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Tax Incentives for Affordable Housing: The Low Income Housing Tax Credit

In: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 24

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  • Mihir Desai
  • Dhammika Dharmapala
  • Monica Singhal

Abstract

The Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) represents a novel tax expenditure program that employs “investable†tax credits to spur production of low-income rental housing. While it has grown into the largest source of new affordable housing in the U.S. and its structure is now being replicated in other programs, the LIHTC has also drawn skepticism and calls for its repeal. We provide estimates of tax expenditures under this program and discuss pricing, efficiency, and distributional effects of the program. We also consider the impacts of the recent financial crisis on the LIHTC program and explore implications of resulting policy changes and proposals.
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Suggested Citation

  • Mihir Desai & Dhammika Dharmapala & Monica Singhal, 2010. "Tax Incentives for Affordable Housing: The Low Income Housing Tax Credit," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 24, pages 181-205, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberch:11971
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    Cited by:

    1. Robert Collinson & Ingrid Gould Ellen & Jens Ludwig, 2015. "Low-Income Housing Policy," NBER Chapters, in: Economics of Means-Tested Transfer Programs in the United States, Volume 2, pages 59-126, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Bree J. Lang & Pratish Patel, 2023. "Funding infrastructure under uncertainty: evidence from tax credit prices," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 30(3), pages 635-677, June.
    3. James R. Hines, Jr., 2017. "Business Tax Burdens and Tax Reform," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 48(2 (Fall)), pages 449-471.
    4. Lang, Bree J., 2015. "Input distortions in the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit: Evidence from building size," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 119-128.
    5. Carlson, Curtis & Metcalf, Gilbert E., 2008. "Energy Tax Incentives and the Alternative Minimum Tax," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 61(3), pages 477-491, September.
    6. Joseph E. Aldy & Todd D. Gerarden & Richard L. Sweeney, 2018. "Investment versus Output Subsidies: Implications of Alternative Incentives for Wind Energy," NBER Working Papers 24378, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Welch, Timothy F., 2013. "Equity in transport: The distribution of transit access and connectivity among affordable housing units," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 283-293.
    8. Dirección General de Economía y Estadística, 2020. "El mercado de la vivienda en España entre 2014 y 2019," Occasional Papers 2013, Banco de España.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H76 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Other Expenditure Categories
    • R31 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Housing Supply and Markets
    • R51 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Finance in Urban and Rural Economies

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