Opportunity Zone Investments Explained
April 4, 2019 | Dan Weil | Wealth Management
The opportunity zone tax benefit has received a lot of attention. The program, born out of the Trump administration’s tax overhaul, lets investors defer and reduce capital gains taxes in exchange for investing the money in designated low-income neighborhood development projects. No doubt some clients are asking advisors about it, and there has been a proliferation of investment funds launched to accommodate the demand.
But experts say while the incentives have the potential to be a great deal for all involved, clients need to be aware there is no guarantee their investment will work out as planned, nor any certainty they’ll help the distressed communities they are targeting.
“The potential tax benefit is uncapped: there is no limit on how much in capital gains can be deferred,” says Steven Rosenthal, senior fellow at Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. “But the social benefits are undetermined. We have embarked on quite a gamble to entice investors to put their capital gains in opportunity-zone funds.”
