26 CFR § 1.141-3 - Definition of private business use.
(a) General rule—(1) In general. The private business use test relates to the use of the proceeds of an issue. The 10 percent private business use test of section 141(b)(1) is met if more than 10 percent of the proceeds of an issue is used in a trade or business of a nongovernmental person. For this purpose, the use of financed property is treated as the direct use of proceeds. Any activity carried on by a person other than a natural person is treated as a trade or business. Unless the context or a provision clearly requires otherwise, this section also applies to the private business use test under sections 141(b)(3) (unrelated or disproportionate use), 141(b)(4) ($15 million limitation for certain output facilities), and 141(b)(5) (the coordination with the volume cap where the nonqualified amount exceeds $15 million).
(2) Indirect use. In determining whether an issue meets the private business use test, it is necessary to look to both the indirect and direct uses of proceeds. For example, a facility is treated as being used for a private business use if it is leased to a nongovernmental person and subleased to a governmental person or if it is leased to a governmental person and then subleased to a nongovernmental person, provided that in each case the nongovernmental person's use is in a trade or business. Similarly, the issuer's use of the proceeds to engage in a series of financing transactions for property to be used by nongovernmental persons in their trades or businesses may cause the private business use test to be met. In addition, proceeds are treated as used in the trade or business of a nongovernmental person if a nongovernmental person, as a result of a single transaction or a series of related transactions, uses property acquired with the proceeds of an issue.
(3) Aggregation of private business use. The use of proceeds by all nongovernmental persons is aggregated to determine whether the private business use test is met.
(b) Types of private business use arrangements—(1) In general. Both actual and beneficial use by a nongovernmental person may be treated as private business use. In most cases, the private business use test is met only if a nongovernmental person has special legal entitlements to use the financed property under an arrangement with the issuer. In general, a nongovernmental person is treated as a private business user of proceeds and financed property as a result of ownership; actual or beneficial use of property pursuant to a lease, or a management or incentive payment contract; or certain other arrangements such as a take or pay or other output-type contract.
(2) Ownership. Except as provided in paragraph (d)(1) or (d)(2) of this section, ownership by a nongovernmental person of financed property is private business use of that property. For this purpose, ownership refers to ownership for federal income tax purposes.
(3) Leases. Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, the lease of financed property to a nongovernmental person is private business use of that property. For this purpose, any arrangement that is properly characterized as a lease for federal income tax purposes is treated as a lease. In determining whether a management contract is properly characterized as a lease, it is necessary to consider all of the facts and circumstances, including the following factors—
(i) The degree of control over the property that is exercised by a nongovernmental person; and
(ii) Whether a nongovernmental person bears risk of loss of the financed property.
(4) Management contracts—(i) Facts and circumstances test. Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, a management contract (within the meaning of paragraph (b)(4)(ii) of this section) with respect to financed property may result in private business use of that property, based on all of the facts and circumstances. A management contract with respect to financed property generally results in private business use of that property if the contract provides for compensation for services rendered with compensation based, in whole or in part, on a share of net profits from the operation of the facility.
(ii) Management contract defined. For purposes of this section, a management contract is a management, service, or incentive payment contract between a governmental person and a service provider under which the service provider provides services involving all, a portion of, or any function of, a facility. For example, a contract for the provision of management services for an entire hospital, a contract for management services for a specific department of a hospital, and an incentive payment contract for physician services to patients of a hospital are each treated as a management contract.
(iii) Arrangements generally not treated as management contracts. The arrangements described in paragraphs (b)(4)(iii)(A) through (D) of this section generally are not treated as management contracts that give rise to private business use.
(A) Contracts for services that are solely incidental to the primary governmental function or functions of a financed facility (for example, contracts for janitorial, office equipment repair, hospital billing, or similar services).
(B) The mere granting of admitting privileges by a hospital to a doctor, even if those privileges are conditioned on the provision of de minimis services, if those privileges are available to all qualified physicians in the area, consistent with the size and nature of its facilities.
(C) A contract to provide for the operation of a facility or system of facilities that consists predominantly of public utility property, if the only compensation is the reimbursement of actual and direct expenses of the service provider and reasonable administrative overhead expenses of the service provider.
(D) A contract to provide for services, if the only compensation is the reimbursement of the service provider for actual and direct expenses paid by the service provider to unrelated parties.
(iv) Management contracts that are properly treated as other types of private business use. A management contract with respect to financed property results in private business use of that property if the service provider is treated as the lessee or owner of financed property for federal income tax purposes, unless an exception under paragraph (d) of this section applies to the arrangement.
(5) Output contracts. See § 1.141-7 for special rules for contracts for the purchase of output of output facilities.
(6) Research agreements—(i) Facts and circumstances test. Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, an agreement by a nongovernmental person to sponsor research performed by a governmental person may result in private business use of the property used for the research, based on all of the facts and circumstances.
(ii) Research agreements that are properly treated as other types of private business use. A research agreement with respect to financed property results in private business use of that property if the sponsor is treated as the lessee or owner of financed property for federal income tax purposes, unless an exception under paragraph (d) of this section applies to the arrangement.
(7) Other actual or beneficial use—(i) In general. Any other arrangement that conveys special legal entitlements for beneficial use of bond proceeds or of financed property that are comparable to special legal entitlements described in paragraphs (b)(2), (3), (4), (5), or (6) of this section results in private business use. For example, an arrangement that conveys priority rights to the use or capacity of a facility generally results in private business use.
(ii) Special rule for facilities not used by the general public. In the case of financed property that is not available for use by the general public (within the meaning of paragraph (c) of this section), private business use may be established solely on the basis of a special economic benefit to one or more nongovernmental persons, even if those nongovernmental persons have no special legal entitlements to use of the property. In determining whether special economic benefit gives rise to private business use it is necessary to consider all of the facts and circumstances, including one or more of the following factors—
(A) Whether the financed property is functionally related or physically proximate to property used in the trade or business of a nongovernmental person;
(B) Whether only a small number of nongovernmental persons receive the special economic benefit; and
(C) Whether the cost of the financed property is treated as depreciable by any nongovernmental person.
(c) Exception for general public use—(1) In general. Use as a member of the general public (general public use) is not private business use. Use of financed property by nongovernmental persons in their trades or businesses is treated as general public use only if the property is intended to be available and in fact is reasonably available for use on the same basis by natural persons not engaged in a trade or business.
(2) Use on the same basis. In general, use under an arrangement that conveys priority rights or other preferential benefits is not use on the same basis as the general public. Arrangements providing for use that is available to the general public at no charge or on the basis of rates that are generally applicable and uniformly applied do not convey priority rights or other preferential benefits. For this purpose, rates may be treated as generally applicable and uniformly applied even if—
(i) Different rates apply to different classes of users, such as volume purchasers, if the differences in rates are customary and reasonable; or
(ii) A specially negotiated rate arrangement is entered into, but only if the user is prohibited by federal law from paying the generally applicable rates, and the rates established are as comparable as reasonably possible to the generally applicable rates.
(3) Long-term arrangements not treated as general public use. An arrangement is not treated as general public use if the term of the use under the arrangement, including all renewal options, is greater than 200 days. For this purpose, a right of first refusal to renew use under the arrangement is not treated as a renewal option if—
(i) The compensation for the use under the arrangement is redetermined at generally applicable, fair market value rates that are in effect at the time of renewal; and
(ii) The use of the financed property under the same or similar arrangements is predominantly by natural persons who are not engaged in a trade or business.
(4) Relation to other use. Use of financed property by the general public does not prevent the proceeds from being used for a private business use because of other use under this section.
(d) Other exceptions—(1) Agents. Use of proceeds by non governmental persons solely in their capacity as agents of a governmental person is not private business use. For example, use by a nongovernmental person that issues obligations on behalf of a governmental person is not private business use to the extent the nongovernmental person's use of proceeds is in its capacity as an agent of the governmental person.
(2) Use incidental to financing arrangements. Use by a nongovernmental person that is solely incidental to a financing arrangement is not private business use. A use is solely incidental to a financing arrangement only if the nongovernmental person has no substantial rights to use bond proceeds or financed property other than as an agent of the bondholders. For example, a nongovernmental person that acts solely as an owner of title in a sale and leaseback financing transaction with a city generally is not a private business user of the property leased to the city, provided that the nongovernmental person has assigned all of its rights to use the leased facility to the trustee for the bondholders upon default by the city. Similarly, bond trustees, servicers, and guarantors are generally not treated as private business users.
(3) Exceptions for arrangements other than arrangements resulting in ownership of financed property by a nongovernmental person—(i) Arrangements not available for use on the same basis by natural persons not engaged in a trade or business. Use by a nongovernmental person pursuant to an arrangement, other than an arrangement resulting in ownership of financed property by a nongovernmental person, is not private business use if—
(A) The term of the use under the arrangement, including all renewal options, is not longer than 100 days;
(B) The arrangement would be treated as general public use, except that it is not available for use on the same basis by natural persons not engaged in a trade or business because generally applicable and uniformly applied rates are not reasonably available to natural persons not engaged in a trade or business; and
(C) The property is not financed for a principal purpose of providing that property for use by that nongovernmental person.
(ii) Negotiated arm's-length arrangements. Use by a nongovernmental person pursuant to an arrangement, other than an arrangement resulting in ownership of financed property by a nongovernmental person, is not private business use if—
(A) The term of the use under the arrangement, including all renewal options, is not longer than 50 days;
(B) The arrangement is a negotiated arm's-length arrangement, and compensation under the arrangement is at fair market value; and
(C) The property is not financed for a principal purpose of providing that property for use by that nongovernmental person.
(4) Temporary use by developers. Use during an initial development period by a developer of an improvement that carries out an essential governmental function is not private business use if the issuer and the developer reasonably expect on the issue date to proceed with all reasonable speed to develop the improvement and property benefited by that improvement and to transfer the improvement to a governmental person, and if the improvement is in fact transferred to a governmental person promptly after the property benefited by the improvement is developed.
(5) Incidental use—(i) General rule. Incidental uses of a financed facility are disregarded, to the extent that those uses do not exceed 2.5 percent of the proceeds of the issue used to finance the facility. A use of a facility by a nongovernmental person is incidental if—
(A) Except for vending machines, pay telephones, kiosks, and similar uses, the use does not involve the transfer to the nongovernmental person of possession and control of space that is separated from other areas of the facility by walls, partitions, or other physical barriers, such as a night gate affixed to a structural component of a building (a nonpossessory use);
(B) The nonpossessory use is not functionally related to any other use of the facility by the same person (other than a different nonpossessory use); and
(C) All nonpossessory uses of the facility do not, in the aggregate, involve the use of more than 2.5 percent of the facility.
(ii) Illustrations. Incidental uses may include pay telephones, vending machines, advertising displays, and use for television cameras, but incidental uses may not include output purchases.
(6) Qualified improvements. Proceeds that provide a governmentally owned improvement to a governmentally owned building (including its structural components and land functionally related and subordinate to the building) are not used for a private business use if—
(i) The building was placed in service more than 1 year before the construction or acquisition of the improvement is begun;
(ii) The improvement is not an enlargement of the building or an improvement of interior space occupied exclusively for any private business use;
(iii) No portion of the improved building or any payments in respect of the improved building are taken into account under section 141(b)(2)(A) (the private security test); and
(iv) No more than 15 percent of the improved building is used for a private business use.
(e) Special rule for tax assessment bonds. In the case of a tax assessment bond that satisfies the requirements of § 1.141-5(d), the loan (or deemed loan) of the proceeds to the borrower paying the assessment is disregarded in determining whether the private business use test is met. However, the use of the loan proceeds is not disregarded in determining whether the private business use test is met.
(f) Examples. The following examples illustrate the application of paragraphs (a) through (e) of this section. In each example, assume that the arrangements described are the only arrangements with nongovernmental persons for use of the financed property.
(ii) The facts are the same as in Example 2(i), except that the annual payments made by X will equal fair rental value of the facility and exceed the amount necessary to pay debt service on the bonds for the 3 years of the lease. The issue meets the private business use test because a nongovernmental person leases the financed facility and the test does not require that the benefits of tax-exempt financing be passed through to the nongovernmental person.
(ii) The facts are the same as in Example 8(i), except that the runway will be available for use only by private air carriers. The use by these private air carriers is not for general public use, because the runway is not reasonably available for use on the same basis by natural persons not engaged in a trade or business. Depending on all of the facts and circumstances, including whether there are only a small number of lessee private air carriers, the issue may meet the private business use test solely because the private air carriers receive a special economic benefit from the runway. See paragraph (b)(7)(ii) of this section.
(iii) The facts are the same as in Example 8(i), except that the lease payments under the leases with the private air carriers are determined on a residual basis by taking into account the net revenues generated by runway landing fees. These leases cause the private business use test to be met with respect to the runway because they are arrangements that convey special legal entitlements to the financed facility to nongovernmental persons. See paragraph (b)(7)(i) of this section.
(ii) The facts are the same as in Example 16(i), except that H will enter into an arm's-length arrangement with Z to use the auditorium for 1 week for each year for a 4-year period (a total of 28 days), pursuant to which H will be charged a specific price reflecting fair market value. H is not treated as a private business user of the auditorium because its contract satisfies the exception of paragraph (d)(3)(ii) of this section for negotiated arm's-length arrangements.
(g) Measurement of private business use—(1) In general. In general, the private business use of proceeds is allocated to property under § 1.141-6. The amount of private business use of that property is determined according to the average percentage of private business use of that property during the measurement period.
(2) Measurement period—(i) General rule. Except as provided in this paragraph (g)(2), the measurement period of property financed by an issue begins on the later of the issue date of that issue or the date the property is placed in service and ends on the earlier of the last date of the reasonably expected economic life of the property or the latest maturity date of any bond of the issue financing the property (determined without regard to any optional redemption dates). In general, the period of reasonably expected economic life of the property for this purpose is based on reasonable expectations as of the issue date.
(ii) Special rule for refundings of short-term obligations. For an issue of short-term obligations that the issuer reasonably expects to refund with a long-term financing (such as bond anticipation notes), the measurement period is based on the latest maturity date of any bond of the last refunding issue with respect to the financed property (determined without regard to any optional redemption dates).
(iii) Special rule for reasonably expected mandatory redemptions. If an issuer reasonably expects on the issue date that an action will occur during the term of the bonds to cause either the private business tests or the private loan financing test to be met and is required to redeem bonds to meet the reasonable expectations test of § 1.141-2(d)(2), the measurement period ends on the reasonably expected redemption date.
(iv) Special rule for ownership by a nongovernmental person. The amount of private business use resulting from ownership by a nongovernmental person is the greatest percentage of private business use in any 1-year period.
(v) Special rule for partners that are nongovernmental persons—(A) The amount of private business use by a nongovernmental person resulting from the use of property by a partnership in which that nongovernmental person is a partner is that nongovernmental partner's share of the amount of use of the property by the partnership. For this purpose, except as otherwise provided in paragraph (g)(2)(v)(B) of this section, a nongovernmental partner's share of the partnership's use of the property is the nongovernmental partner's greatest percentage share under section 704(b) of any partnership item of income, gain, loss, deduction, or credit attributable to the period that the partnership uses the property during the measurement period. For example, if a partnership has a nongovernmental partner and that partner's share of partnership items varies, with the greatest share being 25 percent, then that nongovernmental partner's share of the partnership's use of property is 25 percent.
(B) An issuer may determine a nongovernmental partner's share of the partnership's use of the property under guidance published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin (see § 601.601(d)(2)(ii)(b) of this chapter).
(vi) Anti-abuse rule. If an issuer establishes the term of an issue for a period that is longer than is reasonably necessary for the governmental purposes of the issue for a principal purpose of increasing the permitted amount of private business use, the Commissioner may determine the amount of private business use according to the greatest percentage of private business use in any 1-year period.
(3) Determining average percentage of private business use. The average percentage of private business use is the average of the percentages of private business use during the 1-year periods within the measurement period. Appropriate adjustments must be made for beginning and ending periods of less than 1 year.
(4) Determining the average amount of private business use for a 1-year period—(i) In general. The percentage of private business use of property for any 1-year period is the average private business use during that year. This average is determined by comparing the amount of private business use during the year to the total amount of private business use and use that is not private business use (government use) during that year. Paragraphs (g)(4) (ii) through (v) of this section apply to determine the average amount of private business use for a 1-year period.
(ii) Uses at different times. For a facility in which actual government use and private business use occur at different times (for example, different days), the average amount of private business use generally is based on the amount of time that the facility is used for private business use as a percentage of the total time for all actual use. In determining the total amount of actual use, periods during which the facility is not in use are disregarded.
(iii) Simultaneous use. In general, for a facility in which government use and private business use occur simultaneously, the entire facility is treated as having private business use. For example, a governmentally owned facility that is leased or managed by a nongovernmental person in a manner that results in private business use is treated as entirely used for a private business use. If, however, there is also private business use and actual government use on the same basis, the average amount of private business use may be determined on a reasonable basis that properly reflects the proportionate benefit to be derived by the various users of the facility (for example, reasonably expected fair market value of use). For example, the average amount of private business use of a garage with unassigned spaces that is used for government use and private business use is generally based on the number of spaces used for private business use as a percentage of the total number of spaces.
(iv) Discrete portion. For purposes of this paragraph (g), measurement of the use of proceeds allocated to a discrete portion of a facility is determined by treating that discrete portion as a separate facility.
(v) Relationship to fair market value. For purposes of paragraphs (g)(4) (ii) through (iv) of this section, if private business use is reasonably expected as of the issue date to have a significantly greater fair market value than government use, the average amount of private business use must be determined according to the relative reasonably expected fair market values of use rather than another measure, such as average time of use. This determination of relative fair market value may be made as of the date the property is acquired or placed in service if making this determination as of the issue date is not reasonably possible (for example, if the financed property is not identified on the issue date). In general, the relative reasonably expected fair market value for a period must be determined by taking into account the amount of reasonably expected payments for private business use for the period in a manner that properly reflects the proportionate benefit to be derived from the private business use.
(5) Common areas. The amount of private business use of common areas within a facility is based on a reasonable method that properly reflects the proportionate benefit to be derived by the users of the facility. For example, in general, a method that is based on the average amount of private business use of the remainder of the entire facility reflects proportionate benefit.
(6) Allocation of neutral costs. Proceeds that are used to pay costs of issuance, invested in a reserve or replacement fund, or paid as fees for a qualified guarantee or a qualified hedge must be allocated ratably among the other purposes for which the proceeds are used.
(7) Commencement of measurement of private business use. Generally, private business use commences on the first date on which there is a right to actual use by the nongovernmental person. However, if an issuer enters into an arrangement for private business use a substantial period before the right to actual private business use commences and the arrangement transfers ownership or is an arrangement for other long-term use (such as a lease for a significant portion of the remaining economic life of financed property), private business use commences on the date the arrangement is entered into, even if the right to actual use commences after the measurement period. For this purpose, 10 percent of the measurement period is generally treated as a substantial period.
(8) Examples. The following examples illustrate the application of this paragraph (g):
(ii) The facts are the same as in Example 2(i), except that L reasonably expects that the stadium will be used not more than 60 other times each year, none of which will give rise to private business use. The issue meets the private business use test because 25 percent of the proceeds are used for a private business use.