Summary
Credit for hiring from federally designated targeted employment groups (veterans, SNAP recipients, long-term unemployed, ex-felons, designated-community residents, vocational rehabilitation referrals, summer youth, supplemental-nutrition recipients, SSI recipients, long-term family assistance recipients). Requires Form 8850 certification within 28 days of hire.
Benefit
- Percentage
- —
- Flat
- —
- Duration
- —
- Max annual
- — (taxpayer)
- Max total
- — (taxpayer)
- Carryforward
- —
Program metadata
- Distribution
- taxpayer_earned
- Claimant subject
- business
- Refund/transfer election
- —
- Program family
- —
- Effective
- —
- Sunset
- —
- Application deadline
- —
- Transfer discount
- —
Hard requirements (1)
- local_approval_requiredFederal claim-on-return credit. No agency pre-approval gate — the taxpayer claims the credit on their return based on satisfying the statutory eligibility criteria (qualified activity, qualified expenditures, qualified employees, etc.). User attests via the securedApprovals chip group on /match that they have determined the underlying §-criteria are met. Without attestation this rule defaults to "unknown" → status="partial" instead of vacuously "eligible".
Preference / tiering rules (0)
None.
NAICS industries (0)
Any.
Geo zones (0)
Statewide / none specified.
Tags (4)
- requires_pre_hire_certification: true
- certification_form: Form 8850 (Pre-Screening Notice and Certification Request for WOTC)
- certification_deadline: 28 days after date of hire
- filing_form: Form 5884 (Work Opportunity Credit)
Tax bases
- corporate_income_taxprimary
Approval requirements (1)
- requiredUS IRS — self-attestation that qualifying activity meets statutory criteria — Self-attestation: confirm the qualifying activity meets the statutory eligibility criteria for this §-code credit. Tax preparer / CPA verification recommended.
Source
IRC §51; Form 5884
Last verified: 2026-04-22