Originally published by Ray Chambers on LinkedIn: Investing in Opportunity
Four years ago, Sean Parker and I visited. Sean spoke eloquently and passionately about the disparity in our country between the haves and have-nots. He pointed out that there could be trillions of dollars tied up in capital gains profits or equity that would probably not be liquefied because of the deterrent of the capital gains tax.
Sean outlined a possibility of legislation that could allow the seller of a capital asset to defer the capital gains tax if he or she were to reinvest the proceeds of that sale into one of the inner cities of the United States. I told him I thought it was a great idea, and encouraged him to pursue that objective.
Last year, Sean was able to convince Senators Cory Booker and Tim Scott that sponsoring legislation along the lines of his idea could produce a flow of capital to the poorest parts of our country unlike any catalyst before. Sean tirelessly met with Senators and Congress people and the legislation, entitled the Investing in Opportunity Act, became a reality as part of the tax reform act of 2017.
Now, governors of each state must select their “opportunity zones“ by March 22nd. It is fairly clear to me that billions of dollars of investment capital will move to the inner cities and poorer rural zones in our country as a result of this legislation.
We all have to thank Sean for his creativity and his tireless effort to more equitably level the playing field in the United States.