Follow the Money: How the LIHTC Program Works

As the above chart illustrates, the Tax Credits are issued by the IRS to the state housing agencies.  The state housing agencies screen housing project proposal submissions and award the Tax Credits to the developer of the project.  In return for additional equity financing, the Tax Credits pass to the syndicator, who gets this equity financing from investors, to whom the syndicator passes the Tax Credits.

The above chart has been recreated from a chart used by the GAO in testimony before Congress (GAO/T-GGD/RCED-97-149).  

The above chart in PDF format to print out or download (1.0 MB)

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