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Coronavirus – Related Tax Relief for Qualified Opportunity Funds and Investors

The IRS has provided tax relief to Qualified Opportunity Funds (QOFs) and their investors in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, if a taxpayer’s 180th day to invest in a QOF would have fallen on or after 4/1/20 and before 12/31/20, the taxpayer now has until 12/31/20 to invest eligible gain in a QOF. Also, the period between 4/1/20 and 12/31/20 is suspended for purposes of the 30-month period during which property may be substantially improved. The IRS also has announced that, due to COVID-19, a QOF’s failure to hold less than 90% of its assets in Qualified Opportunity Zone Property on any semiannual testing date from 4/1/20 through 12/31/20 is due to reasonable cause under IRC Sec. 1400Z-2(f)(3) and such failure does not prevent qualification of an entity as a QOF or an investment in a QOF from being a qualifying investment. Notice 2020-39 and News Release IR 2020-114.