In the United States, tax exempt solid waste exclusion bonds have returned. In the 1990s, these were widely used to finance recycled paper mills, municipal recycling facilities (MRFs), and so forth.

Around 2000, because of some sloppy work in a few cases, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigated those projects and put the entire program in limbo for about 10 years. Finally, it has returned, and from the IRS perspective, the rules may be even more liberal than in the past.

However, now there is a new catch. Since the late 1960s, there has been this albatross in the U.S. tax code called the alternative minimum tax, or AMT. This started out as no big deal, affecting only a few taxpayers. However, it was never indexed to inflation and hence, over the years, it has snared more and more taxpayers -- and become a significant source of revenue for the U.S. government. Now, many tax payers who might be interested in tax exempt bonds are not, because of the complications with the AMT that personally affect their overall tax situation.