Long Beach Area Enterprise Zone
Over half of Long Beach businesses are currently eligible to dramatically reduce, or even eliminate, their California income taxes by utilizing the tax benefits available under the California Enterprise Zone (EZ) program. In 2007, even more businesses will qualify for EZ benefits.

Recent legislation, and the Department of Housing and Community Development's (HCD) conditional re-designation of Long Beach's EZ program will allow businesses in the Long Beach Zone to obtain another 15 vears of EZ benefits. The attached map reflects the current boundaries for the Long Beach Zone, and an updated map (with up to 72% of the City designated as an EZ) should be available by year-end.

Act Now to Save 2006 Taxes!

Taxpayers in virtually any industry can benefit under this program and the cities that sponsor these programs are more than cooperative in ensuring that these benefits are obtained.

Surprisingly, over 90% of eligible businesses consistently overpay their taxes. Long Beach businesses have saved over $300,000,000 in taxes over the past 15 years. Small businesses seldom generate less than $10,000 in credits and average well over $100,000 in EZ benefits. The following table reflects the expected annual savings for companies of different sizes:

The 42 EZ programs entitle qualifying businesses, their owners (in the case of S Corps, Partnerships and LLC's), and their employees to claim California credits, which can often eliminate virtually all of their California income tax obligations - including up to four years of back taxes.

Tax benefits include:

1. Hiring credits of up to $10,000 per qualified employee per year.
2. Equipment credits up to 8.25%
3. Employee-level credits up to $525 per year

Many business owners and their advisors believe the EZ program benefits are either too complex to claim, or that their particular business is not eligible. You should discuss the EZ benefits with your CPA to ensure you are taking advantage of these benefits.

If you are not currently claiming these benefits, the Chamber can assist you and your tax preparer in making sure that you obtain all benefits available under the EZ program - including refunds for California taxes paid in prior years.

Regulations are pending which may reduce your ability to obtain hirinq credits for certain emplovees. Therefore, we recommend that you begin this process immediatelv.

Please call NTCG today for a RISK-FREE evaluation of your eligible tax savings potential at (800) 791-3589 or click here to contact us.