This is an abridged web edition of the Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits. Subscribe here to receive the complete magazine.

The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, also known as the Super Committee, last month began the herculean task of identifying and agreeing on $1.5 trillion in bipartisan deficit reduction measures. At the time of this writing it is considered unlikely that revenue measures will be part of the package; in fact, Republican members of the committee have signed a pledge to exclude new taxes as a part of the final deal, signaling that "net" revenue raising measures are unlikely to be considered. However, a plan could involve some tax cuts that when combined with curtailing or eliminating tax expenditure programs would result in an agreement that did not raise net new taxes. This means changes to tax expenditures such as the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC), new markets tax credit (NMTC), historic tax credit (HTC) or renewable energy tax credit are not necessarily off the table.
In September, we saw Congress finally take action on long-delayed spending bills, including the bill that funds U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs.
First up was the House of Representatives. On September 8, the House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Subcommittee voted unanimously to approve the fiscal year (FY) 2012 appropriations bill.
In June, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released two notices regarding potential ways to encourage non-real estate investments under the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program. The first notice, a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), contained proposed regulations and invited comments on the proposed changes. The second notice, an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM), invited comments on potential changes for which the IRS is considering issuing proposed regulations.
It has taken a few years, but the idea of combining renewable energy tax credits or grants with the new markets tax credit (NMTC) has begun to take hold. In this edition of The Current, I thought it would be useful to provide an overview of how the programs work together.
Because you're reading this column, I'll presume that you understand the basics of the energy investment tax credit (ITC) and Section 1603 grant rules, but want to know more about NMTCs. (I'm leaving out the production tax credit for this discussion).
It costs approximately $55 more per unit to operate a low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) property than it does to operate a market-rate apartment property, according to Novogradac & Company's analysis of 2010 operating expense data.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|