Projects on US Indian reservations qualify potentially for tax-exempt financing using “tribal economic development bonds.”

Congress authorized $2 billion in such bonds as part of the broader economic stimulus measures that were enacted at the start of the Obama administration in February 2009. The IRS allocated all $2 billion in bond authority in 2009 and 2010, with a deadline for the tribes receiving the authority to issue the bonds by the end of 2010. The IRS extended the deadline three times through March 2012. To date, only $197.2 million in bonds have been issued.

The IRS said in a notice in July that the remaining $1.8 billion in authority will be reallocated. There is no deadline to apply. The agency said it will consider requests for the bond authority on a rolling basis. The instructions for applying are in Notice 2012-48.

Keith Martin