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Summary

There are tax credits available to an employer who hires a person who has been "disabled" or is a member of a targeted group such as welfare recipients.

If you are willing to disclose that you have been disabled or are a member of one of the groups, you have a strong additional argument in favor of being hired because of the tax credit an employer can receive by hiring you. You don't need to disclose your particular disabling diagnosis. However, you should be prepared to offer assurances, including a letter form your doctor, confirming that your impairment allows you to do the core job responsibilities - possibly with a reasonable accommmodation. (If you aren't familiar with the concept of reasonable accommodatoins, see Reasonable Accommodations.)

People conducting job interviews and making hiring decisions are unlikely to know or care about these tax credit programs. Their decisions will likely be based only on their own immediate staff needs.Nevertheless, you may increase your chances of being hired by:

  • Mention the tax credit to the interviewer.
  • Contact the employer's personnel director and/or chief financial officers. These people will be more likely to care about the firm's overall finances. You can remind them of the advantage of hiring you and ask them to let the interviewer know about the financial advantage to the company by hiring you.

If you want to go even further, you can visit the Internal Revenue website at www.IRS.gov offsite link and download IRS Forms and Instructions 8826, 8844, 8850, and 8861, 8812 as well as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) forms. As of this writing, the forms are located at: http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=118888,00.html offsite link. You can also call the IRS for the forms.

To Learn More

Available Tax Credits

Ticket To Work

The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvements Act of 1999 extended the extension of tax credits available to employers who hire people who are "disabled" and former welfare and food stamp recipients among other people.  For example, the Work Opportunity and Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit can be worth up to $3500 for the first full year of employment---and up to $5000 the second year--- to an employer who hires a targeted person.

Empowerment Zone Employment Tax Credit

The IRS also offers employers an Empowerment Zone Employment Tax Credit for hiring persons in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, Eastern Kentucky, the Mississippi Delta and the Rio Grande Valley. There are also 94 additional, smaller enterprise zones in most large and medium inner cities and in poor rural areas.

Disabled Access Credit

In addition, the Disabled Access Credit can benefit employers who incur costs for architectural, equipment and other qualified physical workplace changes to accommodate a hired disabled person.

People Leaving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)

If you are on SSDI, and are not also a recipient of Supplemental Security Income, TANF (welfare) or food stamps, and aren't 18-to-25-year-old Enterprise Zone residents, there is another credit available.

Unfortunately in order to obtain it, you must first enroll in your state vocational rehabilitation program and then get yourself referred by vocational rehabilitation to the employer you want to work for. Following this procedure gets the employer the most generous tax credit: The Work Opportunity Credit (IRS Forms 8850 and 8861). Fortunately, this burdensome bureaucratic rule doesn't apply for hiring employers who take the other available tax credits.

The information in this article was supplied as a courtesy by Thomas McCormack, author of The AIDS Benefit Handbook (Yale University Press)