Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #OZs
Most recents (3)
This week – shortly after he ordered federal police to violently remove peaceful protesters of police violence against Black people – the President cited #OpportunityZones as evidence of his support for the Black community.
This is outrageous and enraging in many, many ways (see thread from @Connor__Maxwell for a few of them).
But focusing specifically on the #OZ claim for a second:
But focusing specifically on the #OZ claim for a second:
At their core, #OpportunityZones are a capital gains tax break.
And who benefits from capital gains tax breaks? Almost exclusively high-income households, who are overwhelmingly white.
And who benefits from capital gains tax breaks? Almost exclusively high-income households, who are overwhelmingly white.
Though it's not new or unique for companies to lobby agencies for favorable regulations, the scope & scale of the lobbying post-2017 tax law - & apparent success of that effort - is pretty striking.
nytimes.com/2019/12/30/bus…
nytimes.com/2019/12/30/bus…
We raised this flag as Treasury enacted regulations implementing the unprecedented 20% pass-through deduction.
The tax break was one of costliest (and most tilted to the wealthy) in the law, and the Treasury regulations likely made those issues worse.
cbpp.org/blog/pass-thro…
The tax break was one of costliest (and most tilted to the wealthy) in the law, and the Treasury regulations likely made those issues worse.
cbpp.org/blog/pass-thro…
As @JesseDrucker and @jimtankersley point out in the article, #OZs are another example.
JCT's updated 2019 expenditure estimate approximately doubled vs. 2018 - and the investor-friendly regulations could increase the cost even more.
JCT's updated 2019 expenditure estimate approximately doubled vs. 2018 - and the investor-friendly regulations could increase the cost even more.
Good piece from @Pat_Garofalo on #OZs. Quick thread on why this is important. /1
It's not *necessarily* a bad thing for an area w/a sports stadium to be designated as an OZ. There could, of course, be high poverty in such areas, and those folks could benefit from government intervention. /2
The issue, as I’ve noted, is lack of targeting. Without adequate restrictions in the statute/regs, nothing prevents a situation where all OZ $$ in these zones enriches already-wealthy teams & owners/investors, w/o benefiting low-income residents. /3
