Federal Empowerment Zone & Renewal Community Credits

For a calculation of your potential wage benefit in an Empowerment Zone or Renewal Community please provide your location's address, number of employees and industry or type of business. Send the requested information to jmiller@incentisgroup.com or fill out our request form. You will receive an estimate within 1 business day.

The Empowerment Zone Employment Credit (EZ Wage Credit) and Renewal Community Employment Credit (RC Wage Credit) give businesses an incentive to retain or hire individuals who both live and work in an Empowerment Zone (EZ) or a Renewal Community (RC), respectively. Individuals who work within the boundaries of the DC Enterprise Zone are eligible for a home address within the limits of the District of Columbia. The most common benefit for operations within designated zones are eligible businesses can claim a wage credit for “qualified wages” to eligible employees for operations within designated zones. The wage credit is 20% of the first $15,000 in qualified wages per eligible employee within Empowerment Zones and 15% of the first $10,000 in qualified wages per eligible employees within Renewal Communities. Thus, a qualified employer can claim as much as $3,000 per eligible employee per year for the EZ Wage Credit and up to $1,500 per year for the RC Wage Credit. The credit is available with respect to all EZs and RCs beginning January 1, 2002. Designated areas are eligible for wage credits for operations through December 31, 2009.

Empowerment Zone Employment Credit (EZ Wage Credit)

Credit against Federal taxes of up to $3,000 for wages paid to each eligible employee (existing and new hire) who lives and works in the EZ.

Renewal Community Employment (RC Wage Credit)

Credit against Federal taxes up to $1,500 for wages paid to each eligible employee (existing and new hire) who lives and works in the RC.

Incentis Group provides comprehensive review services designed to uncover federal, state and local tax credits and incentives opportunities. The focus of the review is to identify statutory and negotiated credits and incentives that may have gone unclaimed and/or underutilized to assist the Company’s pursuit of refunds as well as future benefits in the form of carry forwards. The end product of our review is an audit ready file, as well as a compliance roadmap to follow to ensure that benefits are properly claimed on future returns.

For more information on Federal Empowerment Zones, Enterprise Zones and Renewal Communities please use the request form.

Quick Links and Resources

Are you located in one of the Federal Empowerment or Renewal Community Zones?

 The Benefits of a Federal Empowerment Zone and Renewal Community