Historic District Tax Credits

Basic Tax Credit Information – Federal Commercial Credit

In order to qualify for the federal commercial historic preservation tax credit (off your income taxes), which covers 20% of the Qualified Rehabilitation Expenses (QREs), the building needs to be listed in the National Register, or in the process of getting listed, and it needs to be income producing.

Please read https://www.nps.gov/tps/tax-incentives.htm for information on the program. Also, read https://www.nps.gov/tps/tax-incentives/before-apply/irs.htm for IRS rules that you have to follow.

Owners need to spend at least the amount of the Adjusted Basis to qualify.

Adjusted Basis = Purchase price of property- value of land- depreciation already taken+ capital improvements already made.

In order to receive the State Commercial Rehabilitation Tax Credit (nysparks.com/shpo/tax-credit-programs), which covers an additional 20% of the QREs:

The owner needs to receive the federal commercial credit, and
The building needs to be in an eligible census tract.
You need to pay the state fees, which are separate from the federal fees. Fee amounts are at nysparks.com/shpo/tax-credit-programs.

Documentation Requirements for Federal Commercial Credit

The federal application and all supporting materials need to be submitted in duplicate with original signatures, and photos need to be on photographic paper. If the photos are not submitted the way it is described in the link below, the review process could be lengthier.

https://www.nps.gov/tps/tax-incentives/app-process/documentation.htm.

Basic Tax Credit Information - Homeowner Tax Credit

In order to qualify for the NYS Historic Homeowner Tax Credit (off your income taxes), the building needs to be:

Homeowner occupied, listed in the National Register, located in an eligible census tract, and all work needs to be preapproved. The application and information about the program is at https://parks.ny.gov/shpo/tax-credit-programs/.
The minimum expenditure for the Homeowner Credit is $5,000, with 5% of the costs spent on the exterior.
The building needs to be in an eligible census tract.

Using Cultural Resources Information System to Determine Eligibility

Eligible census tract information can be found online through our Cultural Resources Information System (CRIS). Follow this link to get to the CRIS main page. Once you get there, agree to the disclaimer and proceed as guest. At the top of the page, click on “Search”. Within the Search feature, select Spatial. Enter the address of the property. Note that the zip, although not a requirement, is necessary for accuracy. Use the graphic below to help you select Qualified Census Tracts and unselect other layers that obscure the census tracts layer. Left click on the area around the building to find out what the census tract number is and if it is eligible. If it is eligible, CRIS will indicate that, as in the graphic below.

If the census tract is not eligible, there will be no yellowish overlay, as you can see in the graphic above, and no box will pop up when you left click on the area.

In addition to census tracts, you’ll see that CRIS can also help you find out if a building is listed in the National Register. Use the drop down menu that you see opened in the graphic above and select National Register Building Listings.
A pink overlay will cover the NR listings and you can left click on the building to find out more about the site.

Click on the black triangle to remove the drop down menu.

The person who will review your projects and can answer specific questions: Weston Davey at (518) 268-2164 or [email protected].

Forms

NYS Tax Home and Commercial Brochure
Commercial Tax Credit FAQ
Commercial Tax Credit Handout
Homeowner Tax Credit Handout
Homeowner Tax Credit Application Form