I’m not used to seeing the government offer taxpayers a win-win.
But a little known provision snuck into Trump’s 2017 tax reform law is possibly the best tax-advantaged investment strategy offered in decades. And it will help some of the poorest areas of the US too.
It’s the brainchild of Sean Parker, the founder of Napster and the first major investor in Facebook.
Traveling in Tanzania, he realized none of the $2 billion worth of aid flowing into the country each year reached certain poor areas.
And he noticed something similar about the US, in the poor neighborhoods of San Francisco.
Here all his Silicon Valley buddies were sitting on record high gains in almost every asset class after a decade bull run. But they had no incentive to collect their gains, and invest them in the areas that needed it most.
The solution was Opportunity Zones.
It’s a win-win scenario. You get an amazing tax deal, while helping to solve the income disparity in the US.
The legislation allowed states to designate “ …