IRS Still Allows Phone Hearings For Exempt-Bond Issuers

Governments seeking to issue private activity bonds can still satisfy a public approval requirement by hosting phone hearings instead of in-person meetings during the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday.

The agency has extended through September 2021 relief that allows state and local governments to hold phone hearings instead of face-to-face meetings. Governments will still satisfy the public approval requirement under Internal Revenue Code Section 147(f) for issuing private activity bonds, the IRS said in Rev. Proc. 2020-49. Guidance issued by the agency in May originally allowed this relief through the end of the year.

--Editing by Leah Bennett.

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