Via the AIA Advocacy Team:
Congressional champions of historic preservation need your help in protecting and strengthening the Historic Tax Credit. Last week, Reps. Mike Kelly (R-PA) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) introduced the Historic Tax Credit Improvement Act of 2015, a bill that makes the credit work even better and increases its economic impact.
This bill comes at a critical time for the HTC: members of Congress are moving quickly to overhaul our nation’s tax code, and in the process are looking to cut and even eliminate a significant number of deductions, credits, and other incentives. That means every tax credit is on the table for elimination, a fact that became abundantly clear in the last session of Congress when a proposal to do away with the Historic Tax Credit was brought forward.
That’s why Reps. Kelly and Blumenauer need your help in convincing their House colleagues to support their legislation, which would increase the rehabilitation credit for certain small projects, clarify IRS rules regarding federal tax treatment of state HTCs, expand the credit to include certain moderate rehabilitation projects, and several other key changes to bring the credit into the 21st century.
Urge your representative to support this market-based incentive with a proven economic track record. Please contact your legislator today and ask them to cosponsor and support the Historic Tax Credit Improvement Act of 2015.
For most of us, our representative is Barbara Comstock. You may check your representative by inputting your zip code at Find Your Representative. If you are a member of AIA, there is a form letter available to you at the AIA Advocacy Center (membership required).