Within United States federal legislation, an empowerment zone is an economically distressed community eligible to receive tax incentives and grants from the United States federal government under the Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities Act of 1993.
The program was the legislative response to riots that erupted in 1992 in Los Angeles after justification of police officers charged in the beating of an African-American motorist during the arrest.
[6] The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act, signed into law on December 18, 2015, later extended the program through the end of 2016.
Individuals who work in the Washington, DC empowerment zone may live anywhere in the District of Columbia.)
The amount of qualified zone wages you can use to figure the credit cannot be more than $15,000 for each employee for each calendar year.
The Renewal Community program expired on December 31, 2009, but a company can still amend its tax return for 2009 to claim the available credits.