- April 30, 2019
- Posted by: Orkun Ozkaymak, CPA, MBA
- Category: Blog
Qualified Opportunity Zones and the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
I get many questions from clients regarding the new opportunity zones changes in the tax law. Without getting into any investment advice or tax advice, I’d like to make the following resources available to you:
Q: What is an Opportunity Zone?
A: An opportunity zone is a community nominated by the state and certified by the Treasury Department as qualifying for this program. As of December 14, 2018, you may follow this link to see if your community qualifies (you will need excel for this list): https://www.cdfifund.gov/Documents/Designated%20QOZs.12.14.18.xlsx
There are approximately 8700 opportunity zones as of this writing.
Q: The spreadsheet looks really confusing, is there a map that can help me pick these zones?
A: Well, yes. US Department of the Treasury has a convenient map that you can only use with flash enabled browsers (Internet Explorer or Flash Add-on to Chrome). That link is here: https://www.cims.cdfifund.gov/preparation/?config=config_nmtc.xml
Q: I am new to Opportunity Zones, how can this benefit me?
A: There are three ways an Opportunity Zone Fund Investment can provide tax savings:
1. Tax Deferral through 2026
2. No tax on 10% or up to 15% of deferred gains
3. No tax on appreciation.
If you’d like additional information regarding these potential scenarios, please email us and let us know if you’d like our help. tax@ozfield.com
