Opportunity Zones give tax breaks to spur development in poor areas. Is state help needed to ensure it works?

A new federal program providing big tax breaks for developments targeting poor neighborhoods could use help in Wisconsin and elsewhere to make sure it works, a new study says.

The Opportunity Zones program, created by 2017 tax cut legislation approved by a Republican-led Congress and signed by President Donald Trump, is supposed to provide capital gains tax relief for long-term investments in distressed communities.

But the program, which took effect in 2018, has been criticized for drawing investments to neighborhoods that aren`t truly poor...

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Ken Notes: Opportunity Zones are really a tax break for the wealthy. This is not a bad thing but it is a fairly complex program that requires lawyers and accountants to participate. It allows those with profits and cap gains to shelter the tax burdens by investing in these "Zones" and can be used by a community to direct investment into areas where it is needed most. Alas for most of us the tax shelter is for those with more money than we have.