Incentives
State & Federal Incentives
Learn more about available State and Federal incentives to support your business relocation and expansion efforts.
Hub Zone
The Hub Zone Program provides small businesses located in designated Hub Zone census tracts with federal contracting opportunities. Administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits
The Historic Rehabilitation Income Tax Credits – Reductions in federal and state income tax liability is for private taxpayers who rehabilitate historic buildings. For information about state credits, contact the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. For information about federal credits, visit the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website.
Workforce Development
Various workforce development resources offer valuable job assistance and training opportunities throughout the region. They include:
- City of Suffolk Workforce Development Center
- Old Dominion University (ODU) Center for Innovation
- Hampton Roads Workforce Council
- Paul D. Camp Community College (PDCCC) Regional Workforce Development Center
- Tidewater Community College (TCC) Regional Workforce Development Center
- Virginia Employment Commission (VEC)
Opportunity Zone
Opportunity Zones are a new community development program established by Congress in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 to encourage long-term investments in selected census tracts. Suffolk’s Opportunity Zone is located in Census Tract 51800065400 (includes the former Golden Peanut industrial site and Suffolk Industrial Park), see map.
Excerpt from accountingtoday.com
Investors have 180 days to roll a capital gain into a qualified opportunity fund in order to realize several important tax benefits:
- A temporary tax deferral for capital gains reinvested in an opportunity fund. The deferred gain must be recognized on the earlier of the date on which the opportunity zone investment is sold or Dec. 31, 2026.
- A step-up in basis for capital gains reinvested in an opportunity fund. The basis of the original investment is increased by 10 percent if the investment in the qualified opportunity zone fund is held by the taxpayer for at least five years. It is increased by an additional 5 percent if held for at least seven years, thus excluding up to 15 percent of the original gain from taxation.
- A permanent exclusion from taxable income of capital gains from the sale or exchange of an investment in a qualified opportunity zone fund, if the investment is held for at least 10 years. This exclusion applies to the gains accrued from an investment in an opportunity fund, and not the original gains invested into an opportunity fund.
To see exactly how much more an investor can save, compare a $100,000 capital gain rolled into a traditional stock portfolio versus an opportunity fund both earning a 7 percent annual return. After ten years, net of taxes, the total return on the stock portfolio would be 32 percent. Meanwhile, the net, after-tax return on the opportunity fund investment would be 73 percent. On an after tax basis, opportunity funds could mean a two times higher return on investment as compared to a traditional stock portfolio.
Virginia Jobs Investment Program
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership’s (VEDP) Virginia Jobs Investment Program (VJIP) provides services and funding to companies creating new jobs or experiencing technological change.