They’re called Opportunity Zones and they will provide potentially huge tax savings for investors while creating thousands of jobs. “It’s kind of a hidden gem in the tax act,” said Stephen Looney, an Orlando lawyer and expert in tax law.”Not a lot of attention has been paid to it.

Here’s how it works: If you make a profit on the sale of real estate, stocks or other investments, you can defer the capital gains tax by reinvesting the amount of the gain in an opportunity zone. “Florida has been one of the more aggressive states,” said lawyer Michael Minton, chair of the Florida Bar’s tax section.”There are a lot of very small, postage-stamp zones. “Minton and Looney, colleagues at the law firm Dean Mead, held a seminar on opportunity zones at the recent”Lay of the Land” real estate conference in Osceola County.

The new tax act also allows deferral of taxes on the sale of stocks, precious metals, even antiques and artwork if the gains are invested in opportunity zones. The real boon in the tax act comes if investors hold their interest in an opportunity zone project for at least 10 years.