For investors, entrepreneurs and many towns across the U.S.: on Friday the Treasury released regulations providing guidelines designed to spur projects in designated "Opportunity Zones." The new tax law contains significant tax benefits for investors who provide funding to companies located in Opportunity Zones, thus motivating entrepreneurs to locate their businesses within these zones. Investors, entrepreneurs and the towns with Opportunity Zones should all pay close attention to how they can benefit from this part of the new tax law.
Earlier this year, after getting recommendations from governors, the Treasury designated nearly 9,000 census tracts as opportunity zones, spread across urban and rural areas and including almost all of Puerto Rico. Nearly 35 million Americans live in the zones, which have higher poverty and unemployment rates than the rest of the country, according to the Treasury. Developers have been planning projects that would qualify for the incentive, including a Marriott hotel in Arizona, affordable housing in Los Angeles and a 22-story office building and hotel in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood.
