An Amazon.com Inc. executive said the company doesn’t plan to avail itself of a new U.S. tax break meant to spur investments in poor areas when it builds a headquarters in Queens, New York.
“We will not be using the opportunity zone on this project,” Holly Sullivan, head of economic development at Amazon, told the City Council in a Wednesday hearing on the development’s finances.
The section of Long Island City where Amazon is planning the offices was designated by the state last year to become an opportunity zone. For a limited time, investors who develop real estate or fund businesses in such zones are able to defer capital gains on profits earned elsewhere and completely eliminate them on new investments. The program is part of the December 2017 tax overhaul pushed through by Republicans and President Donald Trump.
Jodi Seth, a spokeswoman for Amazon, confirmed Sullivan’s statement in an email to Bloomberg. She didn’t have immediate comment on whether others involved with the project, such as the private company that owns part of the site, future development partners, or other outside investors, would try to use the tax break.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.