Buildings on a street in Oswego, NY.

Opportunity Zone Program

Building Investment in Under-Served Communities

The Opportunity Zone Program in New York State

New York State is participating in the new Opportunity Zone community development program, offered through the Tax Cuts and Job Acts of 2017. The federal program encourages private investment in low-income urban and rural communities. Based on analyses by Empire State Development (ESD), New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR), New York State Department of State (DOS) and the state’s Regional Economic Development Councils (REDCs), New York State has recommended 514 census tracts to the U.S. Department of the Treasury for designation as Opportunity Zones. 

Click here to view the list of the 514 approved and designated tracts.

Use the map below to view approved and designated tracts: 

Batavia, NY Opportunity Zones FAQ Image

Q: What is an Opportunity Zone?

A: An Opportunity Zone is a low-income census tract with an individual poverty rate of at least 20 percent and median family income no greater than 80 percent of the area median.

Q: What is the benefit of an Opportunity Zone?

A: An Opportunity Zone can receive funds from Opportunity Funds. Opportunity Funds provide investors the chance to put that money to work rebuilding the low to moderate income communities. The fund model will enable a broad array of investors to pool their resources in Opportunity Zones, increasing the scale of investments going to underserved areas.

Q: How many Opportunity Zones may a state nominate?

A: Each state may nominate a minimum of 25 total eligible census tracts but no more than 25 percent  of the total number of eligible census tracts within the state.

Q: What areas are eligible Opportunity Zones?

A: Click here to see eligible census tracts.

Q: Where can I find more information about Opportunity Zones?

A: Check the following for more details and information:

Q:  Why was my tract not chosen?

A:  Unfortunately, all tracts could not be chosen.  The 514 recommended Census tracts – which represent 25 percent of the more than 2,000 tracts deemed eligible by the Federal government – were selected based on recommendations from the Regional Economic Development Councils, local input, prior public investment and the ability to attract private investment.

Q:  How do I certify and maintain a qualified Opportunity fund?

A:  To find eligibility and filing requirements to certify and maintain a qualified Opportunity Fund, click here. The final guidelines for the Opportunity Fund have been released by the U.S. Treasury and are available here.

Q:  What are the New York State tax implications of the recently enacted federal tax benefits for investment in the Opportunity Zone Program?

A:  Investor must invest in a qualified opportunity fund which holds at least 90% of its assets in qualified opportunity zone property. A qualified opportunity fund is an investment vehicle organized as a corporation or a partnership for the purpose of investing in qualified opportunity zone property. There are two main incentives to encourage investment in qualified opportunity funds. First, taxpayers can temporarily defer the inclusion in gross income of capital gains that are reinvested in a qualified opportunity fund. Taxpayers can also  permanently exclude capital gains from the sale or exchange of an investment in a qualified opportunity fund held for more than 10 years. Generally, both the deferral and exclusion of the capital gains from federal income will flow through to New York State.  This means those gains will also be deferred and excluded from New York taxable income

 

Opportunity Zones: Eligible Areas

To view eligible census tracts, search by address, area or zip code for New York State information on the HUD Opportunity Zones map.