A newly introduced bill in Congress takes an interesting approach to extending the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (or WOTC).
This week, on September 16, Representative George Latimer (D-NY) introduced H.R. 10446. The bill would pair an extension and enhancement of WOTC with improvements to another federal tax incentive designed to help businesses remove architectural and transportation barriers for people with disabilities. H.R. 10446 was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee.
This legislative pairing is worth watching.
The WOTC program is about more than simply rewarding employers for hiring people. The credit is designed to encourage hiring people who have historically faced barriers to entering the workforce.
For many years, WOTC has provided enhanced incentives for hiring qualified veterans, including certain veterans entitled to compensation for a service-connected disability. WOTC also includes individuals referred for employment through qualifying vocational rehabilitation programs. These are individuals with physical or mental disabilities who have been referred to an employer while receiving, or after completing, rehabilitation services.
All of this makes the connection in H.R. 10446 more meaningful than it might first appear.
One part of the proposal (an enhanced WOTC) would encourage employers to hire workers with disabilities, among others. The other part of the proposal would improve a longstanding tax deduction for businesses that spend money removing physical and transportation barriers that affect some of the same workers.
Pairing the two ideas in a single legislative proposal creates a potentially useful political advantage by broadening support for the bill. While related in obvious ways, the two provisions have historically attracted interest from different populations and advocacy groups. Combining them gives those diverse interests a common piece of legislation to rally around.
The common theme is straightforward: helping businesses open more doors to employment and helping workers physically get through those doors.
Whether that broader combination improves the bill’s prospects in Congress remains to be seen. H.R. 10446 was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee just two days ago, and the complete legislative text was not yet publicly available when I prepared this article.
As of the moment of this publication, H.R. 10446 has one recorded co-sponsor – Representative Gilbert Ray Cisneros (D-CA). We will continue to follow this ongoing development.
WOTC Planet does not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This content is for informational purposes only.
