New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program

New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program

Administers New Markets Tax Credit allocations through Community Development Entities to attract private investment in low-income communities.

The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program is administered by the CDFI Fund, an office of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and allocates federal tax-credit authority to Certified Community Development Entities (CDEs). CDEs use that allocation authority to attract private equity investment from individuals and corporations into qualifying low-income community businesses and projects, with investors receiving a 39% federal income tax credit claimed over 7 years on their Qualified Equity Investments (QEIs). The program is authorized at $5 billion per year and has historically received bipartisan congressional reauthorization. As of May 2026 the CY2024 allocation cycle has been announced (December 23, 2025), with the next cycle expected to open in late 2026.

The CDE — not the end-business — is the direct applicant to Treasury. CDEs must be CDFI Fund-certified and submit a competitive application during the annual NOFA cycle; the CY2024 application window ran from November 19, 2024, through January 29, 2025. End-use businesses seeking NMTC-enhanced financing do not apply to Treasury directly — they approach CDE awardees and negotiate NMTC-enhanced loan or equity structures. Through FY2023, the program had leveraged more than $8 of private investment per $1 of federal credit, supported construction or rehabilitation of 268.2 million square feet of commercial real estate, and created or retained more than 888,200 jobs.

All eligible businesses located in certified low-income community census tracts and operating in the U.S. may ultimately benefit from NMTC financing, with no sector restrictions. The FY2025 and FY2026 appropriations of $324 million each remain intact as of mid-2026, though portions were subject to OMB hold earlier in the year. The program is sector-agnostic and available to both for-profit and nonprofit entities operating in qualifying census tracts, but they must access financing through a certified CDE rather than applying to Treasury directly.