The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund has launched an online tool that state governors can use to nominate communities as qualified Opportunity Zones, which provide tax incentives for investing in distressed communities.
Opportunity Zone tax incentives were made permanent under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, later renamed the Working Families Tax Cuts. The bill also enhanced incentives for investment in eligible rural communities. The current nomination period will determine which census tracts are eligible for new investment starting on Jan. 1, 2027.
“Because new designations will occur only once every 10 years, jurisdictions that do not nominate an eligible tract during this window would not have another opportunity until the next designation cycle,” according to a Treasury Department statement.
Nominations can be made online through the CDFI Fund, although registration is required.
