Part VII — 0919 Publ 5271 (PDF)

Information and Services

You can find information about the tax laws that apply to tax-exempt bonds and other municipal financing arrangements at IRS.gov/bonds, including:

Published guidance about the tax laws that apply to municipal financing arrangements,

including revenue rulings, revenue procedures, notices and announcements.

If you have account specific questions, call Customer Account Services toll-free at 877-829-5500.

What to do if you discover a violation - The TEB Voluntary Closing Agreement Program

The IRS is committed to resolving federal tax violations with the issuer. The TEB Voluntary Closing Agreement Program (TEB VCAP) provides remedies for issuers of tax-exempt bonds, tax credit bonds, and direct pay bonds that voluntarily come forward to resolve a violation that cannot be corrected under self-correction programs found in the Treas. Reg. or other published guidance. Notice 2008-31 provides information and general guidance about TEB VCAP. Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) Section 7.2.3 provides general procedures under which the IRS will enter into closing agreements. Closing agreement terms and amounts vary by the degree of the violation as well as the facts and circumstances.

TEB VCAP offers standardized methods for resolving certain types of noncompliance, referred to as resolution standards. For example, TEB VCAP offers a resolution standard for circumstances in which a failure of an escrow agent or trustee to perform obligations under an escrow agreement to purchase U.S. Treasury Securities – State and Local Government Series necessary to maintain compliance with yield restriction requirements results in a yield restriction violation. TEB VCAP is also available to resolve other violations of the yield restriction and rebate requirements.

An issuer must use Form 14429, Tax Exempt Bonds Voluntary Closing Agreement Program Request, to submit a request and provide the required information. While the IRS generally enters into closing agreements with the issuer of the bonds, in certain cases other parties to the bond transaction (including an entity borrowing the bond proceeds) may also participate in the negotiations and jointly execute the agreement.

For more information about this program, including request submission requirements, case processing procedures and resolutions standards, see IRM Section 7.2.3.