From the Land of OZ – Final OZ Regulations Issued by the IRS/Treasury

On December 19, 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS issued final regulations implementing the Opportunity Zones tax incentive. According to the IRS press release, the final rules seek to provide clarity for Opportunity Funds and their eligible subsidiaries in determining qualification and levels of new investment in Opportunity Zones. They also provide guidance regarding the types of gains that qualify for Opportunity Zone investments, as well as gains that may be excluded from tax after a 10-year holding period.

Read more on our new Opportunity Zones blog.

 

From the Land of OZ: New CRA Regulations proposed – including credit for providing “financing for or supports for a QOF”

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) along with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) released proposed regulations on December 13, 2019 which would institute significant changes to the implementation of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) if implemented.

Read more on our new Opportunity Zones blog.

From the Land of OZ: House Legislation Would Establish OZ Reporting Framework and Penalties; Senate Bill Would Limit Application of OZs

While impeachment discussions continue to garnering most of the headlines, Representatives Ron Kind, D-Wis., Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and Terri Sewell, D-Ala., introduced legislation in the House to establish a reporting framework, disclosure requirements and a penalty structure for qualified opportunity funds (QOFs).

Read more on our new Opportunity Zones blog.

NJEDA launches Opportunity Zone Challenge Program – Brad A. Molotsky, Esq.

On July 16th, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) launched its previously announced Opportunity Zone Challenge Program. The Challenge Program is a competitive $500,000 grant program aimed at supporting community efforts to attract investments in NJ Opportunity Zones. Grants awarded through the program will fund municipal and county-level financial and technical planning around Opportunity Zone (OZ) economic development.

The OZ program is a federal incentive program which was part of the 2018 Tax Act that enables investors to re-deploy capital gains into low-income areas (which are the areas targeted by the designated Opportunity Zones) via the use of a Qualified Opportunity Zone fund (QOF). These Qualified Opportunity Zone funds or QOFs may be self-directed and self-certified. Capital gains placed into these QOFs must then be invested into real estate or a qualified business within applicable opportunity zones that exist within all 50 states in the US.

New Jersey has 169 separate Opportunity Zones which span 75 municipalities across all 21 NJ counties.

According to NJEDA, the Challenge Program is intended to encourage and assist communities in developing specific action plans to guide their pursuit of Opportunity Zone–based investments. The Challenge Program will award 5 grants of up to $100,000 each to select municipal or county governments or municipal partnerships of 2 to 5 municipalities whose applications demonstrate a clear strategic plan to build investment capacity in their applicable Opportunity Zones. The Challenge Program grants are open to all 75 NJ municipalities and 21 counties.

As part of the application process, the applicants are required to designate at least one strategic partner whose external expertise will be used to achieve the Challenge Program’s goals.

Our team is available to answer applicable questions about the Opportunity Zone program and the Challenge Program. Brad A. Molotsky, Esq. (bamolotsky@duanemorris.com)

Opportunity Zones – Additional States Continue to Join the Growing List of Places (39 States in All) Following Federal Form – Brad A. Molotsky, Esq.

Busy times continue in the Opportunity Zone world now that we have gotten past the clarion call of 2018 partnership rollovers into Qualified Opportunity Funds and Qualified Opportunity Zone Businesses that occurred on or before June 28, 2019. In our little corner of the world, deals are getting closed and new engagements happening, in particular on the business side of the ledger and some on the community impact side as well. Interesting and exciting stuff.

Based on my conversations with friends and colleagues at KPMG (thanks team for your continued excellent efforts) regarding the various states and their conformity with the federal OZ program – as of July 14th, 39 states for corporations and 33 states for individuals have elected to follow form with Pennsylvania being the latest to join the hit parade as of last week:

For Corporations:
— 39 states currently are conforming (rolling or updated state IRC conformity; AZ and MN are recent changes; AZ retroactively conforms starting TY18; HI conforms starting in TY19; IA conforms starting in TY19; MN might be retroactive but DOR guidance has not been issued yet)
— 2 states didn’t update IRC conformity
(CA, NH)
— 1 state updated IRC conformity but decoupled from IRC 1400Z (NC)

For Individuals:
— 33 states currently conforming (rolling or updated state IRC conformity; AZ and MN are recent changes; AZ retroactively conforms starting TY18; HI conforms starting in TY19; IA conforms starting in TY19; MN might be retroactive but DOR guidance has not been issued yet)
— 1 state didn’t update IRC conformity (CA)
— 1 state updated IRC conformity but decoupled from IRC 1400Z (NC)
— 6 states where IRC conformity is different for personal income tax or only have selective IRC conformity (AL, AR, MA, MS, NJ, PA) of which three do not conform (AL, MA, MS), one conforms (NJ), one will conform (PA for TYB 1/1/20), and one conforms but only with respect to QOZs located within this state (AR)

Check it out and let us know if you have any questions or need help on your various deals and transactions.

Brad A. Molotsky, Duane Morris LLP

Opportunity Knocks – 2nd Set of Of Opportunity Zone Regulations Issued by Treasury – Duane Morris, LLP

On April 17th the Department of Treasury released a second set of proposed regulations for the Opportunity Zone legislation (the first set of regulations was released in October, 2018) which is intended to encourage economic growth and investment in designated distressed communities (qualified opportunity zones) by providing Federal income tax benefits to taxpayers who invest new capital in businesses located within qualified opportunity zones through a Qualified Opportunity Fund.

The 169 pages of proposed new regulations provide much needed guidance to encourage the future use of the opportunity zone tax benefit and specifically provide guidance for opportunity zone businesses. The following are the highlights of the proposed regulations:

1. Reinvestment of Proceeds from a sale or disposition. A qualified opportunity fund (“QOF”) has 12 months from the time of the sale or disposition of qualified opportunity zone property or the return of capital from investments in qualified opportunity zone stock or qualified opportunity zone partnership interests to reinvest the proceeds in other qualified opportunity zone property before the proceeds would not be considered qualified opportunity zone property with regards to the 90-percent asset test.

2. Real Property straddling an Opportunity Zone and a Non-Opportunity Zone. A business that purchases real property straddling multiple census tracts, where not all of the tracts are designated as a qualified opportunity zones may satisfy the opportunity zone business requirements if the unadjusted cost of the real property inside a qualified opportunity zone is greater than the unadjusted cost of real property outside of the qualified opportunity zone.

3. Safe Harbors for the Fifty Percent (50%) Income Test for Qualified Opportunity Zone Businesses (“QOZBs”).

The proposed regulations provide three safe harbors and a facts and circumstances test for determining whether sufficient income is derived from a trade or business in a qualified opportunity zone for purposes of the 50-percent test.

a. The first safe harbor requires that at least fifty percent (50%) of the services performed (based on hours) for such business by its employees and independent contractors (and employees of independent contractors) are performed within the qualified opportunity zone.

b. The second safe harbor provides that if at least fifty percent (50%) of the services performed for the business by its employees and independent contractors (and employees of independent contractors) are performed in the qualified opportunity zone, based on amounts paid for the services performed, the business meets the fifty percent (50%) gross income test.

c. The third safe harbor provides that a trade or business may satisfy the fifty percent (50%) gross income requirement if: (1) the tangible property of the business that is in a qualified opportunity zone and (2) the management or operational functions performed for the business in the qualified opportunity zone are each necessary to generate fifty percent (50%) of the gross income of the trade or business.

d. Finally, taxpayers not meeting any of the other safe harbor tests may meet the fifty percent (50%) requirement based on a facts and circumstances test if, based on all the facts and circumstances, at least fifty percent (50%) of the gross income of a trade or business is derived from the active conduct of a trade or business in the qualified opportunity zone.

Note that the seventy percent (70%) tangible property test that requires that seventy percent (70%) of the tangible property of the QOZB be located within the Opportunity Zone continues to be operative for QOZBs.

4. Working Capital Plans – the 31 Month Test. The following two changes were made to the safe harbor for working capital.

a. First, the written designation for planned use of working capital now includes the development of a trade or business in the qualified opportunity zone as well as acquisition, construction, and/or substantial improvement of tangible property.

b. Second, exceeding the 31-month period does not violate the safe harbor if the delay is attributable to waiting for government action the application for which is completed during the 31-month period.

5. Measurement Periods. To help startup businesses the proposed regulations allow a qualified opportunity fund to satisfy the ninety percent (90%) without taking into account any investments received in the preceding 6 months provided those new assets being held in cash, cash equivalents, or debt instruments with term 18 months or less. This flexibility is intended to alleviate concerns with a QOF receiving additional capital gain funds right before a testing period and not being able to deploy the funds prior to the testing period.

6. Exclusion Elections. A taxpayer that is the holder of a direct qualified opportunity fund partnership interest or qualifying qualified stock of a qualified opportunity fund S corporation may make an election to exclude from gross income some or all of the capital gain from the disposition of qualified opportunity zone property reported on Schedule K-1 of such entity, provided the disposition occurs after the taxpayer’s 10-year holding period.

7. Continued OZ treatment after Death. Neither a transfer of the qualifying opportunity fund investment to the deceased owner’s estate nor the distribution by the estate to the decedent’s legatee or heir would result in the loss of the opportunity fund investment benefit.

8. Vacant Property. Where a building or other structure has been vacant for at least five (5) years prior to being purchased by a qualified opportunity zone business or qualified opportunity zone business, the purchased building or structure will satisfy the original use requirement.

9. Leased Property – QOZBs; Original Use; Related Party Permissions; Anti-Abuse Rules. Leased property may be treated a qualified opportunity zone business property if the following two general criteria are satisfied.

a. First, leased tangible property must be acquired under a lease entered into after December 31, 2017.

b. Second, substantially all of the use of the leased tangible property must be in a qualified opportunity zone during substantially all of the period for which the business leases the property.

The proposed regulations, however, do not impose an original use requirement with respect to leased tangible property and do not require leased tangible property to be acquired from a lessor that is unrelated. However, the proposed regulations provide one limitation as an alternative to imposing a related person rule or a substantial improvement rule and two further limitations that apply when the lessor and lessee are related.

a. First, the proposed regulations require in all cases, that the lease under which a qualified opportunity fund or qualified opportunity zone business acquires rights with respect to any leased tangible property must be a “market rate lease.”

b. Second, if the lessor and lessee are related, a qualified opportunity fund or qualified opportunity zone business at any time make not make a prepayment to the lessor relating to a period of use of the leased tangible property that exceeds 12 months.

c. Third, the proposed regulations do not permit leased tangible personal property to be treated as qualified opportunity zone business property unless the lessee becomes the owner of tangible property that is qualified opportunity zone business property and that has a value not less than the value of the leased personal property. This acquisition of this property must occur during a period that begins on the date that the lessee receives possession of the property under the lease and ends on the earlier of the last day of the lease or the end of the 30-month period beginning on the date that the lessee receives possession of the property under the lease.

d. Finally, the proposed regulations include an anti-abuse rule to prevent the use of leases to circumvent the substantial improvement requirement for purchases of real property (other than unimproved land). In the case of real property (other than unimproved land) that is leased by a qualified opportunity fund, if, at the time the lease is entered into, there was a plan, intent, or expectation for the real property to be purchased by the QOF for an amount of consideration other than the fair market value.

It is also worth noting that improvements made by a lessee to leased property satisfy the original use requirement and are considered purchased property. Thus, a tenant in a building can also satisfy the QOZB tests noted under the OZ Act.

10. Intangible Assets. For purposes of determining whether a substantial portion of intangible property of a qualified opportunity zone is used in the active conduct of a trade or business, the term “substantial portion” means at least 40 percent.

11. Unimproved Land. Unimproved land that is within a qualified opportunity zone and acquired by purchase is not required to be substantially improved if it is used in a trade or business of the QOF or the QOZB.

12. Investments Held by Funds. Funds have been provided with additional flexibility to hold more than one investment within a fund if they are structured appropriately.

13. Inventory. Inventory in transit to a QOZB within an OZ will be treated as tangible property that counts for purposes of the seventy percent (70%) test for QOZBs even if it is not within the OZ so long as it is on the way.

14. Debt Financed Distributions. Guidance has been provided under the new regulations regarding refinancing and distributions to partners/members which would permit appreciated portions of the property that have been refinanced to be distributed to the partners or members of the QOF on a tax free basis so long as the distribution is not in excess of the investors basis.
We will continue to review the new regulations and intend to issue additional commentary on it. In the interim, feel free to contact us to discuss any questions you have or transactions you are considering in this space.

Brad A. Molotsky and Art Momjian, Co-Heads, The Opportunity Zone Team – Duane Morris LLP

Opportunity Zones – CO Taking the OZ Program Seriously!

Governor Jared Polis announced the formation of a dedicated office within the Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) to cultivate active investment in Colorado’s 126 federally designated Opportunity Zones.

“Colorado has earned national recognition for our thoughtful and inclusive approach designating Opportunity Zones, and we are committed to ensuring that we realize the maximum potential,” said Governor Jared Polis. “It’s vital that we continue to build on this momentum and collaborate with communities and investors to make these opportunities a reality to create good jobs.”

The new team will be led by recently named Opportunity Zone Program Director Jana Persky and charged with engaging stakeholders to facilitate active investment in designated Colorado tracts. The office will provide procedural guidance and technical knowledge to enable communities to secure much-needed investment and is funded through an Economic Development Commission allocation.

The office is partnering with the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) to support communities in developing Opportunity Zone strategies, with the goal of attracting capital to projects that will have a positive community impact.

“DOLA has been working in partnership with local communities and leaders and OEDIT to identify where their designated areas can achieve its full potential,” said DOLA Executive Director Rick Garcia. “Through the Opportunity Zone program, equitable distribution will be possible in some of our rural areas of the state which will provide them with the opportunity to continue along the path towards economic innovation throughout Colorado.”

To help facilitate Opportunity Zone investments, the office will offer grants to support economic modeling, prospectus development, and other technical assistance needed to help community-oriented projects come to fruition.

OEDIT, in conjunction with Startup Colorado and the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network, has also launched CO-Invest.co to connect investors and opportunities – including opportunity zones – to leverage the speed and reach of technology to further facilitate the investment opportunities.

Great to see communities, the State and its economic development teams working hand in glove to deliver great resources and tools to the market place to assist those interested in appropriate investment that is desired by the applicable communities. Way to go CO!

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The opinions expressed on this blog are those of the author and are not to be construed as legal advice.

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