The Employment Security Department (ESD) is touting the benefit of a small-business owners tax credit the agency said is designed to assist in finding work for hard-to-place job-seekers.
ESD officials said the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) targets general categories of workers, such as public assistance recipients if they meet the eligibility requirements for SNAP (food stamps), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or long-term TANF. The credit is also meant for several categories of military veterans as well as people convicted of a felony and hired within a year after their date of conviction, work release, or release from prison or jail. People with disabilities participating in state or federal vocational-rehabilitation programs who’ve had an individual written plan for employment in the two years before being hired, and anyone who received Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for any month in the 60 days before being hired are also eligible for the tax credit.
“Employers can reduce their federal business taxes by up to $2,400 for most eligible hires; and up to $9,000 over two years for each qualifying TANF recipient who is hired,” ESD officials said. “The tax credit for veteran categories range from $2,400 to $9,600. The WOTC program has been approved through Dec. 31, 2019.”
Officials said the effort would also serve as an outreach to long-term unemployed individuals hired on or after Jan. 1, 2016, noting they must have been unemployed at least 27 consecutive weeks.