February 13, 2018

CDFI Fund: $3.5 Billion in New Market Tax Credits Awarded to Spur Economic Growth Nationwide

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) awarded 73 Community Development Entities (CDEs) $3.5 billion in New Markets Tax Credits today. The tax credit allocation awards, made through the calendar year (CY) 2017 round of the New Markets Tax Credit Program (NMTC Program), will help stimulate investment and economic growth in low-income urban neighborhoods and rural communities nationwide.

“Today’s awards will finance projects ranging from manufacturing plants that create jobs to critically needed infrastructure,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “I want to congratulate today’s award recipients for their outstanding work in improving distressed communities.”

The 73 CDEs receiving awards today were selected from a pool of 230 applicants that requested an aggregate total of $16.2 billion in tax credit allocation authority. The award recipients are headquartered in 29 different states, Guam, and the District of Columbia. It is estimated that these award recipients will make more than $685 million in New Markets Tax Credit investments in nonmetropolitan counties.

Today’s announcement brings the total amount awarded through the NMTC Program to $54 billion. Historically, NMTC Program awards have generated $8 of private investment for every $1 invested by the federal government. Through the end of fiscal year 2016, the most recent data available, NMTC Program award recipients deployed more than $44.4 billion in investments in low-income communities and businesses; with impacts such as the creation or retention of nearly 750,000 jobs, and the construction or rehabilitation of more than 190 million square feet of commercial real estate.

2017 NMTC Program Award Resources


About the New Markets Tax Credit Program

The New Markets Tax Credit Program, established by Congress in December 2000, permits individual and corporate taxpayers to receive a non-refundable tax credit against federal income taxes for making equity investments in vehicles known as Community Development Entities (CDEs). CDEs that receive the tax credit allocation authority under the program are domestic corporations or partnerships that provide loans, investments, or financial counseling in low-income urban and rural communities. The tax credit provided to the investor totals 39 percent of the cost of the investment and is claimed over a seven-year period. The CDEs in turn use the capital raised to make investments in low-income communities. CDEs must apply annually to the CDFI Fund to compete for New Markets Tax Credit Program allocation authority.

To learn more about the New Markets Tax Credit Program, please view the program Fact Sheet or visit www.cdfifund.gov/nmtc.

About the CDFI Fund

Since its creation in 1994, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than $2.2 billion to CDFIs, community development organizations, and financial institutions through the CDFI Program, the NACA Program, the Bank Enterprise Award Program, the Capital Magnet Fund, and the Financial Education and Counseling Pilot Program. In addition, the CDFI Fund has allocated $54 billion in tax credit allocation authority to Community Development Entities through the New Markets Tax Credit Program, and guaranteed $1.1 billion in bonds through the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program.

To learn more about the CDFI Fund and its programs, please view the Fact Sheet or visit the CDFI Fund’s website at www.cdfifund.gov.

This post was originally published here.