IRS Provides Permanent Authority to Conduct Telephonic Public Hearings for Tax-Exempt Bonds and Housing Credit QAPs

On March 18, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Revenue Procedure 2022-20, providing permanent authority to conduct telephonic public hearings for tax-exempt private activity bonds. IRS provided temporary authority to conduct telephonic public hearings several times during the pandemic, including most recently in Revenue Procedure 2021-39, which extended that authority through March 31, 2022. NCSHA has repeatedly urged IRS to permanently authorize telephonic public hearings, and Revenue Procedure 2022-20 adopts our recommendation.

The ruling also permanently allows Housing Credit agencies to conduct Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) public hearings under the same rules allowed for private activity bond hearings. In Notice 2022-05 (Housing Credit COVID-19 relief), IRS extended the ability to conduct telephonic QAP hearings through March 31, 2022, by cross reference to the private activity bond rules. The new permanent authority to conduct telephonic tax-exempt bond public hearings applies automatically to Housing Credit QAP public hearings moving forward.