Today, President Trump signed Executive Order 13853, promoting public commitment to the opportunity zones program enacted last December as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The executive order establishes the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council,…

A working group of accountants formed by Novogradac sent a letter to the U.S. Treasury last month, requesting further clarification in the wake of the proposed regulations (IRS REG-115420-18) published in October. In part, the letter states, “Taxpayer uncertainty around…

Most qualified opportunity zone funds are geared toward real estate. Because 90% of a fund’s assets must be held within OZ geographies, real estate investing is simpler than business venture investing. That said, the actual purpose of the legislation itself…

Due to the preferential treatment created for Puerto Rico in US Code Section 1400Z-1(b)(3), nearly the entire island is an opportunity zone. Governor Ricardo Roselló has estimated that the opportunity zones initiative “has the potential to inject more than $600…

Professional tax advisor Tony Nitti of WithumSmith+Brown’s National Tax Service Group has an excellent and thorough (and at times humorous!) Q&A-format article on Forbes this week. The article dives headfirst into many of the subtle nuances of the legislation, dealing…

Earlier today, the U.S. Treasury Department released REG-115420-18, Investing in Qualified Opportunity Funds — a 74-page regulatory document that clarifies many ambiguities surrounding the new opportunity zones program created by Trump’s Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, but also raises additional questions.…

East Coast law firm Day Pitney recently wrote an article highlighting many of the biggest unanswered questions about Section 1400Z on qualified opportunity zone funds ahead of the release of official regulations from the IRS. For commentary on each of…

John Pantekidis, CIO and general counsel for multi-family office TwinFocus, recently contributed an article to Forbes explaining why Qualified Opportunity Zone investments could be considered a “once-in-a-lifetime” program for high net worth individuals (HNWIs) and ultra high net worth (UHNW)…

Back in June, the Kresge Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation jointly announced a request for letters of inquiry from fund managers who had plans to establish opportunity funds. Of the 141 responses received, last month the foundations identified 20 potential…

Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin was interviewed by The Hill’s editor-in-chief Bob Cusack during a live event last week. The interview was wide-ranging, but briefly covered the new opportunity zones tax incentive, where Mnuchin expressed his optimism in the program.…