inQUEST Consulting, Senior Consulting Partner, Veteran Services Practice

http://www.inquestconsulting.com/

Hiring Our Veterans Makes Good Business Cents! 

It’s good to see companies expressing their dedication to hiring our military Veterans (i.e. “Wal-Mart to hire 100k veterans in five years”).  Veterans are a well skilled, experienced and dependable population that can add value to any company, but there’s also a hard bottom-line dollar benefit for companies who hire Veterans too.  What I’m talking about is the “Work Opportunity Tax Credit” (WOTC). 

The WOTC is an employer-friendly benefit for those companies hiring Veterans most in need of employment.  Since November, 21, 2011 the Vow to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 has put in place tax credits for hiring Veterans, and the WOTC was recently extended for the entire 2013 tax year.  Section 261 of the Act, the “Returning Heroes and Wounded Warriors Work Opportunity Tax Credits,” amends and expands the definition of WOTC’s Veteran target groups. The changes and new provisions in this Act apply to individuals who began to work for an employer the day after its enactment, November 22, 2011.  The Vow to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 includes the following provisions: 

·         Extended the current target group for Veterans receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits with the same qualified wages cap ($6,000) and maximum tax credit $2,400.

·         Extended the current target group for Veterans with a service-connected disability with the same qualified wages cap ($12,000) and maximum tax credit $4,800.

·         Extended the current target group for Veterans with a service-connected disability unemployed for at least 6 months with the qualified wages cap increased to $24,000 and the maximum tax credit increased to $9,600.

·         Established two new categories for unemployed Veterans, similar to the Recovery Act of 2009 unemployed Veteran group that expired on December 31, 2010:

o   Veterans unemployed for at least 4 weeks with a qualified wages cap of $6,000 and a maximum tax credit of $2,400.

o   Veterans unemployed for at least 6 months with qualified wages cap of $14,000 and a maximum tax credit of $5,600.

Also, qualified “tax-exempt” [i.e., 501(c)] organizations can now participate by hiring qualified Veterans and are now eligible to claim the WOTC.  These provisions became effective the day after the President signed the Vow to Hire Heroes Act into law.  For more information on the WOTC go to, http://www.doleta.gov/business/incentives/opptax/ 

In closing, the Department of Labor expects an added 1,000,000 Veterans by 2015/16 to be released back into the civilian workforce as our military begins to downsize at the eventual completion of combat operations in the Middle East.  Veterans want to continuing leading meaningful and productive lives, and the WOTC is another benefit for companies’ who want to partner with our nation’s finest men and women military veterans.  

Best regards, 

Greg