We reported yesterday that the IRS has issued IRS Notice 2009-28, providing statutory definitions for the new WOTC eligibility categories of Unemployed Veteran and Disconnected Youth. There is more good news.
The IRS has issued a May 2009 revision of IRS Form 8850 “Pre-Screening Notice and Certification Request for the Work Opportunity Credit.” This revision includes pre-screening questions for the two new categories.
Notice 2009-28 also provides “Transition Relief” for employers who hire Unemployed Veterans or Disconnected Youth during the period from January 1, 2009 through July 16, 2009.
“[U]nder this notice, any employer who hires an unemployed veteran or a disconnected youth (as defined in § 51(d)(14)) after December 31, 2008, and before July 17, 2009, will be considered to satisfy the deadline in § 51(d)(13)(A)(ii)(II) if the employer submits the pre-screening notice to the designated local agency to request certification not later than August 17, 2009.”
In other words, for Unemployed Veterans and Disconnected Youth hired through July 16th, the regular 28-day deadline for submitting applications does not apply. The deadline for all these has been extended through August 17, 2009. This give employers and service providers time to retool their information gathering process. It also allows us to retroactively evaluate the employees hired during this time period when no one was sure what actually constituted a qualifying hire.