LePage Has 3 Weeks To Designate State's 'Opportunity Zones'

AUGUSTA, Maine - Republican Gov. Paul LePage has less than three weeks to select Maine communities that could benefit from an economic development program included in the 2017 GOP federal tax overhaul.
 
Under the program, governors can designate "opportunity zones'' in a limited number of low-income areas for investors to receive significant tax breaks. The Portland Press Herald reports rules for the program are still under development by the IRS.
 
Under the tax bill, Maine can designate up to 25 percent of its low-income Census tracts - areas between 2,500 and 8,000 residents - as opportunity zones, which works out to 31 tracts statewide.
 
Investors can reinvest capital gains - profits from the sale of investments - in the zones through a process that will ultimately reduce their capital gains taxes.