This past month saw the publication of the latest update to the “Guide to Completing Form 8823” from the IRS, which can be found online here. Following the index you will find a summary of the changes that will guide you to the corresponding chapters where the latest information can be found. Of course we suggest that if you are involved with the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program that you will take the time to review the updates.
Most of you know that the 8823 Guidebook, which is the closest thing to a “Handbook” that we have for the LIHTC Program, was first published in January of 2007 after a much-anticipated period of waiting. Its purpose is to provide guidance to the State Housing Agencies who allocate and monitor for compliance with the Section 42 regulations. One of the defining characteristics of the document, however, is that the IRS states explicitly on the cover page of the document that it cannot be cited as authority. The regulations governing the housing credit program are cited liberally throughout the Guide, and they, of course, can be used as citation but not the Guide itself. Imagine what a let-down that was for us at NCHM as you know how much we love our Handbook citations!
After the sweeping regulatory changes of 2008 and 2009, the first revision of the Guidebook was published in October of 2009 and contained a lot of new material as a result. Upon my review of this latest update, dated January 2011 (although not made available until March, I was not struck with the notion that anything has truly changed at this point in time. The IRS was mostly correcting typos, making corrections to their citations, and adding a little commentary here and there. The most significant revisions appear to be in Chapter 18’s “Out of Compliance” and “Back in Compliance” sections which discuss Utility Allowances.
So, the biggest news is that we can now access the Guidebook through the IRS website which we had not been able to do with the previous two publications. As they say, sometimes no news is good news… You should still check it out, however, and download a copy for your files.