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The IRS recently invited public comment on recommendations for items that should be included in the 2016-2017 Priority Guidance Plan. The IRS sets priority guidance plans each year and updates them on a quarterly basis. The IRS uses the priority guidance plan each year to identify and prioritize the tax issues that should be addressed through regulations, revenue rulings, revenue procedures, notices, and other published administrative guidance.

The Kentucky Board of Tax Appeals recently ruled that an appraiser valuing a LIHTC site must consider the rental restrictions placed on the site. The board considered the assessed value of a 20-unit site subject to the federal LIHTC income and rent restrictions. The county’s valuation administrator assessed the site at $1.34 million for the 2014 tax year. The Board of Assessment Appeals lowered this assessment to $1,040,000, and the valuation administrator assesse...

HUD recently announced a settlement agreement with Maryland’s Baltimore County over federal discrimination complaints filed in 2011. The complaints revolve around an issue that’s been playing out across the nation. The issue involves whether state and local governments may be violating the Fair Housing Act of 1968 because low-income housing is routinely located in neighborhoods with high concentrations of poverty, minorities, and subsidized homes.

The Justice Department recently announced that the owners and developers of 71 multifamily housing sites in four states have agreed to pay $350,000 to settle claims that they violated federal fair housing law by building apartment complexes that were inaccessible to persons with disabilities. All but two of the sites were built with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits or other federal programs, and include more than 2,500 ground-floor units.

HUD recently published a notice accepting public comment on the latest revision of the statutorily mandated collection of information on tenants in LIHTC sites. The information collection is mandated by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) of 2008, and requires state and local agencies administering LIHTCs to furnish information on the race, ethnicity, family composition, age, income, Section 8 assistance, disability status, and monthly rental payments of househ...

The Center for Housing Policy at the National Housing Conference recently released its annual Housing Landscape 2016 report. It finds that more low- and moderate-income (LMI) working households are renting as opposed to owning their homes, with the share of households who rent increasing from 50.8 percent to 52.6 percent from 2011 to 2014. LMI working households are defined as those with at least one household member working on average at least 20 hours a week and with ...

On Feb. 12, Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released her “Breaking Every Barrier Agenda,” an economic plan that includes several proposals to address the affordable rental housing crisis.

HUD recently issued notice 2016-01 announcing the passbook savings rate used to determine annual income from net family assets. It will become effective Feb. 1, 2016. In addition to HUD programs, the imputed interest rate is also used to calculate annual income at LIHTC sites when a family has net assets in excess of $5,000.

In anticipation of funding from the National Housing Trust Fund (HTF) this year, housing agencies have been developing allocation plans and seeking input from constituents. The HTF is the newest source of affordable housing funding. It is a new rental housing program for extremely low- and very low-income households that was created by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) of 2008.

According to a report entitled “Budget and Economic Outlook: 2016 to 2026” by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), in 2016, the federal budget deficit will increase, in relation to the size of the economy, for the first time since 2009.