[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1945 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1945

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that the value of 
 qualified historic property shall not be included in determining the 
                     taxable estate of a decedent.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 28, 1995

  Mr. Bateman (for himself, Mr. Shaw, Mr. Houghton, Mr. McCrery, Mr. 
    Collins of Georgia, Mr. Payne of Virginia, Mr. Taylor of North 
   Carolina, Mr. Bliley, Mr. Sisisky, Mr. Boucher, and Mr. Pickett) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that the value of 
 qualified historic property shall not be included in determining the 
                     taxable estate of a decedent.
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. EXCLUSION FROM ESTATE TAX FOR HISTORIC PROPERTY SUBJECT TO 
              PRESERVATION EASEMENT.

    (a) In General.--Part IV of subchapter A of chapter 11 of the 
Internal Revenue of 1986 (relating to taxable estate) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 2057. QUALIFIED HISTORIC PROPERTY.

    ``(a) General Rule.--For purposes of the tax imposed by section 
2001, the value of the taxable estate shall be determined by deducting 
from the value of the gross estate an amount equal to the value of any 
qualified historic property included in the gross estate.
    ``(b) Qualified Historic Property.--
            ``(1) In general.--For purposes of this section, the term 
        `qualified historic property' means any historic property if--
                    ``(A) on or before the date on which the return of 
                the tax imposed by section 2001 is filed, a qualified 
                real property interest described in section 
                170(h)(2)(C) in such property is held by a qualified 
                organization for the purpose described in section 
                170(h)(4)(A)(iv), and
                    ``(B) such property is covered by an agreement 
                meeting the requirements of paragraph (4) which is 
                entered into on or before such date.
Such term includes personal property included within, or associated 
with, qualified historic property (as defined in the preceding 
sentence) if such personal property is covered by the agreement 
referred to in subparagraph (B) which covers such qualified historic 
property.
            ``(2) Historic property.--For purposes of paragraph (1), 
        the term `historic property' means--
                    ``(A) a certified historic structure (as defined in 
                section 170(h)(4)(B)), and
                    ``(B) any other real property to the extent 
                reasonably necessary for public view and visitation of 
                such structure.
            ``(3) Qualified organization.--For the purposes of 
        paragraph (1), the term `qualified organization' has the 
        meaning given to such term by section 170(h)(3).
            ``(4) Requirements for agreement.--For the purposes of 
        paragraph (1), an agreement meets the requirements of this 
        paragraph if--
                    ``(A) such agreement is a written agreement signed 
                by each person in being who has an interest (whether or 
                not in possession) in the historic property (other than 
                the qualified organization),
                    ``(B) such agreement is entered into with a State 
                historic preservation agency (or similar State agency) 
                and filed with the Secretary with the return of the tax 
                imposed by section 2001,
                    ``(C) such agreement provides that the historic 
                property will be open to the public for a period of at 
                least 20 years beginning on the date on which the 
                return of the tax imposed by section 2001 is filed, and
                    ``(D) such agreement provides that any admission 
                fees (if any) shall bear a reasonable relationship to 
                admission fees for other comparable tourist sites and 
                shall be approved by such State historic preservation 
                agency (or similar State agency).
        The 20-year period referred to in subparagraph (C) shall be 
        suspended during reasonable periods of renovation.
            ``(5) Open to the public.--For the purposes of paragraph 
        (4)(C), a property shall be treated as being open to the public 
        for any year if a substantial portion of the property is open 
        for public visitation for at least 8 hours per day and 6 days 
        per week during at least any 32 weeks of such year.
            ``(6) Treatment of qualified historic property held by a 
        corporation.--In the case of a corporation all of the stock in 
        which was held on the date of the decedent's death by the 
        decedent or members of the decedent's family (as defined in 
        section 2032A(e)(2)), stock in such corporation shall be 
        treated for purposes of this section as qualified historic 
        property to the extent that the value of such stock is 
        attributable to qualified historic property held by such 
        corporation.
    ``(c) Tax Treatment of Dispositions and Failure to Comply With 
Agreement.--
            ``(1) Imposition of additional estate tax.--If, during the 
        20-year period referred to in subsection (b)(4)(C)--
                    ``(A) any person signing the written agreement 
                referred to in subsection (b)(4) disposes of any 
                interest in the qualified historic property, or
                    ``(B) there is a violation of any provision of such 
                agreement (as determined under regulations prescribed 
                by the Secretary),
        then there is hereby imposed an additional estate tax.
            ``(2) Exception where transferee agrees to be bound by 
        agreement.--No tax shall be imposed under paragraph (1) by 
        reason of any disposition if the person acquiring the property 
        agrees to be bound by the agreement referred to in subsection 
        (b)(4) and to be liable for any tax under this subsection in 
        the same manner as the person disposing such property.
            ``(3) Amount of additional tax.--The amount of the 
        additional tax imposed by paragraph (1) with respect to any 
        property shall be an amount equal to--
                    ``(A) the excess of--
                            ``(i) what would (but for subsection (a)) 
                        have been the tax imposed by section 2001 
                        (reduced by the credits allowable), over
                            ``(ii) the tax imposed by section 2001 (as 
                        so reduced), multiplied by
                    ``(B) the fraction--
                            ``(i) the numerator of which is the number 
                        of months remaining after the month in which 
                        the disposition or violation occurs in the 20-
                        year period referred to in subsection 
                        (b)(4)(C), and
                            ``(ii) the denominator of which is 240.
            ``(4) Due date.--The additional tax imposed by this 
        subsection shall be due and payable on the day which is 6 
        months after the date of the disposition or violation referred 
        to in paragraph (1).
            ``(5) Liability for tax.--Any person signing the agreement 
        referred to in subsection (b)(4) (other than the executor) 
        shall be personally liable for the additional tax imposed by 
        this subsection. If more than 1 person is liable under this 
        subsection, all such persons shall be jointly and severally 
        liable.
            ``(6) Certain other rules to apply.--Rules similar to the 
        rules of sections 2013(f) and 2032A(f) shall apply for purposes 
        of this subsection.
    ``(d) Coordination With Deduction for Transfer of Easement.--
Section 2055(f) shall not apply to any interest referred to therein 
with respect to property for which a deduction is allowed under 
subsection (a).''
    (b) Technical Amendments.--
            (1) Subparagraph (A) of section 2056A(b)(10) of such Code 
        is amended by inserting ``2057,'' after ``2056,''.
            (2) The table of sections for part IV of subchapter A of 
        chapter 11 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the 
        following new item:

                              ``Sec. 2057. Qualified historic 
                                        property.''
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to the estates of decedents dying after the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>