Washington, DC -- The U.S. Treasury Department's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund announced today that it received a total of 239 applications under the 2008 round of the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program. These applicants requested an aggregate total of $21,301,795,539 in NTMC allocation authority. A total of $3.5 billion of allocation authority is available this round with no set-aside for the Gulf Opportunity (GO) Zone.

"I am very pleased to see the level of interest in this important program remains strong," said CDFI Fund Director Donna Gambrell. "The impacts and results of investment in low-income communities due to the New Markets Tax Credit Program have remained constant even in this time of economic slow-down. I look forward to both the announcement next fall of those applicants selected under the 2008 round and to the future impact that these allocatees will have by creating jobs and generating economic growth in our nation's low-income communities."

The NMTC Program, established by Congress in December of 2000, permits individual and corporate taxpayers to receive a credit against federal income taxes for making qualified equity investments in investment vehicles known as Community Development Entities (CDEs). The credit provided to the investor totals 39 percent of the cost of the investment and is claimed over a seven-year period. Substantially all of the taxpayer's investment must in turn be used by the CDE to make qualified investments in low-income communities. Successful applicants are selected only after a competitive application and rigorous review process that is administered by the CDFI Fund.

The application deadline was March 5, 2008. The CDFI Fund anticipates announcing the organizations that will receive New Markets Tax Credit allocations in October of 2008.

Through the first five rounds of the NMTC Program, the CDFI Fund has made 294 awards totaling $16 billion in tax credit allocation authority.

Additional information can be found on the CDFI Fund's web site at www.cdfifund.gov