Opportunity Zones – How a Trump Tax Break to Help Poor Communities Became a Windfall for the Rich

“Perhaps 95 percent of this is doing no good for people we care about.”

The stated goal of the tax benefit — tucked into the Republicans’ 2017 tax-cut legislation — was to coax investors to pump cash into poor neighborhoods, known as opportunity zones, leading to new housing, businesses and jobs.

Many of the projects that will enjoy special tax status were underway long before the opportunity-zone provision was enacted.

“Capital is going to flow to the lowest-risk, highest-return environment.”

Even supporters of the initiative agree that the bulk of the opportunity-zone money is going to places that do not need the help, while many poorer communities are so far empty-handed.

By Jesse Drucker and Eric Lipton