What is the Federal Empowerment Zone Tax Credit?

The Federal Empowerment Zone Tax Credit is a tax incentive program for businesses that are located within an “Empowerment Zone” that hire employees who also live within the same zone. Empowerment Zones are areas designated by the government as distressed urban and rural communities in the United States. This program was put into place to help revitalize certain distressed areas. The credit was renewed retroactively at the end of 2015 and is in effect through December 31, 2016.

Empowerment Zones Areas:

Urban Areas

Rural Areas
  • Pulaski County, AR
  • Tucson, AZ
  • Fresno, CA
  • Los Angeles, CA (city and county)
  • Santa Ana, CA
  • New Haven, CT
  • Jacksonville, FL
  • Miami/Dade County, FL
  • Chicago, IL
  • Gary/Hammond/East Chicago, IN
  • Boston, MA
  • Baltimore, MD
  • Detroit, MI
  • Minneapolis, MN
  • St. Louis, MO/East St. Louis, IL
  • Cumberland County, NJ
  • New York, NY
  • Syracuse, NY
  • Yonkers, NY
  • Cincinnati, OH
  • Cleveland, OH
  • Columbus, OH
  • Oklahoma City, OK
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Camden, NJ
  • Columbia/Sumter, SC
  • Knoxville, TN
  • El Paso, TX
  • San Antonio, TX
  • Norfolk/Portsmouth, VA
  • Huntington, WV
  • Ironton, OH
  • Desert Communities, CA (part of Riverside County)
  • Southwest Georgia United, GA (part of Crisp County and all of Dooly County)
  • Southernmost Illinois Delta, IL (parts of Alexander and Johnson Counties and all of Pulaski County)
  • Kentucky Highlands, KY (part of Wayne County and all of Clinton and Jackson Counties)
  • Aroostook County, ME (part of Aroostook County)
  • Mid-Delta, MS (parts of Bolivar, Holmes, Humphreys, Leflore, Sunflower, and Washington Counties)
  • Griggs-Steele, ND (part of Griggs County and all of Steele County)
  • Oglala Sioux Tribe, SD (parts of Jackson and Bennett Counties and all of Shannon County)
  • Middle Rio Grande FUTURO Communities, TX (parts of Dimmit, Maverick, Uvalde, and Zavala Counties)
  • Rio Grande Valley, TX (parts of Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, and Willacy Counties)

Interested to see what you may qualify for? Fill out the form below to see how much you could save!