I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1134
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a credit against
income tax to individuals who rehabilitate historic homes or who are
the first purchasers of rehabilitated historic homes for use as a principal
residence.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 19, 1997
Mr. SHAW (for himself, Mrs. KENNELLY of Connecticut, Mrs. JOHNSON of
Connecticut, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr.
JEFFERSON, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. NEAL
of Massachusetts, Mr.
MCCRERY, Mr. COYNE, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. BAKER, Mr. BENTSEN, Ms.
CHRISTIAN-GREEN, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. FOGLIETTA, Mr.
FROST, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. MCCOLLUM, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mr.
MICA, Mr. SNYDER, Mr. STARK, Mr. VENTO, Mr. WALSH, and WOLF)
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
a credit against income tax to individuals who rehabili-
tate historic homes or who are the first purchasers of
rehabilitated historic homes for use as a principal resi-
dence.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Historic Homeowner-
ship Assistance Act’’.
SEC. 
2. 
HISTORIC 
HOMEOWNERSHIP 
REHABILITATION
CREDIT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 (relating to nonrefundable personal credits) is
amended by inserting after section 23 the following new
section:
‘‘SEC. 24. HISTORIC HOMEOWNERSHIP REHABILITATION
CREDIT.
‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—In the case of an individual,
there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed
by this chapter for the taxable year an amount equal to
20 percent of the qualified rehabilitation expenditures
made by the taxpayer with respect to a qualified historic
home.
‘‘(b) DOLLAR LIMITATION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The credit allowed by sub-
section (a) with respect to any residence of a tax-
payer shall not exceed $50,000 ($25,000 in the case
of a married individual filing a separate return).
‘‘(2) CARRYFORWARD OF CREDIT UNUSED BY
REASON
OF
LIMITATION
BASED
ON
TAX
LIABIL-
ITY.—If the credit allowable under subsection (a) for
any taxable year exceeds the limitation imposed by
section 26(a) for such taxable year reduced by the
sum of the credits allowable under this subpart
(other than this section), such excess shall be carried
to the succeeding taxable year and added to the
credit allowable under subsection (a) for such suc-
ceeding taxable year.
‘‘(c) QUALIFIED REHABILITATION EXPENDITURE.—
For purposes of this section:
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified reha-
bilitation expenditure’ means any amount properly
chargeable to capital account—
‘‘(A) in connection with the certified reha-
bilitation of a qualified historic home, and
‘‘(B) for property for which depreciation
would be allowable under section 168 if the
qualified historic home were used in a trade or
business.
‘‘(2) 
CERTAIN
EXPENDITURES
NOT
IN-
CLUDED.—
‘‘(A) EXTERIOR.—Such term shall not in-
clude any expenditure in connection with the re-
habilitation of a building unless at least 5 per-
cent of the total expenditures made in the reha-
bilitation process are allocable to the rehabilita-
tion of the exterior of such building.
‘‘(B) OTHER
RULES
TO
APPLY.—Rules
similar to the rules of clauses (ii) and (iii) of
section 47(c)(2)(B) shall apply.
‘‘(3) MIXED USE OR MULTIFAMILY BUILDING.—
If only a portion of a building is used as the prin-
cipal residence of the taxpayer, only qualified reha-
bilitation expenditures which are properly allocable
to such portion shall be taken into account under
this section.
‘‘(d) CERTIFIED REHABILITATION.—For purposes of
this section:
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro-
vided in this subsection, the term ‘certified rehabili-
tation’ has the meaning given such term by section
47(c)(2)(C).
‘‘(2) FACTORS
TO
BE
CONSIDERED
IN
THE
CASE OF TARGETED AREA RESIDENCES, ETC.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of ap-
plying section 47(c)(2)(C) under this section
with respect to the rehabilitation of a building
to which this paragraph applies, consideration
shall be given to—
‘‘(i) the feasibility of preserving exist-
ing architectural and design elements of
the interior of such building,
‘‘(ii) the risk of further deterioration
or demolition of such building in the event
that certification is denied because of the
failure to preserve such interior elements,
and
‘‘(iii) the effects of such deterioration
or demolition on neighboring historic prop-
erties.
‘‘(B) BUILDINGS
TO
WHICH
THIS
PARA-
GRAPH APPLIES.—This paragraph shall apply
with respect to any building—
‘‘(i) any part of which is a targeted
area residence within the meaning of sec-
tion 143(j)(1), or
‘‘(ii) which is located within an enter-
prise or empowerment zone,
but shall not apply with respect to any building
which is listed in the National Register.
‘‘(3) APPROVED
STATE
PROGRAM.—The term
‘certified rehabilitation’ includes a certification made
by—
‘‘(A) a State Historic Preservation Officer
who administers a State Historic Preservation
Program approved by the Secretary of the Inte-
rior pursuant to section 101(b)(1) of the Na-
tional Historic Preservation Act, or
‘‘(B) a local government, certified pursuant
to section 101(c)(1) of the National Historic
Preservation Act and authorized by a State
Historic Preservation Officer, or the Secretary
of the Interior where there is no approved State
program),
subject to such terms and conditions as may be
specified by the Secretary of the Interior for the re-
habilitation of buildings within the jurisdiction of
such officer (or local government) for purposes of
this section.
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—For pur-
poses of this section:
‘‘(1) QUALIFIED
HISTORIC
HOME.—The term
‘qualified historic home’ means a certified historic
structure—
‘‘(A) which has been substantially rehabili-
tated, and
‘‘(B) which (or any portion of which)—
‘‘(i) is owned by the taxpayer, and
‘‘(ii) is used (or will, within a reason-
able period, be used) by such taxpayer as
his principal residence.
‘‘(2) SUBSTANTIALLY
REHABILITATED.—The
term ‘substantially rehabilitated’ has the meaning
given such term by section 47(c)(1)(C); except that,
in the case of any building described in subsection
(d)(2), clause (i)(I) thereof shall not apply.
‘‘(3) PRINCIPAL RESIDENCE.—The term ‘prin-
cipal residence’ has the same meaning as when used
in section 1034.
‘‘(4) CERTIFIED HISTORIC STRUCTURE.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘certified
historic structure’ has the meaning given such
term by section 47(c)(3).
‘‘(B) CERTAIN STRUCTURES INCLUDED.—
Such term includes any building (and its struc-
tural components) which is designated as being
of historic significance under a statute of a
State or local government, if such statute is
certified by the Secretary of the Interior to the
Secretary as containing criteria which will sub-
stantially achieve the purpose of preserving and
rehabilitating buildings of historic significance.
‘‘(5) ENTERPRISE OR EMPOWERMENT ZONE.—
The term ‘enterprise or empowerment zone’ means
any area designated under section 1391 as an enter-
prise community or an empowerment zone.
‘‘(6) REHABILITATION NOT COMPLETE BEFORE
CERTIFICATION.—A rehabilitation shall not be treat-
ed as complete before the date of the certification re-
ferred to in subsection (d).
‘‘(7) LESSEES.—A taxpayer who leases his
principal residence shall, for purposes of this section,
be treated as the owner thereof if the remaining
term of the lease (as of the date determined under
regulations prescribed by the Secretary) is not less
than such minimum period as the regulations re-
quire.
‘‘(8) TENANT-STOCKHOLDER IN COOPERATIVE
HOUSING
CORPORATION.—If the taxpayer holds
stock as a tenant-stockholder (as defined in section
216) in a cooperative housing corporation (as de-
fined in such section), such stockholder shall be
treated as owning the house or apartment which the
taxpayer is entitled to occupy as such stockholder.
‘‘(f) WHEN
EXPENDITURES
TAKEN
INTO
AC-
COUNT.—In the case of a building other than a building
to which subsection (g) applies, qualified rehabilitation ex-
penditures shall be treated for purposes of this section as
made—
‘‘(1) on the date the rehabilitation is completed,
or
‘‘(2) to the extent provided by the Secretary by
regulation, when such expenditures are properly
chargeable to capital account.
Regulations under paragraph (2) shall include a rule simi-
lar to the rule under section 50(a)(2) (relating to recap-
ture if property ceases to qualify for progress expendi-
tures).
‘‘(g) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT FOR PURCHASE OF RE-
HABILITATED HISTORIC HOME.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a qualified
purchased historic home, the taxpayer shall be treat-
ed as having made (on the date of purchase) the
qualified rehabilitation expenditures made by the
seller of such home.
‘‘(2) 
QUALIFIED
PURCHASED
HISTORIC
HOME.—For purposes of this subsection, the term
‘qualified purchased historic home’ means any sub-
stantially rehabilitated certified historic structure
purchased by the taxpayer if—
‘‘(A) the taxpayer is the first purchaser of
such structure after the date rehabilitation is
completed, and the purchase occurs within 5
years after such date,
‘‘(B) the structure (or a portion thereof)
will, within a reasonable period, be the principal
residence of the taxpayer,
‘‘(C) no credit was allowed to the seller
under this section or section 47 with respect to
such rehabilitation, and
‘‘(D) the taxpayer is furnished with such
information as the Secretary determines is nec-
essary to determine the credit under this sub-
section.
‘‘(h) HISTORIC REHABILITATION MORTGAGE CREDIT
CERTIFICATE.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The taxpayer may elect, in
lieu of the credit otherwise allowable under this sec-
tion, to receive a historic rehabilitation mortgage
credit certificate. An election under this paragraph
shall be made—
‘‘(A) in the case of a building to which
subsection (g) applies, at the time of purchase,
or
‘‘(B) in any other case, at the time reha-
bilitation is completed.