Treasury, IRS designate 6,576 Opportunity Zones across US to spur investment

Key Points:

• The Treasury Department and IRS have designated 6,576 new Opportunity Zones across all 50 states, U.S. territories, and Washington, D.C., effective January 1, 2027, for a 10-year period to encourage private investment in economically distressed areas.
• Of these zones, 2,594 are in rural communities that qualify for enhanced tax incentives under the Opportunity Zones program, which was established by the 2017 tax law and made permanent under the Working Families Tax Cuts.
• Since inception, the program has attracted over $110 billion in private-sector investment, aiming to stimulate economic growth, job creation, and capital flow into historically underserved communities.
• The selection process began July 1, with states, territories, and D.C. nominating eligible census tracts; from 25,332 eligible tracts, about one-quarter were designated as Opportunity Zones.
• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent emphasized the program’s role in providing long-term certainty for investors and local leaders to support economic revitalization in overlooked communities.