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Tax Credit Basics

Introduction to Historic Tax Credits

Viking Manufacturing Company Building - ManhattanTax credits provide a financial incentive to rehabilitate a historic building per the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation.  The SHPO office advises and administers two historic rehabilitation tax credit programs that are available for buildings in Kansas.

The Federal tax credit program provides a credit equal to 20% of total qualified expenses for a building that:

  1. Is listed on the National Register, a designated "Contributor" to a listed historic district, or is determined potentially eligible for the National Register
  2. Is used for income-producing (commercial purposes)
  3. Is spending more on the rehabilitation than the calculated worth or "adjusted basis" of the building.

To find out more about the Federal Historic Tax Credit Program click HERE.

The State tax credit program provides a credit equal to a percentage of the qualified  that can be used on State of Kansas Income Taxes, Premium Taxes, or Privledge Taxes. To qualify for the state tax credit program a building must:

  1. Be listed on the National Register or Kansas Register of Historic Places
  2. Submit an application BEFORE work begins on the project.
  3. Spend more than $5,000 on the building as part of the project.  

To find out more about the State Historic Tax Credit program click HERE.

If you qualify for and intend to take advange of both the Federal and State Tax Credit programs, please follow the Federal links for the application process.

If you are unsure which program(s) your project may qualify for, use our flow chart to help answer your question.

 

Preparing for a Historic Tax Credit Project

Gather information

Regardless of your planning process, type or size of project, learning about your building and familarizing yourself with the programs, requirements, permits, timeframes and parameters of your project is helpful.  Having the basics of information and be ready to discuss details of your project.  

Contact the SHPO to discuss your potential project

If this is your first rehabiliatation project, please feel free to contact the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), to discuss the project, set up a potential site visit, review the Standards for Rehabilitation and discuss any other questions you may have.  Please call SHPO staff at 785-272-8681 ext. 240 or e-mail kshs.taxcredits@ks.gov

Contact your financial advisor

Please contact the Internal Revenue Service or the Kansas Department of Revenue with any questions related to taxation and personal taxes.

Consult a tax professional before applying for, claiming, or selling state or federal rehabilitation tax credits. Certain laws may limit your ability to claim the credits and other tax implications may apply.

  • Beginning January 1, 2007 taxpayers wishing to claim insurance proceeds used in a certified rehabilitation as qualifying expenses for purposes of the tax credits, must claim those insurance proceeds as income on their income tax returns. If a taxpayer does not report the insurance proceeds as income, any expenditures made to the qualified historic structure with the insurance proceeds will not be used to compute the state or federal historic rehabilitation tax credit.
  • Changes to the federal tax code in December 2017 also may have made use of the federal credits more complex for some property owners.