Tax Credit for Condominium Buildings

Historic Revitalization Tax Credit 

Passes Into Law for Condos and Co-ops

At the TCNA General Meeting on November 6, 2019, Delegate Maggie McIntosh presented the status of her proposed legislation for  Historic Tax Credit for condominium associations. She said the bill is not yet written but is in the formation stage, and she wanted to give the parameters of what is being proposed after doing some research on the present program. The Historic Tax Credit is a popular program which is managed by the MD Historical Trust and is allocated to certain historical structures. Currently, approximately $11 million is appropriated annually through legislative general funds, of which $9 million go to commercial projects and $2 million goes to homeowners. The tax credit may not exceed $50,000 (20% of qualified expenditures) for homeowners (the cap for commercial projects is $3 million).

Delegate McIntosh said that she found out that individual condominium units can get historic tax credits (for things like replacing windows, chimney, etc.) but that right now there are no rights specified for a condominium association. So the conversation she will have while crafting the bill in the coming weeks will include amending the law to define condominium associations as non-commercial entities, defining the boundaries of common spaces which can be applicable, defining specific types of common space improvements eligible, and setting a dollar cap somewhere between homeowners and commercial. The funding will come from the homeowners’ side of the present funds and will be available to communities around the state which have full ownership status. Delegate McIntosh stated that there will not be a minimum amount that must be spent, and the possibility of accumulating several small projects into one larger application will be explored.

House Bill HB759

Introduced by Delegates Anderson, Boyce, and McIntosh. First Reading on January 31, 2020

Summary of Legislation:

HB 759 HISTORIC REVITALIZATION TAX CREDIT – EXPANSION –REHABILITATIONS OF COMMON ELEMENTS OF CONDOMINIUMS, sponsored by Delegates Maggie McIntosh, Curt Anderson and Regina Boyce passed both Houses in the Maryland General Assembly and passed into law without the Governor’s signature on May 7, 2020. 

Description of the bill: 

Altering the definition of “small commercial project” under the historic revitalization tax credit program to include rehabilitations of structures that are condominiums and cooperative projects if the rehabilitations target only common elements of the condominiums or cooperative projects; requiring the Director of the Maryland Historical Trust, in consultation with the Smart Growth Subcabinet, to adopt regulations establishing application procedures for governing bodies of condominiums; applying the Act to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2019. For a copy of the bill, click  here .

which have full ownership status. There will not be a minimum amount that must be spent. For a copy of the bill, click here.