After allowing the historic preservation credits to expire in 2014, North Carolina's General Assembly extended the credits under the budget passed in September. While the extended credit is still based on income-producing properties and follows many of the federal rehabilitation credit guidelines, it was crafted with caps and a focus on incentivizing the development in certain areas of the state. Here are a few of the noteworthy changes to the credit:

• Credit goes into effect on January 1, 2016 and sunsets on January 1, 2020. 
• The new credit is tiered and capped as high as $4.5 million:
  • 15% of qualified costs up to $10 million
  • 10% of qualified costs between $10–$20 million 
  • 5% of qualified costs for buildings in a Tier 1 or 2 county 
  • 5% of qualified costs for the state's Targeted Investment 
• Credit can be carried forward for nine years or taken in the year the building is placed in service. The previous credit required the credit be spread out over at least five years. 

Georgia is another state with recent historic tax credit updates. On May 12, 2015, Georgia Governor Deal signed into law House Bill 308, which makes changes to Georgia's existing historic rehabilitation tax credit, effective on January 1, 2016 for certified structures completed after January 1, 2017. Here are the key changes to the law:

• Credits for certified structures are now capped at $5 million. 
• Credits can be as high as $10 million if the project creates 200 or more full-time, permanent jobs or $5 million in annual payroll within two years of the structures placed in service date. 
• Credits can be either sold or assigned to another Georgia taxpayer. 

Many states are improving their Historic Tax Credits to revitalize historic areas. A big change to look out for is the transferability of state credits, which can help developers partially finance a project.