A revenue procedure from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allocates nearly $7.8 million–the largest amount in 21 years–of unused low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) to 29 states. Revenue Procedure 2021-44 provides $7,797,915 in unused credits to be allocated to states, ranging from $30,789 for South Dakota to $1,357,757 for California. The 2021 amount is roughly triple the average amount for the past 25 years and the most since $16.6 million in unused credits were allocated in 1995. National demand for the LIHTC remains robust and unused authority should not be confused for general lack of demand. The allocation process sometimes results in LIHTC authority too small to be allocated to affordable housing developments and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 likely resulted in larger amounts of returned credits, some of which were not reallocated.

The Novogradac Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Handbook is an essential resource for affordable rental housing owners, developers, managers and investors.