I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1945

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that the value

of qualified historic property shall not be included in determining the

taxable estate of a decedent.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 28, 1995

Mr. BATEMAN (for himself, Mr. SHAW, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. MCCRERY, Mr.

COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. PAYNE of Virginia, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. BLILEY, Mr. SISISKY, Mr. BOUCHER, and Mr. PICKETT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways

and Means

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide

that the value of qualified historic property shall not

be included in determining the taxable estate of a decedent.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. EXCLUSION FROM ESTATE TAX FOR HISTORIC

4 PROPERTY SUBJECT TO PRESERVATION

5 EASEMENT.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part IV of subchapter A of chap7 ter 11 of the Internal Revenue of 1986 (relating to taxable
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1 estate) is amended by adding at the end the following new

2 section:

3 ‘‘SEC. 2057. QUALIFIED HISTORIC PROPERTY.

4 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—For purposes of the tax im5 posed by section 2001, the value of the taxable estate shall

6 be determined by deducting from the value of the gross

7 estate an amount equal to the value of any qualified his8 toric property included in the gross estate.

9 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED HISTORIC PROPERTY.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec11 tion, the term ‘qualified historic property’ means any

12 historic property if—

13 ‘‘(A) on or before the date on which the re14 turn of the tax imposed by section 2001 is filed,

15 a qualified real property interest described in

16 section 170(h)(2)(C) in such property is held by

17 a qualified organization for the purpose de18 scribed in section 170(h)(4)(A)(iv), and

19 ‘‘(B) such property is covered by an agree20 ment meeting the requirements of paragraph

21 (4) which is entered into on or before such

22 date.

23 Such term includes personal property included within, or

24 associated with, qualified historic property (as defined in

25 the preceding sentence) if such personal property is cov-
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1 ered by the agreement referred to in subparagraph (B)

2 which covers such qualified historic property.

3 ‘‘(2) HISTORIC PROPERTY.—For purposes of

4 paragraph (1), the term ‘historic property’ means—

5 ‘‘(A) a certified historic structure (as de6 fined in section 170(h)(4)(B)), and

7 ‘‘(B) any other real property to the extent

8 reasonably necessary for public view and visita9 tion of such structure.

10 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED ORGANIZATION.—For the pur11 poses of paragraph (1), the term ‘qualified organiza12 tion’ has the meaning given to such term by section

13 170(h)(3).

14 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS FOR AGREEMENT.—For

15 the purposes of paragraph (1), an agreement meets

16 the requirements of this paragraph if—

17 ‘‘(A) such agreement is a written agree18 ment signed by each person in being who has

19 an interest (whether or not in possession) in the

20 historic property (other than the qualified orga21 nization),

22 ‘‘(B) such agreement is entered into with

23 a State historic preservation agency (or similar

24 State agency) and filed with the Secretary with

25 the return of the tax imposed by section 2001,
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1 ‘‘(C) such agreement provides that the his2 toric property will be open to the public for a

3 period of at least 20 years beginning on the

4 date on which the return of the tax imposed by

5 section 2001 is filed, and

6 ‘‘(D) such agreement provides that any ad7 mission fees (if any) shall bear a reasonable re8 lationship to admission fees for other com9 parable tourist sites and shall be approved by

10 such State historic preservation agency (or

11 similar State agency).

12 The 20-year period referred to in subparagraph (C)

13 shall be suspended during reasonable periods of ren14 ovation.

15 ‘‘(5) OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.—For the purposes

16 of paragraph (4)(C), a property shall be treated as

17 being open to the public for any year if a substantial

18 portion of the property is open for public visitation

19 for at least 8 hours per day and 6 days per week

20 during at least any 32 weeks of such year.

21 ‘‘(6) TREATMENT OF QUALIFIED HISTORIC

22 PROPERTY HELD BY A CORPORATION.—In the case

23 of a corporation all of the stock in which was held

24 on the date of the decedent’s death by the decedent

25 or members of the decedent’s family (as defined in
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1 section 2032A(e)(2)), stock in such corporation shall

2 be treated for purposes of this section as qualified

3 historic property to the extent that the value of such

4 stock is attributable to qualified historic property

5 held by such corporation.

6 ‘‘(c) TAX TREATMENT OF DISPOSITIONS AND FAIL7 URE TO COMPLY WITH AGREEMENT.—

8 ‘‘(1) IMPOSITION OF ADDITIONAL ESTATE

9 TAX.—If, during the 20-year period referred to in

10 subsection (b)(4)(C)—

11 ‘‘(A) any person signing the written agree12 ment referred to in subsection (b)(4) disposes

13 of any interest in the qualified historic prop14 erty, or

15 ‘‘(B) there is a violation of any provision

16 of such agreement (as determined under regula17 tions prescribed by the Secretary),

18 then there is hereby imposed an additional estate

19 tax.

20 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION WHERE TRANSFEREE AGREES

21 TO BE BOUND BY AGREEMENT.—No tax shall be im22 posed under paragraph (1) by reason of any disposi23 tion if the person acquiring the property agrees to

24 be bound by the agreement referred to in subsection

25 (b)(4) and to be liable for any tax under this sub-
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1 section in the same manner as the person disposing

2 such property.

3 ‘‘(3) AMOUNT OF ADDITIONAL TAX.—The

4 amount of the additional tax imposed by paragraph

5 (1) with respect to any property shall be an amount

6 equal to—

7 ‘‘(A) the excess of—

8 ‘‘(i) what would (but for subsection

9 (a)) have been the tax imposed by section

10 2001 (reduced by the credits allowable),

11 over

12 ‘‘(ii) the tax imposed by section 2001

13 (as so reduced), multiplied by

14 ‘‘(B) the fraction—

15 ‘‘(i) the numerator of which is the

16 number of months remaining after the

17 month in which the disposition or violation

18 occurs in the 20-year period referred to in

19 subsection (b)(4)(C), and

20 ‘‘(ii) the denominator of which is 240.

21 ‘‘(4) DUE DATE.—The additional tax imposed

22 by this subsection shall be due and payable on the

23 day which is 6 months after the date of the disposi24 tion or violation referred to in paragraph (1).
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1 ‘‘(5) LIABILITY FOR TAX.—Any person signing

2 the agreement referred to in subsection (b)(4) (other

3 than the executor) shall be personally liable for the

4 additional tax imposed by this subsection. If more

5 than 1 person is liable under this subsection, all

6 such persons shall be jointly and severally liable.

7 ‘‘(6) CERTAIN OTHER RULES TO APPLY.—Rules

8 similar to the rules of sections 2013(f) and 2032A(f)

9 shall apply for purposes of this subsection.

10 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH DEDUCTION FOR TRANS11 FER OF EASEMENT.—Section 2055(f) shall not apply to

12 any interest referred to therein with respect to property

13 for which a deduction is allowed under subsection (a).’’

14 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—

15 (1) Subparagraph (A) of section 2056A(b)(10)

16 of such Code is amended by inserting ‘‘2057,’’ after

17 ‘‘2056,’’.

18 (2) The table of sections for part IV of sub19 chapter A of chapter 11 of such Code is amended by

20 adding at the end the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 2057. Qualified historic property.’’

21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

22 this section shall apply with respect to the estates of dece23 dents dying after the date of the enactment of this Act.

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