# 119-s-631: Rural Historic Tax Credit Improvement Act

119-s-631, Rural Historic Tax Credit Improvement Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Capito, Shelley Moore [R-WV] (R-WV); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-631
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-631
- Congress: 119
- Title: Rural Historic Tax Credit Improvement Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-02-19
- Sponsor: Sen. Capito, Shelley Moore [R-WV] (R-WV)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Taxation
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Boosts historic-rehab tax incentives in rural areas to encourage preservation and affordable housing.** The bill would create higher, transferrable tax credits for qualifying rural rehabilitation projects and set rules for eligibility, caps, and recapture. - Families and rural residents: Targets projects that dedicate at least 50 percent of a project's space to housing and defines "affordable" as households at or below 80 percent of the area median income. This aims to help preserve or create lower-cost housing in smaller towns. - Developers and investors: Offers larger credits — 40 percent of qualified rehabilitation expenditures for qualifying affordable housing projects and 30 percent for other eligible rural projects. That makes some rural rehab projects more financially attractive. - Tax administration and project rules: Allows credit transfers with required reporting, disallows a deduction for amounts paid for a transferred credit, and removes the usual basis adjustment for these projects and lessees. It caps qualifying rehab costs at $5.0 million per project and creates a recapture rule that can increase tax by 100 percent for violations.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Sen. Warner, Mark R. [D-VA] (D-VA), 2025-02-19T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Bigger rural rehab tax credit: benefit, high. If enacted, the bill would create a new "applicable rural project" rehab credit for buildings in rural areas placed in service after Dec 31, 2025. For the taxable year the project is placed in service the credit would equal 40% of qualified rehabilitation expenditures (QREs) for affordable housing…
- No basis cut after rural credit: benefit, high. If enacted, the bill would prevent the normal tax-basis reduction for property when a taxpayer claims the rural rehabilitation credit for applicable rural projects placed in service after Dec 31, 2025. The same exception would apply for lessees referenced in the related Code provisions. That change…
- Sellable rural rehab tax credits: benefit, high. If enacted, the bill would let taxpayers sell all or part of the rural rehabilitation credit for qualifying projects placed in service after Dec 31, 2025, subject to Treasury rules. Transfers must use a certificate with project and taxpayer details and that certificate can itself be transferred. Am…
- Stronger tax penalty for housing violations: cost, high. If enacted, the bill would add a tough recapture rule for applicable rural affordable housing projects placed in service after Dec 31, 2025. If the project violates the affordable housing requirements during the recapture period, the taxpayer's tax for the year of violation would increase by 100% o…

## Related bills

- 119-s-4949: Water Resources Development Act of 2026
- 119-s-2587: Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026
- 119-s-4668: Protect College Sports Act of 2026
- 119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act
- 119-s-4189: INSULIN Act of 2026
- 119-s-3524: American Battlefield Protection Program Amendments Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-s-631 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/631)

## Related
- [119-s-4949: Water Resources Development Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4949)
- [119-s-2587: Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Age…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2587)
- [119-s-4668: Protect College Sports Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4668)
- [119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1748)
- [119-s-4189: INSULIN Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4189)
- [119-s-3524: American Battlefield Protection Program Amendments Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3524)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-631 (as of 2026-04-21).