Practical Tax Tips For Individuals Investing In Qualified Opportunity Funds

Qualified Opportunity Funds are investment partnerships that hold up to 90% of assets in the IRS in the designated Qualified Opportunity Zones. The investment has one main objective; to renovate and rebuild a low-income community for those living in these areas. Instead of directly investing in the Qualified Opportunity Zones, the federal government came up with the Qualified Opportunity Funds to offer opportunities to individual investors.

The main benefit of this kind of investment is that these investors can defer paying the tax on the taxable gains for reinvestments that come on and before 31st December 2026. Additionally, it has some practical tax tips that can help the investors, and here are some of them

180-day Statutory Period

According to Qualified Opportunity Funds (QOF), taxpayers must invest their capital gains. The investor usually has up to 180 days from the day of the sale, which then results in capital gains to invest in the QOF. With this tax tip, the investors cant defer gains they got from the Qualified Opportunity Fund investment.

For example, if a pass-through owner decides to defer pass-through gains that occurred in 2021, by default, all the gains got in 2021, and by 31st December 2021, all these gains are considered realized. This is when you assume the calendar tax year, purposely for determining when the 180-day statutory period begins.

Tax Deferral

You can defer the taxes on your reinvested gain until the earliest of 31st December 2026 or up to a date you indicate on your Qualified Opportunity Fund real estate investment. This means the taxability of your gain will be reduced permanently by 10% if you manage to hold your investment for up to five years. In addition, you will get an additional 5% if you manage to hold for at least seven years.

Please note that there is no statutory limit on the amount you realize as gains you can defer through the Qualified Opportunity Fund reinvestments. Therefore, it is best to schedule various QOF investments anticipated in the next five years to match the anticipated realized gains.

Investing In Qualified Opportunity Zones

Investing in the Qualified Opportunity Zones is a tax deferral strategy for investors. Choosing to invest in these communities, which the federal government has classified as being economically distressed, you can reap from the capital gain tax incentives they have. You can defer a qualified capital gain tax on a property sale by investing in the qualified opportunity zone using the qualified opportunity fund.

Your deferral would be in effect until the qualified opportunity fund investment is finally exchanged or sold on 31st December 2026. For your capital gains to become eligible for the tax deferral through the qualified opportunity zone investment program, you must meet some specific requirements.

For instance, your investment needs must be an exchange for equity interests and not debt interests, and you must invest the capital gains within 180 days of the sale of the QOZ property.

Choosing to invest in qualified opportunity funds is the best way to access valuable tax benefits. However, the rules and regulations governing this type of investment are complex and sometimes hard to follow. Therefore, it is best to consult with your tax advisor before you make any investments. In addition, you can include a tax analysis in the due diligence process of the investing process.