UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-Q
(Mark One)
X QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR
15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the quarterly period ended September 30, 1999
OR
____ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR
15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Commission File Number 0-24650
INDEPENDENCE TAX CREDIT PLUS L.P. III
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware 13-3746339
(State or other jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer
incorporation or organization) Identification No.)
625 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10022
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code (212)421-5333
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed
all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securi-
ties Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for
such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such
reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for
the past 90 days. Yes X No ____
<PAGE>
<TABLE>
PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1. Financial Statements
INDEPENDENCE TAX CREDIT PLUS L.P. III
AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Unaudited)
<CAPTION>
September 30, March 31,
1999 1999
<S> <C> <C>
ASSETS
Property and equipment - at cost,
less accumulated depreciation
of $7,593,867 and $6,254,823,
respectively $71,528,861 $72,827,630
Construction in progress 6,525,296 6,267,185
Cash and cash equivalents 3,076,730 3,802,808
Investments available-for-sale 1,400,000 1,700,000
Cash held in escrow 3,555,574 3,808,330
Deferred costs, less accumulated
amortization of $243,306
and $322,481, respectively 827,586 982,440
Other assets 557,367 924,311
Total assets $87,471,414 $90,312,704
LIABILITIES AND PARTNERS' CAPITAL (DEFICIT)
Liabilities:
Mortgage notes payable $32,434,396 $32,422,677
Construction loan payable 12,283,486 12,043,984
Accounts payable and other
liabilities 4,080,895 5,311,397
Due to local general partners and
affiliates 3,854,035 4,474,016
Due to general partner and affiliates 1,293,824 1,067,876
Total liabilities 53,946,636 55,319,950
Minority interest 3,382,629 3,192,313
Commitments and contingencies (Note 3)
Partners' capital (deficit):
Limited partners (43,440 BACs
issued and outstanding) 30,226,855 31,868,564
General partner (84,706) (68,123)
Total partners' capital (deficit) 30,142,149 31,800,441
Total liabilities and partners' capital $87,471,414 $90,312,704
(deficit)
See Accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
</TABLE>
<PAGE>
<TABLE>
INDEPENDENCE TAX CREDIT PLUS L.P. III
AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Statements of Operations
(Unaudited)
<CAPTION>
Three Months Ended Six Months Ended
September 30, September 30,
1999 1998* 1999 1998*
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Revenues
Rental income $1,303,120 $1,272,313 $ 2,554,382 $ 2,483,243
Other income 104,312 114,569 207,744 196,299
Total revenues 1,407,432 1,386,882 2,762,126 2,679,542
Expenses
General and
administrative 269,441 352,213 606,331 716,137
General and
administrative-
related parties
(Note 2) 208,358 194,905 414,627 376,869
Repairs and
maintenance 257,265 186,688 447,163 352,862
Operating 141,566 173,364 321,179 327,864
Taxes 70,165 69,520 141,360 118,007
Insurance 66,137 71,167 166,149 164,564
Financial,
principally
interest 402,632 329,732 793,675 621,241
Depreciation and
amortization 675,716 507,469 1,362,843 1,044,087
Total expenses 2,091,280 1,885,058 4,253,327 3,721,631
Net loss before
minority interest
and extraordinary
item (683,848) (498,176) (1,491,201) (1,042,089)
Minority interest
in loss (income) of
subsidiary
partnerships 442 (19,809) (27,611) (27,471)
Loss before
extraordinary
item (683,406) (517,985) (1,518,812) (1,069,560)
Extraordinary item -
cumulative
effect of a change
in accounting
principle -
amortization of
organization costs 0 0 (139,480) 0
Net loss $(683,406) $(517,985) $(1,658,292) $(1,069,560)
Limited Partners
Share:
Loss before
extraordinary
item $ 676,572 $(512,805) $(1,503,624) $(1,058,864)
Extraordinary
item 0 0 (138,085) 0
Net loss -limited
partners $ 676,572 $(512,805) $(1,641,709) $(1,058,864)
Number of BACs
outstanding 43,440 43,440 43,440 43,440
Loss before
extraordinary
item per limited
partner unit $ (15.57) $ (11.81) $ (34.61) $ (24.38)
Extraordinary item
per limited
partner unit 0 0 (3.18) 0
Net loss per BAC $ (15.57) $ (11.81) $ (37.79) $ (24.38)
*Reclassified for comparative purposes.
See Accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
</TABLE>
<PAGE>
<TABLE>
INDEPENDENCE TAX CREDIT PLUS L.P. III
AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Statement of Changes in Partners' Capital
(Deficit)
(Unaudited)
<CAPTION>
Limited General
Total Partners Partner
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Partners' capital -
(deficit)
April 1, 1999 $31,800,441 $31,868,564 $(68,123)
Net loss - six
months ended
September 30, 1999 (1,658,292) (1,641,709) (16,583)
Partners' capital -
(deficit)
September 30, 1999 $30,142,149 $30,226,855 $(84,706)
See Accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
</TABLE>
<PAGE>
<TABLE>
INDEPENDENCE TAX CREDIT PLUS L.P. III
AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
Increase (Decrease) in Cash and Cash Equivalents
(Unaudited)
<CAPTION>
Six Months Ended
September 30,
1999 1998
<S> <C> <C>
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net loss $(1,658,292) $(1,069,560)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to
net cash provided by operating
activities:
Depreciation and amortization 1,362,843 1,044,087
Extraordinary item-cumulative
effect of a change in accounting
principal-amortization of organization
costs 139,480 0
Minority interest in income
of subsidiaries 27,611 27,471
Increase in accounts
payable and other liabilities 61,870 80,917
Decrease (increase) in cash held
in escrow 153,492 (329,666)
Decrease in other assets 366,944 192,448
Increase in due to local general
partners and affiliates 75,835 69,591
Decrease in due to local general
partners and affiliates (101,069) (91,474)
Increase due to general partner
and affiliates 225,948 178,840
Total adjustments 2,312,954 1,172,214
Net cash provided by
operating activities 654,662 102,654
Cash flows from investing activities:
Increase in property and equipment (40,275) (9,699)
Decrease in investments
available for sale 300,000 0
Increase in construction in progress (258,111) (4,480,679)
Decrease in cash held in escrow 99,264 817,168
Decrease in accounts payable
and other liabilities (1,292,372) (297,545)
Increase in due to local general
partners and affiliates 0 85,100
Decrease in due to local general
partners and affiliates (555,901) (930,048)
Net cash used in investing activities (1,747,395) (4,815,703)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from mortgage notes 88,200 1,494,821
Repayments of mortgage notes (76,481) (58,156)
Proceeds from construction loans 239,502 2,021,264
Decrease in due to local general
partners and affiliates (38,846) (32,657)
(Increase) decrease in deferred costs (8,425) 210
Increase (decrease) in capitalization
of consolidated subsidiaries
attributable to minority interest 162,705 (9,380)
Net cash provided by financing
activities 366,655 3,416,102
Net decrease in cash and
cash equivalents (726,078) (1,296,947)
Cash and cash equivalents at
beginning of period 3,802,808 7,157,348
Cash and cash equivalents at
end of period $3,076,730 $5,860,401
</TABLE>
<PAGE>
INDEPENDENCE TAX CREDIT PLUS L.P. III
AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
September 30, 1999
(Unaudited)
Note 1 - General
Independence Tax Credit Plus L.P. III, a Delaware limited partner-
ship (the "Partnership"), was organized on December 23, 1993, and
commenced its public offering on June 7, 1994. The general part-
ner of the Partnership is Related Independence Associates III L.P.,
a Delaware limited partnership (the "General Partner").
The Partnership's business is to invest in other partnerships ("Lo-
cal Partnerships", "subsidiaries" or "subsidiary partnerships")
owning apartment complexes that are eligible for the low-income
housing tax credit ("Housing Tax Credit") enacted in the Tax Re-
form Act of 1986, some of which complexes were also eligible for
the historic rehabilitation tax credit ("Historic Tax Credit"; together
with Housing Tax Credits, "Tax Credits").
As of September 30, 1999, the Partnership has acquired limited
partnership interests in twenty subsidiary partnerships. Through
the rights of the Partnership and/or an affiliate of the General
Partner, which affiliate has a contractual obligation to act on be-
half of the Partnership, to remove the general partner of the sub-
sidiary partnerships and to approve certain major operating and
financial decisions, the Partnership has a controlling financial
interest in the subsidiary partnerships.
For financial reporting purposes, the Partnership's fiscal quarter
ends September 30. All subsidiaries have fiscal quarters ending
June 30. Accounts of the subsidiaries have been adjusted for inter-
company transactions from July 1 through September 30. The
Partnership's fiscal quarter ends September 30 in order to allow
adequate time for the subsidiaries financial statements to be pre-
pared and consolidated.
All intercompany accounts and transactions with the subsidiary
partnerships have been eliminated in consolidation.
Increases (decreases) in the capitalization of consolidated subsidi-
aries attributable to minority interest arise from cash contributions
from and cash distributions to the minority interest partners.
Losses attributable to minority interests which exceed the minority
interests' investment in a subsidiary have been charged to the
Partnership. Such losses aggregated approximately $4,000 and
$3,000 and $45,000 and $6,000 for the three and six months ended
September 30, 1999 and 1998, respectively. The Partnership's in-
vestment in each subsidiary is equal to the respective subsidiary's
partners' equity less minority interest capital, if any. In consolida-
tion, all subsidiary partnership losses are included in the Partner-
ship's capital account except for losses allocated to minority inter-
est capital.
In April of 1998, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued
Statement of Position 98-5 ("SOP 98-5") "Reporting on the Costs of
Start-Up Activities". This statement provides guidance on the
financial reporting of start-up costs and organization costs. This
statement is effective for all fiscal quarters of fiscal years beginning
after December 15, 1998. Such change in accounting principle
amounted to $139,480 for the quarter ended September 30, 1999.
Certain information and note disclosures normally included in
financial statements prepared in accordance with generally ac-
cepted accounting principles have been omitted or condensed.
These condensed financial statements should be read in conjunc-
tion with the financial statements and notes thereto included in
the Partnership's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period
ended March 31, 1999.
The books and records of the Partnership are maintained on the
accrual basis of accounting in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles. In the opinion of the General Partner of the
Partnership, the accompanying unaudited financial statements
contain all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring ad-
justments) necessary to present fairly the financial position of the
Partnership as of September 30, 1999, the results of operations for
the three and six months ended September 30, 1999 and 1998 and
cash flows for the six months ended September 30, 1999 and 1998.
However, the operating results for the six months ended Septem-
ber 30, 1999 may not be indicative of the results for the year.
Note 2 - Related Party Transactions
An affiliate of the General Partner has a .01% interest as a special
limited partner, in each of the Local Partnerships.
<TABLE>
The costs incurred to related parties for the three and six months
ended September 30, 1999 and 1998 were as follows:
<CAPTION>
Three Months Ended Six Months Ended
September 30, September 30,
1999 1998* 1999 1998*
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Partnership manage-
ment fees (a) $ 94,033 $105,000 $188,066 $185,000
Expense reimburse-
ment (b) 33,500 21,955 64,438 59,439
Local administra-
tive fee (c) 13,000 11,000 26,000 22,000
Total general and
administrative-
General Partner 140,533 137,955 278,504 266,439
Property manage-
ment fees
incurred to
affiliates of the
subsidiary
partnerships'
general
partners (d) 67,825 56,950 136,123 110,430
Total general and
administrative-
related parties $208,358 $194,905 $414,627 $376,869
</TABLE>
*Reclassified for comparative purposes.
(a) The General Partner is entitled to receive a partnership man-
agement fee, after payment of all Partnership expenses, which
together with the annual local administrative fees will not exceed
a maximum of 0.5% per annum of invested assets (as defined in
the Partnership Agreement), for administering the affairs of the
Partnership. Subject to the foregoing limitation, the partnership
management fee will be determined by the General Partner in its
sole discretion based upon its review of the Partnership's invest-
ments. Unpaid partnership management fees for any year will be
accrued without interest and will be payable only to the extent of
available funds after the Partnership has made distributions to the
limited partners of sale or refinancing proceeds equal to their
original capital contributions plus a 10% priority return thereon (to
the extent not theretofore paid out of cash flow). Partnership
management fees owed to the General Partner amounting to ap-
proximately $715,000 and $527,000 were accrued and unpaid as of
September 30, 1999 and March 31, 1999, respectively. Without the
General Partner's continued allowance of accrual without pay-
ment of certain fees and expense reimbursements, the Partnership
will not be in a position to meet its obligations. The General Part-
ner has continued allowing the accrual without payment of these
amounts but is under no obligation to continue do so.
(b) The Partnership reimburses the General Partner and its affili-
ates for actual Partnership operating expenses incurred by the
General Partner and its affiliates on the Partnership's behalf. The
amount of reimbursement from the Partnership is limited by the
provisions of the Partnership Agreement. Another affiliate of the
General Partner performs asset monitoring for the Partnership.
These services include site visits and evaluations of the subsidiary
partnerships' performance.
(c) Independence SLP III L.P., a special limited partner of the
subsidiary partnerships, is entitled to receive a local administra-
tive fee of up to $5,000 per year from each subsidiary partnership.
(d) Property management fees incurred by Local Partnerships
amounted to $96,339 and $90,693 and $191,245 and $174,046 for
the three and six months ended September 30, 1999 and 1998,
respectively. Of these fees $67,825 and $56,950 and $136,123 and
$110,430 were incurred to affiliates of the subsidiary partnerships'
general partners.
Note 3 - Commitments and Contingencies
There were no material changes and/or additions to disclosures
regarding the subsidiary partnerships which were included in the
Partnership's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended
March 31, 1999.
<PAGE>
Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Con-
dition and Results of Operations
Liquidity and Capital Resources
The Partnership's primary source of funds include (i) interest
earned on Gross Proceeds which are invested in tax-exempt
money market instruments pending final payments to Local Part-
nerships and (ii) working capital reserves and interest earned
thereon. All these sources of funds are available to meet obliga-
tions of the Partnership.
As of September 30, 1999, the Partnership has invested approxi-
mately $35,074,000 (including approximately $3,142,000 classified
as loans repayable from sale/refinancing proceeds in accordance
with the Local Partnership Contribution Agreements and not in-
cluding acquisition fees of approximately $2,510,000) of net pro-
ceeds in twenty Local Partnerships of which approximately
$2,598,000 remains to be paid to the Local Partnerships (not in-
cluding approximately $1,042,000 being held in escrow) as certain
benchmarks, such as occupancy level, must be attained prior to
the release of the funds. The Partnership does not intend to ac-
quire additional properties. During the six months ended Sep-
tember 30, 1999, approximately $465,000 was paid to Local Part-
nerships, including purchase price adjustments (of which ap-
proximately $465,000 was released from escrow). There was one
downward price adjustment during the six months ended Sep-
tember 30, 1999 in the amount of approximately $1,000 related to
one Local Partnership which was purchased in the previous fiscal
year. Although the Partnership will not be acquiring additional
properties, the Partnership may be required to fund potential pur-
chase price adjustments based on tax credit adjustor clauses. Such
adjustments resulted in a net decrease in purchase price of ap-
proximately $1,000 during the six months ended September 30,
1999.
For the six months ended September 30, 1999, cash and cash
equivalents of the Partnership and its twenty consolidated Local
Partnerships decreased approximately $726,000 due to an increase
in property and equipment ($40,000), an increase in deferred cost
($8,000), an increase in construction in progress ($258,000), a net
decrease in due to local general partners and affiliates relating to
investing and financing activities ($595,000) and a decrease in
accounts payable and other liabilities relating to investing activi-
ties ($1,292,000) which exceeded cash provided by operating ac-
tivities ($655,000), a decrease in investments available for sale
($300,000), net proceeds from mortgage and construction loans
($251,000), decrease in capitalization of consolidated subsidiaries
attributable to minority interest ($163,000) and a decrease in cash
held in escrow relating to investing activities ($99,000). Included
in the adjustments to reconcile the net loss to cash provided by
operating activities is depreciation and amortization in the
amount of approximately $1,502,000.
A working capital reserve has been established from the Partner-
ship's funds available for investment, which includes amounts
which may be required for potential purchase price adjustments
based on tax credit adjustor clauses. At September 30, 1999, all
funds were used. During six months ended September 30, 1999,
the Partnership received no cash flow distributions from opera-
tions of the Local Partnerships. Management anticipates receiving
distributions in the future, although not to a level sufficient to
permit providing cash distributions to the BACs holders. These
distributions will be set aside as working capital reserves and
although not sufficient to cover all Partnership expenses, will be
used to meet the operating expenses of the Partnership.
Partnership management fees owed to the General Partner
amounting to approximately $715,000 and $527,000 were accrued
and unpaid as of September 30, 1999 and March 31, 1999, respec-
tively (see Note 2). Without the General Partner's continued ac-
crual without payment of certain fees and expense reimburse-
ments, the Partnership will not be in a position to meet its obliga-
tions. The General Partner has continued allowing the accrual
without payment of these amounts but is under no obligation to
continue do so.
For a discussion of contingencies affecting certain Local Partner-
ships, see Note 3 to the financial statements. Since the maximum
loss the Partnership would be liable for is its net investment in the
respective subsidiary partnerships, the resolution of the existing
contingencies is not anticipated to impact future results of opera-
tions, liquidity or financial condition in a material way. However,
the Partnership's loss of its investment in a Local Partnership will
eliminate the ability to generate future tax credits from such Local
Partnership and may also result in recapture of tax credits if the
investment is lost before the expiration of the compliance period.
Management is not aware of any trends or events, commitments
or uncertainties which have not otherwise been disclosed that will
or are likely to impact liquidity in a material way. Management
believes the only impact would be from laws that have not yet
been adopted. The portfolio is diversified by the location of the
properties around the United States so that if one area of the coun-
try is experiencing downturns in the economy, the remaining
properties in the portfolio may be experiencing upswings. How-
ever, the geographic diversification of the portfolio may not pro-
tect against a general downturn in the national economy. The
Partnership has invested the proceeds of its offering in twenty
Local Partnerships, all of which fully have their tax credits in
place. The tax credits are attached to the project for a period of ten
years, and are transferable with the property during the remainder
of such ten year period. If the General Partner determined that a
sale of a property is warranted, the remaining tax credits would
transfer to the new owner, thereby adding value to the property
on the market, which are not included in the financial statement
carrying amount.
Results of Operations
As of September 30, 1999 and 1998, the Partnership had acquired
an interest in twenty Local Partnerships, all of which were con-
solidated. The Partnership does not intend to acquire additional
interests in Local Partnerships.
The Partnership's results of operations for the three and six
months ended September 30, 1999 and 1998 consisted primarily of
(1) approximately $19,000 and $33,000 and $39,000 and $72,000,
respectively, of tax-exempt interest income earned on funds not
currently invested in Local Partnerships and (2) the results of the
Partnership's investment in twenty consolidated Local Partner-
ships.
For the three and six months ended September 30, 1999 as com-
pared to 1998, rental income and all categories of expenses in-
creased except for general and administrative, operating and the
results of operations are not comparable due to the continued rent
up of properties, and are not reflective of future operations of the
Partnership due to rent up of properties. In addition, interest
income will decrease in future periods since a substantial portion
of the proceeds from the Offering are invested in Local Partner-
ships.
General and administrative decreased approximately $83,000 and
$110,000 for the three and six months ended September 30, 1999 as
compared to 1998, primarily due to a decrease in legal and profes-
sional fees at one Local Partnership.
Operating expenses decreased approximately $32,000 and $7,000
for the three and six months ended September 30, 1999 as com-
pared to 1998 primarily due to a decrease in water and sewer us-
age at two Local Partnerships.
Amortization of organization costs increased by approximately
$139,000 for the six months ended September 30, 1999 as com-
pared to the corresponding period in 1998 due to the adoption of
SOP 98-5, pursuant to which the Partnership is required to charge
all unamortized organization costs as of January 1, 1999.
Year 2000 Compliance
The Partnership utilizes the computer services of an affiliate of the
General Partners. The affiliate of the General Partners has up-
graded its computer information systems to be year 2000 compli-
ant. The most likely worst case scenario that the General Partners
face is that computer operations will be suspended for a few days
to a week commencing on January 1, 2000. The Partnership's con-
tingency plan is to have (i) a complete backup done on December
31, 1999 and (ii) both electronic and printed reports generated for
all critical data up to and including December 31, 1999.
In regard to third parties, the General Partners are in the process
of evaluating the potential adverse impact that could result from
the failure of material service providers to be year 2000 compliant.
A detailed survey and assessment was sent to material third par-
ties in the fourth quarter of 1998. The Partnership has received
assurances from a majority of the material service providers with
which it interacts that they have addressed the year 2000 issues
and is evaluating these assurances for their adequacy and accu-
racy. In cases where the Partnership has not received assurances
from third parties, it is initiating further mail and/or phone corre-
spondence. The Partnership relies heavily on third parties and is
vulnerable to the failures of third parties to address their year 2000
issues. There can be no assurance given that the third parties will
adequately address their year 2000 issues.
Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market
Risk
None
<PAGE>
PART II - OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1. Legal Proceedings - None
Item 2. Changes in Securities and Use of Proceeds - None
Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities - None
Item 4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders - None
Item 5. Other Information - None
Item 6. Exhibits and Reports on Form 8-K
(a) Exhibits
(3A) Agreement of Limited Partnership of Inde-
pendence Tax Credit Plus L.P. III as adopted on December 23,
1993*
(3B) Form of Amended and Restated Agreement of
Limited Partnership of Independence Tax Credit Plus L.P. III,
attached to the Prospectus as Exhibit A**
(3C) Certificate of Limited Partnership of Independ-
ence Tax Credit Plus L.P. III as filed on December 23, 1993*
(10A) Form of Subscription Agreement attached to
the Prospectus as Exhibit B**
(10B) Escrow Agreement between Independence Tax
Credit Plus L.P. III and Bankers Trust Company*
(10C) Form of Purchase and Sales Agreement per-
taining to the Partnership's acquisition of Local Partnership Inter-
ests*
(10D) Form of Amended and Restated Agreement of
Limited Partnership of Local Partnerships*
(27) Financial Data Schedule (filed herewith)
*Incorporated herein as an exhibit by reference to
exhibits filed with Post-Effective Amendment No. 4 to the Regis-
tration Statement on Form S-11 {Registration No. 33-37704}
**Incorporated herein as an exhibit by reference to
exhibits filed with Post-Effective Amendment No. 8 to the Regis-
tration Statement on Form S-11 {Registration No. 33-37704}
(b) Reports on Form 8-K - No reports on Form 8-K were
filed during this quarter.
<PAGE>
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its
behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
INDEPENDENCE TAX CREDIT PLUS L.P. III
(Registrant)
By: RELATED INDEPENDENCE
ASSOCIATES III L.P., General Partner
By: RELATED INDEPENDENCE
ASSOCIATES III INC., General Partner
Date: October 27, 1999
By: /s/ Alan P. Hirmes
Alan P. Hirmes,
Vice President
(principal financial officer)
Date: October 27, 1999
By: /s/ Glenn F. Hopps
Glenn F. Hopps,
Treasurer
(principal accounting officer)
<TABLE> <S> <C>
<ARTICLE> 5
<LEGEND>
The Schedule contains summary financial information extracted
from the financial statements for Independence Tax Credit Plus
L.P. III and is qualified in its entirety by reference to such financial
statements
</LEGEND>
<CIK> 0000924124
<NAME> Independence Tax Credit Plus L.P. III
<MULTIPLIER> 1
<S> <C>
<PERIOD-TYPE> 6-MOS
<FISCAL-YEAR-END> MAR-31-2000
<PERIOD-START> APR-01-1999
<PERIOD-END> SEP-30-1999
<CASH> 6,632,304
<SECURITIES> 1,400,000
<RECEIVABLES> 0
<ALLOWANCES> 0
<INVENTORY> 0
<CURRENT-ASSETS> 557,367
<PP&E> 85,648,024
<DEPRECIATION> 7,593,867
<TOTAL-ASSETS> 87,471,414
<CURRENT-LIABILITIES> 9,228,754
<BONDS> 44,717,882
0
0
<COMMON> 0
<OTHER-SE> 33,524,778
<TOTAL-LIABILITY-AND-EQUITY> 87,471,414
<SALES> 0
<TOTAL-REVENUES> 2,762,126
<CGS> 0
<TOTAL-COSTS> 0
<OTHER-EXPENSES> 3,459,652
<LOSS-PROVISION> 0
<INTEREST-EXPENSE> 793,675
<INCOME-PRETAX> (1,658,292)
<INCOME-TAX> 0
<INCOME-CONTINUING> 0
<DISCONTINUED> 0
<EXTRAORDINARY> (139,480)
<CHANGES> 0
<NET-INCOME> (1,658,292)
<EPS-BASIC> (37.79)
<EPS-DILUTED> 0
</TABLE>
