We believe that Idaho is a compelling place to do business in. The State has a variety of incentive programs designed to assist businesses in start-up, expansion, and productivity activities. Administered by the State Department of Commerce, the following programs may be able to help your business.

IDAHO BUSINESS ADVANTAGE

Businesses that invest at least $500,000 in new facilities and create at least 10 new jobs paying $40,000 annually plus benefits, with additional jobs paying an average of $15.50 per hour during project period, may qualify for the following:

• An enhanced investment tax credit of 3.75% up to $750,000 or 62.5% of corporate income tax liability in any one year.
• A new jobs tax credit from $1,500-$3,000 for new jobs paying $24.04 per hour or more.
• A 2.5% real property improvement corporate income tax credit up to $125,000 in any one year along with a 25% rebate on sales tax paid on construction materials for the new facilities.
• Upon request of the business, the local county commissioners may also authorize a partial or full property tax exemption for up to 5 years.

3% INVESTMENT TAX CREDIT

Credit against Idaho Corporate Income tax for qualifying new investment in tangible personal property (machinery & equipment) in Idaho. It can offset up to 50% of a company’s liability and may be carried forward 14 years.

TAX REIMBURSEMENT INCENTIVE (TRI)

If your business is adding or bringing high paying jobs to Idaho, you may be eligible for the Idaho Tax Reimbursement Incentive. This post-performance incentive awards a maximum credit of 30% on income, payroll withholdings, and sales taxes for up to 15 years.

CAPITAL INVESTMENT PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION

Businesses that invest at least $3 million in new manufacturing facilities may receive a partial or full property tax exemption for up to 5 years from local county commissioners.

100% SALES TAX EXEMPTION

Production Sales Tax Exemption – Tax exemption on equipment and raw materials used directly in manufacturing, processing, mining, fabrication or logging operations; for clean rooms and semiconductor equipment manufacturing; and for equipment or material used in research activities.

Processing materials, substances, or commodities for use as fuel for the production of energy are also exempt.

UTILITY AND INDUSTRIAL FUELS SALES TAX EXEMPTION

Tax exemption on utilities and industrial fuels such as power, water, natural gas and telephone.

CUSTOMIZED RECRUITING & WORKFORCE TRAINING SERVICES

Idaho Department of Labor offers employers recruitment services that include online jobs posting, applicant screening, hiring fairs, online skills testing of applicants and temporary office space.

Additionally, they offers the Workforce Development Training Fund (WDTF) which can reimburse businesses for employee training costs.

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT TRAINING FUND (WDTF)

Up to $3,000/per employee, paid directly to company. Jobs must pay $12/hr or more with benefits, and the company must produce a product or service that is mainly marketed outside the region where the business is located.

IDAHO OPPORTUNITY FUND

A grant program which allows the Director of Idaho Department of Commerce to direct funds to projects for infrastructure needs within the community. This $3 million fund will be used within the year to help “close” new projects.

IDAHO POWER NEW CONSTRUCTION AND MAJOR RENOVATIONS PROGRAM

Cash incentives designed to help cover a portion of the costs of designing and building energy-efficient features into a commercial or industrial construction project. New construction, major renovations, additions or expansions and change-of-space type are all eligible. Idaho Power is also committed to providing customers choices to support renewable energy projects and meet sustainability and renewable energy goals. In fact, Idaho Power set a goal to provide 100% clean energy by 2045.

Urban Renewal is an economic development tool available in Idaho. The City of Meridian works with its Urban Renewal Agency, the Meridian Development Corporation, to identify, plan, and support private and public economic development efforts. Properties which are located within an urban renewal district may be able to utilize urban renewal funds to mitigate extraordinary impediments to development.  

Find Out More about Meridian Urban Renewal Districts 

Opportunity Zones are a bipartisan community development program established in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 to incentivize investments in low-income communities across the country. The Opportunity Zones program is based on the bipartisan Investing in Opportunity Act. Opportunity Zones represent a subset of census tracts with an individual poverty rate of at least 20 percent and a median family income no greater than 80 percent of the area median.

The program provides three forms of deferred capital gains taxes or tax breaks to incentivize patient capital equity investments in Opportunity Funds to seed new business investments, expand existing businesses, or fund real estate development in Opportunity Zones. Other than excluding a few “sin” businesses, investors are relatively unlimited in what they can finance. And the potential pot is huge – over $6 trillion dollars in unrealized capital gains could flow towards these communities from both individual investors and companies.

Access the Meridian New Market Tax Credit Map

The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program provides up to 15% - 20% cash grant funding for real estate projects, businesses and non-profits that make investments in distressed areas. Each year the US Treasury, through the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI) issues New Markets Tax Credits to Community Development Entities (CDEs) who in turn seek to invest these tax credits into the most impactful projects.  

The CDEs that receive NMTCs will then allocate those tax credits to projects that they believe will have the largest social impacts and that align with their investment goals. Again, the NMTC program addresses capital gaps by providing the incentive of a Federal tax credit equal to 15% to 20% total cost of a project. A viable project is generally between $7 and $20 million, and must be located within a distressed area. The City of Meridian is partnering with the Montana based MoFi to use NMTC to help fund operating business expansions and real estate redevelopment.

Access the Meridian New Market Tax Credit Map

The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program is a flexible program that provides funding to address a wide range of unique community development needs. The City of Meridian receives CDBG funds annually from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The City has adopted a five (5) year consolidated plan that spans from 2017 to 2021, which focuses on 1) improving accessibility, 2) enhancing homeownership opportunities, and 3) providing social services to Meridian low- and moderate-income residents. All activities that are funded must meet one of these objectives.

Find Out More About Meridian's CDBG Program