IRS Issues New Ruling on Rental Assistance

By Caitlin Jones & A. J. Johnson
July 24, 2008 1 min read

THE IRS HAS ISSUED A NEW revenue ruling (2008-6) that says project- or tenant-based rental assistance payments made to an owner that are funded under the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) program won’t be treated as federal grants under the low-income housing tax credit program. Accordingly, such amounts don’t have to be excluded from a project’s eligible basis.
         The IHBG program is administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
         Rev. Rul. 2008-6 doesn’t address the issue of the proper housing credit rate for projects receiving IHBG-funded rent subsidies. Such subsidies already are treated as similar to HUD Section 8 rent subsidies, and therefore don’t deem a building to be federally subsidized and restricted to the 4% housing credit.
         Rev. Rul. 2008-6 is posted online at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-08-06.pdf.

Breaking Ground

Jennifer Leimaile Ho, Minnesota Housing Commissioner and Incoming Chair of National Council of State Housing Agencies

Pamela Martineau • December 1, 2024 10 min read

Earlier this fall, Jennifer Leimaile Ho was elected chair of the National Council of State Housing Agencies’ (NCSHA) 2025 Board of Directors. Ho is the Commissioner of Minnesota Housing, having been appointed by Governor Tim Walz in January 2019 and reappointed in 2023.

“Business as Usual”

Leaders in Equity Express Optimism Despite an Uncertain Future

Abram Mamet • December 1, 2024 9 min read

Any outside observer may assume some unease amongst the low-income housing industry. Buffeted on the one hand by residual stressors from the COVID-19 pandemic and on the other by the uncertain prospects of an incoming federal administration keen on cutting spending and shrinking government programs, the affordable housing landscape is experiencing an inflection point.

NCSHA Recognizes Stand-Out Affordable Housing Programs and Initiatives

Pamela Martineau • December 1, 2024 7 min read

This fall, the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) recognized 17 programs offered by state housing finance agencies across the nation that creatively developed tools to tackle their communities’ affordable housing challenges.