The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program is a federal financial program in the United States. It aims to stimulate business and real estate investment in low-income communities in the United States via a federal tax credit. The program is administered by the US Treasury Department's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) and allocated by local Community Development Entities (CDEs) across the United States. History The New Markets Tax Credit Program was established as part of the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000. The goal of the program is to stimulate regeneration of low-income and impoverished communities across the United States. The NMTC Program provides tax credits to investors for equity investments in certified Community Development Entities (CDEs), which invest in low-income communities. The credit equals 39% of the investment paid out over seven years (5% in each of the first three years, then 6% in the final four years). A CDE must have a primary mission of investing in low-income communities and people. The concept of the NMTC emerged in the late 1990s, when numerous foundations and think tanks were promoting the idea of using business-oriented mechanisms to help bring jobs and prosperity to disadvantaged communities. For example, business, community, academic, and public sector participants at the 1997 American Assembly meeting issued a report urging business leaders to reinvest in urban areas in the U.S. The final report also called for nonprofit and government officials to assist this new effort to open untapped markets by fostering "community capitalism", which it defined as a "for-profit, business-driven expansion of investment, job creation, and economic opportunities in distressed communities, with government and the community sectors playing key supportive roles". To accomplish this, participants called for easier access to capital (especially through equity investment) and more technical assistance for businesses, seen as the two key ways of "energizing community capitalism in distressed areas". The report set out crucial components of the future New Markets initiative. The American Assembly disseminated the final report widely, including to the White House and Congress. Vice President Al Gore, supporting the conference's conclusions, stated that "the greatest untapped markets in the world are right here at home, in our distressed communities." Operation The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) in the U.S. Department of the Treasury was authorized to administer the program. CDEs apply to the CDFI Fund each year for an "allocation authority" (the