Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service announced on Nov. 5 that all 6,576 census tracts nominated by states, territories and the District of Columbia have been designated Qualified Opportunity Zones, effective Jan. 1, 2027. The department's list includes the 25 Rhode Island tracts that Gov. Dan McKee and Rhode Island Commerce announced as nominations on Nov. 4.
Commerce said in its Nov. 4 release that the nominated tracts were subject to Treasury certification, expected later this year. It said the new designations remain in effect through Dec. 31, 2036, and that the original zones designated in 2018 remain in place through Dec. 31, 2028. Treasury said the new designations "retain this designation for ten years."
Where the tracts are
Providence has seven tracts. Pawtucket and Woonsocket have four each, Central Falls has three, Cranston and Newport have two each, and East Providence, Narragansett and Warwick have one each. By our comparison, the 11-digit tract numbers in Commerce's list match the Rhode Island rows in the Treasury file exactly, with no additions or omissions. The file labels the Narragansett tract rural and the other 24 non-rural.
What a designation offers
Commerce says investors in Opportunity Zones can potentially receive three federal capital gains tax incentives: deferral of capital gains tax, a step up in basis on the investment, and tax exclusion. Public Law 119-21, passed in July 2025, made the program permanent, revised eligibility and required a new nomination process, according to Commerce. Treasury said the law also created a process to redesignate zones every 10 years.
Commerce said it picked tracts using three principles: investment attractiveness and market readiness, community need, and alignment with state and local policy goals. It said it gathered feedback from municipalities and stakeholders over several months and invited input on tracts to consider. The release does not say which municipalities proposed tracts or how many tracts were considered.