SECTION 340:50-5-64.1. Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)

  The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) law permits for-profit employers to take a credit on their federal income tax when workers from certain target groups are hired. Workers in these target groups have faced significant barriers to employment. The WOTC is equal to between 25% to 40% of the first year wages up to $9000 depending on the number of hours the employee works and the applicable target group for that person. The main objective of this program is to enable the targeted employees to gradually move from economic dependency into self-sufficiency as they earn a steady income and become contributing taxpayers, while the participating employers are compensated by being able to reduce their federal income tax liability.

(1)   WOTC is available to employers for workers hired from targeted food benefit recipient groups in (A) through (L) of this subsection.

(A)   Qualified veterans. The veteran must reside with a household currently receiving food benefits or a household that received food benefits for at least three consecutive months out of the last 15 months before the date hired for employment.

(B)   Qualified food benefit recipients. Qualified food benefit recipients are persons between the ages of 18 and 39 who:

(i)   reside with a household currently receiving food benefits or a household that received food benefits for at least six consecutive months prior to their hiring date; or

(ii)   are able-bodied adults without dependents no longer eligible for benefits who reside with a household currently receiving food benefits or a household that received food benefits for at least three months out of the last five consecutive months prior to their hiring date.

(C)   Long-term Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipient. A member of a family that:

(i)   received or recently received TANF payments for at least 18 consecutive months ending on the hiring date; or

(ii)   received TANF payments for any 18 months beginning after August 5, 1997, and the earliest 18-month period beginning after August 5, 1997 ended during the past two years; or

(iii)   stopped being eligible for TANF payments during the past two years because federal or state law limited the maximum time those payments could be made.

(D)   Other TANF recipient. A member of a family that is receiving or recently received TANF benefits for any nine-month period during the 18-month period ending on the hiring date.

(E)   Designated community resident. An 18 to 39 year old resident of one of the federally designated Empowerment Zones (EZs), Enterprise Communities (ECs), Renewal Communities (RCs), and for individuals who begin to work for an employer after May 25, 2007, this High-Risk Youth group has been renamed "Designated Community Resident" and expanded to include residents of Rural Renewal Counties.

(F)   Summer Youth employee. A 16 or 17 year old EZ, EC, or RC resident hired between May 1 and September 15.

(G)   Vocational Rehabilitation referral. A person who completed or is completing rehabilitative services from a state certified agency, and Employment Network or the United States (U.S.) Department of Veterans Affairs.

(H)   Qualified ex-felon. A person who has been convicted of a felony and has a hiring date which is not more than one year after the last date on which he or she was convicted or released from prison.

(I)   Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipient. A recipient of SSI benefits for any month ending during the past 60 day period ending on the hire date.

(J)   Hurricane Katrina employee. A recipient in this group does not require certification.

(K)   Unemployed veteran. A veteran hired after 2008 and before 2011 who:

(i)   has been discharged or released from active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces at any time during the five year period ending on the hiring date; and

(ii)   received unemployment compensation under state or federal law for at least four weeks during the one year period ending on the hiring date.

(L)   Disconnected youth. A person who is certified as:

(i)   having attained age 16, but not 25, on the hiring date;

(ii)   not regularly attending any secondary, technical, or post-secondary school during the six-month period preceding the hiring date;

(iii)   not regularly employed during the six-month period preceding the hiring date; and

(iv)   not readily employable by reason of lacking a sufficient number of basic skills.

(2)   Through an agreement with the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) is able to issue the U.S. Department of Labor Form ETA-9062, Conditional Certification Work Opportunity Tax Credit, to food benefit recipients.

(3)   The Form ETA-9062 and a letter from the worker stating the number of months the participant has been a food benefit recipient must be given to the participant to present to the employer on or before the first day of employment. An explanation is given to the participant about the purpose of the form and that the tax credit may help the participant get a job.

[Source: Added at 15 Ok Reg 165, eff 11-1-97 (emergency); Added at 15 Ok Reg 1623, eff 5-11-98; Amended at 27 Ok Reg 1241, eff 6-1-10]