In short
Where the 2027 opportunity zone map, the rolling five-year deferral and the September 2026 reporting regulations stand, with the dates that decide what to do with a 2026 gain.
The 2027 opportunity zone map is being drawn right now. Governors’ nomination window opened July 1, 2026, can run with extension to October 28, 2026, and Treasury’s certifications are due by November 27, 2026, or December 28, 2026 with extension. New zones take effect January 1, 2027 and run through December 31, 2036. For an investor with a 2026 gain the decision is binary: invest by December 31, 2026 under the old rules, where deferral ends on that same date, or invest on or after January 1, 2027 for a five-year rolling deferral. Here is the guidance issued so far and what is still missing.
What Public Law 119-21 changed
Section 70421 of the July 2025 act made the program permanent with a new designation round every ten years. The statutory changes that matter for 2027, from section 1400Z-1 and section 1400Z-2:
- A low-income community now means a tract whose median family income does not exceed 70% of the statewide or metropolitan figure, or a tract with a poverty rate of at least 20% and median family income not above 125%. The old 80% test is gone.
- A state may designate no more than 25% of its low-income tracts. The contiguous-tract route used in 2018 was removed.
- A designation lasts ten years from the January 1 after certification.
- For amounts invested after December 31, 2026, deferred gain is included at the earlier of a sale or the date five years after the investment. Basis steps up 10% at five years, or 30% in a qualified rural opportunity fund.
- After a ten-year hold, basis equals fair market value on sale, or the value at the 30-year mark if held longer.
- Existing zones expire December 31, 2028; Puerto Rico’s deemed zones expire December 31, 2027.
The planned opportunity zones after the 2025 act page covers the full statute.
The 2027 map: the dates in Rev. Proc. 2026-14
Rev. Proc. 2026-14, effective April 6, 2026, sets the nomination procedure and publishes the list of eligible tracts in an appendix spreadsheet. The determination period is the 90 days beginning July 1, 2026. Nominations submitted early are treated as received at the end of the 90 days, so a governor can file in batches and amend. A 30-day extension runs the window to October 28, 2026 at the latest. Treasury then has a 30-day consideration period, ending November 27, 2026, extendable to December 28, 2026. Every tract certified under the procedure is designated from January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2036. The planned 2027 designations page will carry the map when it is final.
Guidance for investors with 2026 gains: Notice 2026-40
Notice 2026-40, issued in June 2026, announces forthcoming proposed regulations and gives transitional rules. Section 4 is the part a seller needs.
- Gain invested in a fund on or before December 31, 2026 is governed by the prior statute. The deferred gain is included in the taxable year that contains the earlier of an inclusion event or December 31, 2026. Someone investing in October 2026 defers for weeks, not years.
- Gain realised “on, before, or after December 31, 2026” and invested on or after January 1, 2027 can be deferred under the amended statute. The deferred gain is included at the earliest of a sale or exchange of the investment, another inclusion event, or five years from the investment date. The 10% and 30% basis increases apply.
- The 180-day investment window from the gain event still governs timing, so a gain realised in October 2026 can be invested in January 2027 and still be timely.
Section 5 addresses funds. Tangible property acquired after December 31, 2026 for use in a previously designated zone generally will not qualify as zone business property unless it fits a written-plan safe harbor adopted before that date; the notice’s examples show a 2027 warehouse purchase in an expiring zone failing the general rule. The notice says the regulations are expected to apply to taxable years ending after the notice’s issue date. The planned rolling five-year deferral page compares the two paths in detail.
The September 2026 reporting regulations
On September 11, 2026 Treasury published a notice of proposed rulemaking, REG-116506-25 at 91 FR 57968, implementing the act’s new information-return requirements. Funds would file information returns with the IRS and furnish statements to investors who dispose of interests; zone businesses would furnish statements to the funds that hold them; the rules clarify penalties for failing to file, clarify fund self-certification, and add procedures to revoke an inadvertent certification or voluntarily decertify. Comments are due October 16, 2026, and a telephonic hearing is set for November 5, 2026. A correction ran September 28, 2026. For an investor the practical effect is better paperwork when you exit, and a clearer answer to whether the fund you are in is properly certified.
What is still open
- The final 2027 map. Certification can run to December 28, 2026.
- The substantive proposed regulations promised in Notice 2026-40. The Federal Register shows only the reporting rule as of September 30, 2026.
- Fund launches. Sponsors cannot form 2027-zone funds around specific tracts until certification, so expect offerings to follow the map rather than precede it. We do not publish launch counts; none exist on a public source.
What to do now
- If you have a 2026 gain, have your CPA model both paths: a December 2026 investment with inclusion at year end, or a 2027 investment with the five-year deferral and the 10% step-up. The 180-day clock from your sale decides whether you have the choice.
- If you are considering a specific project, check its tract against the Rev. Proc. 2026-14 appendix and, for property in an existing zone, ask the sponsor whether a written plan was adopted before December 31, 2026.
- For a real estate gain, compare the fund route with a section 1031 exchange, which defers the whole gain with no five-year inclusion. Start with can 1031 funds go into an opportunity zone fund and our qualified opportunity zone page.
- Request a proposal if a sale is already scheduled; the dates above leave little room after a fourth-quarter closing.
