Report Recommends Joint IRS-HUD Administration to Oversee LIHTC Program

A report from the Government Accountability Office suggests that a joint administration between the IRS and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) would benefit the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program.

There is a precedent for this type of joint-administration. The IRS already administers the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit with the National Park Service and the New Markets Tax Credit with the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund in the Department of the Treasury. These partnerships work because the partnering agencies’ missions align with the tax credit programs they help administer.

HUD already has experience working with housing finance agencies, which administer LIHTC, on other affordable housing programs. GAO suggests that HUD could manage oversight on the LIHTC program, while IRS could be responsible for taxpayer compliance. In order to enact the GAO’s suggestion, Congress would need to designate HUD as a joint administrator of LIHTC.

Click here to read the report.