NPH hosts “Tax Credit Equity in the Aftermath of Tax Reform”

With the recent passage of Federal Tax Reform, affordable housing developers have new hurdles to navigate. While tax credits and private activity bonds have survived, the law vastly alters the affordable housing investment landscape.

On January 31st, 2018, NPH brought together a panel of syndicators, investors, and tax credit experts to discuss and forecast the impact of the recent federal tax reform on the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). Co-moderated by California Housing Partnership and Community Economics, this event brought the Bay Area affordable housing community together to explore the implications of the federal tax reform bill on our region’s affordable housing future.

Covering a wide-range of topics, attendees discussed and explored the 2018 equity market, investor demand and pricing, California tax credits, pipeline projects, deal terms, and possible opportunities ahead.

Key information shared at the meeting includes:

• Federal tax reform will cause California to lose over $500 million per year in federal LIHTC resources;
• The Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse Tax (BEAT) reduces LIHTC value up to 20%;
• There is a 100% bonus depreciation available for land improvements and personal property with some limitations; and
• The wide range in tax credit pricing we currently see is likely from a larger disparity between the economic investor and the CRA-motivated investor.

See slides from the panel here.

Due to the climate of uncertainty cast by the Tax Reform bill, panelists suggested that, if possible, developers should wait to see how the markets adapt over this first quarter. Fortunately, over the past several days, additional information has emerged about potential legislation to address the new gaps.

Special thanks to the moderators of this panel: Kevin Knudtson of Community Economics and Richard Mandel of the California Housing Partnership Corporation.

And of course great appreciation to the panel presenters: Scott Barshay of Gubb & Barshay, Amy DeVaudreuil of Goldfarb & Lipman, Stan Woo of Linquist, von Husen & Joyce, Matt Grosz of Red Stone Equity Partners, Tim McCann of Wells Fargo Community Lending and Investment, Philip Porter of Enterprise Community Investment, Inc, and Robert Reinhardt of Bank of America.