With an eye toward spurring investment in so-called “qualified opportunity zones” (QOZs) – designated low-income geographic areas – the QOZ regime was first introduced in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Recently, the U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS finally issued long-awaited regulations (Final Regulations), although uncertainties remain as the QOZ regime develops over the coming months. Significant interest in the QOZ rules persists, however, among numerous stakeholders in the PE industry – including real estate funds, entrepreneurs and start-up investors – that are now looking more closely at ways to harness this powerful tax incentive to raise and invest capital going forward. In a guest article, Jonathan Talansky and Nikolai Karetnyi, partner and associate, respectively, at King & Spalding, summarize the QOZ rules and highlight certain key elements of the Final Regulations, as well as their potential fund- and investor-level effects on the PE industry. In addition, the article outlines potential ramifications of the QOZ regime on nontraditional investment strategies. See “What Unique Tax and Structuring Challenges Do Qualified Opportunity Funds Present to Sponsors and Investors?” (Jun. 25, 2019); and “How Fund Managers May Deploy Opportunity Zone Funds to Defer and Partially Eliminate Capital Gains” (Apr. 30, 2019).