What This Bill Does
This bill changes the tax rules for people and businesses that rehabilitate (restore and repair) historic buildings. It increases the amount of tax credit (money subtracted from taxes owed) available for these projects and removes a rule that reduced a building's cost basis (the original value used for tax purposes) when a credit was claimed.
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Who It Affects
Taxpayers who rehabilitate qualified historic buildings, including small businesses and investors in historic property restoration projects.
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Key Provisions
- Increases the rehabilitation tax credit percentage to 30 percent for spending between 2020 and 2025, then gradually reduces it to 26 percent in 2026, 23 percent in 2027, and back to 20 percent in 2028 and later. (Sec. 2)
- Creates a special rule for small projects that allows a 30 percent credit on rehabilitation spending up to $2,500,000, as long as total qualified spending does not exceed $3,750,000. (Sec. 3)
- Changes the definition of "substantially rehabilitated" to require only 50 percent of the adjusted basis instead of the full adjusted basis. (Sec. 4)
- Removes the requirement that a building's cost basis be reduced by the amount of the rehabilitation credit claimed. (Sec. 5)
- Changes rules for tax-exempt properties so that disqualified lease rules apply only to government entities, not all tax-exempt organizations. (Sec. 6)
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What Changes
If this bill becomes law, people claiming rehabilitation tax credits will receive larger credit percentages during the 2020-2027 period. The tax cost basis of rehabilitated buildings will no longer decrease when credits are claimed. Small projects meeting specific spending limits will qualify for enhanced credits. Determining whether a building qualifies as "substantially rehabilitated" will become easier by using a lower spending threshold.
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Important Definitions
- **Qualified rehabilitated building**: A historic building being restored and repaired in a way that qualifies for tax credits under federal law.
- **Qualified rehabilitation expenditures**: Money spent on eligible restoration and repair work on qualifying historic buildings.
- **Small project**: Rehabilitation of a historic building where total qualified spending does not exceed $3,750,000 and no similar credit was claimed in the two tax years before the project started.
- **Tax-exempt use property**: Property that is leased to or used by organizations exempt from federal income tax.
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Effective Date
Provisions in Section 2 apply to property placed in service after December 31, 2023. Section 3 applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2023. Section 4 applies to 24-month and 60-month periods that begin after the date this bill becomes law. Section 5 applies to property placed in service after the date this bill becomes law. Section 6 applies to leases entered into after the date this bill becomes law.
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 1785
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the rehabilitation
credit for certain small projects, to eliminate the requirement that the
taxpayer’s basis in a building be reduced by the amount of the rehabilita-
tion credit determined with respect to such building, and for other
purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 24, 2023
Mr. LAHOOD (for himself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania,
Ms. SEWELL, Mr. TURNER, and Mr. HIGGINS of New York) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and
Means
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify
the rehabilitation credit for certain small projects, to
eliminate the requirement that the taxpayer’s basis in
a building be reduced by the amount of the rehabilitation
credit determined with respect to such building, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Historic Tax Credit
4
Growth and Opportunity Act of 2023’’.
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•HR 1785 IH
SEC. 2. INCREASE IN REHABILITATION CREDIT.
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(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 47(a) of the Internal Rev-
2
enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the
3
following new paragraph:
4
‘‘(3) INCREASED PERCENTAGE FOR QUALIFIED
5
REHABILITATION EXPENDITURES BEFORE 2028.—
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‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—In the case of any
7
qualified rehabilitated building with respect to
8
which there are qualified rehabilitation expendi-
9
tures paid or incurred in any taxable year be-
10
ginning after December 31, 2020, and before
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January 1, 2028—
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‘‘(i) paragraph (2) shall be applied by
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substituting ‘the applicable percentage’ for
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‘20 percent’ with respect to such expendi-
15
tures, and
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‘‘(ii) the ratable share of such expend-
17
itures shall be determined separately under
18
paragraph (2) by applying the applicable
19
percentage for each such taxable year to
20
the expenditures for each such taxable
21
year.
22
‘‘(B)
APPLICABLE
PERCENTAGE.—For
23
purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘applicable
24
percentage’ means the percentage determined in
25
accordance with the following table:
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•HR 1785 IH
‘‘In the case of a taxable
year beginning in:
The applicable
percentage is—
2020 through 2025 ...................................................................
30
2026 ..........................................................................................
26
2027 ..........................................................................................
23
2028 and thereafter ..................................................................
20’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
1
this section shall apply to property placed in service after
2
December 31, 2023.
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SEC. 3. INCREASE IN THE REHABILITATION CREDIT FOR
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CERTAIN SMALL PROJECTS.
5
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 47 is amended by adding
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at the end the following new subsection:
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‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULE REGARDING CERTAIN SMALL
8
PROJECTS.—
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any small
10
project—
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‘‘(A) the percentage under subsection
12
(a)(2) shall be 30 percent, and
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‘‘(B) the qualified rehabilitation expendi-
14
tures taken into account under this section with
15
respect to such project shall not exceed
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$2,500,000.
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‘‘(2) SMALL PROJECT.—For purposes of this
18
subsection, the term ‘small project’ means the reha-
19
bilitation of any qualified rehabilitated building if—
20
‘‘(A) the qualified rehabilitation expendi-
21
tures taken into account under this section (or
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•HR 1785 IH
which would be so taken into account but for
1
paragraph (1)(B)) with respect to such rehabili-
2
tation do not exceed $3,750,000,
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‘‘(B) no credit was allowed under this sec-
4
tion with respect to such building to any tax-
5
payer for either of the 2 taxable years imme-
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diately preceding the first taxable year in which
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expenditures described in subparagraph (A)
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were paid or incurred, and
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‘‘(C) the taxpayer elects (at such time and
10
manner as the Secretary may provide) to have
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this subsection apply with respect to such reha-
12
bilitation.’’.
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(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by
14
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after
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December 31, 2023.
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SEC. 4. MODIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF SUBSTANTIALLY
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REHABILITATED.
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(a) IN
GENERAL.—Section 47(c)(1)(B)(i)(I) is
19
amended by inserting ‘‘50 percent of’’ before ‘‘the ad-
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justed basis’’.
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(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by
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subsection (a) shall apply to determinations with respect
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to 24-month periods (referred to in clause (i) of section
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47(c)(1)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) and
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•HR 1785 IH
60-month periods (referred to in clause (ii) of such sec-
1
tion) which begin after the date of the enactment of this
2
Act.
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SEC. 5. ELIMINATION OF REHABILITATION CREDIT BASIS
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ADJUSTMENT.
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(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 50(c) is amended by add-
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ing at the end the following new paragraph:
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‘‘(6) EXCEPTION FOR REHABILITATION CRED-
8
IT.—In the case of the rehabilitation credit, para-
9
graph (1) shall not apply.’’.
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(b) TREATMENT IN CASE OF CREDIT ALLOWED TO
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LESSEE.—Section 50(d) is amended by adding at the end
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the following: ‘‘In the case of the rehabilitation credit,
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paragraph (5)(B) of the section 48(d) referred to in para-
14
graph (5) of this subsection shall not apply.’’.
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(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
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this section shall apply to property placed in service after
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the date of the enactment of this Act.
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SEC. 6. MODIFICATIONS REGARDING CERTAIN TAX-EXEMPT
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USE PROPERTY.
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(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 47(c)(2)(B)(v) is amend-
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ed by adding at the end the following new subclause:
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‘‘(III)
DISQUALIFIED
LEASE
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RULES TO APPLY ONLY IN CASE OF
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GOVERNMENT ENTITY.—For purposes
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•HR 1785 IH
of subclause (I), except in the case of
1
a tax-exempt entity described in sec-
2
tion 168(h)(2)(A)(i) (determined with-
3
out regard to the last sentence of sec-
4
tion 168(h)(2)(A)), the determination
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of whether property is tax-exempt use
6
property shall be made under section
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168(h) without regard to whether the
8
property is leased in a disqualified
9
lease
(as
defined
in
section
10
168(h)(1)(B)(ii)).’’.
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(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
12
this section shall apply to leases entered into after the date
13
of the enactment of this Act.
14
Æ
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