Төмен кірісті тұрғын үйлерге салық жеңілдіктері бағдарламасы

The Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) is a federal program in the United States that awards tax credits to housing developers in exchange for agreeing to reserve a certain fraction of rent restricted units for lower income households. The program was created under the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA86) to incentivize the use of private equity in developing affordable housing. Projects developed with LIHTC credits must maintain a certain percentage of affordable units for a set period of time, typically 30 years, though there is a "qualified contract" process that can allow property owners to opt out after 15 years. The maximum rent that can be charged for designated affordable units is based on Area Median Income (AMI); over 50% of residents in LIHTC properties are considered Extremely Low Income (at or below 30% AMI). Less than 10% of current credit expenditures are claimed by individual investors. From 1987 to 2021, at least 3.55 million housing units were placed through the LIHTC program. As of 2012, the LIHTC program accounted for approximately 90% of all newly created affordable rental housing in the United States. In 2010, the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB) estimated that the LIHTC program would cost the federal government $61 billion (an average of about $6 billion per year) in lost tax revenue from participating corporations from 2008 2017, as well as noting that some experts believe that vouchers would more cost effectively help low income households. As the financial markets deteriorated in the second half of 2008, so did the C corporations’ profits that are typically offset by tax credits, like the LIHTC. As a result, the market for LIHTCs was decimated. The development of new tax credit properties and rehabilitation activities for older affordable housing properties froze completely. Congress took action in February 2009 to help restart the LIHTC market. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 created two gap financing programs to help tax credit properties, which were ready to begin construction, get additional financing. First, Title XII of the Recovery Act appropriated $2.25 billion to the HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program—administered by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)—for a grant program to provide funds for capital investments in LIHTC projects. HUD awarded Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP) grants to state housing credit agencies to facilitate development of projects that received LIHTC awards between October 1, 2006, and September 30, 2009. The State housing agencies were allowed to offer the assistance in either a grant or loan form to the properties. Second, Section 1602 of the Recovery Act allowed State housing agencies to elect to receive cash grants instead of the tax credits for up to 40% of the State’s LIHTC allocation. The Department of Treasury estimated outlay to States was $3 billion for 2009. State housing agencies were required to use a grant to make sub awards to finance the acquisition or construction of qualified low income buildings, generally subject to the LIHTC requirements discussed (including rent, income, and use restrictions on such buildings). The Section 1602 program was applicable to LIHTC awards made between October 1, 2006, and September 30, 2009. Recent Congressional legislation proposed expanding this program to 2010 housing credits (see below). In the latter part of 2010, the market stabilized as non traditional investors began to back fill the investment gap. LIHTC advocates rallied around legislative proposals to ensure that investment remained stable in both the short term and in the future. Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Real Estate have identified potential opportunities on which to improve the LIHTC to make it more efficient.

The passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 (H. R.1625) increased the LIHTC state allocation by 12.5% beginning in 2018 and lasting until 2021. This increase was not extended beyond the fiscal year 2021.

First introduced in 2016 by Senator Maria Cantwell (D WA), Orrin Hatch (R UT), and Chuck Schumer (D NY), the AHCIA contains provisions to modify the Low Income Housing Tax Credit. Among the provisions are an increase in the LIHTC state allocation and credit bonuses for developments serving veterans, rural areas, native communities, and extremely low income individuals. The AHCIA has been reintroduced in each subsequent Congress in both the Senate and House. Since its original introduction, three key provisions of the AHCIA have been enacted: a minimum 4 percent Housing Credit rate in 2020, a 12.5 percent allocation increase in 2018 (which expired in 2021), and “income averaging,” which allows properties to serve tenants with a broader range of incomes, in 2018.

In January 2024, the U. S. House of Representatives passed the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 by a vote of 357 70, which includes provisions impacting Section 42 of the U. S. Tax Code, the law governing LIHTC. The legislation would restore an expired 12.5% allocation increase to each state’s Housing Credit ceiling and reduce the proportion of tax exempt private activity bond financing required for projects to earn four percent LIHTCs from 50% to 30%. These provisions were derived from the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, bipartisan legislation to expand and strengthen LIHTC. The two LIHTC provisions included in the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 would expire at the end of 2025 unless extended and are estimated to finance the production or preservation of over 200,000 new affordable rental homes.