White House Looks At ‘Opportunity Zone’ Extension In Wake Of COVID-19
The White House is looking at extending a tax break for investments in certain low-income neighborhoods as it tries to find ways to address the devastating impact of the coronavirus on communities of color in America.
A provision in the 2017 tax cut law allows investors to defer and lower their capital gains taxes through 2026 if they invest their profits into designated “opportunity zones” –- areas struggling with high unemployment and low wages.
White House adviser Ja’Ron Smith told NPR that the administration is looking “at ways that we can extend the legislation.”
“We’re having conversations with leaders to figure out how to best approach that,” Smith said. “It’s a tool and there’s a number of other tools we want to leverage, but we want to holistically figure out how we can be a good federal partner.”
Opportunity Zones have been a centerpiece of Trump’s reelection pitch to African American and Latino communities. But the coronavirus pandemic has brought the once booming economy that fueled these projects to a halt. Lawmakers are now asking the administration to make adjustments.
To learn more, check out the whole article below.