The IRS recently released a new Form 8038-G, which is the
information return for issues of tax-exempt governmental bonds, and
a new Form 8038, which is the information return for tax-exempt
private activity bonds. In addition, the IRS has released
draft instructions for each form. The revised forms are in
part a response to changes made to the Internal Revenue Code by the
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (P.L. 115-97), which was signed into law
on December 22, 2017 ("TCJA"). Keep reading for
more information on the new forms, the fate of some old forms, and
some gratuitous commentary.
The TCJA repealed the ability to advance refund tax-exempt bonds
with tax-exempt bonds. (Please click
here and
here for prior blog posts on this subject). Thus, both
Form 8038-G and Form 8038 have been updated to delete information
requests regarding the advance refunding of a prior tax-exempt bond
issue. However, each form now requests information regarding
the use of tax-exempt bond
