Opportunity Zones

Community Revitalization by Rewarding Private Investment

Are you interested in reviving hard-hit areas in your community? Could you use a tax benefit, too? The newly created Opportunity Zones program, enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, provides an opportunity to do both.

The Opportunity Zones program, found in Sections 1400Z-1 and 1400Z-2 of the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”), is intended to spur investment in low-income or economically disadvantaged areas.

The tax incentives provide investors with an opportunity to defer recognition of gains on sales of assets, permanently reduce a portion of the deferred gain to be recognized and permanently exempt any future gain with respect to reinvested proceeds. This occurs by reinvesting the gain in a Qualified Opportunity Fund (“QOF”), an investment vehicle specifically focused on making investments in Qualified Opportunity Zone (“QOZ”) businesses and/or property, allowing for greater diversification than other tax deferral mechanisms.