1 is May 15. Issuers must file Form 8038 at Internal 

Revenue Service Center, Ogden UT 84201. 

An issuer may request an extension of time to file Form 8038 if the failure to file the return on 

time wasn’t due to willful neglect. To request an extension, the issuer must follow Revenue 

Procedure 2002-48, 2002-37 I.R.B. 531. These procedures generally require that the issuer: (1) 

attach a letter to the Form 8038 briefly explaining when the return was required to be filed, why 

the return was not timely submitted, and whether the bond issue is under examination; (2) enter 

on top of the letter “Request for Relief under section 3 of Rev. Proc. 2002-48”; and (3) file the 

letter and return at the Internal Revenue Service Center, Ogden UT 84201. 

Private Activity Bonds Must Be in Registered Form. IRC Section 149(a) generally provides 

that any tax-exempt bond, including a qualified private activity bond, must be issued “in 

registered form” unless the obligation is of a type not offered to the public or has, at the date 

of issue, a maturity date of not more than one year. The regulations describe what it means 

to be in “registered form.” Treas. Reg. Section 5f.103-1(c)(1) provides that an obligation issued 

4 
after January 20, 1987, pursuant to a binding contract entered into after January 20, 1987, is in 

registered form if: 

 the obligation is registered as to both principal and any stated interest with the issuer (or 

its agent) and that the transfer of the obligation to a new holder may be effected only by 

surrender of the old instrument and the issuer must either reissue the old instrument or issue a 

new instrument to the new holder; or 

 the right to the principal of, and stated interest on, the obligation may be transferred only 


through a book-entry system maintained by the issuer (or its agent); or
 

 the obligation is registered as to both principal and any stated interest with the issuer (or its 

agent) and may be transferred through both above methods. 

Only a Limited Amount of Private Activity Bond Proceeds May Be Used to Pay Issuance 

Costs. The IRC limits the amount of proceeds that may be used to finance issuance costs. 

Under IRC Section 147(g), a private activity bond is not a qualified bond if the issuance costs 

financed by the issue (of which the bond is a part) exceed 2%. Requirements of the proceeds 

of the issue. In the case of an issue of qualified mortgage revenue bonds or qualified veterans’ 

mortgage revenue bonds, where the proceeds of the issue do not exceed $20 million, the 

issuance costs limitation is 3.5% of the proceeds of the issue. Issuers and borrowers of bond 

proceeds may finance issuance costs with funds other than the proceeds of the bond issue. 

Under the regulations, “issuance costs” means costs incurred in connection with, and allocable 

to, the issuance of an issue. For example, “issuance costs” include the following costs, but only 

to the extent incurred in connection with, and allocable to, the borrowing: 

 underwriters’ spread 

 counsel fees 

 financial advisory fees 

 fees paid to an organization to evaluate the credit quality of an issue 

 trustee fees 

 paying agent fees 

 bond registrar, certification and authentication fees 

 accounting fees 

 printing costs for bonds and offering documents 

 public approval process costs 

 engineering and feasibility study costs 

 guarantee fees other than for “qualified guarantees” 

 costs similar to those above 

Issuers Must Make Certain Elections at Issuance. When an issuer considers actions it must 

take when it issues bonds, it should consider whether it wants to make any elections. Various 

provisions of the IRC and regulations require that the issuer make certain elections in writing and 

retain elections as part of the bond documents. Many elections have to be made on or before 

the issue date of the bonds. Some elections may be made by either the issuer or a conduit 

borrower. Others must be made by the actual issuer of the bonds. The IRS frequently observes 

that issuers make the written elections in the arbitrage certificate prepared pursuant to Treas. 

Reg. Section 1.148-2. Once made, elections cannot be revoked without IRS permission. 

Examples of elections include: 

 waiving the right to treat a purpose investment as a program investment 

 waiving the right to invest in higher yielding investments during any temporary period 

 the issuer of a pooled financing issue electing to apply rebate spending exceptions separately 

to each conduit loan 

5 
 applying actual facts rather than reasonable expectations for certain provisions under the twoyear spending exception from rebate 

 excluding the earnings on a reasonably required reserve fund from available construction 


proceeds under the two-year spending exception from rebate
 

 treating a portion of an issue as a separate construction issue under the two-year spending 

exception from rebate 

 electing to pay 1.5% penalty in lieu of arbitrage rebate 

 electing to treat portions of a bond issue as separate issues 

Requirements That Apply at Issuance and Throughout the Life of the Bonds 

Proceeds Must Be Used for Qualified Purposes. Private activity bonds are used for a 

qualified purpose if 95% or more of the net bond proceeds are to be used for one or more 

defined qualified purposes. The qualified purposes are described in IRC Sections 142 through 

145 and 1394. For purposes of the 95% requirement, issuance costs financed with bond 

proceeds are generally treated as not being used for a qualified purpose. For a description of 

issuance costs, see Only a Limited Amount of Private Activity Bond Proceeds May Be Used to 

Pay Issuance Costs. Qualified purposes and the relevant IRC Section are: 

 Section 142 – exempt facilities, such as: 

 airports 

 docks and wharves 

 mass commuting facilities 

 facilities for the furnishing of water 

 sewage facilities 

 solid waste disposal facilities 

 qualified residential rental projects 

 facilities for the furnishing of local electric energy or gas 

 local district heating or cooling facilities 

 qualified hazardous waste facilities 

 high-speed intercity rail facilities 

 environmental enhancements of hydro-electric generating facilities 

 qualified public educational facilities 

 qualified green building and sustainable design projects 

 qualified highway or surface freight transfer facilities 

 Section 143 – qualified mortgages and qualified veterans’ mortgages 

 Section 144 – qualified small issue manufacturing facilities, qualified small issue farm property, 

qualified student loans and qualified redevelopment projects 

 Section 1394 – qualified enterprise zone and empowerment zone facilities 

 Section 145 – qualifed 501(c)(3) bonds. (The special rules that generally apply to qualified 

private activity bonds financing 501(c)(3) exempt purposes are covered in Publication 4077, 

Tax-Exempt Bonds for 501(c)(3) Charitable Organizations. 

A qualified private activity bond issue can lose its tax-exempt status as of the issue date if, after 

the issue date, sufficient nonqualified use occurs to cause the issue to fail the use requirements. 

6 
 

 

 

So, the issue becomes a taxable private activity bond issue. Generally, nonqualified use occurs 

when the issuer or other entity controlling expenditure or use of the proceeds or financed property 

takes an action that results in insufficient bond proceeds being allocated to the qualified purpose 

for which the bonds were issued. However, with respect to unspent proceeds, a failure to properly 

use those proceeds may occur as early as the date on which the issuer or other entity controlling 

expenditure of the proceeds reasonably expects that the bond proceeds won't be expended on the 

qualified purpose for which the bonds were issued. 

Special Remedial Actions for Nonqualified Use. The Treas. Reg. provide that an issuer that fails 

to use proceeds for a qualified purpose may, in certain cases, cure that failure using one of the 

prescribed remedial actions. Generally, these remedial actions consist of the redemption or 

defeasance of bonds. Additionally, if bond-financed personal property is disposed of exclusively 

for cash, remedial action may include the alternative use of the disposition proceeds to acquire 

replacement property within six months of the disposition date. Other remedial actions may be 

available to the issuer of qualified 501(c)(3) bonds. 

The following regulations provide remedial actions available for certain qualified private activity 

bonds: 

 Section 1.142-2 – exempt facility bonds 

 Section 1.144-2 – qualified small issue bonds and qualified redevelopment bonds 

 Section 1.145-2 – qualified 501(c)(3) bonds 

 Section 1.1394-1(m)(4) – qualified enterprise zone facility bonds, qualified empowerment zone 

facility bonds and District of Columbia enterprise zone facility bonds 

These regulations can be accessed through the IRS website under Tax Code, Regulations and 

Official Guidance. 

Proceeds May Not Be Used to Acquire Land or Other Existing Property. The IRC prohibits 

the use of proceeds of certain types of qualified private activity bonds for certain expenditures, 

even if those expenditures are associated with a qualified purpose. Under IRC Section 147(c), a 

private activity bond is not a qualified bond if (1) 25% or more of the net proceeds of the bond 

issue are to be used (directly or indirectly) for the acquisition of land (or an interest therein), or (2) 

any portion of the proceeds of the issue is to be used (directly or indirectly) for the acquisition of 

land (or an interest therein) to be used for farming purposes. 

However, certain exceptions to this rule are available for first-time farmers (up to a specified 

inflation-adjusted amount), and for land acquired for certain environmental purposes in 

connection with an airport, mass commuting facility, high-speed intercity rail facility, dock or 

wharf. Also, the restriction on land financing does not apply to any qualified mortgage bond, 

qualified veterans’ mortgage bond, qualified student loan bond, qualified 501(c)(3) bond or any 

exempt facility bond financing qualified public education facilities. 

In addition to the restriction on financing land, generally, a qualified private activity bond won't 

be tax-exempt if any amount of the net proceeds is used for the acquisition of existing property 

unless the purpose of the acquisition is the first use of that property. This rule doesn’t apply 

to qualified mortgage revenue bonds, qualified veterans’ mortgage revenue bonds or qualified 

501(c)(3) bonds. Additionally, IRC Section 147(d)(2) provides an exception to this prohibition when 

certain rehabilitation expenditures are made. 

7 
Also, under IRC Section 147(e), no proceeds of private activity bonds may be used to finance 

any: 

 airplane (other than aircraft equipped for, and exclusively dedicated to providing, acute care 

emergency medical services) 

 skybox or other private luxury box 

 health club facility (under an exception, qualified 501(c)(3) bonds may finance health club 


facilities) 


 facility primarily used for gambling 

 store the principal business of which is the sale of alcoholic beverages for consumption off 

premises 

Special Remedial Action Rule. An issuer may be able to cure a prohibited expenditure that 

does not meet the exceptions noted above. Treas. Reg. Section 1.147-2 provides that issuers 

may use the remedial action rules under Treas. Reg. Section 1.142-2 to cure noncompliance for 

rehabilitation expenditures, acquiring property for environmental purposes and certain prohibited 

financings. See Special Remedial Actions for Nonqualified Use. 

Proceeds Must Be Timely Allocated to Expenditures. Issuers and conduit borrowers are 

required to follow the rules for allocating bond proceeds. The issuer or other entity controlling 

expenditure of the proceeds of a qualified private activity bond issue must allocate those 

proceeds among the project expenditures in a manner demonstrating compliance with the 

qualified use requirements. These allocations must generally be consistent with allocations made 

for determining compliance with the arbitrage yield restriction and rebate requirements, as well 

as other federal tax filings. See Proceeds are Subject to Investment Restrictions: the Arbitrage 

Yield Restriction and Arbitrage Rebate Requirements, below, for an overview of those rules. 

An issuer must account for the allocation of proceeds to an expenditure not later than 18 months 

after the later of the date the expenditure is paid or the date the project, if any, financed by the 

issue is placed in service. This allocation must be made in any event by the date 60 days after 

the fifth anniversary of the issue date or the date 60 days after the retirement of the issue, if 

earlier. 

Proceeds are Subject to Investment Restrictions: the Arbitrage Yield Restriction and 

Arbitrage Rebate Requirements. Issuers of tax-exempt bonds, including qualified private 

activity bonds, are generally subject to investment, or arbitrage, limitations under IRC Section 

148. Failure to comply with those arbitrage limitations will result in the bonds being arbitrage 

bonds and interest on the bonds being taxable. 

In general, arbitrage is earned when the gross proceeds of an issue are used to acquire 

investments that earn a yield that is materially higher than the yield on the bonds of the issue. 

Earning arbitrage is permitted in certain circumstances, including those where arbitrage may be 

earned but must be paid, or rebated, to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In some cases, 

an issuer may be able to reduce the yield on an investment for arbitrage purposes and thereby 

avoid an arbitrage violation by making a yield reduction payment to the U.S. Department of the 

Treasury. See Where and When To File Arbitrage Rebate and Yield Reduction Payments, for 

information on how to make yield reduction payments. 

An issuer must comply with two general sets of arbitrage rules: (1) the yield restriction 

requirements of Section 148(a) and (2) the rebate requirements of Section 148(f). An issuer may 

meet one of these sets of rules, but still have arbitrage bonds because it failed the other. Even 

though interconnected, both sets of rules have their own distinct requirements. The following 

8 
is an overview of the basic requirements of these two general rules. Additional requirements or 

exceptions, beyond the scope of this publication, may apply in certain instances. 

An issuer’s reasonable expectations on the issue date regarding the amount and use of gross 

proceeds of the issue are used to determine whether an issue consists of arbitrage bonds. In 

addition, if an issuer or any person acting for the issuer takes a deliberate, intentional action to 

earn arbitrage after the issue date, that action will cause the bonds of an issue to be arbitrage 

bonds if that action, had it been reasonably expected on the issue date, would have caused 

the bonds to be arbitrage bonds. Intent to violate the requirements of IRC Section 148 is not 

necessary for an action to be intentional. 

Yield Restriction Requirements. The yield restriction rules of IRC Section 148(a) generally provide 

that the direct or indirect investment of the gross proceeds of bonds in investments earning a 

yield materially higher than the yield of the bond issue causes the bonds to become arbitrage 

bonds. The chart below describes when the yield on particular investments will be “materially 

higher” (the chart shows the permitted yield spread between the yield on the bond issue and the 

yield on the particular investment; any spread beyond that stated is materially higher): 

“Materially Higher” Limits 

Type of Investments Materially Higher When Spread Exceeds 

General rule (when other rules below don’t apply) 1/8 of one percentage point 

Investments in a refunding escrow 1/1000 of one percentage point 

Investments allocable to replacement proceeds 1/1000 of one percentage point 

Program investments (other than qualified 

mortgage loans or qualified student loans) 

1.5 percentage points 

Student loans 2 percentage points 

Mortgage loans 1.125 percentage points, calculated as required 

under IRC Section 143(g) 

Investments in tax-exempt bonds Generally, no yield limitation (but for qualified 

501(c)(3) bonds, tax-exempt bond investments 

must not be subject to the alternate minimum 

income tax) 

Certain exceptions are available under the yield restriction rules. The investment of proceeds 

in materially higher yielding investments does not cause the bonds of an issue to be arbitrage 

bonds: (1) during a temporary period (for example, three-year temporary period for capital 

projects and 13 months for restricted working capital expenditures); (2) as part of a reasonably 

required reserve or replacement fund; and (3) as part of a minor portion (an amount not 

exceeding the lesser of 5% of the sale proceeds of the issue or $100,000). Whether or not the 

arbitrage yield restrictions rules apply, issuer should consider whether the rebate requirements 

apply. 

Rebate Requirements. The rebate requirements of IRC Section 148(f) generally provide that, 

unless certain earnings on “nonpurpose investments” allocable to the gross proceeds of an 

issue are rebated to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the bonds in the issue will be arbitrage 

bonds. Generally, nonpurpose investments are investment securities such as Treasury bonds, 

9 
bank deposits or guaranteed investment contracts, and so on, and do not include “purpose 

investments.” A purpose investment is an investment that the issuer acquires to carry out the 

governmental purpose of an issue. Examples of purpose investments include the payment 

obligations created when an issuer loans proceeds of a qualified 501(c)(3) bond to a 501(c)(3) 

hospital or leases a manufacturing facility financed with proceeds of a qualified small issue bond 

to a private corporation. 

The arbitrage that must be rebated is based on the excess (if any) of the amount actually earned 

on nonpurpose investments over the amount that would have been earned if those investments 

had a yield equal to the yield on the issue, plus any income attributable to the excess. Under 

Treas. Reg. Section 1.148-3(b), the future values (as of the computation date) of all earnings 

received and payments actually or constructively made on nonpurpose investments are included 

in determining the amount of rebate due. See Where and When to File Arbitrage Rebate and 

Yield Reduction Payments, below, for information on how to make rebate payments. 

There are, however, spending exceptions to the general rebate requirements that apply to 

qualified private activity bonds. Whether these exceptions apply depends on the timing of 

expenditure of required amounts of proceeds, as follows: 

Spending Exceptions 

Spending 

Period 

Spending Exception 

Six months Treas. Reg. Section 1.148-7(c) provides an exception to rebate if the gross proceeds 

of the bond issue are allocated to expenditures for governmental or qualified 

purposes that are incurred within six months after the issue date. 

18 months Treas. Reg. Section 1.148-7(d) provides an exception to rebate if the gross proceeds 

of the bond issue are allocated to expenditures for governmental or qualified 

purposes which are incurred within: (1) at least 15% within 6 months after the issue 

date; (2) at least 60% within 12 months after the issue date; and (3) 100% within 18 

months after the issue date. 

Two years Treas. Reg. Section 1.148-7(e) provides an exception to rebate for construction issues 

financing property to be owned by a governmental entity or 501(c)(3) organization 

when certain available construction proceeds are allocated to expenditure: (1) at 

least 10% within 6 months after the issue date; (2) at least 45% within 12 months 

after the issue date; (3) at least 75% within 18 months after the issue date; and (4) 

100% within 24 months after the issue date. 

Note: Issuers may still owe rebate on amounts earned on nonpurpose investments allocable to proceeds 

not covered by one of the spending exceptions, which may include earnings in a reasonably required 

reserve or replacement fund. 

Where and When to File Arbitrage Rebate and Yield Reduction Payments. Issuers of taxexempt bonds file IRS Form 8038-T, Arbitrage Rebate, Yield Reduction and Penalty in Lieu of 

Arbitrage Rebate, to make: 

 yield reduction payments 

 arbitrage rebate payments 

 payments of a penalty in lieu of rebate 

 payment in connection with the termination of the election to pay a penalty in lieu of arbitrage 

rebate 

 payment of the penalty for failure to pay arbitrage rebate on time 

10 
A yield reduction payment and/or arbitrage rebate installment payment is required to be paid 

no later than 60 days after the “computation date” to which the payment relates. An issuer of a 

fixed yield issue may treat any date as a computation date. An issuer of a variable yield issue 

may treat the last day of any bond year ending on or before the latest date for making the first 

rebate payment (generally not later than five years after the issue date) as a computation date. 

Thereafter, the issuer must consistently treat either the end of each bond year or the end of each 

fifth bond year as a computation date. Generally, a “bond year” is a one-year period that ends 

on the date that the issuer selects. If the issuer does not make a timely selection, the bond years 

for the issue end on each anniversary of the issue date and on the final maturity date. 

Recovering an Overpayment of Rebate. If an issuer pays more than the required rebate, it 

may ask to recover the overpayment. In general, a request for recovery of overpayment of 

arbitrage rebate may be made when the issuer can establish that an overpayment occurred. An 

overpayment is the excess of the amount paid to the U.S. Department of the Treasury for an 

issue over the sum of the rebate amount for the issue as of the most recent computation date 

and all amounts that are otherwise required to be paid under Section 148 as of the date the 

recovery is requested. The request can be made with the IRS by completing and filing IRS Form 

8038-R, Request for Recovery of Overpayments Under Arbitrage Rebate Provisions. An issuer 

must file a Form 8038-R no later than the date that is two years after the final computation date 

for the issue. For more information, see Treas. Reg. 1.148-3(i). 

Special Remedial Action for Failure to Timely Pay Arbitrage Rebate. An issuer that fails to timely 

pay arbitrage rebate will be excused from having its bonds be arbitrage bonds if the failure isn’t 

due to willful neglect and the issuer submits a Form 8038-T with a payment of the rebate amount 

owed, plus penalty and interest. The penalty may be waived under certain circumstances. For 

more information, see Treas. Reg. Section 1.148-3(i)(3) and Revenue Procedure 2005-40, 2005­

28 I.R.B. 83. 

Private Activity Bonds are Subject to Maturity Limitations. IRC Section 147(b) places limits 

on the maturity of qualified private activity bonds. A private activity bond is not a qualified bond 

(and therefore will not be tax exempt) if the average maturity of the bond issue exceeds 120% 

of the average reasonably expected economic life of the facilities being financed with the issue. 

This requirement doesn’t apply to qualified mortgage bonds, qualified veterans’ mortgage bonds 

or qualified student loan bonds. Working capital expenditures are ignored when determining the 

economic life of facilities. 

Private Activity Bonds May Not Be Federally Guaranteed. IRC Section 149(b) provides 

that any tax-exempt bond, including a qualified private activity bond, will not be treated as tax 

exempt if the payment of principal or interest is directly or indirectly guaranteed by the federal 

government or any agency or instrumentality of the federal government. Exceptions to this 

general rule include guarantees by certain quasi-governmental entities administering federal 

insurance programs, and federal guarantees for qualified residential rental projects, home 

mortgages and student loans. Additional exceptions apply to bond proceeds that are invested in 

U.S. Treasury securities or held in a bona fide debt service fund, a reasonably required reserve 

or replacement fund or a refunding escrow, and investments during a permitted initial temporary 

period. 

11 
 

A Private Activity Bond May Not Be a Hedge Bond. IRC Section 149(g) states that 

hedge bonds will not be tax-exempt unless certain requirements, described below, are 

satisfied. A “hedge bond” is any bond that is part of a bond issue that fails either of the 

following requirements: 

 The issuer must reasonably expect that 85% of the spendable proceeds of the issue will be 

used to carry out the qualified purpose within the three-year period beginning on the date the 

bonds are issued (“spendable proceeds” means proceeds from the sale of the issue, less the 

portion invested in a reasonably required reserve or replacement fund or as part of a permitted 

“minor portion”). 

 Not more than 50% of the proceeds of the issue are invested in nonpurpose investments 


having a substantially guaranteed yield for four or more years. 


Section 149(g)(3)(B) provides an exception to the general definition of a hedge bond if at least 

95% of the net proceeds of the issue are invested in tax-exempt bonds that are not subject 

to the alternative minimum tax. For this purpose, amounts held either: (1) in a bona fide debt 

service fund or (2) for 30 days or less pending either reinvestment of the proceeds or bond 

redemption, are treated as invested in tax-exempt bonds not subject to the alternative minimum 

tax. Additionally, a refunding bond issue does not generally consist of hedge bonds if the prior 

issue met the requirements for tax-exempt status and issuance of the refunding bonds furthers a 

significant governmental purpose (for example, realize debt service savings, but not to otherwise 

hedge against future increases in interest rates). 

Even if an issue otherwise meets the definition of a hedge bond, it will generally still be taxexempt if two requirements are satisfied. First, at least 95% of the reasonably expected legal 

and underwriting costs associated with issuing the bonds must be paid within 180 days after 

the issue date and the payment of such costs must not be contingent on the disbursement of 

the bond proceeds. Second, on the date of issuance the issuer must reasonably expect that the 

spendable proceeds of the issue will be allocated to expenditures for governmental or qualified 

purposes within the following schedule: 

 10% within one year after the date of issuance, 

 30% within two years after the date of issuance, 

 60% within three years after the date of issuance, and 

 85% within five years after the date of issuance. 

Limitations on Refunding Private Activity Bonds. Qualified private activity bonds may be 

currently refunded. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2017) repealed the exclusion from gross income 

for interest on bonds issued to advance refund another bond. The repeal applies to advance 

refunding bonds issued after December 31, 2017. A bond is classified as an advance refunding if 

it is issued more than 90 days before the redemption of the refunded bonds. Under Treas. Reg. 

Section 1.150-1(d)(1), a refunding bond issue is an issue the proceeds of which are used to pay 

principal, interest, or redemption price on another issue (a prior issue), as well as the issuance 

cost, accrued interest, or capitalized interest on the refunding issue, a reserve or replacement 

fund, or any similar costs properly allocable to that refunding issue. 

12 
Refunding bond issues generally derive their tax-exempt status from the prior issue they refund; 

if the prior issue was not tax-exempt, the refunding bonds generally cannot be tax-exempt. 

Private Activity Bonds May Not Be Used for Abusive Tax Transactions 

The IRS is engaged in extensive efforts to curb abusive tax shelter schemes and transactions. 

What Happens When the Terms of a Private Activity Bond are Modified? 

If the terms of a private activity bond are sufficiently modified, the bond will be treated as 

reissued. When qualified private activity bonds are reissued, either actually or in a deemed 

reissuance, the new bonds must be retested as of the date of the reissuance to determine if all 

the federal tax requirements are met for the “new” issue. These include the requirements that 

apply when bonds are issued, such as timely filing of the Form 8038. See Issuers Must File 

Form 8038, Information Return for Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bond Issues. 

A deemed reissuance may arise if sufficient changes are made to the bond terms, such as when 

a bondholder and issuer agree, directly or indirectly, to a significant modification of the terms of 

any bonds. See Reissuance of Tax-Exempt Obligations: Some Basic Concepts for examples of 

significant modifications. If deemed reissued, the modified bonds are deemed exchanged for the 

original bonds. In general, the date the issuer and bondholder enter into the agreement to modify 

the bond terms is treated as the date of issuance of the new bonds, even if the modification is 

not immediately effective. At reissuance, the modified bond must meet any tax law requirements 

that apply upon its early retirement in connection with the reissuance, including the acceleration 

of any arbitrage rebate or yield reduction payment that is due. See Proceeds Are Subject to 

Investment Restrictions: the Arbitrage Yield Restriction and Arbitrage Rebate Requirements. 

See also Where and When to File Arbitrage Rebate and Yield Reduction Payments. For more 

information on the reissuance rules, see Reissuance of Tax-Exempt Obligations: Some Basic 

Concepts. 

Issuers Must Retain Records to Show That Requirements are Satisfied 

IRC Section 6001 and Treas. Reg. Section 1.6001-1(a) generally provide that any person subject 

to income tax, or any person required to file a return of information with respect to income (for 

example, the issuer filing information returns relating to its bond issues), must keep books and 

records that are sufficient to establish the amount of gross income, deductions, credits or other 

matters required to be shown by that person in any return. See Frequently Asked Questions for 

more information. 

Certain Holders May Not Exclude Interest on Qualified Private Activity Bonds from 

Taxable Income 

Even if a private activity bond meets all other requirements for tax exemption, the IRC may 

prohibit certain holders from excluding interest income from tax. Generally, the entity that 

benefits from qualified private activity bonds may not also receive an exclusion from tax for 

interest that it receives while holding those bonds. Specifically, IRC Section 147(a) provides that 

a private activity bond is not a qualified bond (and therefore will not be tax exempt) during any 

period it is held by a person who is a substantial user of the facilities financed with the bond or 

by a person “related” to a substantial user. Generally, a substantial user of a facility includes any 

nonexempt person who regularly uses a part of the facility in a trade or business. See Treas. 

13 
Reg. Section 1.103-11(b) for the rules to determine whether a person is a substantial user. IRC 

Section 147(a)(2) governs whether a person is treated as a “related person” to a substantial user. 

The substantial user prohibition of Section 147(a) does not apply to qualified mortgage bonds, 

qualified veterans’ mortgage bonds, qualified student loan bonds or qualified 501(c)(3) bonds. 

Post-Issuance Compliance Monitoring 

In this section, we discuss the importance of issuers and other parties monitoring compliance 

with the IRC requirements and suggest steps an issuer and others may take to monitor bond 

issues. 

Protecting Against Post-Issuance Violations 

Issuers and users of bond proceeds may be concerned with how they can further protect the 

tax-exempt status of their qualified private activity bonds. Reliance solely on bond documents 

and tax certificates provided when the bonds are issued will not likely provide the assurance an 

issuer desires. To gain greater confidence that bonds are in compliance with federal tax laws, 

an issuer may adopt, or ask the entity borrowing bond proceeds or controlling the financed 

property to adopt, post-issuance monitoring procedures. Issuers and other users of bond 

proceeds that establish and follow comprehensive written monitoring procedures to promote 

post-issuance compliance generally are less likely to violate the federal tax requirements related 

to their bonds, and are more likely to find any violations earlier, than those issuers and other 

users without procedures. Early discovery of a violation is a factor IRS considers in determining 

the appropriate resolution under its TEB VCAP. For information on procedures and other options 

to assist issuers and other users of bond proceeds in their tax compliance responsibilities, see 

Publication 5005, Your Responsibilities as a Conduit Issuer of Tax-Exempt Bonds. 

Steps to Better Monitoring 

In formulating procedures, issuers and other users of bond proceeds may consider: 

 designating one or more officials to assist in post-issuance compliance, 

 designating one or more officials to assist with examinations of the bond issue, 

 providing training or other technical support to designated official, 

 designating time intervals within which compliance monitoring activities will be completed, 

and 

 timely completing remedial actions (including requests under TEB VCAP) to correct or 

otherwise resolve identified noncompliance. 

14
 
-

 

The following chart identifies particular areas for compliance monitoring procedures. 

Compliance Procedures 

Type of 

Procedures 

Description of Procedures for 

Post Closing Matters 

Where Responsibility is 

Discussed in this Publication 

Information 

Return Filing 

Procedures to ensure timely filing 

of information returns, including 

procedures concerning amended and 

late filed returns 

Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bonds 

– Requirements Related to Issuance – 

Issuers Must File Form 8038, Information 

Return for Tax-Exempt Private Activity 

Bond Issues 

Change in Use of 

Proceeds or BondFinanced Property 

Procedures to timely identify and 

remediate deliberate actions 

Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bonds – 

Requirements That Apply at Issuance 

and Throughout the Life of the Bonds 

– Proceeds Must Be Used for Qualified 

Purposes 

Reissuance Procedures to satisfy tax 

requirements when a modification 

in terms results in a reissuance for 

federal income tax purposes 

Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bonds – 

What Happens When the Terms of a 

Private Activity Bond are Modified? 

Elections Procedures for timely federal income 

tax elections 

Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bonds 

– Requirements Related to Issuance – 

Issuers Must Make Certain Elections at 

Issuance 

Allocation of 

Proceeds 

Procedures for the timely expenditure 

and accounting for use and 

investment of bond proceeds 

Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bonds – 

Requirements That Apply at Issuance 

and Throughout the Life of the Bonds – 

Proceeds Must Be Timely Allocated to 

Expenditures 

Arbitrage 

Compliance 

Procedures for the timely computation 

and payment of arbitrage rebate and 

yield reduction payments 

Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bonds – 

Requirements That Apply at Issuance 

and Throughout the Life of the Bonds 

– Proceeds Are Subject to Investment 

Restrictions: the Arbitrage Yield 

Restriction and Arbitrage Rebate 

Requirements 

Record Retention Procedures for the maintenance of 

records 

Tax-Exempt Private Activity Bonds – 

Issuers Must Retain Records to Show 

That Requirements are Satisfied 

IRS Contacts Procedures concerning contacts from 

the IRS 

Post-Issuance Compliance Monitoring – 

Steps to Better Monitoring 

See TEB Post-Issuance Compliance: Some Basic Concepts for more information. 

15 
What To Do When You Discover a Violation — TEB Voluntary Closing 

Agreement Program 

IRS is committed to resolving federal tax violations with the issuer. The TEB Voluntary Closing 

Agreement Program provides remedies for issuers of tax-exempt bonds, tax credit bonds, and 

direct pay bonds that voluntarily come forward to resolve a violation of the IRC that cannot 

be corrected under self-correction programs described in the Treas. Reg. or other published 

guidance. Notice 2008-31, 2008-11 I.R.B 592, provides information and general guidance 

about TEB VCAP. Internal Revenue Manual section 7.2.3 provides general procedures under 

which TEB will enter into closing agreements. Closing agreement terms and amounts may vary 

according to the degree of the violation as well as the facts and circumstances surrounding it. 

Issuers must use IRS Form 14429, Tax Exempt Bonds Voluntary Closing Agreement Program 

Request, to submit a request and provide the required information. See IRM section 7.2.3.2.1 

about completing the March 2013 version of the form. While the IRS generally enters into closing 

agreements with the issuer of the bonds, in certain cases other parties to the bond transaction 

(including an entity borrowing the bond proceeds) may also participate in the negotiations and 

jointly execute the agreement. 

For more information about this program, including requirements for submitting a request, case 

processing procedures, and resolutions standards, see IRM section 7.2.3. See Tax Exempt 

Bonds Voluntary Compliance for more information on TEB VCAP administrative procedures and 

resolution standards. 

More Information 

You can find information about the tax laws that apply to municipal finance arrangements, 

including tax forms and instructions, revenue procedures and notices, and TEB Publications at 

IRS.gov/bonds. 

If you have account-specific questions, call Customer Account Services toll-free at 877-829-5000. 

16