United States Capitol

photo by: National Trust for Historic Preservation

Preservation Magazine, Spring 2018

The Federal Historic Tax Credit's Narrow Escape

Since the late 1970s, the federal historic tax credit (HTC) has served as a vital tool for the rehabilitation of older buildings. The 20 percent credit faced the most serious threat in its existence during the lead-up to the tax bill of 2017, with elimination looking likely at several points. Sustained support from a bipartisan handful of members of Congress helped preserve the credit, though in slightly modified form, at the last minute.

Here, we provide a quick look at some of the most impressive figures associated with the credit, and the intense efforts of the National Trust, the National Trust Community Investment Corporation, and the Historic Tax Credit Coalition to save it.

Headshot Meghan Drueding

Meghan Drueding is the executive editor of Preservation magazine. She has a weakness for Midcentury Modernism, walkable cities, and coffee-table books about architecture and design.

This May, for Preservation Month, we’re celebrating the power of place—and the countless ways, big and small, that preservation creates. Preservation Month is our chance to show why our work matters!

Celebrate!