(a) A credit against the tax imposed by the provisions of this article shall be allowed as follows:

Certified historic structures. – For certified historic structures, the credit is equal to ten percent of qualified rehabilitation expenditures as defined in §47(c)(2), Title 26 of the United States Code, as amended: Provided, That for qualified rehabilitation expenditures made after December 31, 2017, pursuant to an historic preservation certification application, Part 2 – Description of Rehabilitation, received by the state historic preservation office after December 31, 2017, the credit allowed by this section is equal to twenty-five percent of the qualified rehabilitation expenditure: Provided, however, That the credit authorized by this section for qualified rehabilitation expenditures made after December 31, 2017, may not be used to offset tax liabilities of the taxpayer prior to the tax year beginning on or after January 1, 2020: Provided further, That the taxpayer is not entitled to this credit if, when the applicant begins to claim the credit and throughout the time period within which the credit is claimed, the taxpayer is in arrears in the payment of any tax administered by the Tax Division or the taxpayer is delinquent in the payment of any local or municipal tax, or the taxpayer is delinquent in the payment of property taxes on the property containing the certified historic tax structure when the applicant begins to claim the credit and throughout the time period within which the credit is claimed. The Tax Commissioner shall promulgate procedural rules in accordance with article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code that provide what information must accompany any claim for the tax credit for the determination that the taxpayer is not in arrears in the payment of any tax administered by the Tax Division, is not delinquent in the payment of any local or municipal tax, nor is the taxpayer delinquent in the payment of property taxes on the property containing the certified historic tax structure, and such other administrative requirements as the Tax Commissioner may specify. This credit is available for both residential and nonresidential buildings located in this state that are reviewed by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and designated by the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior as "certified historic building", and further defined as a "qualified rehabilitated building", as defined under §47(c)(1), Title 26, of the United States Code, as amended.

(b) Allocations and maximum amounts of tax credits per project and per fiscal year -

(1) No more than $10 million of the tax credits authorized by this section and section eight-a, article twenty-one of this chapter may be allocated, reserved or issued by the state historic preservation officer to any single certified rehabilitation.

(2) No more than $30 million of the tax credits authorized by this section and section eight-a, article twenty-one of this chapter cumulatively may be issued by the state historic preservation officer for use in any given West Virginia state fiscal year, and any amount remaining up to $30 million may not be carried over to a subsequent West Virginia state fiscal year.

(3) At the beginning of each fiscal year, no less than $5 million of the tax credits authorized by this section and section eight-a, article twenty-one of this chapter shall be set aside for reservation and the issuance of tax credits for certified rehabilitation projects with proposed tax credits of $500,000. The balance of any amount set aside for these projects that has not been reserved pursuant to the procedures in subsection (c) of this section by the end of the fiscal year shall be allocated by the state historic preservation officer for the projects in any amount of other pending applicants otherwise eligible for the issuance of tax credits under this section and section eight-a, article twenty-one of this chapter in the order that the applications for those projects were received.

(c) Procedure for issuance of tax credits reservations and certificates by the state historic preservation officer –

(1) Any claim for the tax credits authorized pursuant to this section and section eight-a, article twenty-one of this chapter shall be accompanied by a tax credit certificate issued by the state historic preservation officer.

(2) The tax credits will be awarded on a first come, first served basis. At the time the historic preservation certification application, Part 2 – Description of Rehabilitation, is received by the state historic preservation office, the project will be placed on a reservation list, which will reserve the tax credit amount listed on the application. The historic preservation certification application, Part 2 – Description of Rehabilitation, will be reviewed by the state historic preservation office for completion and submitted to the National Park Service for full review. At the time the historic preservation certification application, Part 2 – Description of Rehabilitation, is submitted to the National Park Service, the state historic preservation officer shall send a request for the fee prescribed in subsection (e) of this section to the property owner. Upon approval of the historic preservation certification application, Part 2 – Description of Rehabilitation, from the National Park Service, including approval with conditions, that the project will meet the Secretary of the Interior’s standards for rehabilitation, the owner of the building will receive guarantee of the tax credits from the state historic preservation office.

(3) The state historic preservation officer shall issue tax credit certificates for certified rehabilitation projects that the National Park Service has determined have met the Secretary of the Interior standards for rehabilitation based on the issuance of an approved historic preservation certification application, Part 3 – Request for Certification of Completed Work.

(4) Once the state historic preservation officer has allocated and reserved the maximum tax credits authorized for any given West Virginia state fiscal year, the state historic preservation officer then shall allocate and reserve tax credits against the maximum tax credits authorized for use in the succeeding West Virginia state fiscal year.

(5) If an applicant for tax credits that receives a reservation for tax credits for any given West Virginia state fiscal year fails to submit an approved historic preservation certification application, Part 3 – Request for Certification of Completed Work in the instance of a certified rehabilitation within thirty-six (36) months of the date of the approved historic preservation certification application, Part 2 – Description of Rehabilitation, therefor or in the instance of a phased project as determined by the National Park Service within sixty (60) months of the date of the advisory determination by the National Park Service therefor that such phase has been completed in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior standards for rehabilitation then the state historic preservation officer may reallocate part or all of the tax credits reserved therefor to other applicants in the order their applications were received.

(d) The state historic preservation officer shall prescribe and publish a form and instructions for an application for reservation and issuance of the tax credits authorized by this section and section eight-a, article twenty-one of this chapter.

(e) Application fee - Each application for tax credits authorized pursuant to this section and section eight-a, article twenty-one of this chapter shall require a fee payable to the state historic preservation officer equal to the lesser of (1) 0.5% of the amount of the tax credits requested for in such application and (2) $10,000. The state historic preservation officer shall review and act on all such applications within thirty days of receipt.

Fees collected under this subsection shall be deposited into a special revenue account which is hereby created. The fund shall be administered by the state historic preservation officer and expended for the purposes of administering the provisions of this section and section eight-a, article twenty-one of this chapter.

(f) The tax credit allowed by this section is eliminated after December 31, 2022: Provided, That any tax credits authorized by the state historic preservation officer and eligible to be claimed prior to January 1, 2023, shall continue to be eligible to be claimed subject to the provisions of law governing those tax credits that were in effect prior to January 1, 2023.