This document contains proposed regulations that amend the utility allowance regulations concerning the low-income housing credit. The proposed regulations relate to the circumstances in which utility costs paid by a tenant based on actual consumption in a submetered rent-restricted unit are treated as paid by the tenant directly to the utility company. The proposed regulations extend those rules to situations in which a building owner sells to tenants energy that is produced from a renewable source and that is not delivered by a local utility company. The proposed regulations affect owners of low-income housing projects that claim the credit, the tenants in those low-income housing projects, and the State and local housing credit agencies that administer the credit. In the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Bulletin, the IRS is issuing temporary regulations concerning utility allowance regulations when the utility is generated from renewable sources and is not delivered by the local utility company. The text of those regulations also serves as the text of these proposed regulations. This document also contains a notice of a public hearing on these proposed regulations.
Send submissions to: CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG–123867–14), room 5203, Internal Revenue Service, P.O. Box 7604, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, DC 20044. Submissions may be hand-delivered Monday through Friday between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG–123867–14), Courier’s Desk, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC, or sent electronically, via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov/ (IRS REG–123867–14).
Concerning the proposed regulations, James Rider at (202) 317-4137; concerning submissions of comments and requests for a public hearing, Oluwafunmilayo Taylor at (202) 317-6901 (not toll-free numbers).
Temporary regulations in the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Bulletin amend 26 CFR part 1. The temporary regulations provide a special rule for a renewable-source utility arrangement in which the building owner does not pay a local utility company for the utility consumed by the tenant. The text of those regulations also serves as the text of these regulations. The preamble to the temporary regulations explains the temporary regulations and these proposed regulations.
Certain IRS regulations, including this one, are exempt from the requirements of Executive Order 12866, as supplemented and reaffirmed by Executive Order 13563. Therefore, a regulatory assessment is not required. It also has been determined that section 553(b) of the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. chapter 5) does not apply to this regulation, and because the regulation does not impose a collection of information on small entities, the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. chapter 6) does not apply. Pursuant to section 7805(f) of the Internal Revenue Code, this notice of proposed rulemaking has been submitted to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration for comment on its impact on small business.
Before these proposed regulations are adopted as final regulations, consideration will be given to any written comments (a signed original and eight (8) copies) or electronic comments that are submitted timely to the IRS as prescribed in this preamble under the “ADDRESSES” heading. The IRS and the Treasury Department request comments on all aspects of the proposed regulations. All comments that are submitted by the public will be available for public inspection and copying at www.regulations.gov or upon request. A public hearing will be scheduled if requested in writing by any person that timely submits comments. If a public hearing is scheduled, notice of the date, time, and place for the public hearing will be published in the Federal Register.
The principal author of these regulations is David Selig, Office of the Associate Chief Counsel (Passthroughs and Special Industries), IRS. However, other personnel from the IRS and the Treasury Department participated in their development.
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Accordingly, 26 CFR part 1 is proposed to be amended as follows:
Paragraph 1. The authority citation for part 1 continues to read in part as follows:
Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805 * * *
Par. 2. Section 1.42–10(e)(1)(i)(B) and (C), and (e)(1)(iv)(B) are revised to read as follows:
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(e) * * * (1) * * *
(i) * * *
(B) [The text of the proposed amendments to § 1.42–10(e)(1)(i)(B) is the same as the text of § 1.42–10T(e)(1)(i)(B) published elsewhere in this issue of the Bulletin].
(C) [The text of the proposed amendments to § 1.42–10(e)(1)(i)(C) is the same as the text of § 1.42–10T(e)(1)(i)(C) published elsewhere in this issue of the Bulletin].
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(iv) * * *
(B) [The text of the proposed amendments to § 1.42–10(e)(1)(iv)(B) is the same as the text of § 1.42–10T(e)(1)(iv)(B) published elsewhere in this issue of the Bulletin].
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John Dalrymple Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement.The Internal Revenue Bulletin is produced and published by the Internal Revenue Service and contains IRS pronouncements affecting tax analysis under the Code and the Regulations, including but not limited to Revenue Procedures, Revenue Rulings, Notices and Announcements. Access the IRS site at https://www.irs.gov/help/irsgov-accessibility for information concerning accessibility of IRS materials. While every effort has been made to ensure that the IRB database files available through the TouchTax application are accurate, those using TouchTax for legal research should verify their results against the printed versions of the IRBs available from the IRS.