United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1998-06-30 monographic deposited born digital 16 p. GA 1.13:RCED-98-203 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-203 P0b002ee18039bee2 f:rc98203 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-203 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-203 RCED-98-203 Community development programs Tax exempt status Statistical data Surveys Tax credit Economically depressed areas Data integrity HUD Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities Program Letter Report RCED The Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community program, which is designed to help revitalize urban and rural communities, targets federal grants for social services and community redevelopment and provides three tax incentives to attract or retain businesses in distressed areas. These tax incentives include tax-exempt private activity enterprise zone facility bonds that make financing available to qualified businesses at lower rates than conventional financing, an employment and training credit, and a $20,000 increase in the expensing allowance for the depreciable business property of qualified businesses. During an October 1997 congressional hearing on the program, questions arose about how well these initiatives are working and whether the current law provides the right mix of tax incentives. This report examines the extent to which data exist to determine how the tax incentives have been used. To make this determination, GAO examined the availability of data from the Internal Revenue Service on each of the three tax incentives, as well as data from state officials on the use of the tax-exempt enterprise zone facility bonds. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-203/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-203.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-203/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-203.pdf GAO/RCED-98-203 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-98-203 Letter Report GAO/RCED-98-203; Community Development: Information on the Use of; Community development programs Tax exempt status Statistical data Surveys Tax credit Economically depressed areas Data integrity HUD Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities Program