It has happened!  The enterprise-zone elimination bill has passed the California Assembly and now goes to Governor Jerry Brown, who will most assuredly sign it into law.  As I explained in my most recent post, this bill ends the enterprise zone program as of December 31, 2013.
If you are an enterprise zone business owner, however, you need to understand that this legislation allows you to continue generating tax credit on the wages paid to qualifying employees hired before January 1, 2014. These employees may continue to generate tax credit for up to 5 years if they remain employed in the (now former) enterprise zone. Also, you will have up to 10 year to utilize all the credit that already has been (or yet will be) generated under this process.
Now is the time for all enterprise zone businesses to take their last deep breath of enterprise-zone benefits. Maximize your 2013 employee qualifications. Generate as much tax-credit carryover as possible. And prepare to pay much higher taxes when all of your carryover tax credits are finally used up – possibly as long as 5 to 10 years from now.
Sadly, this is now also the time for all the tax credit consultants out there, who have specialized in CA enterprise zone services, to hone their resumes and begin putting their contingency plans into operation. 
My clients can be assured that we’re working to maximize their benefits into the foreseeable future. We will be here to support them in the way they have grown accustomed to expect.
Read more in the Merded-Sun Star