HB3096 Summary

• Creates the Illinois Lincoln-Douglas Historic Tax Credit under the Illinois Income Tax Act, effective for tax years ending on or after December 31, 2017.

• Provides taxpayers with a credit of up to 25% of qualified expenditures for rehabilitation or development of certified historic structures within historic preservation districts in seven specified municipalities: Ottawa, Freeport, Jonesboro, Charleston, Galesburg, Quincy, and Alton.

• Establishes the credit's purpose as advancing Lincoln-related tourism through historic preservation development in communities that hosted the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas Debates.

• Allows unused credits to be carried forward and applied to tax liability in the following 5 taxable years, with earlier credits applied first.

• Requires the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, in consultation with the Historic Preservation Agency, to adopt rules and guidelines for administering the credit.