By BisNow
The Senate Finance Committee on Monday released its version of the massive tax and spending bill that President Donald Trump is pushing for, and it includes a new provision to make the opportunity zone program permanent.
In the draft bill spearheaded by the committee’s chairman, Mike Crapo, the opportunity zone program would become a permanent part of the tax code, with fresh designations every 10 years. The first new cycle would begin on July 1, 2026, and would go into effect in January 2027.
The opportunity zones provision was created as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 as an economic development tool to steer investment toward distressed communities across the country. Governors nominated census tracts in their states that met certain qualifications to become opportunity zones, and the country now has 8,764 OZ census tracts.