An 11-member industry coalition, including The Real Estate Roundtable, urged Members of Congress on May 14 to consider Opportunity Zones (OZ) rule changes that could spur investment, promote capital formation and bolster job growth in economically disadvantaged  communities impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.  (Coalition letter, May 14)

• Opportunity Zones seek to stimulate jobs and growth where they are most needed by encouraging taxpayers to make long-term, patient investments in targeted, low-income communities.  On Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell reported that “among people who were working in February, almost 40 percent of those in households making less than $40,000 a year had lost a job in March.” (Chairman’s Prepared Remarks, May 13)
  
  
• The coalition letter asks Congress to make three critical improvements to the Opportunity Zone incentives.  The changes would:

• Allow opportunity funds to raise capital from all sources, not just gain rolled over from a recently disposed investment. 
  
  
• Spur productive real estate investment in low-income communities by providing that a 50 percent increase in the basis of a building constitutes a substantial improvement of the property.
  
  
• Strengthen the economic incentives by codifying the tax rate on deferred gain and extending for two years the recognition date for deferred gain, and consequently, the deadlines that must be met in order to qualify for the increase in basis for gain rolled into an opportunity fund.

• The coalition’s legislative suggestions come not long after Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and eight other Senate Republicans made several regulatory Opportunity Zone recommendations on May 4 in a letter to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and IRS Commissioner Rettig.  (Roundtable Weekly, May 8)
  
  
• The Senators encouraged 10 specific changes in their letter, which states, “Significant challenges arise from the inability to raise capital; decreased demand for space, products and services; a decline in the local economy; governmental delays; supply chain interruptions; and uncertainty regarding valuations and ability to secure loans and necessary funding apart from Opportunity Zone capital gain investments.”

The role of investment in Opportunity Zones may be addressed in eventual Covid-19 stimulus legislation in Congress.  The Roundtable’s Tax Policy Advisory Committee (TPAC) will continue to collect and share information regarding with policymakers regarding the real estate industry’s experience with the Opportunity Zone tax incentives and the impact on low-income communities of real estate-focused opportunity funds. 

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