The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) held a 2010 Pre-Application Workshop on December 16, 2009. PHFA discussed the 2010 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) application. PHFA discussed the application process including the new “ability to proceed” selection criteria, changes to development budget requirements, and the affordability of units.

A dramatic change to the application process for 2010 is the availability of 40 points (out of a total of 170 points) for the “ability to proceed”. Ability to proceed includes appropriate zoning, site plan approval, and site ownership (which PHFA indicated the property can be owned by a related party or an affiliate with the intent to transfer the property to the limited partnership at the time of closing). Points will also be awarded under the ability to proceed selection criteria for evidence that satisfies PHFA that an equity investor has been secured.

The December issue of the Low-Income Housing Credit Newsletter offers guidance on information that will be requested by the IRS in the event of an audit of a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit property owner. The newsletter is a great reference tool for determining record retention for Low-Income Housing Tax Credit property owners.

For additional information or assistance with developing a record retention checklist, contact affordablehousing@macpas.com.

  “Efficiency is doing better what is already being done.”
-Peter F. Drucker

Efficiency is a constant goal here at McKonly & Asbury (M&A). We strive to make communication with our affordable housing clients as streamlined as possible. The more time we can save you, the more time you can put back into your business. So, to make this a reality, M&A has released a Client Portal to house important documents. Not only is this portal personalized according to client, but documents can be stored on our secure server, ensuring the safety of confidential information. Another advantage is that communication with your accountant to retrieve important tax and other documents is not a necessity. You can simply log onto the internet and view your documents (of course, we’re always here to assist you in any way we can!).

The Portal itself
Think of the portal as a huge warehouse. You can have us store prior year financial statements, tax returns, or various agreements here. It’s also easy for you to use. As the client, you can feel free to upload documents such as requested work papers or schedules, or new HUD or correspondence from your housing finance agency (HFA).

Getting started
As a client of M&A, you can contact our M&A staff or the Portal directly at portal@macpas.com  to request usernames and passwords. We will then send you a user guide with instructions on how to log on to the portal. At the initial set up, you can tell us which documents you would like to “publish” to your secure location on the portal. And, if you have any questions about the process in general, always feel free to e-mail support at portal@macpas.com. This is a service offered exclusively to M&A clients.

Better than e-mail?
Because of the Portal’s authentication process, housing documents on the portal is more secure than sending documents through e-mail. Also, security is maintained to ensure access is granted only to intended parties. As a convenient source of your information, the portal will reduce your e-mail usage. Since pertinent information would already be uploaded on the portal, you can simply access it by the click of a finger.

Is the Portal for me?
Yes!  The portal is available for all M&A affordable housing clients (and any client of M&A for that matter).

Cost
The portal is absolutely free. This is just a more efficient way we can better serve you!

Signing up
Hopefully you are ready to sign up now!  If so, please e-mail us at portal@macpas.com and we can get you started.

On December 7, 2009, H.R. 4213 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, which contains a provision to extend the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Exchange Program through 2010. The Exchange Program was created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and allows state housing agencies to elect to exchange all of their 2007 and 2008 unused or returned low-income housing tax credits, and up to 40% of their 2009 low-income housing tax credits for 85 cents on the tax credit dollar to fund projects that can demonstrate that they are unable to secure an equity investor. For additional information, contact Elizabeth Brooks at ebrooks@macpas.com.

As the holiday season approaches, we know that audit and tax season for calendar year-end entities is not far behind.  Being proactive in preparation for financial statement audits and tax return preparation is important in achieving a seamless and efficient audit process.   There are many things that can be done for an efficient audit and tax season that we can be thinking about as we’re approaching the year end.

The following is a list of items that owners and managers of low-income housing tax credit projects can look into now to help ensure reporting deadlines are met and to minimize the disruption to your day to day operations.