Understanding Opportunity Zone Tax Incentives in Light of New Congressional Oversight and the TIGTA Report

Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
Intermediate
- work Practice Area
Tax Law
- event Date
Wednesday, July 13, 2022
- schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- timer Program Length
90 minutes
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
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BARBRI is a NASBA CPE sponsor and this 110-minute webinar is accredited for 2.0 CPE credits.
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BARBRI is an IRS-approved continuing education provider offering certified courses for Enrolled Agents (EA) and Tax Return Preparers (RTRP).
This CLE/CPE webinar will provide tax counsel and advisers with a detailed analysis of the qualified opportunity zone (QOZ) tax incentives in light of new congressional oversight and the recent Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) report. The panel will discuss recent developments and congressional oversight for QOZ tax incentives and critical challenges for taxpayers stemming from the TIGTA report. The panel will discuss methods to ensure deferral or reduction of capital gains and outline additional tax planning strategies associated with opportunity zone funds and businesses.
Faculty

Mr. Stein specializes in tax controversies, as well as tax planning for individuals, businesses and corporations. For more than 25 years, he has represented individuals with sensitive issue civil tax examinations where substantial penalty issues may arise, and extensively advised individuals on foreign and domestic voluntary disclosures regarding foreign account and asset compliance matters. Mr. Stein is well respected for his expertise and judgment in handling matters arising from the U.S. government’s ongoing enforcement efforts regarding undeclared interests in foreign financial accounts and assets, including various methods of participating in a timely voluntary disclosure to minimize potential exposure to civil tax penalties and avoiding a criminal tax prosecution referral. Mr. Stein is a frequent lecturer at national and regional conferences on topics including tax compliance sensitive issues, IRS examinations, State and Federal worker classification issues, etc.

Mr. Horwitz has over 35 years of experience as a tax attorney specializing in the representation of clients in civil and criminal tax cases, including civil audits and appeals, tax collection matters, criminal investigations, administrative hearings and in civil and criminal trials and appeals in federal and state courts. He has served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Taxation Section of the State Bar of California and was Chair of the Taxation Section for 2015-2016 year. Mr. Horwitzwas previously Chair of the Tax Procedure and Litigation Committee of the State Bar Taxation Section. Prior to joining Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez P.C., Mr. Horwitz was with a boutique tax controversy firm in Orange County, where he represented clients in civil and criminal tax cases in the U.S. Courts of Appeal, U.S. district courts, California superior courts, and before the Internal Revenue Service, the California Franchise Tax Board, the Board of Equalization, the Employment Development Department and the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. He has been a speaker on tax matters at the UCLA Tax Controversy Institute, the Annual Meeting of the Taxation Section of the California Bar and the California State Bar Annual Meeting. Mr. Horwitz has authored articles on tax law that have appeared in diverse publications, including Tax Notes, the Federal Lawyer (the publication of the Federal Bar Association), and the California Tax Lawyer. His monograph in “Responsible Persons and Fiduciary Liability” was published in the Proceedings of the New York University 75th Institute on Federal Taxation. Mr. Horwitz was an invited delegate to the 2015 U.S. Tax Court Judicial Conference. He is a member of the Planning Committee of the UCLA Tax Controversy Institute. Mr. Horwitz is a member of the bar in California and in Illinois. He is admitted to practice in the United States District Courts for the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Seventh, Ninth and Federal Circuits, the U.S. District Courts for the Central, Southern, Northern and Eastern Districts of California, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. Tax Court. He was named a Southern California Super Lawyer 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Mr. Stigile specializes in tax controversies as well as tax, business, and international tax. His representation includes Federal and state tax controversy matters and tax litigation, including sensitive tax-related examinations and investigations for individuals, business enterprises, partnerships, limited liability companies, and corporations. His practice also includes complex civil tax examinations, administrative appeals and tax collection proceedings (where he is widely respected for achieving meaningful resolutions of difficult tax collection issues). Mr. Stigile frequently writes and lectures on topics involving taxation.
Description
On Feb. 7, 2022, TIGTA issued a final report assessing IRS implementation of the QOZ program providing critical insight into the actions likely to be taken by the IRS in auditing qualified opportunity funds (QOFs) and their investors. Tax counsel and advisers must understand the QOZ rules and challenges in light of the TIGTA report to effectively advise clients.
The QOZ program allows taxpayers to defer and reduce capital gains by allowing the taxpayer to reinvest capital gain proceeds in a QOF. This new incentive investment program subsidizes growing businesses in low-income communities through short- and long-term capital gains deferral, providing a substantial step-up in tax basis and tax abatement on the post-investment appreciation.
To take advantage of the program's tax benefits, a taxpayer must reinvest capital gain proceeds in a QOF within 180 days from the date of the sale or exchange of a capital asset. A QOF must hold at least 90 percent of the fund's assets in QOZ property.
The recently issued TIGTA report concluded that (1) additional actions are needed to address QOF noncompliance with the QOZ program requirements; (2) additional actions are needed to identify and address inaccurate or incomplete investor reporting on Form 8997, and (3) additional tracking recommendations are needed to ensure compliance and effectively identifying false information and noncompliance.
Tax counsel and advisers must understand and develop planning techniques to assist individuals or businesses seeking to invest capital, raise funds, or that will recognize significant capital gains in the next few years.
Listen as our panel discusses critical provisions of the TIGTA report and its impact on the QOZ program, QOZ tax incentives as an investment tool for taxpayers, the necessary legal requirements and processes to achieve the tax benefits, and techniques to ensure deferral or reduction of capital gains, as well as a discussion of critical open issues, analysis, and recommended guidance for counsel and advisers.
Outline
- Key issues in light of the TIGTA report
- Processes and criteria designating QOZs
- Securing the tax benefits of opportunity zone investments
- Best practices and tax planning techniques for counsel
Benefits
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- How does the recent TIGTA report provide clarity and challenges for investors?
- What are the opportunity zones and eligibility requirements under IRC 45D(e)?
- What tax benefits do opportunity zones provide?
- What are opportunity zone funds and QOZ businesses?
- How can taxpayers ensure the deferral or reduction of capital gains and the appreciation exclusion?
NASBA Details
Learning Objectives
After completing this course, you will be able to:
- Understand potential challenges for taxpayers in light of the recent TIGTA report on the QOZ program
- Recognize eligibility requirements for opportunity zones under IRC 45D(e)
- Determine tax benefits realized due to investment in opportunity zones
- Identify qualifying opportunity zone funds and businesses
- Ascertain methods to defer or reduce capital gains and the appreciation exclusion
- Field of Study: Taxes
- Level of Knowledge: Intermediate
- Advance Preparation: None
- Teaching Method: Seminar/Lecture
- Delivery Method: Group-Internet (via computer)
- Attendance Monitoring Method: Attendance is monitored electronically via a participant's PIN and through a series of attendance verification prompts displayed throughout the program
- Prerequisite: Three years+ business or public firm experience at mid-level within the organization, preparing complex tax forms and schedules, supervising other preparers/accountants. Working knowledge and understanding of tax credits, sourcing rules; foundational knowledge of basis calculations and capital gains tax.

Strafford Publications, Inc. is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of Accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE Credits. Complaints regarding registered sponsons may be submitted to NASBA through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org.

Strafford is an IRS-approved continuing education provider offering certified courses for Enrolled Agents (EA) and Tax Return Preparers (RTRP).
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