text: what tax incentives are involved with commercial development schemes?   there are all kinds:  1/ tax rebates - they kind of defer taxes for a certain period provided certain conditions are satisfied. these are usually given in areas that are under-served e.g. need to attract business and so forth. the developer gets a kind of deferment on the tax rate and pays a discounted rate. in some markets, the localities oferred rebates for new single-family housing. in cleveland, for example, the county tried to gentrify some low-income areas by oferring rebates on new sfr construction.  2/ tax credits - very popular with multi-family properties where the developer is given an incentive to build a new apt complex and lease below market as low-income housing for a certain period. once the period lapses (say 10 years), the developer can raise rents and lease at market rate. at which point, the developer gets a tax credit that is sometimes used "as cash" (i.e. syndication) to raise capital for new/other real estate projects the developer may have on the books. the loophole in the law allowing for syndication will probably be closed by congress (if they have not done so already) since it creates a myriad of problems from the developer and county angles.  there are so many other kinds but these are the 2 that i have encountered on more than one occassion.