Camden Renewal Community

This year, $6 billion in incentives were made available to promote community development nationally. Camden is among the 28 “urban” areas in the nation designated  as a Renewal Community by the Department of Housing & Urban Development.

Businesses in the Camden Renewal Community can take advantage of wage credits, tax deductions, capital gains exclusions and bond financing to stimulate economic development and job growth. Each incentive is tailored to meet the particular needs of the business and offers a significant inducement for companies to locate and hire additional workers.

To see if your Business lies within the Renewal Community please click here.

What businesses can benefit from the Renewal Community Initiative?

Tax Credits

  • Wage credits are especially attractive to businesses looking to grow. These businesses are able to hire and retain RC residents and apply the credits against their federal tax liability. Businesses located within the new Renewal Community will enjoy up to a $1,500 credit for every newly hired or existing employees who lives in the RC.
  • Work Opportunity Credits provide businesses located with Renewal Communities up to $2,400 against their Federal tax liability for each employee hired from groups with traditionally high unemployment rates or other special employment needs, including youth who live in the RC.
  • Welfare to Work Credits offer RC businesses a credit of up to $3,500 (in the first year of employment) and $5,000 (in the second year) for each newly hired long-term welfare recipient.

Tax Deductions

  • Commercial Revitalization Deductions permit a State with one or more RC’s to deduct $12 million per RC per year, up to $10 million per project for commercial or industrial buildings developed in the RC’s. A business can deduct up to $5 million in the year the building is placed in service or deduct the full amount of eligible expenditures pro rata over 10 years. To apply, click on application.
  • Section 179 Deductions under the tax code allow a qualified Renewal Community business to expense up to $35,000 of additional qualified property such as equipment and machinery acquired each year during the period of the RC designation, 2002 through 2009.
  • Environmental Cleanup Cost Deductions allow businesses to deduct qualified cleanup costs in Brownfields.

Capital Gains Exclusions

Zero Percent Capital Gains Rate applies to an interest in, or property of, certain businesses operating in a Renewal Community, if the asset is acquired during the period of the RC designation and held for at least 5 years.

Other Incentives

Like all distressed communities, Renewal Communities will also be able to take advantage of the New Markets Tax Credits that provide investors with a credit against their federal taxes of 5 to 6 percent of the amount invested in a distressed area. Also available to Renewal Communities is the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit providing credit against Federal taxes for owners of newly constructed or renovated rental housing.

ATTENTION: The CEZC will provide technical assistance to RC businesses with a series of informational seminars to educate RC businesses on the various tax incentives and opportunities.  If interested please contact us at 856.365.0300 x23 or by email.

To see if your Business lies within the Renewal Community please click here.

How can I find out more about Renewal Community benefits?

You can access the Tax Incentive Guide for Businesses in the Renewal Communities online at HUD’s web site.  You can also access IRS Publication 954 (Guide to Tax Incentives for Empowerment Zones and Other Distressed Communities) online at the Internal Revenue Service website.  You can e-mail tax questions to the Internal Revenue Service at [email protected]. 

The Community & Economic Development Office, U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development, and the Internal Revenue Service are gathering questions about how the Renewal Community tax incentives will work.  Please visit our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) compiled by the IRS for Renewal Community businesses.

To see if your Business lies within the Renewal Community please click here.

For more information please contact:

Rick Cummings, Managing Director
CEZC817 Carpenter Street
Camden, NJ 08102
Phone: (865) 365-0500 ext 10