Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit

Overview

Ponemah Mill

The CT Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program (C.G.S., Sec. 10-416c) establishes a 25% tax credit on the Qualified Rehabilitation Expenditures associated with the rehabilitation of a Certified Historic Structure.  (Qualified rehabilitation expenditures are hard costs associated with the rehabilitation; site improvements and non-construction costs are excluded.)

The structure must be rehabilitated in a manner consistent with the historic character of such property and have a post-rehabilitation use of one of the following:

  1. residential use of five units or more;
  2. mixed residential and nonresidential use; or
  3. nonresidential.

The credit increases to 30% if the project is located within a federally designated opportunity zone or the project includes an affordable housing component, provided at least 20% of the rental units or 10% of for-sale units qualify under C.G.S., Section 8-39a.

The program makes $31.7 million in tax credit reservations available each fiscal year. The per-project cap is up to $4.5 million in tax credits.

You may combine state tax credits with the 20% Federal Historic Preservation Tax Credits provided the project qualifies under federal law as a substantial rehabilitation of depreciable property as defined by the Internal Revenue Service.

 

Eligibility

  • Buildings must be listed on the National or State Register of Historic Places, either individually or as part of a historic district.
  • All work must comply with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.
  • Tax credit vouchers are issued after completion of rehabilitation work or, in phased projects, completion of rehabilitation work to an identifiable portion of the building placed in service (see Appendix B for instructions on phased projects).
  • Tax credits are available for the tax year in which the building or, in phased projects, an identifiable portion of the building is placed in service.
  • Tax credits can only be used by C corporations with tax liability under Chapters 207 through 212 of the C.G.S.

Find the program guidelines and application instructions here.

Applications

For your convenience, we’ve supplied documents in PDF or Word formats.

Contact

Julie Carmelich at (860) 500-2362 or julie.carmelich@ct.gov.