HB1079: HB1079 Income tax; credits for rehabilitation of historic structures; revise expiration and transferability

Georgia currently gives income tax credits to people and businesses who rehabilitate certified historic structures (O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.8). If the credit is bigger than what a taxpayer owes in a given year, current law lets them carry the leftover credit forward for up to ten years after the rehabilitation is finished. House Bill 1079 would cut that carryforward window down to two years after completion. Any credit not used within that shorter window would expire, be unavailable to the original taxpayer or anyone the credit was transferred to, and revert back to the state. The bill also changes the rules about transferring these credits when a historic property is sold: a taxpayer could pass along the remaining unused credit to the new buyer, but that credit would still be locked into the same short window. The Department of Revenue would have to report each year to the Governor and General Assembly on how much credit expired and reverted. Reverted amounts could then be redirected by the General Assembly toward other economic development, historic preservation, community revitalization, or affordable housing purposes, though no taxpayer or project would have any right to that money. The changes would take effect January 1, 2027.

• Shortens the period taxpayers have to use excess historic rehabilitation tax credits from ten years to two years after the rehabilitation is completed.
• Requires any historic rehabilitation credit not claimed within that two year window to expire and revert to the state, cutting off both the original taxpayer and any transferee.
• Allows a taxpayer to transfer remaining unused credit to a buyer when a certified historic structure is sold, but keeps that transferred credit on the same shortened timeline.
• Requires the Department of Revenue to report annually to the Governor and General Assembly on the total amount of credits that have expired and reverted.
• Creates a new provision letting the General Assembly redirect reverted credit amounts to other economic development, historic preservation, community revitalization, or affordable housing purposes, without creating any entitlement to that money.
• Sets the effective date of the changes as January 1, 2027.

Property owners and developers who rehabilitate certified historic structures in Georgia and claim the state's historic rehabilitation tax credit, buyers who purchase historic properties with unused transferred credits attached, the Department of Revenue, and the General Assembly, which would gain authority over reverted credit funds.

Owners of historic rehabilitation projects would have far less time, two years instead of ten, to use up their tax credits before losing them permanently, which could push some to plan finances differently or lose value on large projects. The state would also gain a new pool of reverted credit funds it can redirect elsewhere.

• Section 1 revises paragraph (e)(1) of O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.8 to cut the carryforward period for excess historic rehabilitation credits from ten taxable years to two taxable years after completion.
• Section 1 adds new subparagraph (e)(1)(B) stating that any credit not claimed within that period expires, becomes unusable to the taxpayer or any transferee, and reverts to the state.
• Section 1 adds new subparagraph (e)(1)(C) requiring the Department of Revenue to report annually to the Governor and General Assembly on the total credits that have expired and reverted.
• Section 1 revises subsection (f) to let a taxpayer transfer remaining unused credit to a buyer upon sale of a certified structure, while keeping the transferred credit subject to the same shortened time frame.
• Section 1 adds new subsection (h.1) allowing the General Assembly to appropriate expired and reverted credit amounts for other economic development, historic preservation, community revitalization, or affordable housing purposes, with no entitlement created for any taxpayer or project.
• Section 2 sets the effective date of the Act as January 1, 2027.
• Section 3 repeals all laws and parts of laws in conflict with the Act.

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 tax credits
• income tax credits
• state economic development funding
• property rehabilitation