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An Opportunity Zone is an economically-distressed community where new investments, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment. Localities qualify as Opportunity Zones if they have been nominated for that designation by the state and that nomination has been certified by the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury via his delegation authority to the Internal Revenue Service. Opportunity Zones were added to the tax code by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on December 22, 2017. The first set of Opportunity Zones, covering parts of 18 states, were designated on April 9, 2018. Opportunity Zones are designed to spur economic development by providing tax benefits to investors. First, investors can defer tax on any prior gains until the earlier of the date on which an investment is sold or exchanged, or December 31, 2026, so long as the gain is reinvested in a Qualified Opportunity Fund. Second, if the investor holds the investment in the Opportunity Fund for at least ten years, the investor would be eligible for an increase in basis equal to the fair market value of the investment on the date that the investment is sold or exchanged. QOZ: "DESIGNATEDQOZ" = List of designated Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs). This variable was updated June 14, 2018, to reflect the final QOZ designations for all States. A total of 8762 population census tracts were designated. See IRS Notice 2018-48, 2018–28 Internal Revenue Bulletin 9, July 9, 2018, for the official list of all population census tracts designated as QOZs for purposes of §§ 1400Z-1 and 1400Z-2 of the Code. |