Municipal bond
One of the primary reasons municipal bonds are considered separately from other types of bonds is their special ability to provide tax-exempt income. Interest paid by the issuer to bond holders is often exempt from all federal taxes, as well as state or local taxes depending on the state in which the issuer is located, subject to certain restrictions. Bonds issued for certain purposes are subject to the alternative minimum tax.
The type of project or projects that are funded by a bond affects the taxability of income received on the bonds held by bond holders. Interest earnings on bonds that fund projects that are constructed for the public good are generally exempt from federal income tax, while interest earnings on bonds issued to fund projects partly or wholly benefiting only private parties, sometimes referred to as private activity bonds, may be subject to federal income tax.
The laws governing the taxability of municipal bond income are complex; however, bonds are typically certified by a law firm as either tax-exempt (federal and/or state income tax) or taxable before they are offered to the market. Purchasers of municipal bonds should be aware that not all municipal bonds are tax-exempt.
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Risk
Main article: credit risk
The risk ("security") of a municipal bond is a measure of how likely the issuer is to make all payments, on time and in full, as promised in the agreement between the issuer and bond holder (the "bond documents"). Different types of bonds carry different securities, based on the promises made in the bond documents:
- General obligation bonds promise to repay based on the full faith and credit of the issuer; these bonds are typically considered the most secure type of municipal bond, and therefore carry the lowest interest rate.
- Revenue bonds promise repayment from a specified stream of future income, such as income generated by a water utility from payments by customers.
- Assessment bonds promise repayment based on property tax assessments of properties located within the issuer's boundaries.
In addition, there are several other types of municipal bonds with different promises of security.
The probability of repayment as promised is often determined by an independent reviewer, or "rating agency". The three main rating agencies for municipal bonds in the United States are Standard & Poor's, Moody's, and Fitch. These agencies can be hired by the issuer to assign a bond rating, which is valuable information to potential bond holders that helps sell bonds on the primary market.
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Comparison to corporate bonds
Because municipal bonds are most often tax-exempt, comparing the coupon rates of municipal bonds to corporate or other taxable bonds can be misleading. Taxes reduce the net income on taxable bonds, meaning that a tax-exempt municipal bond has a higher after-tax yield than a corporate bond with the same coupon rate.
This relationship can be demonstrated mathematically, as follows:
where
- rm = interest rate of municipal bond
- rc = interest rate of comparable corporate bond
- t = tax rate
For example if rc = 10% and t = 38%, then
A municipal bond that pays 6.2% therefore generates equal interest income after taxes as a corporate bond that pays 10% (assuming all else is equal).
Alternatively, one can calculate the taxable equivalent yield of a municipal bond and compare it to the yield of a corporate bond as follows:
Because longer maturity municipal bonds tend to offer significantly higher after-tax yields than corporate bonds with the same credit rating and maturity, investors in higher tax brackets may be motivated to arbitrage municipal bonds against corporate bonds using a strategy called municipal bond arbitrage.
Some municipal bonds are insured by monoline insurers that take on the credit risk of these bonds for a small fee.
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Subprime mortgage crisis
The municipal bond market was affected by the subprime mortgage crisis. During the crisis, monoline insurers that insured municipal bonds incurred heavy losses on the collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) and other structured financial products that they also insured. Consequently, the credit ratings of these monoline insurers were called into question, and the prices of municipal bonds fell.
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References
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External links
- http://www.citymayors.com/finance/bonds.html Municipal bonds have been issued
by US local government since 1812
- MSRB's EMMA Education Center
- Detailed Overview of Municipal Bonds,
- The Bond Buyer, newspaper focusing on the municipal bond industry.
- MuniMarket Pulse Podcast, The only podcast dedicated to Municipal Bond Market News and Commentary
- Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, the industry trade group.
- Municipal Finance Journal, the only peer-reviewed journal devoted to municipal securities and state & local public finance.
- About Municipal Bonds
- Prospect News Municipals Daily, Market focused news for professionals
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