Funding Opportunity Title: Notice of Allocation Availability (NOAA); Inviting Applications for the Calendar Year (CY) 2014 Allocation Round of the…

Funding Opportunity Title: Notice of Allocation Availability (NOAA); Inviting Applications for the Calendar Year (CY) 2014 Allocation Round of the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program

DATES: Electronic applications must be received by 5:00 p.m. ET on October 1, 2014. Applications sent by mail, facsimile or other form will not be accepted. Please note the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) will only accept applications and attachments (i.e., the CDE's authorized representative signature page, the Controlling Entity's representative signature page, investor letters and organizational charts) in electronic form (see Section IV.D. of this NOAA for more details). Applications must meet all eligibility and other requirements and deadlines, as applicable, set forth in this NOAA. NMTC allocation Applicants that are not yet certified as Community Development Entities (CDEs) must submit an application for CDE certification that is postmarked on or before August 22, 2014 (see Section III of this NOAA for more details).

Announcement Type: Announcement of NMTC allocation availability.

Executive Summary: This NOAA is issued in connection with the CY 2014 allocation round (Allocation Round) of the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program, as initially authorized by Title I, subtitle C, section 121 of the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-554) and amended by section 221 of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108-357), section 101 of the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 108-357), Division A, section 102 of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 109-432), section 733 of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-312), and the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (the Act). Through the NMTC Program, the CDFI Fund provides authority to CDEs to offer an incentive to investors in the form of tax credits over seven years, which is expected to stimulate the provision of private investment capital that, in turn, will facilitate economic and community development in Low-Income Communities. Through this NOAA, the CDFI Fund announces the availability of up to $5.0 billion of NMTC investment authority, subject to Congressional authorization.

In this NOAA, the CDFI Fund specifically addresses how an entity may apply to receive an allocation of NMTCs, the competitive procedure through which NMTC allocations will be made, and the actions that will be taken to ensure that proper allocations are made to appropriate entities.

I. Allocation Availability Description

A. Programmatic Changes From CY 2013 Allocation Round

1. Allocation amounts: As described in Section IIA, the CDFI Fund anticipates that it will provide NMTC allocation awards for not more than $125 million of allocation per Allocatee.

2. Prior QEI Issuance Requirements: In order to be eligible to apply for NMTC allocations in this Allocation Round, as described in Section III.A.2(a), Applicants that have received NMTC allocation awards in previous rounds are required to meet minimum Qualified Equity Investment (QEI) issuance thresholds with respect to their prior-year allocations. These thresholds and deadlines have been revised in comparison to the CY 2013 NOAA.

B. Program guidance and regulations: This NOAA provides guidance for the application and allocation of NMTCs for this Allocation Round of the NMTC Program and should be read in conjunction with: (i) Guidance published by the CDFI Fund on how an entity may apply to become certified as a CDE (66 Federal Register 65806, December 20, 2001); (ii) the final regulations issued by the Internal Revenue Service (26 CFR 1.45D-1, published on December 28, 2004), as amended and related guidance, notices and other publications; and (iii) the application and related materials for this Allocation Round. All such materials may be found on the CDFI Fund's Web site at http://www.cdfifund.gov. The CDFI Fund encourages Applicants to review these documents. Capitalized terms used, but not defined, in this NOAA shall have the respective meanings assigned to them in the allocation application, IRC SEC 45D or the IRS regulations. In the event of any inconsistency between the allocation application, IRC SEC 45D or the IRS regulations, the provisions of IRC SEC 45D and the IRS regulations shall govern.

II. Allocation Information

A. Allocation amounts: Pursuant to the Act, the CDFI Fund expects that it may allocate to CDEs the authority to issue to their investors up to the aggregate amount of $5.0 billion in equity as to which NMTCs may be claimed, as permitted under IRC SEC 45D(f)(1)(D). Pursuant to this NOAA, the CDFI Fund anticipates that it will not issue more than $125 million in tax credit investment authority per Allocatee. The CDFI Fund, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to allocate amounts in excess of or less than the anticipated maximum allocation amount should the CDFI Fund deem it appropriate. In order to receive an allocation in excess of the $125 million cap, an Applicant, at a minimum, will need to demonstrate that: (i) No part of its strategy can be successfully implemented without an allocation in excess of the applicable cap; and/or (ii) its strategy will produce extraordinary community outcomes. The CDFI Fund reserves the right to allocate NMTC authority to any, all, or none of the entities that submit an application in response to this NOAA, and in any amount it deems appropriate.

B. Types of awards: NMTC Program awards are made in the form of allocations of tax credit investment authority.

C. Allocation Agreement: Each Allocatee under this NOAA must sign an Allocation Agreement, which must be countersigned by the CDFI Fund, before the NMTC allocation is effective. The Allocation Agreement contains the terms and conditions of the allocation. For further information, see Section VI of this NOAA.

III. Eligibility

A. Eligible Applicants: IRC SEC 45D specifies certain eligibility requirements that each Applicant must meet to be eligible to apply for an allocation of NMTCs. The following sets forth additional detail and certain additional dates that relate to the submission of applications under this NOAA for the available NMTC investment authority.

1. CDE certification: For purposes of this NOAA, the CDFI Fund will not consider an application for an allocation of NMTCs unless: (a) The Applicant is certified as a CDE at the time the CDFI Fund receives its NMTC Program allocation application; or (b) the Applicant submits an application for certification as a CDE that is Postmarked on or before August 22, 2014. Applicants for certification may obtain a CDE certification application through the CDFI Fund's Web site at http://www.cdfifund.gov. Applications for CDE certification must be submitted as instructed in the application form. An Applicant that is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) or a Specialized Small Business Investment Company (SSBIC) does not need to submit a CDE certification application; however, it must register as a CDE on the CDFI Fund's Web site on or before 5:00 p.m. ET on August 22, 2014. See Section IV.D.1(b) of this NOAA for further requirements relating to Postmarks.

The CDFI Fund will not provide NMTC allocation authority to Applicants that are not certified as CDEs or to entities that are certified as Subsidiary CDEs.

If an Applicant that has already been certified as a CDE wishes to change its designated CDE service area, it must submit its request for such change to the CDFI Fund, and the request must be received by the CDFI Fund by 5:00 p.m. ET on August 22, 2014. The CDE service area change request must be sent from the Applicant's authorized representative and include the applicable CDE control number, the revised service area designation, and an updated accountability chart that reflects representation from Low-Income Communities in the revised service area. The service area change request must be sent by email to [email protected].

2. Prior awardees or Allocatees: Applicants must be aware that success in a prior application or allocation round of any of the CDFI Fund's programs is not indicative of success under this NOAA. For purposes of this section, the CDFI Fund will consider an Affiliate to be any entity that meets the definition of Affiliate as defined in the NMTC allocation application materials, or any entity otherwise identified as an Affiliate by the Applicant in its NMTC allocation application materials. Prior awardees of any CDFI Fund program are eligible to apply under this NOAA, except as follows:

(a) Prior Allocatees and Qualified Equity Investment (QEI) issuance requirements: The following describes the QEI issuance requirements applicable to prior Allocatees.

An Allocatee in the CY 2009 allocation round of the NMTC Program is not eligible to receive a NMTC allocation pursuant to this NOAA unless the Allocatee is able to affirmatively demonstrate that, as of 11:59 p.m. ET on January 30, 2015, it has finalized at least 95 percent of its QEIs relating to its CY 2009 NMTC allocation.

An Allocatee in the CY 2010 allocation round of the NMTC Program is not eligible to receive a NMTC allocation pursuant to this NOAA unless the Allocatee is able to affirmatively demonstrate that, as of 11:59 p.m. ET on January 30, 2015, it has: (i) Finalized at least 80 percent of its QEIs relating to its CY 2010 NMTC allocation; or (ii) it has finalized at least 70 percent of its QEIs and that at least 100 percent of its total CY 2010 NMTC allocation has been finalized, or has been committed by its investors.

An Allocatee in the CY 2011 allocation round of the NMTC Program is not eligible to receive a NMTC allocation pursuant to this NOAA unless the Allocatee is able to affirmatively demonstrate that, as of 11:59 p.m. ET on January 30, 2015, it has: (i) Finalized at least 70 percent of its QEIs relating to its CY 2011 NMTC allocation; or (ii) it has finalized at least 60 percent of its QEIs and that at least 80 percent of its total CY 2011 NMTC allocation has been finalized, or has been committed by its investors.

--This is a summary of a Federal Register article originally published on the page number listed below--

Citation: "79 FR 46503"

Federal Register Page Number: "46503"

"Notices"