OKLAHOMA CITY – During the recent National Small Business Week observance, the Internal Revenue Service reminded employers of a valuable tax benefit.
The Work Opportunity Tax Credit is available for hiring long-term unemployment recipients and other groups of workers facing significant barriers to employment. The WOTC encourages employers to hire workers who are certified as members of any of 10 targeted groups who struggle to find work.
The 10 targeted groups include:
Ÿ Workers who have been unemployed for at least 27 weeks and received state or federal unemployment benefits during part or all of that time.
Ÿ Out-of-work veterans, including disabled veterans.
Ÿ Formerly incarcerated individuals.
Ÿ Vocational rehabilitation referrals.
Ÿ Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients.
Ÿ Recipients of Supplemental Security Income.
Ÿ Designated community residents living in Empowerment Zones or Rural Renewal Counties.
Ÿ Summer youth employees living in Empowerment Zones.
Ÿ Long-term family assistance recipients.
Ÿ Recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
The tax credit is available for wages paid to certain individuals who begin work on or before Dec. 31, 2025. Employers can save up to $2,400 per employee on federal taxes, according to the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.
To qualify for the credit, an employer must first request certification by submitting IRS Form 8850 to the OESC. For additional information, send an inquiry to WOTC8850@oesc.state.ok.us.
Oklahoma’s jobless rate is low, but several thousand individuals remain on the unemployment rolls, according to the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.
Okla. jobless rate low,
UI Trust Fund ‘strong’
For the week that ended April 23, the unadjusted number of new claims totaled 1,928 and the less volatile four-week moving average of first-time claims was 2,089. In comparison, during the week that ended April 2, the unadjusted number of first-time claims totaled 2,712 and the four-week moving average was 2,445.
The number of continued claims during the week ending April 23 totaled 11,135. On April 2, continued claims total 12,167 and the four-week moving average was 11,889.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in Oklahoma on April 15 was 2.7%, compared to 4.4% in Texas.
Oklahoma’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund has climbed to more than $300 million “as a result of strong first-quarter contributions by employers,” OESC Executive Director Shelley Zumwalt said on May 5.
“Our trust fund is one of the strongest and most stable in the nation,” she said. During the height of the coronavirus pandemic two dozen other states took out federal loans, at less-than-ideal interest rates, to keep their unemployment systems afloat, Zumwalt said. Oklahoma is one of only two states whose fund for paying unemployment benefits “hasn’t ever gone into ‘the red’. Our mechanism works.”
Nationally, seasonally adjusted initial claims for the week ending April 30 numbered 200,000, an increase of 19,000 from the previous week’s revised level, the U.S. Department of Labor reported. The less volatile four-week moving average on April 30 was 188,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week.
U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh announced that U.S. employers added 428,000 jobs in April, contributing to a robust economic recovery and the nationwide unemployment rate remained at a pandemic level of 3.6%, unchanged from March. An average of more than 500,000 new jobs were added each month this year, Walsh said.
“Ninety-five percent of the jobs lost to the pandemic are now recovered,” he said. Also, “Record numbers of workers are starting new jobs, increasing their wages and opening new businesses.”