• Unemployed Veterans -- those hired who have received at least four weeks of unemployment benefits within one year of hire and a U.S. Armed Forces discharge date within five years of hire. 
• Disconnected Youth - those hired who are 16 to 24 years old on or before hire, have no more than a high school certificate, and lack basic job skills.

October 17 is the deadline for requesting WOTC for anyone hired from the new groups between January 1 through September 17, 2009. Employers must file IRS form 8850 -- Pre-screening Notice and Certification Request for the Work Opportunity Credit -- to claim the tax credit.

"Thanks to the Recovery Act, more Michigan employers are now eligible for tax relief through the Work Opportunity Tax Credit," said Stephen Geskey, director of Michigan's Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA). "I urge all employers to file on time and take advantage of the substantial tax benefits available to them."

Normally, employers have 28 days from the employee's start day to submit their IRS 8850 form to the UIA, which administers the Work Opportunity Tax Credit in Michigan.

WOTC gives employers a first-year maximum $2,400 tax credit for hiring individuals from the program's targeted groups. Certain worker categories, however, qualify for larger tax credits. For example, for the first year of employment, WOTC allows maximum credits of $4,800 for disabled veterans, $4,000 for long-term recipients of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and $1,200 for summer youth. There is an additional $5,000 credit for long-term TANF recipients employed for a second year. The credit, or any unused portion of the credit, can be carried back one year or forward 20 years from the year in which the employer claims the credit.

For the other nine targeted groups, the Work Opportunity Tax Credit applies to new hires beginning work prior to September 1, 2011. These targeted groups are: 

• Short-term family TANF recipients 
• Long-term family TANF recipients 
• Veterans receiving Food Stamps or disabled veterans with a service connected disability 
• Food Stamp recipients, ages 18 to 39 
• Vocational rehabilitation work plan participants or ticket-to-work holders 
• SSI recipients (supplemental security income) 
• Ex-felons convicted or released within one year of hire 
• Designated Community* residents, ages 18 to 39, and living in an EZ, RC or RRC 
• Summer youth, ages 16-17, living in an EZ or RC and who work from May 1 - Sept. 15

*Michigan's "designated communities" include an Empowerment Zone (EZ) and a Renewal Community (RC) in Detroit and southern portions of Highland Park and Hamtramck; an RC in Flint; and the Rural Renewal Counties (RRC) of Gogebic, Marquette and Ontonagon.

For more information about the two new target groups and the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, employers can call the UIA's Michigan WOTC Unit at 800-482-2959 or 313-456-2105. WOTC information and forms are also on the Unemployment Insurance Agency website (www.michigan.gov/uia).

Read more releases from the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth