Richmond Home Historic Preservation Tax Credits
Historic preservation tax credits may offer large savings to owners of historically significant properties who are undertaking substantial renovations. There are State and Federal tax credits.
To find out if your home is eligible you should call the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. If a property is listed or in the process of being listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register (state designation) or the National Register of Historic Places (federal designation) the owner can apply for historic preservation investment tax credits. The registers include homes that are associated with a significant historical event or person, have yielded or likely to yield information important to history (archaeological resource) or embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, method of construction, etc. Often the work of determining and applying for historic designation is undertaken by an entire neighborhood so you could be in a historic district and not even know.
Eligible costs include construction costs plus some soft costs such as architectural and consulting fees. For federal tax credits eligible cost must exceed 100% of the purchase price less land value and previously claimed plus the value of earlier capital improvements. To be eligible for state tax credits eligible cost must exceed 50% of the property’s assessed value (25% for owner-occupants).
To qualify for state or federal credits the renovation must meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation”. While buildings can be changed in a number of ways they must retain the defining characteristics and elements that make them significant historical structures. For example, a deteriorated distinctive feature should be repaired, not replaced. If replacement is the only option then the new feature should match the old in design, color, texture and material if possible.
If all criteria are met then an owner may receive state tax credits equal to 25% of eligible costs and federal tax credits equal to 20% of rehabilitation costs. These are tremendous incentives for owners to improve historic properties while maintaining historic character.
Here are some expert, professional resources for further information:
Sadler and Whitehead Architects, PLC. http://www.sadlerandwhitehead.com/maggiewalkerhigh.html
Virginia Department of Historic Resources http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/tax_credits/tax_credit.htm
Best regards, Kent
Kent@RVAhomes.com cell: 804-221-1065
