Request for Public Comment- Evaluation of the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program

February 4, 2010

Washington, DC - The U.S. Department of Treasury, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Pub. L. No. 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). Currently, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (the CDFI Fund), an office within the Department of the Treasury, is soliciting comments concerning the evaluation of the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program.

This notice should be referenced for the purpose of providing comments on proposed information collections only; it should not be completed and submitted as a request for an allocation of NMTCs. Written comments should be received on or before April 5, 2010 to be assured of consideration.

The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program was established by the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000 to encourage private capital investment in low-income communities that are, or are perceived to be, high investment risks. It permits individual and corporate taxpayers to receive a credit against federal income taxes for making qualified equity investments in designated Community Development Entities (CDEs). Substantially all of the qualified equity investment must in turn be used by CDEs to provide investments in Qualified Active Low-Income Community Businesses, which include both operating businesses and real estate developments. The federal tax credits are allocated competitively by the CDFI Fund to CDEs. CDEs, in turn, select the projects in which to invest.

The evaluation involves multiple research methods to produce valid evidence for describing and assessing program activities and outcomes. The focus is on the program’s primary objective of attracting capital to low-income, economically distressed communities so as to further their economic and community development. The evaluation is intended to inform an array of important policy questions, including:

• How and in what manner the program is affecting the flow of new private capital to low-income communities;
• Where, in what timeframe, and how that capital is invested to achieve community and economic development objectives; and
• Quantity, nature, and quality of the benefits to low-income communities and persons that can potentially be attributed to the NMTC program.

New data must be gathered about NMTC projects beyond what is already being collected by the CDFI Fund. The evaluation includes:

• Review of the relevant economic development, performance measurement, and tax credit literature;
• Interviews with key NMTC stakeholders;
• Analysis of NMTC administrative data;
• Development of a typology of NMTC projects; and
• Examination of secondary public and private data

Please direct all comments to Greg Bischak, Program Manager for Financial Strategies and Research, CDFI Fund, U.S. Department of the Treasury, 601 Thirteenth Street, NW., Suite 200 South, Washington, DC 20005, by e-mail to cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov, or by facsimile to (202) 622–7754. Please note this is not a toll free number.

View Related Federal Register Notice

Analysis of Selected New Markets Tax Credit Projects - Background on Urban Institute Evaluation of NMTC Program

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