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On May 22, Reps. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, and Richard Neal, D-Mass., introduced H.R. 4717, a bill that would establish a permanent floor for both the 9 percent and 4 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credits. The bill would create a fixed 9 percent rate for new rental construction property and a fixed 4 percent rate for existing property. The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means and includes 24 co-sponsors.

The Louisiana Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget recently approved a compliance fee increase that will go into effect beginning with the next funding round. The Louisiana Housing Corporation (LHC) will increase its compliance fee from $5 to $33 per unit for sites that receive new LIHTC funding.

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., recently introduced the Renters Tax Credit Act of 2014 (H.R. 4479), which would provide a tax credit to apartment owners and lenders that subsidize the cost of lower rents for low-income households. The renter’s credit combines the concepts of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and project-based rental assistance and would cover the difference between the fair market rent of a unit and 30 percent of the qualified renter’s income.

Although the low-income housing tax credit program started less than 30 years ago, many sites are now operating after their initial 15-year compliance period—that is, in the “extended use period,” which preserves rental affordability for at least an additional 15 years as required by federal regulations.

In 2012, HUD and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) introduced a new Multifamily Low Income Housing Tax Credit Pilot Program intended to speed project financing of tax credit sites. Before, the Section 223(f) program for FHA-insured loans couldn’t be used for substantial rehabilitation projects; however, HUD expanded its usual concept of moderate rehabilitation to allow certain tax credit projects to take advantage of the streamlined 223(f) process.

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Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., recently introduced the National Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2014 (S. 2233), a bill that would increase the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC), and Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit (HTC) allocations in states that included a federally declared disaster area in 2012 or 2013. For LIHTC allocations, each state would receive the greater of the amount of $8 multiplied by the state’s disaster-area populati...

The IRS sets priority guidance plans each year and updates them on a quarterly basis. The IRS uses the priority guidance plan each year to identify and prioritize the tax issues that should be addressed through regulations, revenue rulings, revenue procedures, notices, and other published administrative guidance. The 2014-2015 Priority Guidance Plan will identify guidance projects that the IRS intends to work on actively as priorities during the period from July 1, 2014...

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., recently introduced a bill, entitled the Low and Moderate Income Housing Act of 2014, to encourage the development of mixed-income housing. The bill would institute a 50-50-120 minimum set-aside test in lieu of the 40-60 minimum set-aside test.

The Oklahoma Affordable Housing Act (H.B. 3099) recently passed the Oklahoma State House of Representatives by a margin of 75-13, and has now moved to the Senate Finance Committee for consideration. This measure would match the amount of federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits awarded for a qualified project and would be administered by the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency.

On Feb. 26, Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) released a draft tax reform proposal that would modify the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. The proposal came about from a process that involved more than 30 separate Congressional hearings dedicated to tax reform, 11 separate bipartisan tax reform working groups created in conjunction with Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-Mich.), three discussion drafts looking at discrete areas of the tax code, and mo...