The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (Pub. L. 115-97) created a tax incentive for investors who reinvest eligible gains into qualified Opportunity Funds that in turn deploy these resources into qualified low-income communities, known as Opportunity Zones. In order to take advantage of this incentive, State Chief Executive Officers must nominate qualifying low-income communities for designation as qualified Opportunity Zones no later than March 21, 2018 (or April 20, 2018, if a 30-day extension is requested). The Secretary of the Treasury is required to certify such nominations and designate the qualified Opportunity Zones within 30 days of receipt of the nomination (or within 60 days if a 30-day extension of the consideration period is requested). The CDFI Fund, which will administer the designation of qualified Opportunity Zones on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service, created the Opportunity Zone Nomination Tool in response to this statutory requirement.
It is critical that the CDFI Fund receive Emergency PRA approval for the Opportunity Zone Nomination Tool. State Chief Executive Officers are required to designate qualified Opportunity Zones no later than March 21, 2018 (or April 20, 2018, if a 30-day extension is requested). Therefore, the CDFI Fund needs to be able to provide the Opportunity Zone Nomination Tool as soon as possible in order to meet the statutory requirement included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (Pub. L. 115-97). If State Chief Executive Officers fail to provide Opportunity Zone Nomination Tools by the statutory deadline then low-income communities that are eligible for designation as qualified Opportunity Zones will not receive these benefits. There will not be additional opportunities for new nominations after this deadline.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the Act, Pub. L. 115-97) requires the Chief Executive Officer of a State until March 21, 2018 to nominate certain low-income communities for designation as qualified Opportunity Zones. This information collection was developed in response to this Act to effectively and efficiently collect the information on these nominated communities.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.