a) For tax years
ending on or after December 31, 2001 and on or before December 31, 2026, a
taxpayer who makes a donation under Section 7.28 of the Illinois Housing
Development Act [20 ILCS 3805/7.28 ] is entitled
to a credit under IITA Section 214.
b) The credit shall be equal to 50% of the
value of the donation, but in no event shall exceed the amount reserved by the
administrative housing agency for that project pursuant to Section 7.28 of the
Illinois Housing Development Act and 47 Ill. Adm. Code
355.209.
c) Year in which credit is taken. At the
election of the taxpayer, the credit shall be taken:
1) in the tax year in which the donation is
made; provided that such election may not be made for any tax year ending after
December 31, 2016;
2) in the tax
year in which the reservation letter is issued by the administrative housing
agency under 47 Ill. Adm. Code
355.209, provided that the
credit may not be claimed until the donation is made and, if the donation is
not made before the taxpayer files its Illinois income tax return for the tax
year in which the effective date occurs, the credit may not be claimed on the
original return, but rather must be claimed on an amended return or claim for
refund after the donation is made; or
3) in the tax year in which the credit is
transferred to the taxpayer; provided that, if the taxpayer elects under this
subsection (c)(3) to take the credit in any tax year after the tax year in
which the donation was made, the 5-year carryforward period allowed to the
taxpayer in subsection (d) shall be reduced by the number of tax years of the
taxpayer that ended on or after the date of the donation and on or before the
date of the transfer to the taxpayer. The election shall be made in the manner
directed by the Department and, once made, shall be irrevocable.
EXAMPLE: The administrative housing agency issues a
reservation letter for a qualifying project in December 2003. A calendar-year
donor makes a qualifying donation in January 2004. Under this subsection (c),
the donor may elect to take the credit in 2003 or 2004. If, in 2008, the donor
transfers any unused credit to a calendar-year taxpayer, the taxpayer may also
elect to claim the transferred amount as a credit in 2003 or 2004. However,
because the statute of limitations might prevent the taxpayer from deriving any
benefit from claiming the credit in 2003 or 2004, subsection (c)(3) allows the
taxpayer to claim the credit in 2008, the year of the transfer. If the taxpayer
elects to claim the credit in 2008, it may carry forward any credit in excess
of its liability only until 2009, 5 years after the year of the
donation.
d)
If the amount of the credit exceeds the tax liability for the year, the
excess may be carried forward and applied to the tax liability of the 5 taxable
years following the excess credit year. The tax credit shall be applied to the
earliest year for which there is a tax liability. If there are credits for more
than one year that are available to offset a liability, the earlier credit
shall be applied first. (IITA Section 214(b))
e) Transfer of Credit
1) Under IITA Section 214(c), the credit
allowed under this Section may be transferred:
A)
to the purchaser of land that has
been designated solely for affordable housing projects in accordance with the
Illinois Housing Development Act; or
B)
to another donor who has also made
a donation in accordance with Section 7.28 of the Illinois Housing Development
Act.
2)
Persons or entities not subject to the tax imposed by IITA Section
201(a) and (b) and who make a donation under Section 7.28 of the Illinois
Housing Development Act are entitled to a credit as described in this
Section and may transfer that credit as provided in this
subsection (e). (IITA Section 214(a))
3) Transfer of the credit shall be made
pursuant to 47 Ill. Adm. Code
355.309.
4) Transfer may be made of all or of any
portion of the credit allowable to the transferor. However, any portion of a
credit that has already been used to reduce the tax of a transferor may not be
transferred.
f) In the
case of a credit earned by or transferred to a partnership or Subchapter S
corporation, the credit passes through to the owners for use against their
regular income tax liabilities in the same proportion as other items of the
taxpayer are passed through to its owners for federal income tax purposes. (See
IITA Section 214(a).) The partners and shareholders shall be treated for all
purposes as if their shares of the credit had been earned by or transferred to
them directly, except that the election under subsection (c) of the tax year in
which to take the credit shall be made by the partnership or Subchapter S
corporation. Any credit passed through to a partner or shareholder under this
subsection (f) may be used in the taxable year of the partner or shareholder in
which ends the taxable year of the pass-through entity in which the entity
would be allowed to claim the credit under subsection (c). In the case where
the pass-through entity is the donor, the credit may be carried forward to the
five succeeding taxable years of the partner or shareholder in the manner
provided in subsection (d) until used. In the case where the pass-through
entity is a transferee, the partner or shareholder shall be entitled to use the
credit in the same number of taxable years as the pass-through entity would
have been allowed to use the credit under subsection (c)(3).
g) Documentation of the credit.
A
taxpayer claiming the credit provided by this Section
must
maintain and record any information that the Department may require by
regulation regarding the affordable housing project for which the credit is
claimed. (IITA Section 214(d)) When claiming the credit provided by
this Section, the taxpayer must provide the following information regarding the
taxpayer's donation to the development of affordable housing under the Illinois
Housing Development Act.
1) For the taxable
year for which the credit is allowed under subsection (c), a donor (or a
partner or Subchapter S corporation shareholder of the donor) claiming the
credit shall attach to its Illinois income tax return a copy of the reservation
letter issued by the administrative housing agency stating the amount of credit
allocated to the affordable housing project under 47 Ill. Adm. Code
355.209.
2) For the taxable year in which a credit is
transferred, the transferee (or a partner or Subchapter S corporation
shareholder of the transferee) shall attach to its Illinois income tax return a
copy of the certificate showing the names of the original donor and of the
transferee, as provided in 47 Ill. Adm. Code
355.309.
h) For purposes of this credit, the terms
"administrative housing agency", "affordable housing project" and "certificate"
shall have the meanings given to those terms in Section 7.28 of the Illinois
Housing Development Act and 47 Ill. Adm. Code
355.