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Learn About Opportunity Zones From Nationally Recognized Expert Blake Christian: Questions And Answers

Learn About Opportunity Zones From Nationally Recognized Expert Blake Christian: Questions And Answers
 Learn How To Leverage The Opportunity Zone Program

You will receive information from leading tax expert Blake Christian on the Opportunity Zone Program. There are very few people in the country who have this level of expertise on Opportunity Zones. A series of articles and publications will be sent to you that provide substantial information on how the program works. A must have for anyone wanting to gain knowledge and expertise in the world of Opportunity Zones.

  • 1. Which Gains Are Eligible?
  • 2. Qualified Opportunity Fund Requirement
  • 3. Tax Basis Adjustments/Gain Reporting Exemptions
  • 4. Legal Form Of Qualified Zone Fund
  • 5. Percentage of Qualified Property Test/Penalty
  • 6. Ineligible Business Types
  • 7. State Tax Complexities
  • 8. Real Estate “Original Use” Rehab Requirements
  • 9. Who Should And Should Not Invest In A QOF?
  • 10. Hiring Tax Credits – 8500 Tax Incentive Zones
  • 11. 5 Myths About The Opportunity Zone Program
  • 12. 5 Ways To Leverage The Opportunity Zone Program
  • 13. Opportunity Zone Participation Window
  • 14. Open Issues On Opportunity Zones
  • 15. Investment Diversification And Tax Savings

Look at the beautifully built and affordable homes being placed in Opportunity Zones throughout the country. These homes are beautiful and affordable (priced between 54.5K to 127K).

View MitModular Homes at  https://www.mitmodular.com/housing-solutions 

Read the FAQs. AMAZING!!

Contact Blake Christian, Tax Partner at HCVT for more information.

Written by | Posted in Opportunity Zone

Updating Your Opportunity Zone Working Capital Safe Harbor Business Plan ( With Blake Christian Audio Podcast)

Updating Your Opportunity Zone Working Capital Safe Harbor Business Plan

Listen To This Audio Podcast On Opportunity Zones

The end of the COVID Emergency on May 11, 2023 marked a pivotal moment for Qualified Opportunity Zone Businesses (QOZB). These businesses funded by the first quarter of 2023 now have the opportunity to accurately update their Written Working Capital Safe Harbor Plans by September 8, 2023.

What is Working Capital Safe Harbor Plan?

Under Code Section 1400Z-2, a QOZB must keep less than 5% of its assets in “nonqualified financial property,” with reasonable working capital as an exception to this rule. Prior to April 12, 2021, QOZBs were granted the “Working Capital Safe Harbor” (WCSH) which allowed them to hold any amount of working capital for 31 months, provided they had a well-crafted Written Plan and a solid cash-flow analysis showing how the OZ funds will be invested. All this was aimed at meeting the semi-annual 70% QOZB qualified asset test.

However, the Regulations did not address situations during the COVID Emergency, where the original Written (Business) Plan became difficult or impossible to implement due to the ongoing crisis.

What Updates were Made to the Working Capital Safe Harbor Plans?

Have a question about Opportunity Zones? Contact Blake Christian.

Written by | Posted in Opportunity Zone Update • Safe Harbor Business Plan

Tax Intelligence Report: Leading Tax Partner Blake Christian

Tax Intelligence Report: Leading Tax Partner Blake Christian

This article is the first in a series of tax professional profiles written and distributed under The Tax Intelligence Report. This is version 2.0 of this popular tax professional profile series. The purpose of the Tax Intelligence Report is to introduce extraordinary tax professionals and their impact on business and taxpayers. Knowing the high-level of technical competence of the tax professionals profiled through this series is valuable to taxpayers who need this expertise. The tax professionals profiled in The Tax Intelligence Report have tax expertise that has been proven as extraordinary in the world of tax experts.

As an internationally known retained executive tax search professional who has identified thousands of technically gifted tax experts for organizations and taxpayers worldwide, it is my pleasure to introduce readers to Blake Christian, Tax Partner of HCVT in Park City, Utah. Blake Christian is a highly skilled tax expert known nationally as a top 10 Opportunity Zone Influencer. Blake and his team have advised hundreds of investors and professionals regarding the complexities of formation, operation, semi-annual testing and restructuring of QOFs and QOZBs. He is the expert that Partners in other public accounting firms outsource specialty expertise to structure qualified opportunity zones for their own clients. Blake and the HCVT OZ Team have been involved in advising and the formation of over 100 Qualified Opportunity Funds and over 125 Qualified Opportunity Zone Businesses.

Blakes also specializes in holistic tax planning for businesses and their equity holders, profit improvement, economic development, state enterprise zone, Federal empowerment/ renewal community/ gulf opportunity and Indian Tribal Lands Tax Credits.

Blake has years of experience providing tax consulting and compliance services to clients that include multinational, publicly traded corporations, family offices, as well as closely held owner-managed businesses. Here is our interview with Blake Christian.

Kat Jennings: How did you begin your career in tax?
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Written by | Posted in Opportunity Zone • Opportunity Zone Benefits • Opportunity Zone Investment

TaxConnections Member Blake Christian Named Top 25 National Opportunity Zone Influencers

Opportunity Zone Expert Blake Christian

HCVT tax partner Blake Christian was named as one of the Top 25 National Opportunity Zone (OZ) Influencers Overall and a Top 25 OZ Tax Specialist at the June OZ Expo Tax Conference. The OZ Expo parent OpportunityZone.com conducted its eighth OZ conference in a virtual format as a result of COVID. Blake was one of four CPAs who made both Top 25 lists along with fellow California CPA Michael Novogradac. In response to his honor, Blake states that “the OZ community is very appreciative of Ali Jahangiri and the OpportunityZone.com team for their leadership and the amazing OZ Expo speakers and panels they have provided over the years.” https://www.opportunityzone.com/posts/top-25-oz-influencers-2020/

Blake has specialized in various federal and state tax incentive programs for three decades and has been specializing in the OZ Program since the program’s 2017 adoption as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). To date, HCVT has assisted clients with establishing over 100 Qualified Opportunity Funds (QOF), and Qualified Opportunity Zone Businesses (QOZB) comprised of hundreds of millions of dollars that are invested in real estate projects and operating businesses throughout the country. The OZ program has attracted a minimum of $10 billion of equity dollars through the first quarter of 2020. Still, in counting OZ fund dollars that have been invested into non-public funds such as family offices, the funding is likely closer to $40 – $50 billion based on panelists’ comments at the OZ Expo.

Blake credits this award to a variety of others: “While I am very honored and humbled by this recognition, my involvement in this transformative program is a result of numerous collaborations. My talented and hard-working HCVT OZ Team, my partners, and the many clients who were early adopters, as well as OZ attorneys and consultants who have supported our OZ practice.”
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Written by | Posted in Opportunity Zone

TaxConnections Reaches Out To Leading Tax Expert Blake Christian On Opportunity Zones During This Time

Opportunity Zones During Pandemic

We asked TaxConnections Member and leading tax expert Blake Christian, Tax Partner, HCVT, Long Beach, CA/Park City, Utah about the impact on Opportunity Zones during this time. The goal of my questions to Blake was gathering how the pandemic affects Opportunity Zones and advice on strategies moving forward. TaxConnections genuinely appreciates Blake’s input as he offers very valuable insight as a known expert retained by many firm partners nationally to set up Opportunity Zone structures properly for their clients.

Q. Can you tell me how a company or investor will be impacted in terms of Opportunity Zones?

A. Companies and individual investors who are considering, or have already invested into, Opportunity Zone projects will not be un-nerved as much as short-term investors since they are essentially locked into an investment period of ten years or more.
Investors who bailed out of the stock market early and generated large tax gains should look to Opportunity Zone investment opportunities as an alternative investment.

Q. What can organizations do without people having touch points or coming in contact with each other on Opportunity Zones?

A. Aside from site visits related to real estate projects, virtually all of our 40+ Opportunity Zone projects have not required face-to-face interaction and the various clients and advisors are invariably in different cities – so conference calls and video conferencing has worked very well.

The cancellation of various OZ conferences where we can network and share best practices is a clear loss for the short-term – but I foresee this only being an issue for the next 6 to 8 weeks if Americans use common sense.

Q. Any ideas what we could present to the President’s Council on Opportunity Zones regarding current crisis?
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Written by | Posted in Opportunity Zone Program

A Guide To Opportunity Zones – TaxConnections Congratulates Blake Christian Contributing Author

Guide To Opportunity Zones

“Opportunity Zones” are the talk of the investment community. A tax break and social impact combo punch. It is a new section in our tax code sweeping through the country injecting investments into impoverished areas to revitalize communities.It is estimated that $100 billion in private capital will be dedicated towards creating jobs and economic development in Opportunity Zones, according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin.

This book is a guide for investors, developers and Opportunity Zone industry professionals. The book aims to provide readers, both investors and newcomers who want to learn about the Opportunity Zone industry, with an overview and understanding of what it takes to strategically and successfully invest in any of the country’s 8,700 Opportunity Zones. “How to OZ” will give you some basics about Opportunity Zones. It will also shed some light on specific nuances when investing in Opportunity Zones and what issues to consider. We are excited about creating social impact and being part of a movement to create change in distressed areas.

Congratulations To Blake Christian Contributing Author

Go To Amazon For Information About This Book

 

Written by | Posted in Guide To Opportunity Zones

A Smart Strategy To Defer Capital Gains: **Harnessing the Power of Opportunity Zones

A Smart Strategy To Defer Capital Gains: **Harnessing the Power of Opportunity Zones

Are you an investor looking for innovative ways to manage your capital gains?  The Opportunity Zone Program might just be the solution you’ve been seeking. Introduced as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, this program offers substantial tax incentives for investors who funnel their capital gains into designated Opportunity Zones, stimulating economic growth in underserved communities across the United States.

Here’s how it works: By reinvesting short-term or long-term capital gains from various sources—whether it be from a C-Corp, S-Corp, Partnership, or individual stock market activity —into qualified Opportunity Zone investments, investors can defer and potentially permanently reduce their federal and (most) state tax liabilities. Particularly advantageous is the ability to defer capital gains realized in 2023, including those reported in October, November and December, as well as any capital gains incurred in calendar 2024.

By timely investing capital gains into an Opportunity Zone Fund (including a “captive” OZ Fund that you can fully control), investors can achieve several key objectives:

**1. Capital Gain Deferral:** By reinvesting all or a portion of the capital gain income into a Qualified Opportunity Fund with 180 days of generating the capital gain, Investors can defer paying taxes on their long or short-term capital gains until 2026 or until they sell their Opportunity Zone investment, whichever comes first. This deferral allows investors to retain more of their gains to reinvest and compound over time.

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Written by | Posted in Defer Capital Gains • Opportunity Zone

Updating Your Opportunity Zone Working Capital Safe Harbor Business Plan

Updating Your Opportunity Zone Working Capital Safe Harbor Business Plan

The end of the COVID Emergency on May 11, 2023 marked a pivotal moment for Qualified Opportunity Zone Businesses (QOZB). These businesses funded by the first quarter of 2023 now have the opportunity to accurately update their Written Working Capital Safe Harbor Plans by September 8, 2023.

What is Working Capital Safe Harbor Plan?

Under Code Section 1400Z-2, a QOZB must keep less than 5% of its assets in “nonqualified financial property,” with reasonable working capital as an exception to this rule. Prior to April 12, 2021, QOZBs were granted the “Working Capital Safe Harbor” (WCSH) which allowed them to hold any amount of working capital for 31 months, provided they had a well-crafted Written Plan and a solid cash-flow analysis showing how the OZ funds will be invested. All this was aimed at meeting the semi-annual 70% QOZB qualified asset test.

However, the Regulations did not address situations during the COVID Emergency, where the original Written (Business) Plan became difficult or impossible to implement due to the ongoing crisis.

What Updates were Made to the Working Capital Safe Harbor Plans?

Have a question about Opportunity Zones? Contact Blake Christian.

Written by | Posted in Opportunity Zone Update • Safe Harbor Business Plan

Tax Strategies For Lottery Winners May Surprise You!

BLAKE CHRISTIAN- Tax Strategies For Lottery Winners May Surprise You!

Lottery fever remains at a high level lately, thanks in part to jackpots that sometimes exceed $1 billion, including the $1.334 billion Mega Millions winning ticket sold in July to individuals in Illinois, who claimed the prize via an anonymous partnership. They opted for the lump-sum amount.

While those winners chose the lump sum, if a newly wealthy winner comes to you for advice about how to receive the windfall, we strongly recommend carefully evaluating the installment option before claiming the prize.

Installment vs. Lump Sum

Most lottery winners elect the lump-sum option, and their reasons for making this choice are often erroneous. Many believe that installment payouts stop if the winner dies. This is not true. Or they fear the state and/or lottery commission could go bankrupt before they are fully paid out. This is highly unlikely since the installment obligation is backed up by a “laddered” bond portfolio. Other concerns include higher tax rates and/or high inflation in the future — which are valid concerns that should be factored into the analysis.

Taking the lump-sum option on a multimillion-dollar prize is usually a poor decision, partly because winners will take a permanent net-present-value haircut of 30% or more on their payout, plus pay 100% of the tax in the first year of winning.

To explain further, the advertised winning amount is the pretax payout over several decades, often 30 years. By patiently waiting for their annual installments, the winner(s) will receive the full advertised winnings. By electing a lump sum, on the other hand, there will be a time-value-of-money discount, which generally falls in the mid-30% range but can be as high as 39%. (This discount decreases with larger prizes, since a smaller annual return is required to compound the lottery commission’s initial investment and increase to the full prize. Due to the record amount of the recent Mega Millions award, the actual discount rate on the lump-sum payout reportedly dropped to a record low of 17.65%, which may have factored into the Mega Millions jackpot winners’ decision to take the lump sum.)

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Written by | Posted in Blake Christian • Opportunity Zone Tax Advantages • Tax Strategies For Lottery Winners

TaxConnections Trusted Tax Advisors Awards: 2022/2023

Trusted Tax Professionals

According to research by psychologists, Trust is a central part of any human relationship. Trust is a belief that a person will act and behave in certain ways. Trust in a person means that you have a feeling of confidence and security that you can depend on a particular individual. Trust is the number one characteristic desired in a tax advisor. Trust is what everyone searches for when hiring a tax professional to handle your personal information. Trust is the assured reliance on the character, ability, strength or truth of someone or something. Given challenges in the world today, the most valuable asset you can offer is trust!

Trust takes time to build. Relationships take time to build; finding people you trust is what we search for in our most valued relationships. We are taking this time to identify the people we know who are trusted to do a great job for taxpayers. Taxes are complex today. It is challenging time for tax experts and taxpayers to understand the new tax rules and legislation thrust upon us each year. Taxpayers need access to trusted tax experts in the profession. For the purposes of this blog post, we have three goals:

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Written by | Posted in TaxConnections

Year End Tax Savings – Capital Gain Shelter, Four Year Tax Deferral And Tax-Free Appreciation

Year End Tax Savings - Capital Gain Shelter, Four Year Tax Deferral And Tax-Free Appreciation

OZ Funds allow taxpayers to defer federal long and short-term capital gains until April 2027.  In addition all appreciation accruing over a 10 year or more holding period escapes federal taxation.  Depreciation is also not recaptured for long-term holders.

MITmodular has an OZ Fund with commercial real estate and unique manufacturing operations that not only allows the deferral and tax exemption, but also generates bonus depreciation, tax credits and government grants.

MITmodular is an ESG company which designs and manufactures innovative and energy-efficient modular housing primarily out of re-purposed  shipping containers.  Their market includes: Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU’s), homeless housing, workforce housing, affordable housing, upgraded housing for mobile home parks, emergency housing as well as special event and retail uses.

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Written by | Posted in Opportunity Zone Benefits • Tax Credits And Government Grants

Enhancing Returns From Opportunity Zone Projects By Combining Federal, State, And Local Tax Incentives

Enhancing Returns From Opportunity Zone Projects By Combining Federal, State, And Local Tax Incentives

Enhancing Returns From Opportunity Zone Projects By Combining Federal, State, And Local Tax Incentives To Bolster Community Impact

Skeptics may call the federal Opportunity Zone (OZ) program a tax dodge for the wealthy, but there is strong bipartisan support for the program at the federal, state, and local levels. Furthermore, underserved communities (and the small businesses therein) could benefit from billions of dollars in new investments in long-term capital that they might not have received through conventional bank loans or government programs—especially given the current unique and challenging economy. The findings noted in this article are based on the authors’ presupposition that President Biden’s proposed tax increases have increased interest in the deferral and ultimate tax exemption aspects of the OZ program, and investment momentum is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

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Written by | Posted in Opportunity Zone Projects • Tax Planning Strategies • TaxConnections
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