The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) has released its 2012 Notice of Allocation Availability (NOAA), which officially opens this year's round of competition under the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program.
The CDFI Fund is making up to $5 billion in tax credits available under the 2012 round, pending Congressional authorization. This year marks the 10th award round of the program, which was created in 2001.
The NMTC is designed to spur investment of private-sector capital into distressed communities by providing a tax credit to individual or corporate taxpayers that make qualified equity investments in designated Community Development Entities (CDEs). The CDEs, in turn, invest the capital raised into projects and businesses in low-income communities. The credit provided to the investor totals 39% of the investment in a CDE and is claimed over a seven-year credit allowance period. Since the inception of the NMTC program, the CDFI Fund has made 664 awards – totaling $33 billion in tax credit allocation authority – to CDEs.
‘I am pleased to officially open the 2012 round of the NMTC program,’ says CDFI Fund Director Donna J. Gambrell. ‘Since its inception, the New Markets Tax Credit has been the key to financing countless investments in low-income communities, investments that have bettered the lives of Americans across the country. This 10th round of the program will continue the CDFI Fund's goal of promoting community development investments for underserved populations in the U.S.’
NMTC application materials and resources are available on the CDFI Fund's NMTC program website.