Economic Development Tax Increment Financing (EDTIF)

Economic Development Tax Increment Financing (EDTIF)

Administers Economic Development Tax Increment Financing for Utah companies creating sustained high-wage jobs in targeted industries.

Utah's Economic Development Tax Increment Financing (EDTIF) program is a post-performance, refundable corporate tax credit negotiated by the Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity (GOEO) and certified annually by the Utah State Tax Commission (STC). Created by the Utah Legislature in 2005, EDTIF is the state's primary recruitment and retention incentive for large employers in targeted industries. Unlike upfront grants, EDTIF credits are earned only after a company demonstrates performance — meaning the state recoups no cost if job or wage targets are not met.

The credit is worth up to 30% of the new state revenues a qualifying project generates — including sales, corporate franchise, and withholding taxes — over a term that typically runs five to ten years and may extend up to 20 years. To qualify, a company must create at least 50 net new full-time jobs at wages at or above 110% of the applicable county average wage, and operate in one of GOEO's targeted sectors: advanced manufacturing, aerospace and defense, financial services, life sciences and healthcare, or software and IT. Each deal is negotiated individually with GOEO's Incentives Committee; no standard award size or fixed formula applies. Credit certificates are applied against corporate franchise and income tax, withholding tax, and sales tax obligations.

The approval process runs approximately three months and involves a pre-application review with GOEO staff, a formal application, a committee review, and a public board meeting. The Utah State Tax Commission's role is limited to issuing the annual certificate and processing the credit claim once GOEO has approved and certified performance. Companies considering EDTIF should engage GOEO's business development team early, as committee scheduling and negotiation timelines are the principal bottleneck. There is no fixed funding pool or competitive deadline — GOEO evaluates projects on a rolling basis throughout the year.