SECTION 3. SCOPE AND

APPLICATION

3.01. Guidance and Reliance . Pending the promulgation and effective date of future administrative or regulatory guidance, taxpayers may rely on the guidance provided in this notice.

3.02. Scope of Application . This notice applies to any current refunding issue that is used (directly or indirectly in a series of current refunding issues) to refund original Qualified Bonds described in Section 1 of this notice if the following requirements are met:

(1) The original Qualified Bonds were issued before the deadline for the issuance of such bonds under § 1400N(a)(2)(D) for GO Zone Bonds or under the modified version of such provision for Midwest Disaster Area Bonds or Hurricane Ike Disaster Area Bonds, as applicable, or any statutory extension of such deadline.

(2) Except as provided herein, the “issue price” (as defined in § 1.148–1(b)) of the current refunding issue is no greater than the outstanding stated principal amount of the refunded bonds. For refunded bonds originally issued with more than a de minimis amount of original issue discount or premium (as defined in § 1.148–1(b)) the present value of the refunded bonds (as determined under § 1.148–4(e)) must be used in lieu of the outstanding stated principal amount to determine the maximum issue price of the current refunding issue.

(3) The current refunding issue otherwise meets all applicable requirements for the issuance of tax-exempt private activity bonds as Qualified Bonds, including, without limitation, the requirement under § 147(b) that the average bond maturity be no longer than 120 percent of the average reasonably expected economic life of the facilities financed or refinanced with the net proceeds of such issue.

3.03. Guidance . A current refunding issue that meets the requirements of Section 3.02 of this notice may be issued after the specified deadline for the issuance of the original Qualified Bonds under § 1400N(a)(2)(D) for GO Zone Bonds (or under the modified version of such provision for Midwest Disaster Area Bonds or Hurricane Ike Disaster Area Bonds,

January 17, 2012 289 2012–3 I.R.B.

organizations need not file Form 8868, Application for Extension of Time To File an Exempt Organization Return, if they file their returns by March 30, 2012.

Because extensions of time to file, generally, may not exceed six months, the extension of time to file to March 30, 2012 provided by this notice is not available for affected organizations that have already obtained two three-month extensions of time to file ( i.e ., the full six-month extension allowed by statute). However, as discussed in more detail below, the IRS will provide relief from any late filing penalty to affected organizations that were previously granted two three-month extensions of time to file that expire during the suspension period, provided their returns are filed by March 30, 2012. In addition, as indicated in more detail below, this notice provides such organizations normally required to file electronically the option of filing on paper during the suspension period.

Interaction between the March 30, 2012 Extension and Other Extensions

An affected organization that has not previously received an extension and wishes to extend its filing due date until after March 30, 2012, may request an automatic three-month extension of time to file by properly completing and filing Form 8868 by its original due date. For example, an organization with an original Form 990 due date of February 15, 2012 that properly completes and files Form 8868 by February 15, 2012 will receive a three-month extension of time to file that ends on May 15, 2012. In the case of an organization that has already obtained an automatic three-month extension that ends during the suspension period, the IRS will grant the organization an additional 3-month extension if the organization properly completes and files Form 8868 by its extended due date. For example, a February 15, 2012 extended due date will be further extended to May 15, 2012 if the organization properly completes and files Form 8868 by February 15, 2012. An affected organization that has already received two three-month extensions, the second of which ends during the suspension period, may not request a further extension (but as discussed below, no penalty for failure to file will apply if the

as applicable) and be treated as an issue of Qualified Bonds. In addition, in the case of such a current refunding issue, a designation of the original Qualified Bonds by a specified State or local governmental official or state bond commission that meets the designation requirement of § 1400N(a)(2)(C) for GO Zone Bonds (or the modified version of such provision for Midwest Disaster Area Bonds or Hurricane Ike Disaster Area Bonds, as applicable) is treated as meeting this designation requirement for the current refunding issue without further designation or further official State or local governmental action.

3.04. No Inferences . Other than bonds issued to currently refund Qualified Bonds, to which this notice expressly applies, no inference should be drawn from this notice that bonds issued to refund other types of bonds, such as build America bonds under § 54AA, after their statutory deadline for issuance meet the qualifications for such types of bonds.