The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) designated 6,576 census tracts across all 50 states, territories and the District of Columbia as new Qualified Opportunity Zones, according to a Thursday announcement.
The action, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2027, will permanently renew the federal Opportunity Zone tax incentive and add enhanced benefits for investment in eligible rural communities. It also establishes a process to redesignate opportunity zones every 10 years, meaning that the newly announced map will remain in place through the end of 2036.
IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank J. Bisignano, in a press release, said that the permanent extension and expansion of the program will “give states an opportunity to attract long-term investment into underserved, rural and economically distressed areas”, and that “the IRS and Treasury are enabling targeted investment and growth in communities where it is needed the most.”
