Hot off the press! The Internal Revenues has just issued Notice 2009-28, which you are welcome to click and read if you are sufficiently brave and enjoy wading through IRS language. Notice 2009-28 provides expanded statutory definitions for the new WOTC employee-eligibility categories signed into law by President Obama in February. This expansion of the WOTC program was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. (Please see previous post: New WOTC Tax Credit Opportunities Arising from Stimulus Bill.)
The most anticipated information provided by this Notice are the explicit definitions of otherwise vague terminology used by Congress when it created the Disconnected Youth category. While the release of this information is definitely a positive event, anyone who reads Notice 2009-28 will quickly understand there is nothing simple about it.
A critical question still remains. What documentation will be accepted by WOTC units as proof that an individual meets the eligibility requirements for Disconnected Youth? This question will be answered soon by the Department of Labor (DOL). We have received words that a formal Training & Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) detailing this information, has been prepared in draft form and has been awaiting final approval for release. Now that the IRS has released its guidance, the DOL will likely follow. Employers and WOTC service provides alike need this guidance from the DOL in order to ask employees for appropriate information and documentation.