Historic, LIHTC, New Markets and Energy — the four federal programs that finance America's hardest deals, and the base every state credit layers onto.
Each federal credit has its own guide below — what it is worth, who qualifies, what changed in 2025, and how syndication turns it into project equity.
20% of qualified expenditures
The anchor credit of our practice. 20% for certified historic structures, claimed over five years through the NPS Parts 1–3 process. Permanent and unchanged by the 2025 tax law.
Read the Guide9% & 4% · expanded 2026
A ten-year credit stream for rent-restricted housing. Permanently expanded by the 2025 law: +12% to 9% ceilings and a 4% bond threshold cut from 50% to 25%.
Read the Guide39% over seven years
For projects in low-income census tracts, delivered through Community Development Entities. Made permanent at $5 billion annually, which finally makes a pipeline plannable.
Read the GuideUp to 30%+ with adders
Up to 30% of eligible costs with prevailing wage and apprenticeship compliance. Solar and wind now run against a July 2026 construction deadline.
Read the GuideThe One Big Beautiful Bill Act, enacted July 2025, made three significant moves and left one program alone.
| Program | What the 2025 law did |
|---|---|
| LIHTC | Permanently expanded — 9% state ceilings up 12% from 2026, and the 4% bond-financing threshold cut from 50% to 25% of aggregate basis |
| NMTC | Made permanent at a $5 billion annual allocation, ending two decades of expiration cliffhangers |
| Energy ITC | Solar and wind put on a hard deadline — construction begun by July 4, 2026, or in service by December 31, 2027 — with new foreign-sourcing restrictions |
| Historic credit | Untouched. Still 20%, still permanent |
| Opportunity zones | Made permanent and rebuilt, with a new map effective January 1, 2027 |
These federal credits also stack with the state programs we syndicate in the Carolinas and Virginia — which is where most of the value in our deals actually comes from.
LIHTC was permanently expanded with 9% ceilings up 12% from 2026 and the 4% bond threshold cut to 25%; NMTC was made permanent at $5 billion per year; solar and wind energy credits were put on a deadline of construction by July 4, 2026 or in service by end of 2027, with new foreign-sourcing restrictions. The 20% historic credit was untouched.
Historic plus LIHTC is the classic twin for mill-to-housing conversions; historic plus NMTC works for community facilities in qualified tracts; energy credits layer onto nearly anything with a roof. Each pairing has basis-adjustment and structuring rules that change the math, so model before committing.
Tax equity means an investor joins the ownership structure and receives credits plus depreciation. Transferability under Section 6418, available for energy credits only, means selling the credit for cash — simpler, but leaving depreciation behind. Historic, LIHTC and NMTC credits still require ownership structures, which is why syndicators exist.
Yes, and that is the core of our practice. See our guides to South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia credits for how each state stacks on the federal programs.
$1.5 billion structured annually across historic, LIHTC, energy and new markets deals. Send us yours.
