Facebook image
Skip navigation
Back

New Markets Tax Credit Program

The federal New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program serves as a resource to help fuel job creation and economic development efforts by promoting equity investment in low-income urban and rural communities. Through its Community Development Entity, WHEDA awards NMTCs to enhance financing for projects in highly distressed areas throughout Wisconsin that have demonstrable community impact.

Benefits to Businesses

Businesses involved in NMTC deals can obtain benefits including lower interest rates on loans, interest-only payments for seven years, non-traditional financing not available in the marketplace, access to a reduced cost of capital, and more. NMTC recipients include manufacturers, small technology firms, inner-city shopping centers, commercial real estate developments, retail stores, hotels, and health care facilities.

Projects must be located in highly distressed census tracts – which are determined by factors such as poverty rates, unemployment rates and the percentage of median family income. The NMTC is a competitive program administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.

Impact in Wisconsin

Since 2004, the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), through its Community Development Entity, has received $575 million in New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs) by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The NMTC program, originated by Congress in 2000, provides individual and corporate tax incentives to investors who make equity investments in Community Development Entities, which invest in rural and urban low-income communities.

Businesses involved in NMTC deals obtain access to a reduced cost of capital. Communities benefit from jobs created through investments as well as greater access to public facilities, goods, and services. 

WHEDA has established three Community Development Entities to receive and administer NMTCs:  The Wisconsin Community Development Legacy Fund (WCDLF) from 2004 to 2012, the Greater Wisconsin Opportunities Fund (GWOF) from 2012 to 2018, and Lift Wisconsin from 2018 to the present.

View Featured NMTC Projects

Nondiscrimination Statement

In accordance with federal law and U.S. Department of the Treasury policy, Greater Wisconsin Opportunities Fund, Inc. is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability.  To file a complaint of discrimination, write to Department of the Treasury, Office of Civil Rights and Diversity, 1500 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.  20220 or call (202) 622-1160.