Opportunity Zones

HUD updated a workbook that allows public housing authorities (PHAs) to assess the eligibility of a proposed rehabilitation of a property for a Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD)/Section 18 construction blend or an opportunity zones (OZ) rent boost.

Announcement 2021-10 from the Internal Revenue Service confirms that the boundaries of Designated Qualified Opportunity Zones (OZs)were established at the time they were designated and are not subject to change from the 2020 decennial Census.

Novogradac updated its Opportunity Zones (OZ) Mapping Tool to indicate whether there are boundary changes to qualified OZ census tracts (QOZs) due to the 2020 Census, a change that will necessitate IRS guidance, since eligibility for the OZ incentive is based on 2010 census tract boundaries.

Internal Revenue Service Notice 2021-12 extends the temporary relief for qualified LIHTC projects. The 10 percent test for carryover allocations and the 24-month minimum rehabilitation expenditure period are extended until September 30. The deadline for income recertifications and compliance monitoring is extended until October 1 and the placed-in-service deadline is extended to December 31.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published the latest edition of its Community Developments Investments newsletter, “Strengthening Communities With Opportunity Zone Investments.” This edition of Community Developments Investments explains how banks can support distressed communities by making investments in tax-advantaged qualified opportunity funds (QOF) as part of their community development strategies. For […]

Enterprise Community Partners Inc. announced Dec. 14 it will take part in a $3.5 billion, five-year initiative to counter racial inequities in housing. Enterprise said it will contribute $10 million in capital to seed a $350 million growth fund to attract an additional $3.1 billion for the Equitable Path Forward initiative.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently published a report on Opportunity Zones (OZ’s), which calls on Congress to consider providing Treasury with authority and responsibility to collect data and report on OZ’s performance.

Opportunity Zones (OZ) led to Qualified Opportunity Funds raising $75 billion in capital by the end of 2019, according to a Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) report released on August 24.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2020-39, providing guidance for investors in the Opportunity Zones (OZ) incentive in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The guidance provides that taxpayers whose last day of the 180-day period to invest capital gains in a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) falls on or after April 1, 2020, and before December 31, 2020, to postpone the last day to December 31, 2020

Congressman Denver Riggleman (R-VA) introduced The Opportunity Zone Extension Act (H.R. 6513) that would extend the Opportunity Zone (OZ) tax incentive from 2026 to 2030, giving more time and benefits for investors.

The Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2020-23, providing additional relief to taxpayers affected by COVID-19. Among other things, the notice automatically extends the 180-day deadline to invest capital gains in a Qualified Opportunity Fund to July 15 for taxpayers with a deadline between April 1 and July 15. While the notice does not specifically reference any Housing Credit or Housing Bond deadlines, it applies the July 15 deadline to all time-sensitive actions included in IRS Revenue Procedure 2018-58, which includes numerous deadlines related to these programs.

On February 7, the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, chaired by HUD Secretary Ben Carson, released its one-year report on Opportunity Zones to President Trump. The report makes 43 legislative and regulatory recommendations relating to Opportunity Zones, including a call for the collection of data to assess the incentive’s value to distressed communities.