(a) In general—(1) Reasonable accounting methods required. An issuer may use any reasonable, consistently applied accounting method to account for gross proceeds, investments, and expenditures of an issue.

(2) Bona fide deviations from accounting method. An accounting method does not fail to be reasonable and consistently applied solely because a different accounting method is used for a bona fide governmental purpose to consistently account for a particular item. Bona fide governmental purposes may include special State law restrictions imposed on specific funds or actions to avoid grant forfeitures.

(3) Absence of allocation and accounting methods. If an issuer fails to maintain books and records sufficient to establish the accounting method for an issue and the allocation of the proceeds of that issue, the rules of this section are applied using the specific tracing method. This paragraph (a)(3) applies to bonds issued on or after May 16, 1997.

(b) Allocation of gross proceeds to an issue—(1) One-issue rule and general ordering rules. Except as otherwise provided, amounts are allocable to only one issue at a time as gross proceeds, and if amounts simultaneously are proceeds of one issue and replacement proceeds of another issue, those amounts are allocable to the issue of which they are proceeds. Amounts cease to be allocated to an issue as proceeds only when those amounts are allocated to an expenditure for a governmental purpose, are allocated to transferred proceeds of another issue, or cease to be allocated to that issue at retirement of the issue or under the universal cap of paragraph (b)(2) of this section. Amounts cease to be allocated to an issue as replacement proceeds only when those amounts are allocated to an expenditure for a governmental purpose, are no longer used in a manner that causes those amounts to be replacement proceeds of that issue, or cease to be allocated to that issue because of the retirement of the issue or the application of the universal cap under paragraph (b)(2) of this section. Amounts that cease to be allocated to an issue as gross proceeds are eligible for allocation to another issue. Under §1.148-10(a), however, the rules in this paragraph (b)(1) do not apply in certain cases involving abusive arbitrage devices.

(2) Universal cap on value of nonpurpose investments allocated to an issue—(i) Application. The rules in this paragraph (b)(2) provide an overall limitation on the amount of gross proceeds allocable to an issue. Although the universal cap generally may be applied at any time in the manner described in this paragraph (b)(2), it need not be applied on any otherwise required date of application if its application on that date would not result in a reduction or reallocation of gross proceeds of an issue. For this purpose, if an issuer reasonably expects as of the issue date that the universal cap will not reduce the amount of gross proceeds allocable to the issue during the term of the issue, the universal cap need not be applied on any date on which an issue actually has all of the following characteristics—

(A) No replacement proceeds are allocable to the issue, other than replacement proceeds in a bona fide debt service fund or a reasonably required reserve or replacement fund;

(B) The net sale proceeds of the issue—

(1) Qualified for one of the temporary periods available for capital projects, restricted working capital expenditures, or pooled financings under §1.148-2 (e)(2), (e)(3), or (e)(4), and those net sales proceeds were in fact allocated to expenditures prior to the expiration of the longest applicable temporary period; or

(2) were deposited in a refunding escrow and expended as originally expected;

(C) The issue does not refund a prior issue that, on any transfer date, has unspent proceeds allocable to it;

(D) None of the bonds are retired prior to the date on which those bonds are treated as retired in computing the yield on the issue; and

(E) No proceeds of the issue are invested in qualified student loans or qualified mortgage loans.

(ii) General rule. Except as otherwise provided below, amounts that would otherwise be gross proceeds allocable to an issue are allocated (and remain allocated) to the issue only to the extent that the value of the nonpurpose investments allocable to those gross proceeds does not exceed the value of all outstanding bonds of the issue. For this purpose, gross proceeds allocable to cash, tax-exempt bonds that would be nonpurpose investments (absent section 148(b)(3)(A)), qualified student loans, and qualified mortgage loans are treated as nonpurpose investments. The values of bonds and investments are determined under §1.148-4(e) and §1.148-5(d), respectively. The value of all outstanding bonds of the issue is referred to as the universal cap. Thus, for example, the universal cap for an issue of plain par bonds is equal to the outstanding stated principal amount of those bonds plus accrued interest.

(iii) Determination and application of the universal cap. Except as otherwise provided, beginning with the first bond year that commences after the second anniversary of the issue date, the amount of the universal cap and the value of the nonpurpose investments must be determined as of the first day of each bond year. For refunding and refunded issues, the cap and values must be determined as of each date that, but for this paragraph (b)(2), proceeds of the refunded issue would become transferred proceeds of the refunding issue, and need not otherwise be determined in the bond year in which that date occurs. All values are determined as of the close of business on each determination date, after giving effect to all payments on bonds and payments for and receipts on investments on that date.

(iv) General ordering rule for allocations of amounts in excess of the universal cap—(A) In general. If the value of all nonpurpose investments allocated to the gross proceeds of an issue exceeds the universal cap for that issue on a date as of which the cap is determined under paragraph (b)(2)(iii) of this section, nonpurpose investments allocable to gross proceeds necessary to eliminate that excess cease to be allocated to the issue, in the following order of priority—

(1) First, nonpurpose investments allocable to replacement proceeds;

(2) Second, nonpurpose investments allocable to transferred proceeds; and

(3) Third, nonpurpose investments allocable to sale proceeds and investment proceeds.

(B) Re-allocation of certain amounts. Except as provided in §1.148-9(b)(3), amounts that cease to be allocated to an issue as a result of the application of the universal cap may only be allocated to another issue as replacement proceeds.

(C) Allocations of portions of investments. Portions of investments to which this paragraph (b)(2)(iv) applies are allocated under either the ratable method or the representative method in the same manner as allocations of portions of investments to transferred proceeds under §1.148-9(c).

(v) Nonpurpose investments in a bona fide debt service fund not counted. For purposes of this paragraph (b)(2), nonpurpose investments allocated to gross proceeds in a bona fide debt service fund for an issue are not taken into account in determining the value of the nonpurpose investments, and those nonpurpose investments remain allocated to the issue.

(c) Fair market value limit on allocations to nonpurpose investments. Upon a purchase or sale of a nonpurpose investment, gross proceeds of an issue are not allocated to a payment for that nonpurpose investment in an amount greater than, or to a receipt from that nonpurpose investment in an amount less than, the fair market value of the nonpurpose investment as of the purchase or sale date. For purposes of this paragraph (c) only, the fair market value of a nonpurpose investment is adjusted to take into account qualified administrative costs allocable to the investment.

(d) Allocation of gross proceeds to expenditures—(1) Expenditures in general—(i) General rule. Reasonable accounting methods for allocating funds from different sources to expenditures for the same governmental purpose include any of the following methods if consistently applied: a specific tracing method; a gross proceeds spent first method; a first-in, first-out method; or a ratable allocation method.

(ii) General limitation. An allocation of gross proceeds of an issue to an expenditure must involve a current outlay of cash for a governmental purpose of the issue. A current outlay of cash means an outlay reasonably expected to occur not later than 5 banking days after the date as of which the allocation of gross proceeds to the expenditure is made.

(iii) Timing. An issuer must account for the allocation of proceeds to expenditures not later than 18 months after the later of the date the expenditure is paid or the date the project, if any, that is financed by the issue is placed in service. This allocation must be made in any event by the date 60 days after the fifth anniversary of the issue date or the date 60 days after the retirement of the issue, if earlier. This paragraph (d)(1)(iii) applies to bonds issued on or after May 16, 1997.

(2) Treatment of gross proceeds invested in purpose investments—(i) In general. Gross proceeds of an issue invested in a purpose investment are allocated to an expenditure on the date on which the conduit borrower under the purpose investment allocates the gross proceeds to an expenditure in accordance with this paragraph (d).

(ii) Exception for qualified mortgage loans and qualified student loans. If gross proceeds of an issue are allocated to a purpose investment that is a qualified mortgage loan or a qualified student loan, those gross proceeds are allocated to an expenditure for the governmental purpose of the issue on the date on which the issuer allocates gross proceeds to that purpose investment.

(iii) Continuing allocation of gross proceeds to purpose investments. Regardless of whether gross proceeds of a conduit financing issue invested in a purpose investment have been allocated to an expenditure under paragraph (d)(2) (i) or (ii) of this section, with respect to the actual issuer those gross proceeds continue to be allocated to the purpose investment until the sale, discharge, or other disposition of the purpose investment.

(3) Expenditures for working capital purposes—(i) In general. Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph (d)(3) or paragraph (d)(4) of this section, proceeds of an issue may only be allocated to working capital expenditures as of any date to the extent that those working capital expenditures exceed available amounts (as defined in paragraph (d)(3)(iii) of this section) as of that date (i.e., a “proceeds-spent-last” method). For this purpose, proceeds include replacement proceeds described in §1.148-1(c)(4).

(ii) Exceptions—(A) General de minimis exception. Paragraph (d)(3)(i) of this section does not apply to expenditures to pay—

(1) Any issuance costs of the issue or any qualified administrative costs within the meaning of §§1.148-5(e)(2) (i) or (ii), or §1.148-5(e)(3)(ii)(A);

(2) Fees for qualified guarantees of the issue or payments for a qualified hedge for the issue;

(3) Interest on the issue for a period commencing on the issue date and ending on the date that is the later of three years from the issue date or one year after the date on which the project is placed in service;

(4) Amounts paid to the United States under §§1.148-3, 1.148-5(c), or 1.148-7 for the issue;

(5) Costs, other than those described in paragraphs (d)(3)(ii)(A) (1) through (4) of this section, that do not exceed 5 percent of the sale proceeds of an issue and that are directly related to capital expenditures financed by the issue (e.g., initial operating expenses for a new capital project);

(6) Principal or interest on an issue paid from unexpected excess sale or investment proceeds; and

(7) Principal or interest on an issue paid from investment earnings on a reserve or replacement fund that are deposited in a bona fide debt service fund.

(B) Exception for extraordinary items. Paragraph (d)(3)(i) of this section does not apply to expenditures for extraordinary, nonrecurring items that are not customarily payable from current revenues, such as casualty losses or extraordinary legal judgments in amounts in excess of reasonable insurance coverage. If, however, an issuer or a related party maintains a reserve for such items (e.g., a self-insurance fund) or has set aside other available amounts for such expenses, gross proceeds within that reserve must be allocated to expenditures only after all other available amounts in that reserve are expended.

(C) Exception for payment of principal and interest on prior issues. Paragraph (d)(3)(i) of this section does not apply to expenditures for payment of principal, interest, or redemption prices on a prior issue and, for a crossover refunding issue, interest on that issue.

(D) No exceptions if replacement proceeds created. The exceptions provided in this paragraph (d)(3)(ii) do not apply if the allocation merely substitutes gross proceeds for other amounts that would have been used to make those expenditures in a manner that gives rise to replacement proceeds. For example, if a purported reimbursement allocation of proceeds of a reimbursement bond does not result in an expenditure under §1.150-2, those proceeds may not be allocated to pay interest on an issue that, absent this allocation, would have been paid from the issuer's current revenues.

(iii) Definition of available amount—(A) In general. For purposes of this paragraph (d)(3), available amount means any amount that is available to an issuer for working capital expenditure purposes of the type financed by an issue. Except as otherwise provided, available amount excludes proceeds of any issue but includes cash, investments, and other amounts held in accounts or otherwise by the issuer or a related party if those amounts may be used by the issuer for working capital expenditures of the type being financed by an issue without legislative or judicial action and without a legislative, judicial, or contractual requirement that those amounts be reimbursed.

(B) Reasonable working capital reserve treated as unavailable. A reasonable working capital reserve is treated as unavailable. Any working capital reserve is reasonable if it does not exceed 5 percent of the actual working capital expenditures of the issuer in the fiscal year before the year in which the determination of available amounts is made. For this purpose only, in determining the working capital expenditures of an issuer for a prior fiscal year, any expenditures (whether capital or working capital expenditures) that are paid out of current revenues may be treated as working capital expenditures.

(C) Qualified endowment funds treated as unavailable. For a 501(c)(3) organization, a qualified endowment fund is treated as unavailable. A fund is a qualified endowment fund if—

(1) The fund is derived from gifts or bequests, or the income thereon, that were neither made nor reasonably expected to be used to pay working capital expenditures;

(2) Pursuant to reasonable, established practices of the organization, the governing body of the 501(c)(3) organization designates and consistently operates the fund as a permanent endowment fund or quasi-endowment fund restricted as to use; and

(3) There is an independent verification that the fund is reasonably necessary as part of the organization's permanent capital.

(D) Application to statutory safe harbor for tax and revenue anticipation bonds. For purposes of section 148(f)(4)(B)(iii)(II), available amount has the same meaning as in paragraph (d)(3)(iii) of this section, except that the otherwise-permitted reasonable working capital reserve is treated as part of the available amount.

(4) Expenditures for grants—(i) In general. Gross proceeds of an issue that are used to make a grant are allocated to an expenditure on the date on which the grant is made.

(ii) Characterization of repayments of grants. If any amount of a grant financed by gross proceeds of an issue is repaid to the grantor, the repaid amount is treated as unspent proceeds of the issue as of the repayment date unless expended within 60 days of repayment.

(5) Expenditures for reimbursement purposes. In allocating gross proceeds of issues of reimbursement bonds (as defined in §1.150-2)) to certain expenditures, §1.150-2 applies. In allocating gross proceeds to an expenditure to reimburse a previously paid working capital expenditure, paragraph (d)(3) of this section applies. Thus, if the expenditure is described in paragraph (d)(3)(ii) of this section or there are no available amounts on the date a working capital expenditure is made and there are no other available amounts on the date of the reimbursement of that expenditure, gross proceeds are allocated to the working capital expenditure as of the date of the reimbursement.

(6) Expenditures of certain commingled investment proceeds of governmental issues. This paragraph (d)(6) applies to any issue of governmental bonds, any issue of private activity bonds issued to finance a facility that is required by section 142 to be owned by a governmental unit, and any portion of an issue that is not treated as consisting of private activity bonds under section 141(b)(9). Investment proceeds of the issue (other than investment proceeds held in a refunding escrow) are treated as allocated to expenditures for a governmental purpose when the amounts are deposited in a commingled fund with substantial tax or other revenues from governmental operations of the issuer and the amounts are reasonably expected to be spent for governmental purposes within 6 months from the date of the commingling. In establishing these reasonable expectations, an issuer may use any reasonable accounting assumption and is not bound by the proceeds-spent-last assumption generally required for working capital expenditures under paragraph (d)(3) of this section.

(7) Payments to related parties. Any payment of gross proceeds of the issue to a related party of the payor is not an expenditure of those gross proceeds.

(e) Special rules for commingled funds—(1) In general. An accounting method for gross proceeds of an issue in a commingled fund, other than a bona fide debt service fund, is reasonable only if it satisfies the requirements of paragraphs (e)(2) through (6) of this section in addition to the other requirements of this section.

(2) Investments held by a commingled fund—(i) Required ratable allocations. Not less frequently than as of the close of each fiscal period, all payments and receipts (including deemed payments and receipts) on investments held by a commingled fund must be allocated (but not necessarily distributed) among the different investors in the fund. This allocation must be based on a consistently applied, reasonable ratable allocation method.

(ii) Safe harbors for ratable allocation methods. Reasonable ratable allocation methods include, without limitation, methods that allocate these items in proportion to either—

(A) The average daily balances of the amounts in the commingled fund from different investors during a fiscal period (as described in paragraph (e)(4) of this section); or

(B) The average of the beginning and ending balances of the amounts in the commingled fund from different investors for a fiscal period that does not exceed one month.

(iii) Definition of investor. For purposes of this paragraph (e), the term investor means each different source of funds invested in a commingled fund. For example, if a city invests gross proceeds of an issue and tax revenues in a commingled fund, it is treated as two different investors.

(3) Certain expenditures involving a commingled fund. If a ratable allocation method is used under paragraph (d) of this section to allocate expenditures from the commingled fund, the same ratable allocation method must be used to allocate payments and receipts on investments in the commingled fund under paragraph (e)(2) of this section.

(4) Fiscal periods. The fiscal year of a commingled fund is the calendar year unless the fund adopts another fiscal year. A commingled fund may use any consistent fiscal period that does not exceed three months (e.g., a daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly fiscal period).

(5) Unrealized gains and losses on investments of a commingled fund—(i) Mark-to-market requirement for internal commingled funds with longer-term investment portfolios. Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph (e), in the case of a commingled fund in which the issuer and any related party own more than 25 percent of the beneficial interests in the fund (an internal commingled fund), the fund must treat all its investments as if sold at fair market value either on the last day of the fiscal year or the last day of each fiscal period. The net gains or losses from these deemed sales of investments must be allocated to all investors of the commingled fund during the period since the last allocation.

(ii) Exception for internal commingled funds with shorter-term investment portfolios. If the remaining weighted average maturity of all investments held by a commingled fund during a particular fiscal year does not exceed 18 months, and the investments held by the commingled fund during that fiscal year consist exclusively of obligations, the mark-to-market requirement of paragraph (e)(5)(i) of this section does not apply.

(iii) Exception for commingled reserve funds and sinking funds. The mark-to-market requirement of paragraph (e)(5)(i) of this section does not apply to a commingled fund that operates exclusively as a reserve fund, sinking fund, or replacement fund for two or more issues of the same issuer.

(6) Allocations of commingled funds serving as common reserve funds or sinking funds—(i) Permitted ratable allocation methods. If a commingled fund serves as a common reserve fund, replacement fund, or sinking fund for two or more issues (a commingled reserve), after making reasonable adjustments to account for proceeds allocated under paragraph (b)(1) or (b)(2) of this section, investments held by that commingled fund must be allocated ratably among the issues served by the commingled fund in accordance with one of the following methods—

(A) The relative values of the bonds of those issues under §1.148-4(e);

(B) The relative amounts of the remaining maximum annual debt service requirements on the outstanding principal amounts of those issues; or

(C) The relative original stated principal amounts of the outstanding issues.

(ii) Frequency of allocations. An issuer must make any allocations required by this paragraph (e)(6) as of a date at least every 3 years and as of each date that an issue first becomes secured by the commingled reserve. If relative original principal amounts are used to allocate, allocations must also be made on the retirement of any issue secured by the commingled reserve.

[T.D. 8476, 58 FR 33532, June 18, 1993; 58 FR 44452, Aug. 23, 1993, as amended by T.D. 8538, 59 FR 24045, May 10, 1994; T.D. 8712, 62 FR 2304, Jan. 16, 1997; T.D. 8718, 62 FR 25512, May 9, 1997; T.D. 9777, 81 FR 46597, July 18, 2016]