On December 30, 2013, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2014-12, setting forth a safe harbor for federal historic rehabilitation tax credit (HTC) transactions. Investors have been skittish about HTC deals ever since the 2012 federal appellate court decision in the Historic Boardwalk Hall case, which disallowed the allocation of HTCs to an investor. The IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2014-12 in order to provide more predictability regarding HTC transactions. The IRS will not challenge allocations of HTCs if the provisions of the safe harbor are satisfied. The safe harbor is generally effective for allocations of HTCs made on or after December 30, 2013. It is expected that HTC deals will now be structured to satisfy the provisions of the safe harbor. For more information on the safe harbor, please see Ulmer & Berne’s Client Alert.
