General

IRS Form 8038-CP, Return for Credit Payments to Issuers of Qualified Bonds, is used to claim refundable tax credits payable to issuers of:

• qualified build America bonds (BABs)
• recovery zone economic development bonds (RZEDBs) under sections 54 AA, 1400U-2, and 6431 of the Internal Revenue Code
• specified tax credit bonds (STCBs) under Code sections 54A and 6431(f)

The issuers of any of the following bonds can file Form 8038-CP,

• Build America Bonds (BAB)
• New Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (NCREB)
• Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds (QECB)
• Qualified Zone Academy Bonds (QZAB)
• Qualified School Construction Bonds (QSCB)
• Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds (RZEDB)

The deadline to file Form 8038-CP varies based on the interest type of the bond issued.

For Fixed Rate Bonds

For these types of bonds, Form 8038-CP should be filed between 45 days and 90 days before the date when the relevant interest was paid. For example, If you are filing an 8038-CP and the Interest Payment Date is 01/15/2025, the due date to file 8038-CP is 45 days before the IPD, which is December 2, 2024.

For Variable Rate Bonds

The due date for these bonds depends on whether or not the filer knows the interest payment amount in prior. 

• If the issuer knows the interest payment amount 45 days - Form 8038-CP must be filed between 45 days and 90 days before the date when the relevant interest was paid.
• If the issuer doesn’t know - Form 8038-CP must be filed within 45 days from the last interest payment date of the quarter.

Form 8038-CP doesn't have any late filing penalties. However, to pay back arbitrage (or paying the penalty instead of arbitrage rebate) to the federal government, use Form 8038-T, Arbitrage Rebate, Yield Reduction and Penalty instead of Arbitrage Rebate. Learn more.

The various bonds associated with Form 8038-CP include:

• Build America bonds (BAB)
• New clean renewable energy bonds (NCREB)
• Qualified energy conservation bonds (QECB)
• Qualified zone academy bonds (QZAB)
• Qualified school construction bonds (QSCB)
• Recovery zone economic development bonds (RZEDB)

Click here to learn more about Form 8038-CP filing instructions.

While filing IRS 8038-CP form, the issuers/receivers may need to attach Schedule A along with their 8038-CP return for Specified tax credit bonds.

Form 8038-CP Schedule A is used to compute the amount of the refundable credit payment allowed under section 6431(f) and must be completed for all specified tax credit bonds, which are new clean renewable energy bonds (NCREBs), qualified energy conservation bonds (QECBs), qualified zone academy bonds (QZABs), and qualified school construction bonds (QSCBs).

Click here to learn more about Form 8038-CP filing instructions.

The issuer, the trustee, or the trustee authorized by the issuer on Form 8038-CP, may call TE/GE Customer Service at 877-829-5500.

If payment has not been received and the return has been filed at least 45 days before the interest payment date, and it is less than three weeks before the interest payment date, please get in touch with TE/GE Customer Service at 877-829-5500.

• The report number is a unique identifier that the issuers must assign permanently to bonds eligible for credit payments (when filing their first 8038-CP for the bond). 
• This report number must be consistently used when filing to claim credit for the bond.
• As per the IRS rule, this report number should be in the range 401–450. 
• Also, a separate should be assigned for each type of bond issue. 
• Furthermore, the report number may not be used for any other Direct Pay bonds, even if the bonds are redeemed (or) are no longer outstanding.

Note: Until January 2020, the report numbers were assigned by the IRS. Only after that, the filers were required to choose the report number on their own.

If you haven’t specified the report number when you filed Form 8038-CP earlier on paper for the corresponding bond, the IRS might have assigned a report number outside the mentioned range (Let’s say, 451). 

In this case, you can assign a new report number between 401 and 450 for the bond while filing your 8038-CP now and use the same number on all your upcoming filings.

Note: Until January 2020, the report numbers were assigned by the IRS. Only after that, the filers of Form 8038-CP were required to choose the report number on their own within the 401-450 range.

• Fixed-rate bonds - These bonds will have a fixed interest rate throughout the bond tenure. 
• Variable rate bonds - These bonds will have an interest rate that may fluctuate during the bond tenure.

Please note that you must file a separate Form 8038-CP return for each bond type.

You can find the CUSIP Number of your bond on the respective lines of the forms as indicated below:
 

The IRS has assigned a three-digit code number to indicate the type of bond. Based on the type of your bond, you must enter the applicable code number.