Substitute House Bill No. 5979 proposes to exempt public housing authorities from the real estate conveyance tax and the controlling interest transfer tax, effective July 1, 2025. The bill amends Section 12-498 of the general statutes to include a new exemption for deeds made to public housing authorities and introduces a similar exemption in Section 12-638b for the transfer of controlling interests to these authorities. This legislative change aims to ease the financial burden associated with transactions involving public housing authorities, thereby facilitating their operations.

In addition to these new exemptions, the bill also makes several modifications to existing legal language, including the repeal of certain provisions and the clarification of others. Specifically, it removes the word "said" from references to tax exemptions under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code and replaces "which" with "that" for clarity. Furthermore, the bill adds an exemption for deeds between spouses and clarifies existing exemptions related to affordable housing. The anticipated fiscal impact includes a projected annual revenue loss of approximately $2.2 million for the General Fund starting in fiscal year 2026, as well as a reduction in municipal revenues due to the exemption of certain transactions from local taxes.

Statutes affected:
Committee Bill: 12-498, 12-638b
FIN Joint Favorable: 12-498, 12-638b
File No. 855: 12-498, 12-638b