The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is a Federal tax credit for hiring individuals from certain “targeted” groups who have faced significant barriers to employment, such as food stamp recipients, temporary assistance for needy families recipients, and unemployed veterans. The credit for most targeted groups had expired at the end of 2013, however the Tax Increase Prevention Act enacted December 19, 2014 retroactively extended the WOTC for one year through the end of 2014.
The IRS recently revised Form 8850, which is the form employers use to request WOTC certification from state workforce agencies. Generally Form 8850 is due no later than 28 days after an employee begins work for an employer. However, since the WOTC for 2014 was “in limbo” until the December 2014 legislation, the IRS will treat the forms as timely submitted for 2014 if they are filed with the state employment security agency by April 30, 2015.
Link to the Form 8850: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8850.pdf