ABSTRACT
Th e single largest subsidy for low-income rental housing is not a federal housing program but an item in the Internal Revenue Code. Established by the Tax Reform Act of 1986, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) provides fi nancial incentives to invest in low-income rental housing. Th rough 2006, the tax credit has helped fund the development of more than 1.6 million housing units. Th e program accounts for about one-sixth of all multifam ily housing built during this period (Danter Company 2009),1 and it now accommodates more households than public housing, a program that started 50 years earlier.
