IRS Is Off To A Good Start In Processing Build America Bond Subsidies

IRS's initial subsidy payments for the Build America Bond, a new type of bond created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, were processed in a highly commendable manner, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) said in a new audit. Under this bond program, the federal government partially offsets the state and local governments' cost of paying bond interest. As described by TIGTA, proceeds from these bonds are intended to provide state and local governments with funding for capital projects. The audit found that, “generally, all complete requests for payment of the Build America Bond federal subsidies were processed accurately, timely, and without indications of fraudulent or erroneous disbursement.” The total amount of federal subsidy payments was more than $110 million for the 80 bond issuances requesting payment by the time of the TIGTA review of the data. The audit can be found at http://treas.gov/tigta/auditreports/2010reports/201011083fr.pdf.