diff --git a/pkg/history/previous_tag.go b/pkg/history/previous_tag.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d490d9f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/history/previous_tag.go
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+package history
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"log"
+	"sort"
+	"time"
+
+	"gopkg.in/src-d/go-git.v4"
+	"gopkg.in/src-d/go-git.v4/plumbing"
+)
+
+var (
+	// ErrPrevTagNotAvailable is returned when no previous tag is found.
+	ErrPrevTagNotAvailable = errors.New("previous tag is not available")
+)
+
+type tag struct {
+	hash plumbing.Hash
+	time time.Time
+}
+
+// PreviousTag sorts tags based on when their commit happened and returns the one previous
+// to the current.
+func (g *Git) PreviousTag(currentHash plumbing.Hash) (plumbing.Hash, error) {
+	tagrefs, err := g.repo.Tags()
+
+	if err != nil {
+		return currentHash, err
+	}
+
+	defer tagrefs.Close()
+
+	var tagHashes []tag
+
+	err = tagrefs.ForEach(func(t *plumbing.Reference) error {
+		commitDate, err := g.commitDate(t.Hash())
+
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		tagHashes = append(tagHashes, tag{time: commitDate, hash: t.Hash()})
+		return nil
+	})
+
+	if err != nil {
+		if g.Debug {
+			log.Printf("[ERR] getting previous tag failed: %v", err)
+		}
+		return currentHash, err
+	}
+
+	// Tags are alphabetically ordered. We need to sort them by date.
+	sortedTags := sortTags(g.repo, tagHashes)
+
+	if g.Debug {
+		log.Println("Sorted tag output: ")
+		for _, taginstance := range sortedTags {
+			log.Printf("hash: %v time: %v", taginstance.hash, taginstance.time.UTC())
+		}
+	}
+
+	// If there are fewer than two tags assume that the currentCommit is the newest tag
+	if len(sortedTags) < 2 {
+		if g.Debug {
+			log.Println("[ERR] previous tag not available")
+		}
+		return currentHash, ErrPrevTagNotAvailable
+	}
+
+	if sortedTags[0].hash != currentHash {
+		if g.Debug {
+			log.Println("[ERR] current commit does not have a tag attached, building from this commit")
+		}
+		return sortedTags[0].hash, nil
+	}
+
+	if g.Debug {
+		log.Printf("success: previous tag found at %v", sortedTags[1].hash)
+	}
+
+	return sortedTags[1].hash, nil
+}
+
+// sortTags sorts the tags according to when their parent commit happened.
+func sortTags(repo *git.Repository, tags []tag) []tag {
+	sort.Slice(tags, func(i, j int) bool {
+		return tags[i].time.After(tags[j].time)
+	})
+
+	return tags
+}
diff --git a/pkg/history/previous_tag_test.go b/pkg/history/previous_tag_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a72073e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/history/previous_tag_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+package history
+
+import (
+	"log"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"gopkg.in/src-d/go-git.v4"
+)
+
+func TestPreviousTag(t *testing.T) {
+	repo, _ := git.PlainOpen("../../testdata/git_tags")
+	testGit := &Git{repo: repo, Debug: true}
+
+	head, err := repo.Head()
+
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	tagHash, err := testGit.PreviousTag(head.Hash())
+
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	log.Print(tagHash)
+
+	commit, err := repo.CommitObject(tagHash)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, "chore: first commit on master\n", commit.Message)
+
+}