With the passage of the Vow To Hire Heroes Act in November, Congress authorized two tax incentives for employers who hire veterans during 2012.
President Obama signed the act into law, expanding the Veteran target group definition and affecting veterans who began working for an employer the day after its enactment, Nov. 22, 2011 until Dec. 31, 2012.
The Act provides employers with tax incentives of up to $5,600 for hiring veterans and up to $9,600 for hiring disabled veterans. It facilitates seamless transitions for veterans into civilian life and also provides veterans with opportunities for educational and occupational skills training.
According to the Gainesville Sun, Alachua and Bradford counties have 1,602 resident veterans – including 316 who are disabled – looking for jobs through the Employ Florida Marketplace. As troops return home after the end of war in Iraq, more veterans will be looking for work at home.
The act established new target groups of unemployed veterans for the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and offered the following incentives for employers:
For hiring veterans, the ETA has revised Forms 9061 and 9058 of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) program. The ETA is also updating all other program-related materials to reflect changes detailed in the “Vow to Hire Heroes Act.”
Form 9058 is the Individual Characteristics Form and Form 9061 is the Certification Workload and Characteristics of Certified Individuals Form required of employers participating in the WOTC program.
The WOTC program is a federal tax credit incentive available to private for-profit employers to hire targeted groups of job seekers who typically experience difficulty in finding employment.
Employers are instructed to continue using the current forms until the ETA issues revised forms. Click here for further instructions regarding Forms 9061 and 9058.
For additional questions regarding the “Vow to Hire Heroes Act” and/or availability and application instructions about WOTC, contact your FloridaWorks Business Services representative at 352.334.7100.
Additional Resources
United States Department of Labor
Department of Economic Opportunity
House Committee on Veterans' Affairs
FloridaWorks