Louisiana Gulf Opportunity Zone Business Guide

In September 2005 Congress passed the Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005 (KETRA), which created many tax code changes to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims and those taxpayers helping victims of the disaster. The GO Zone Act extends many of the KETRA provisions to the victims of Hurricane Rita and expands certain benefits to small businesses impacted by both storms.

The Louisiana GoZone Business Guide has been compiled by a group of experts in their respective fields to summarize the provisions of the GO Zone Act and to clarify many of the complex sections.

The programs addressed in this Guide include:

• An enhanced net operating loss carryback that provides for a portion of the NOL that is a "qualified GO Zone Loss" to be carried back five years rather than two years
• The expanded ability to expense up to 50% of demolition and cleanup costs as well as more time to remediate and expense certain environmental cleanup costs
• Employee retention and work opportunity tax credits
• Expanded treatment of personal casualty losses

Financial incentives for new development and rehabilitation addressed in this Guide include:

• Tax-exempt bond financing available for a limited time to private businesses for office buildings, warehouses, rental housing, manufacturing facilities, shopping centers, retail stores and many other private sector projects
• 50% bonus depreciation for new development
• The increase in deductions for Section 179 depreciation of new and used personal property used in a trade or business and certain other eligible property
• Rehabilitation tax credits to restore commercial buildings
• An expanded amount of low-income housing tax credits