The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is a Federal tax credit available to employers who hire and retain veterans and individuals from other groups with significant barriers to employment. Employers claim about $1 billion in tax credits each year under the WOTC program. Typically, 20% of new hire employees may qualify for up to $9,600 in tax credits.
There is no limit on the number of individuals an employer can hire to qualify to claim the tax credit, and there are a few simple steps to follow to apply for WOTC.
In this article:
- Which hires qualify for WOTC
- How CareerPlug helps with WOTC
- Does it cost money?
- Using the integration with Synergi
- What a new hire sees
- What the manager needs to do
Which hires qualify for WOTC
- Veterans
- TANF Recipients
- SNAP (Food Stamp) Recipients
- Designated Community Residents (living in Empowerment Zones or Rural Renewal Counties)
- Vocational Rehabilitation Referral
- Ex-felons
- Supplemental Security Income Recipients
- Summer Youth Employee (living in Empowerment Zones)
How CareerPlug helps with WOTC
CareerPlug is fully integrated with Synergi Partners — an industry leader in hiring credits and tax incentives. Here’s how our partnership works:
- Sign Synergi’s Client Services Agreement and Power of Attorney
- Create and post a job with CareerPlug
- Review and hire a candidate through CareerPlug
- Upon request, provide Synergi with any additional missing information required
- Use the provided year-end document to claim credits on your tax returns.
Get more information and get started with Synergi: https://www.synergipartners.com/careerplug
Does it cost money?
Synergi assesses a fee when the tax credit is accrued. This means the fee only applies when an employer is eligible to apply/use the available credit. CareerPlug does not mark up this service.
More info: https://www.synergipartners.com/careerplug
Using the integration with Synergi
Once CareerPlug has enabled the WOTC integration in your account, a WOTC Form will be visible on your Onboarding Settings page. An account administrator must add the WOTC Form to at least one checklist.
In most cases, this form should be added to the account’s primary onboarding checklist, as you may want all new hires to complete this form to maximize potential tax credits.
Once assigned, the WOTC form will appear on the new hires’ Onboarding checklist.
What a new hire sees
When an employee clicks on the WOTC form in their Onboarding checklist, they’ll be presented with Form 8850, provided and maintained by Synergi and embedded in CareerPlug via an iframe.
Employees will be asked to provide some basic personal information (prefilled when possible) and then answer a series of questions that help Synergi identify potential tax credits.
What the manager needs to do
When the employee submits their completed Form 8850, the WOTC step on their checklist will be marked as completed just like a normal form step.
Managers can click on the completed WOTC step to review the employee’s submission status.
