Opportunity Zone Resource Center
Opportunity Zones are a new community development program established by Congress in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 to encourage long-term investments in low-income urban and rural communities nationwide. The Opportunity Zones program provides a tax incentive for investors to re-invest their unrealized capital gains into Qualified Opportunity Funds (“QOF”) that are dedicated to investing into Opportunity Zones located in every U.S. state and territory.
An investor may obtain three types of federal income tax benefits as a result of its investment in a QOF (see sample timeline):
- Deferral
- Reduction
- Exclusion
QOFs must invest in Qualified Opportunity Zone Property to be eligible for the tax benefits. Qualified Opportunity Zone Property means any of the following: QOZ Stock, QOZ Partnership Interest, and QOZ Business Property. Sections 1400Z-1 and 1400Z-2 of the Internal Revenue Code provide further guidance.
Here are links to further information regarding Opportunity Zones:
IRS – Draft Form for Qualified Opportunity Funds
IRS – Frequently Asked Questions
IRS – Revenue Procedure 2018-16
List of Opportunity Zones in Excel
CDFI Map – Note: To view all designated QOZs, click on the “Layers” tab on the menu on the right hand side of the screen. Select “Opportunity Zone Tract” and unselect “2011-2015 LIC Census Tract,” and zoom in to a specific area on the map. Designated QOZs will appear in blue.