In an effort to stimulate hiring, in a slowly recovering economy, Congress has enacted the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act.
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Two New Tax Benefits
Aid Employers Who Hire and Retain
Unemployed Workers
IRS Publishes FAQ To Help Employers
By Christopher W. Olmsted
In an effort to stimulate hiring, in a slowly recovering economy, Congress has enacted the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act. HIRE provides two new tax benefits to employers hiring workers who were previously unemployed or only working part time.
Social Security Tax Credit
Employers who hire unemployed workers this year (after Feb. 3, 2010 and before Jan. 1, 2011) may qualify for a 6.2-percent payroll tax incentive, in effect exempting them from their share of Social Security taxes on wages paid to these workers after March 18, 2010. This reduced tax withholding will have no effect on the employee’s future Social Security benefits, and employers would still need to withhold the employee’s 6.2-percent share of Social Security taxes, as well as income taxes. The employer and employee’s shares of Medicare taxes would also still apply to these wages.
Worker Retention Credit
In addition, for each worker retained for at least a year, businesses may claim an additional general business tax credit, up to $1,000 per worker, when they file their 2011 income tax returns.
The two tax benefits are especially helpful to employers who are adding positions to their payrolls. New hires filling existing positions also qualify but only if the workers they are replacing left voluntarily or for cause. Family members and other relatives do not qualify.
The new law requires that the employer get a statement from each eligible new hire certifying that he or she was unemployed during the 60 days before beginning work or, alternatively, worked fewer than a total of 40 hours for someone else during the 60-day period.
Employers claim the payroll tax benefit on the federal employment tax return they file, usually quarterly, with the IRS. Eligible employers will be able to claim the new tax incentive on their revised employment tax form for the second quarter of 2010. (Source: IRS press release dated March 18, 2010.
FAQs Regarding HIRE
The IRS has published FAQs regarding the new law. Excepts of the FAQ are reprinted below.
Q: Who are qualified employees?
A: Qualified employees are individuals who begin employment with a qualified employer after February 3, 2010, and before January 1, 2011, who have been unemployed or employed for less than 40 hours during the 60-day period ending on the date such employment begins, and who are not family members of or related in certain other ways to the employer.
Q: Do the qualified employees need to do anything to make it possible for their employer to claim the payroll tax exemption?
A: Yes, qualified employees must certify by a signed affidavit, under penalties of perjury, that they have not been employed for more than 40 hours during the 60-day period ending on the date they started employment. The IRS plans to issue a model affidavit that can be used for this purpose.
Q: Is the 60-day period continuous, and can it span 2009-2010?
A: The 60-day period must be continuous and can span 2009-2010.
Q: Does the payroll tax exemption apply to wages paid to a qualified employee hired to replace an existing worker whose employment terminated?
A: The payroll tax exemption does not apply to wages paid to an employee who is hired to replace an existing worker, unless the existing worker terminated employment voluntarily or was terminated for cause.
Q: Does the payroll tax exemption apply to wages paid to an employee who was previously laid off and then rehired by the same or a related employer after a 60-day period?
A: Yes, an employer may apply the payroll tax exemption to wages paid to a rehired employee who is otherwise a qualified employee.
Q: If an employer lays an employee off because of lack of work and later, when work picks up, hires a new employee, can the payroll tax exemption apply to wages paid to the new employee?
A: Yes, if the new employee is a qualified employee (i.e., was employed for less than 40 hours during the prior 60 days).
Q: Does the payroll tax exemption apply only if the employer previously laid employees off?
A: No, the payroll tax exemption can apply to wages paid to any qualified employee.
Q: If an employer hires a recent graduate who has been in school for some or all of the 60 days preceding the start of his employment, does the payroll tax exemption apply to wages paid to the employee?
A: Yes, if the employee is a qualified employee. It is not necessary that the individual was previously employed and has lost his or her job to be a qualified employee.
Q: How does the employer claim the payroll tax exemption for wages paid to qualified employees?
A: The payroll tax exemption is claimed on Form 941, Employer's QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return, beginning with the second quarter of 2010.
Q: How does the employer claim the payroll tax exemption for wages paid to qualified employees during the period March 19 through March 31, 2010 (the first quarter of 2010)?
A: The payroll tax exemption for wages paid during this period will be claimed on the employer's Form 941 for the second quarter of 2010.
Q: Can an employer claim the COBRA premium assistance credit and the payroll tax exemption for new hires on the same employment tax return?
A: Yes.
Q: How does application of the payroll tax exemption to wages paid to a qualified employee affect the availability of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit with respect to that employee?
A: If an employer applies the payroll tax exemption to wages paid to a qualified employee, such wages paid to the employee during the one-year period beginning with the employee's hiring date may not be taken into account for purposes of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. An employer that wishes to claim the Work Opportunity Tax Credit with respect to a qualified employee can elect out of the payroll tax exemption with respect to wages paid to that qualified employee.
Q: If an employer starts a new business, does the payroll tax exemption apply to wages paid to employees hired for the new business?
A: Yes, if they are qualified employees.
Q: If an employee laid off in 2009 has been receiving COBRA premium assistance, for which the employer has been taking the COBRA premium assistance credit, and the employer rehires the employee, can the employer take the payroll tax exemption under the HIRE Act for wages paid to the employee?
A: Yes, if the employee is a qualified employee.
More Information:
More Information Regarding HIRE From The IRS
Download entire May 2010 Legal Update in PDF format.
This article is intended as a brief overview of the law and are not intended to substitute as legal advice. Any questions or concerns regarding any statute or case law should be addressed to a licensed attorney. Copyright © 2010 by Barker Olmsted & Barnier, APLC. San Diego, California. All rights reserved.
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