LCO 1 of 6 General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 5190 February Session, 2024 AN ACT CONCERNING THE HISTORIC HOMES REHABILITATION TAX CREDIT. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened: Section 1. Section 10-416 of the 2024 supplement to the general 1 statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 2 (Effective July 1, 2024, and applicable to taxable and income years commencing 3 on or after January 1, 2024): 4 (a) As used in this section, the following terms shall have the 5 following meanings unless the context clearly indicates another 6 meaning: 7 (1) "Department" means the Department of Economic and 8 Community Development; 9 (2) "Historic home" means a building that: (A) Will contain one-to-10 four dwelling units of which at least one unit will be occupied as the 11 principal residence of the owner for not less than five years following 12 the completion of rehabilitation work, and (B) is (i) listed individually 13 on the National or State Register of Historic Places, or (ii) located in a 14 district listed on the National or State Register of Historic Places, and 15 has been certified by the department as contributing to the historic 16 character of such district; 17 Substitute Bill No. 5190 LCO 2 of 6 (3) "Nonprofit corporation" means a nonprofit corporation 18 incorporated pursuant to chapter 602 or any predecessor statutes 19 thereto, having as one of its purposes the construction, rehabilitation, 20 ownership or operation of housing and having articles of incorporation 21 approved by the Commissioner of Economic and Community 22 Development in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to 23 section 8-79a or 8-84; 24 (4) "Owner" means (A) any taxpayer filing a state of Connecticut tax 25 return who possesses title to an historic home, or prospective title to an 26 historic home in the form of a purchase agreement or option to 27 purchase, or (B) a nonprofit corporation that possesses such title or 28 prospective title; 29 (5) "Qualified rehabilitation expenditures" means any costs incurred 30 for the physical construction involved in the rehabilitation of an historic 31 home, but excludes: (A) The owner's personal labor, (B) the cost of site 32 improvements, unless to provide building access to persons with 33 disabilities, (C) the cost of a new addition, except as may be required to 34 comply with any provision of the State Building Code or the Fire Safety 35 Code, (D) any cost associated with the rehabilitation of an outbuilding, 36 unless such building contributes to the historical significance of the 37 historic home, and (E) any nonconstruction cost such as architectural 38 fees, legal fees and financing fees; 39 (6) "Rehabilitation plan" means any construction plans and 40 specifications for the proposed rehabilitation of an historic home in 41 sufficient detail to enable the department to evaluate compliance with 42 the standards developed under the provisions of subsections (b), (c) and 43 (m) of this section; and 44 (7) "Occupancy period" means a period of five years during which 45 one or more owners occupy an historic home as such owner's or owners' 46 primary residence. The occupancy period begins on the date the tax 47 credit voucher is issued by the Department of Economic and 48 Community Development. 49 Substitute Bill No. 5190 LCO 3 of 6 (b) The Department of Economic and Community Development shall 50 administer a system of tax credit vouchers within the resources, 51 requirements and purposes of this section for owners rehabilitating 52 historic homes or taxpayers making contributions to qualified 53 rehabilitation expenditures. Any owner shall be eligible for a tax credit 54 voucher in an amount equal to thirty per cent of the qualified 55 rehabilitation expenditures. 56 (c) The department shall develop standards for the approval of 57 rehabilitation of historic homes for which a tax credit voucher is sought. 58 Such standards shall take into account whether the rehabilitation of an 59 historic home will preserve the historic character of the building. 60 (d) Prior to beginning any rehabilitation work on an historic home, 61 the owner shall submit a rehabilitation plan to the department for a 62 determination of whether such rehabilitation work meets the standards 63 developed under the provisions of subsections (b), (c) and (m) of this 64 section and shall also submit to the department an estimate of the 65 qualified rehabilitation expenditures. 66 (e) If the department certifies that the rehabilitation plan conforms to 67 the standards developed under the provisions of subsections (b), (c) and 68 (m) of this section, the department shall reserve for the benefit of the 69 owner an allocation for a tax credit equivalent to thirty per cent of the 70 projected qualified rehabilitation expenditures. 71 (f) Following the completion of rehabilitation of an historic home, the 72 owner shall notify the department that such rehabilitation has been 73 completed. The owner shall provide t he department with 74 documentation of work performed on the historic home and shall certify 75 the cost incurred in rehabilitating the home. The department shall 76 review such rehabilitation and verify its compliance with the 77 rehabilitation plan. Following such verification, the department shall 78 issue a tax credit voucher to either the owner rehabilitating the historic 79 home or to the taxpayer named by the owner as contributing to the 80 rehabilitation. The tax credit voucher shall be in an amount equivalent 81 Substitute Bill No. 5190 LCO 4 of 6 to the lesser of (1) the tax credit reserved upon certification of the 82 rehabilitation plan under the provisions of subsection (e) of this section, 83 or (2) thirty per cent of the actual qualified rehabilitation expenditures. 84 In order to obtain a credit against any state tax due that is specified in 85 subsection (i) of this section, the holder of the tax credit voucher shall 86 file the voucher with the holder's state tax return. 87 (g) Before the department issues a tax credit voucher, the owner shall 88 deliver a signed statement to the department that provides that: (1) The 89 owner shall occupy the historic home as the owner's primary residence 90 during the occupancy period; (2) the owner shall convey the historic 91 home to a new owner who will occupy it as the new owner's primary 92 residence during the occupancy period; or (3) an encumbrance shall be 93 recorded, in favor of the local, state or federal government or other 94 funding source, that will require the owner or the owner's successors to 95 occupy the historic home as the primary residence of the owner or the 96 owner's successors for a period equal to or longer than the occupancy 97 period. A copy of any such encumbrance shall be attached to the signed 98 statement. 99 (h) The owner of an historic home shall not be eligible for a tax credit 100 voucher under subsections (b), (c) and (m) of this section, unless the 101 owner incurs qualified rehabilitation expenditures exceeding fifteen 102 thousand dollars. 103 (i) (1) The Commissioner of Revenue Services shall grant a tax credit: 104 (A) (i) For a taxpayer holding a tax credit voucher issued prior to 105 January 1, 2024, under subsections (d) to (h), inclusive, of this section, 106 against any tax due under chapter 207, 208, 209, 210, 211 or 212 in the 107 amount specified in the tax credit voucher. 108 (ii) Any unused portion of such credit under this subparagraph may 109 be carried forward to any or all of the four income years following the 110 year in which the tax credit voucher is issued; and 111 (B) (i) For a taxpayer [described under subparagraph (A) of 112 Substitute Bill No. 5190 LCO 5 of 6 subdivision (4) of subsection (a) of this section] holding a tax credit 113 voucher issued on or after January 1, 2024, under subsections (d) to (h), 114 inclusive, of this section, against [the] any tax due under chapter 207, 115 208, 208a, 209, 210, 211, 212 or 229 in the amount specified in the tax 116 credit voucher. 117 (ii) If a taxpayer described under subparagraph (A) of subdivision (4) 118 of subsection (a) of this section holding such tax credit voucher claims a 119 credit against the tax imposed under chapter 229 and the amount of the 120 tax credit voucher exceeds the taxpayer's liability for [the] such tax, 121 [imposed under chapter 229,] the Commissioner of Revenue Services 122 shall treat such excess as an overpayment and, except as provided under 123 section 12-739 or 12-742, shall refund the amount of such excess, without 124 interest, to the taxpayer. [; and] 125 [(C) (i) For an owner that is a nonprofit corporation holding a tax 126 credit voucher issued on or after January 1, 2024, under subsections (d) 127 to (h), inclusive, of this section, against the tax due under chapter 208a 128 in the amount specified in the tax credit voucher.] 129 [(ii) Any] (iii) If a taxpayer holding such tax credit voucher claims a 130 credit against any tax imposed under chapter 207, 208, 208a, 209, 210, 131 211 or 212, any unused portion of such credit under this subparagraph 132 may be carried forward to any or all of the four income years following 133 the year in which the tax credit voucher is issued. 134 (2) The Department of Economic and Community Development shall 135 provide a copy of the voucher to the Commissioner of Revenue Services 136 upon the request of said commissioner. 137 (j) A credit allowed under this section shall not exceed thirty 138 thousand dollars per dwelling unit for an historic home, except that 139 such credit shall not exceed fifty thousand dollars per such dwelling 140 unit for an owner that is a nonprofit corporation. 141 (k) The tax credit granted under subsection (i) of this section shall be 142 taken in the same tax year in which the tax credit voucher is issued. 143 Substitute Bill No. 5190 LCO 6 of 6 (l) The aggregate amount of all tax credits that may be reserved by 144 the Department of Economic and Community Development upon 145 certification of rehabilitation plans under subsections (b) to (d), 146 inclusive, of this section shall not exceed three million dollars in any one 147 fiscal year. On and after July 1, 2015, seventy per cent of the tax credits 148 reserved pursuant to this section shall be for owners rehabilitating 149 historic homes that are located in a regional center as designated in the 150 state plan of conservation and development adopted by the General 151 Assembly pursuant to section 16a-30 or taxpayers making contributions 152 to qualified rehabilitation expenditures on historic homes that are 153 located in a regional center as designated in the state plan of 154 conservation and development adopted by the General Assembly 155 pursuant to section 16a-30. 156 (m) The Department of Economic and Community Development 157 may, in consultation with the Commissioner of Revenue Services, adopt 158 regulations in accordance with chapter 54 to carry out the purposes of 159 this section. 160 This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: Section 1 July 1, 2024, and applicable to taxable and income years commencing on or after January 1, 2024 10-416 CE Joint Favorable Subst.