HB 1079: Income tax; credits for rehabilitation of historic structures; revise expiration and transferability

Current Georgia law lets taxpayers who rehabilitate a certified historic structure carry forward any unused income tax credit for up to ten years after the rehabilitation is completed. This bill would cut that window down to two years. Any credit not used within that shorter period would expire, be unusable by the original taxpayer or anyone who received the credit through transfer, and revert back to the state. The bill also removes an existing provision that let developers substitute a 60 month completion period for certain phased rehabilitation projects, replacing it with a new rule: taxpayers may transfer their remaining unused historic rehabilitation credit to a buyer when they sell the certified structure, but the transferred credit still has to be used within the same two year window. The Department of Revenue would have to report annually to the Governor and General Assembly on how much credit value expired and reverted. The General Assembly could then redirect that reverted money toward economic development, preservation, revitalization, or housing purposes, though no taxpayer or project would have a legal claim to receive it. The changes would take effect January 1, 2027.

• Shortens the carryforward period for the historic rehabilitation tax credit from ten years to two years after the rehabilitation project is completed (Code Section 48-7-29.8).
• Makes unused credit amounts expire, become unusable by the taxpayer or any transferee, and revert to the state once the two-year window closes.
• Requires the Department of Revenue to report annually to the Governor and General Assembly on the total amount of credits that expired and reverted.
• Removes the prior option letting phased rehabilitation projects use a 60-month completion period instead of the standard 24-month period.
• Creates a new right for taxpayers to transfer their remaining unused credit to a buyer when they sell a certified historic structure, subject to the same two-year expiration deadline.
• Allows the General Assembly to redirect reverted, expired credit amounts to other public purposes such as economic development, historic preservation, revitalization, or affordable housing, without creating any entitlement to that money.

Property owners and developers who rehabilitate certified historic structures in Georgia, buyers who purchase historic properties with unused tax credits attached, the Georgia Department of Revenue, and state lawmakers who would gain discretion over reverted credit funds.

Developers and investors who plan historic rehabilitation projects around a longer credit window would have far less time, only two years instead of ten, to use up their tax credits or transfer them to a buyer, which could affect financing decisions and property sales involving historic structures.

• Section 1 revises paragraph (1) of subsection (e) to cut the credit carryforward period from ten taxable years to two taxable years after the certified rehabilitation is completed.
• Section 1 adds subparagraph (e)(1)(B) making unclaimed credit amounts expire and revert to the state, unusable by the original taxpayer or any transferee.
• Section 1 adds subparagraph (e)(1)(C) requiring the Department of Revenue to report annually to the Governor and General Assembly on total expired and reverted credits.
• Section 1 rewrites subsection (f), removing the 60-month phased-project completion option and instead allowing transfer of unused credit to a buyer upon sale of the certified structure, still bound by the two-year deadline.
• Section 1 adds subsection (h.1) letting the General Assembly appropriate reverted credit amounts for economic development, historic preservation, community revitalization, or affordable housing, while denying any entitlement to specific taxpayers or projects.
• Section 2 sets the effective date as January 1, 2027.

1. 2026-02-02House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-01-29House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-01-28House Hopper (House)

• Anissa Jones (D, HD-143)Primary sponsor
• Scott Hilton (R, HD-048)
• Ron Stephens (R, HD-164)
• Dale Washburn (R, HD-144)
• Tangie Herring (D, HD-145)
• Debbie Buckner (D, HD-137)

• historic preservation
• income tax credits
• property tax law
• economic development
• real estate transactions