IRS Notice 2020-23 Provides Limited Relief for Affordable Housing Projects

The IRS  recently released Notice 2020-23 which gives affordable housing partnerships (an “Affected Taxpayer”) the ability to postpone certain “time- sensitive acts” that are listed at Section 15 of Revenue Procedure 2018-58.  If the  time-sensitive act was required to be performed on or after April 1, 2020 and before July 15, 2020 the Affected Taxpayer has an extension until July 15, 2020 to complete performance.  Time-sensitive acts include, meeting the requirements for the  10% test by the 12 month deadline, the 24 month period to meet the minimum  rehabilitation expenditure requirement, and certain annual certifications to the state tax credit agency. Practitioners have requested broader relief than provided in this Notice covering other Code Section 42 compliance related provisions and longer periods for postponing the deadlines required to comply with certain Code Section 42 requirements (including those listed above).  All industry participants should be interested in this guidance and we await further guidance from the IRS on these critical issues.

AGG’s Affordable Housing team represents developers, tax credit equity investors, public housing authorities, and other players in a variety of housing and community development related matters nationwide. For more information, please reach out to Tax partner Damian Hovancik.