Code of Federal Regulations · Section

§ 1.141-13 — -13 Refunding Issues

26 C.F.R. § 1.141-13

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(a) In general. Except as provided in this section, a refunding issue and a prior issue are tested separately under section 141. Thus, the determination of whether a refunding issue consists of private activity bonds generally does not depend on whether the prior issue consists of private activity bonds.

(b) Application of private business use test and private loan financing test—(1) Allocation of proceeds. In applying the private business use test and the private loan financing test to a refunding issue, the proceeds of the refunding issue are allocated to the same expenditures and purpose investments as the proceeds of the prior issue.

(2) Determination of amount of private business use—(i) In general. Except as provided in paragraph (b)(2)(ii) of this section, the amount of private business use of a refunding issue is determined under § 1.141-3(g), based on the measurement period for that issue (for example, without regard to any private business use that occurred prior to the issue date of the refunding issue).

(ii) Refundings of governmental bonds. In applying the private business use test to a refunding issue that refunds a prior issue of governmental bonds, the amount of private business use of the refunding issue is the amount of private business use—

(A) During the combined measurement period; or

(B) At the option of the issuer, during the period described in paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section, but only if, without regard to the reasonable expectations test of § 1.141-2(d), the prior issue does not satisfy the private business use test, based on a measurement period that begins on the first day of the combined measurement period and ends on the issue date of the refunding issue.

(iii) Combined measurement period—(A) In general. Except as provided in paragraph (b)(2)(iii)(B) of this section, the combined measurement period is the period that begins on the first day of the measurement period (as defined in § 1.141-3(g)) for the prior issue (or, in the case of a series of refundings of governmental bonds, the first issue of governmental bonds in the series) and ends on the last day of the measurement period for the refunding issue.

(B) Transition rule for refundings of bonds originally issued before May 16, 1997. If the prior issue (or, in the case of a series of refundings of governmental bonds, the first issue of governmental bonds in the series) was issued before May 16, 1997, then the issuer, at its option, may treat the combined measurement period as beginning on the date (the transition date) that is the earlier of December 19, 2005 or the first date on which the prior issue (or an earlier issue in the case of a series of refundings of governmental bonds) became subject to the 1997 regulations (as defined in § 1.141-15(b)). If the issuer treats the combined measurement period as beginning on the transition date in accordance with this paragraph (b)(2)(iii)(B), then paragraph (c)(2) of this section shall be applied by treating the transition date as the issue date of the earliest issue, by treating the bonds as reissued on the transition date at an issue price equal to the value of the bonds (as determined under § 1.148-4(e)) on that date, and by disregarding any private security or private payments before the transition date.

(iv) Governmental bond. For purposes of this section, the term governmental bond means any bond that, when issued, purported to be a governmental bond, as defined in § 1.150-1(b), or a qualified 501(c)(3) bond, as defined in section 145(a).

(v) Special rule for refundings of qualified 501(c)(3) bonds with governmental bonds. For purposes of applying this paragraph (b)(2) to a refunding issue that refunds a qualified 501(c)(3) bond, any use of the property refinanced by the refunding issue before the issue date of the refunding issue by a 501(c)(3) organization with respect to its activities that do not constitute an unrelated trade or business under section 513(a) is treated as government use.

(c) Application of private security or payment test—(1) Separate issue treatment. If the amount of private business use of a refunding issue is determined based on the measurement period for that issue in accordance with paragraph (b)(2)(i) or (b)(2)(ii)(B) of this section, then the amount of private security and private payments allocable to the refunding issue is determined under § 1.141-4 by treating the refunding issue as a separate issue.

(2) Combined issue treatment. If the amount of private business use of a refunding issue is determined based on the combined measurement period for that issue in accordance with paragraph (b)(2)(ii)(A) of this section, then the amount of private security and private payments allocable to the refunding issue is determined under § 1.141-4 by treating the refunding issue and all earlier issues taken into account in determining the combined measurement period as a combined issue. For this purpose, the present value of the private security and private payments is compared to the present value of the debt service on the combined issue (other than debt service paid with proceeds of any refunding bond). Present values are computed as of the issue date of the earliest issue taken into account in determining the combined measurement period (the earliest issue). Except as provided in paragraph (c)(3) of this section, present values are determined by using the yield on the combined issue as the discount rate. The yield on the combined issue is determined by taking into account payments on the refunding issue and all earlier issues taken into account in determining the combined measurement period (other than payments made with proceeds of any refunding bond), and based on the issue price of the earliest issue. In the case of a refunding of only a portion of the original principal amount of a prior issue, the refunded portion of the prior issue is treated as a separate issue and any private security or private payments with respect to the prior issue are allocated ratably between the combined issue and the unrefunded portion of the prior issue in a consistent manner based on relative debt service. See paragraph (b)(2)(iii)(B) of this section for special rules relating to certain refundings of governmental bonds originally issued before May 16, 1997.

(3) Special rule for arrangements not entered into in contemplation of the refunding issue. In applying the private security or payment test to a refunding issue that refunds a prior issue of governmental bonds, the issuer may use the yield on the prior issue to determine the present value of private security and private payments under arrangements that were not entered into in contemplation of the refunding issue. For this purpose, any arrangement that was entered into more than 1 year before the issue date of the refunding issue is treated as not entered into in contemplation of the refunding issue.

(d) Multipurpose issue allocations—(1) In general. For purposes of section 141, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, § 1.148-9(h) applies to allocations of multipurpose issues (as defined in § 1.148-1(b)), including allocations involving the refunding purposes of the issue. An allocation under this paragraph (d) may be made at any time, but once made, may not be changed. An allocation is not reasonable under this paragraph (d) if it achieves more favorable results under section 141 than could be achieved with actual separate issues. Each of the separate issues under the allocation must consist of one or more tax-exempt bonds. Allocations made under this paragraph (d) and § 1.148-9(h) must be consistent for purposes of sections 141 and 148.

(2) Exceptions. This paragraph (d) does not apply for purposes of sections 141(c)(1) and 141(d)(1).

(e) Application of reasonable expectations test to certain refunding bonds. An action that would otherwise cause a refunding issue to satisfy the private business tests or the private loan financing test is not taken into account under the reasonable expectations test of § 1.141-2(d) if—

(1) The action is not a deliberate action within the meaning of § 1.141-2(d)(3); and

(2) The weighted average maturity of the refunding bonds is not greater than the weighted average reasonably expected economic life of the property financed by the prior bonds.

(f) Special rule for refundings of certain general obligation bonds. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a refunding issue does not consist of private activity bonds if—

(1) The prior issue meets the requirements of § 1.141-2(d)(5) (relating to certain general obligation bond programs that finance a large number of separate purposes); or

(2) The refunded portion of the prior issue is part of a series of refundings of all or a portion of an issue that meets the requirements of § 1.141-2(d)(5).

(g) Examples. The following examples illustrate the application of this section:

In 2002, Authority A issues tax-exempt bonds that mature in 2032 to acquire an office building. The measurement period for the 2002 bonds under § 1.141-3(g) is 30 years. At the time A acquires the building, it enters into a 10-year lease with a nongovernmental person under which the nongovernmental person will use 5 percent of the building in its trade or business during each year of the lease term. In 2007, A issues bonds to refund the 2002 bonds. The 2007 bonds mature on the same date as the 2002 bonds and have a measurement period of 25 years under § 1.141-3(g). Under paragraph (b)(2)(ii)(A) of this section, the amount of private business use of the proceeds of the 2007 bonds is 1.67 percent, which equals the amount of private business use during the combined measurement period (5 percent of

1/3 of the 30-year combined measurement period). In addition, the 2002 bonds do not satisfy the private business use test, based on a measurement period beginning on the first day of the measurement period for the 2002 bonds and ending on the issue date of the 2007 bonds, because only 5 percent of the proceeds of the 2002 bonds are used for a private business use during that period. Thus, under paragraph (b)(2)(ii)(B) of this section, A may treat the amount of private business use of the 2007 bonds as 1 percent (5 percent of

1/5 of the 25-year measurement period for the 2007 bonds). The 2007 bonds do not satisfy the private business use test.

(i) On January 1, 2000, County B issues 20-year bonds to finance the acquisition of a municipal auditorium. The 2000 bonds have a yield of 7.7500 percent, compounded annually, and an issue price and par amount of $100 million. The debt service payments on the 2000 bonds are as follows:

(ii) On January 1, 2005, B issues 15-year bonds to refund all of the outstanding 2000 bonds maturing after January 1, 2005 (in the aggregate principal amount of $86,500,000). The 2005 bonds have a yield of 6.0000 percent, compounded annually, and an issue price and par amount of $89,500,000. The debt service payments on the 2005 bonds are as follows:

(iii) In accordance with § 1.141-15(h), B chooses to apply § 1.141-13 (together with the other provisions set forth in § 1.141-15(h)), to the 2005 bonds. For purposes of determining the amount of private security and private payments with respect to the 2005 bonds, the 2005 bonds and the refunded portion of the 2000 bonds are treated as a combined issue under paragraph (c)(2) of this section. The yield on the combined issue is determined in accordance with §§ 1.148-4, 1.141-4(b)(2)(iii) and 1.141-13(c)(2). Under this methodology, the yield on the combined issue is 7.1062 percent per year compounded annually, illustrated as follows:

The facts are the same as in Example 2. In addition, on January 1, 2001, B enters into a contract with a nongovernmental person for the use of the auditorium. The contract results in a private payment in the amount of $500,000 on each January 1 beginning on January 1, 2001, and ending on January 1, 2020. Under paragraph (c)(2) of this section, the amount of the private payments allocable to the combined issue is determined by treating the refunded portion of the 2000 bonds ($86,500,000 principal amount) as a separate issue, and by allocating the total private payments ratably between the combined issue and the unrefunded portion of the 2000 bonds ($13,500,000 principal amount) based on relative debt service, as follows:

(i) In 1999, City C issues taxable bonds to finance the construction of a facility for the furnishing of water. The bonds are secured by revenues from the facility. The facility is managed pursuant to a management contract with a nongovernmental person that gives rise to private business use. In 2007, C terminates the management contract and takes over the operation of the facility. In 2009, C issues bonds to refund the 1999 bonds. On the issue date of the 2009 bonds, C reasonably expects that the facility will not be used for a private business use during the term of the 2009 bonds. In addition, during the term of the 2009 bonds, the facility is not used for a private business use. Under paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section, the 2009 bonds do not satisfy the private business use test because the amount of private business use is based on the measurement period for those bonds and therefore does not take into account any private business use that occurred pursuant to the management contract.

(ii) The facts are the same as in paragraph (i) of this Example 4, except that the 1999 bonds are issued as exempt facility bonds under section 142(a)(4). The 2009 bonds do not satisfy the private business use test.

Multipurpose issue. (i) In 2017, State D issues bonds to finance the construction of two office buildings, Building 1 and Building 2. D expends an equal amount of the proceeds on each building. D enters into arrangements that result in private business use of 8 percent of Building 1 and 12 percent of Building 2 during the measurement period under § 1.141-3(g) and private payments of 4 percent of the 2017 bonds in respect of Building 1 and 6 percent of the 2017 bonds in respect of Building 2. These arrangements result in a total of 10 percent of the proceeds of the 2017 bonds being used for a private business use and total private payments of 10 percent. In 2022, D purports to make a multipurpose issue allocation under paragraph (d) of this section of the outstanding 2017 bonds, allocating the issue into two separate issues of equal amounts with one issue allocable to Building 1 and the second allocable to Building 2. An allocation is unreasonable under paragraph (d) of this section if it achieves more favorable results under section 141 than could be achieved with actual separate issues. D's allocation is unreasonable because, if permitted, it would allow more favorable results under section 141 for the 2017 bonds (that is, private business use and private payments that exceed 10 percent for the 2017 bonds allocable to Building 2) than could be achieved with actual separate issues. In addition, if D's purported allocation was intended to result in two separate issues of tax-exempt governmental bonds (versus tax-exempt private activity bonds), the allocation would violate paragraph (d) of this section in the first instance because the allocation to the separate issue for Building 2 would fail to qualify separately as an issue of tax-exempt governmental bonds as a result of its 12 percent of private business use and private payments.

(ii) The facts are the same as in paragraph (i) of this Example 5, except that D enters into arrangements only for Building 1, and it expects no private business use of Building 2. In 2022, D allocates an equal amount of the outstanding 2017 bonds to Building 1 and Building 2. D selects particular bonds for each separate issue such that the allocation does not achieve a more favorable result than could have been achieved by issuing actual separate issues. D uses the same allocation for purposes of both sections 141 and 148. D's allocation is reasonable.

(iii) The facts are the same as in paragraph (ii) of this Example 5, except that as part of the same issue, D issues bonds for a privately used airport. The airport bonds, if issued as a separate issue, would be qualified private activity bonds. The remaining bonds, if issued separately from the airport bonds, would be governmental bonds. Treated as one issue, however, the bonds are taxable private activity bonds. Therefore, D makes its allocation of the bonds under paragraph (d) of this section and § 1.150-1(c)(3) into 3 separate issues on or before the issue date. Assuming all other applicable requirements are met, the bonds of the respective issues will be tax-exempt qualified private activity bonds or governmental bonds.

In 1998, City E issues bonds to finance the purchase of land and construction of a building (the prior bonds). On the issue date of the prior bonds, E reasonably expects that it will be the sole user of the financed property for the entire term of the bonds. In 2003, the federal government acquires the financed property in a condemnation action. In 2006, E issues bonds to refund the prior bonds (the refunding bonds). The weighted average maturity of the refunding bonds is not greater than the reasonably expected economic life of the financed property. In general, under § 1.141-2(d) and this section, reasonable expectations must be separately tested on the issue date of a refunding issue. Under paragraph (e) of this section, however, the condemnation action is not taken into account in applying the reasonable expectations test to the refunding bonds because the condemnation action is not a deliberate action within the meaning of § 1.141-2(d)(3) and the weighted average maturity of the refunding bonds is not greater than the weighted average reasonably expected economic life of the property financed by the prior bonds. Thus, the condemnation action does not cause the refunding bonds to be private activity bonds.

In 1985, County F issues bonds to finance a court house. The 1985 bonds are subject to the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. In 2006, F issues bonds to refund all of the outstanding 1985 bonds. The weighted average maturity of the 2006 bonds is longer than the remaining weighted average maturity of the 1985 bonds. In addition, the 2006 bonds do not satisfy any transitional rule for refundings in the Tax Reform Act of 1986, 100 Stat. 2085 (1986). Section 141 and this section apply to determine whether the 2006 bonds are private activity bonds including whether, for purposes of § 1.141-13(b)(2)(ii)(B), the 1985 bonds satisfy the private business use test based on a measurement period that begins on the first day of the combined measurement period for the 2006 bonds and ends on the issue date of the 2006 bonds.

26 C.F.R. § 1.141-12 26 C.F.R. § 1.141-14

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