Opportunity Zones Face Bleak End of Year Deadline

There’s a bleak deadline quickly approaching for the tax conscious. Qualified opportunity zones have been a tactical maneuver to defer capital gains for investments and see some step-up in basis to reduce taxes. But that ends come December 31, 2021. Starting January first, those tax advantages disappear. That seems to be nudging some last-minute investing.

QOZs were part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs law, which times out on December 31, 2026. Before then, taking capital gains and investing them into a QOZ has offered two tax benefits. One is tax deferral through 2026, unless there’s a disposition of the investment first. That allows the investor to make additional money from the tax payment during the deferral.