President Signs Bill Enhancing Hiring Incentives for Veterans

On November 21, 2011, President Obama signed the VOW to Hire Heroes Act into law providing new incentives and enhancing existing credits for businesses hiring certain qualifying veterans.
The Act creates the Returning Heroes Tax Credit and the Wounded Warrior Tax Credit – both Work Opportunity Tax Credits (WOTC). Administration and application for the credits will follow the WOTC process and are available for qualifying veterans who begin work after November 21, 2011 and valid through December 31, 2012.
The Returning Heroes Tax Credit provides incentives for hiring unemployed veterans. Hiring short-term (at least four weeks) unemployed veterans can generate credits up to $2,400 per new hire, while long-term (at least six months) unemployed veterans can generate credits up to $5,600 for each qualifying new employee.
The Wounded Warrior Tax Credit maintains the existing WOTC credit of up to $4,800 for each new hire of a qualifying veteran with service-connected disabilities and establishes a new credit of up to $9,600 per new hire for long-term unemployed veterans with service-related disabilities.
Target group: Returning Heroes – unemployed for more than 4 weeks
Maximum qualified wages: $6,000
Maximum credit amount: $2,400
Target group: Returning Heroes – unemployed for more than 6 months
Maximum qualified wages: $14,000
Maximum credit amount: $5,600
Target group: Wounded Warrior – disabled veteran
Maximum qualified wages: $12,000
Maximum credit amount: $4,800
Target group: Wounded Warrior – disabled veteran unemployed for more than 6 months
Maximum qualified wages: $24,000
Maximum credit amount: $9,600
HKP  will administer these valuable tax incentives for our clients to ensure we maximize the tax savings that are available to employers when hiring new employees. Our world-class service and support is simply unparalleled in the industry. Not only are we experts in our field, we realize the value of customer service and know that by listening to our clients’ needs and concerns, we will continually exceed their expectations.