Housing Credit Proposals for COVID-19 Relief

The ACTION Campaign and partners have developed a list of Housing Credit proposals for COVID-19 relief. We will be working closely with our Hill champions to advance these proposals in future COVID-19 relief packages.

  • For emergency relief:

    • Enact a minimum 4 percent Housing Credit rate for buildings placed in service after January 20, 2020 (per the COVID-19 “incident period” for states per FEMA).

  • Additional immediate relief:

    • Allow developments to access 4 percent Housing Credits by lowering the “50 percent test” to 25 percent (for buildings placed in service after January 20, 2020).

  • For economic recovery:

    • Increase the annual Housing Credit allocation by 50 percent, phased in over two years at 25 percent per year, and adjusted for inflation, beginning in 2021.

    • Provide additional basis boosts to allow developments to access additional equity if needed for financial feasibility.

  • For regulatory relief:

    • Extend key Housing Credit deadlines to continue progress on affordable housing development, including: rehabilitation expenditure deadlines, 10 percent test deadlines, and placed in service deadlines.

To view the detailed list of ACTION’s proposals, click here.

233 Organizations Join Sign-On Letter to IRS Asking for Critical Housing Credit Accommodations

On March 23, NCSHA sent a letter calling on the IRS and Treasury to provide deadline extensions and other necessary accommodations for the Housing Credit program in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Enterprise and partners circulated an organizational sign-on letter in support of these requests, and a total of 233 organizations signed-on. View the joint letter being submitted to the IRS and Treasury here.

NEW ACTION COVID-19 Webpage

The ACTION Campaign has created a new webpage for COVID-19 updates and resources. This webpage will be home to our latest regulatory and legislative advocacy efforts.

Questions? Email Sarah Brundage at sbrundage@enterprisecommunity.org or Jennifer Schwartz at jschwartz@ncsha.org.

Krista D'Alessandro is the senior tax policy analyst at Enterprise Community Partners. The ACTION Campaign is co-chaired by Enterprise and the National Council of State Housing Agencies.

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