Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) Program Extended to December 31, 2013

*Take advantage of this extension and the IRS Transition Relief for filing paperwork!  If you hired any new employees from January 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013,  you may be able to earn a tax credit for each new employee hired if they qualify under one of the targeted groups.  All paperwork must be submitted to St. Paul by April 29, 2013 to be timely!
 

The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is a federal tax credit available to all private sector businesses as an incentive to employers to hire workers in certain** groups who consistently experience high rates of unemployment. Click here for: Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) Information  

The tax credit allows employers to reduce their federal tax liability by up to $9,600 per new hire. For-profit businesses of any size qualify. 501(c) non-profits qualify for the veteran target groups only. And the tax credit applies to temporary, seasonal, part-time and full-time workers. The tax credit is available for new hires with job start dates through December 31, 2013.

The WOTC applies only to new employees who have never worked for the hiring employer at any other time.

• Any size for-profit employer may apply for the WOTC.
• 501(c) non-profit employers may apply for the WOTC for the veteran target groups only.
• No limit to the number of new hires an employer may claim for the WOTC in any calendar year.
• No relatives or dependents or majority business owners qualify as WOTC hires.
• Self-employed individuals do not qualify as WOTC hires.
• Temporary, seasonal, part-time and full-time work applies.
• Any type of job is acceptable.

**NOTE: There are a number of Qualifying Groups, but one you might be especially interested in taking advantage of is Group 4 – the Designated Community Resident:  An eligible individual may be age 18 but not yet 40 years old on the hire date and lives in a Rural Renewal County (RRC) The Rural Renewal Counties are Big Stone, Chippewa, Cottonwood, Faribault, Jackson, Kittson, Koochiching, Lac qui Parle, Lincoln, Marshall, Martin, Murray, Norman, Pipestone, Red Lake, Redwood, Renville, Stevens, Traverse, Wilkin and Yellow Medicine. 

NOTE: Minnesota employers who hire employees living in certain counties in Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota may also claim the tax credit.

• Iowa: Emmet, Kossuth, Osceola, Winnebago and Worth
• North Dakota: Pembina, Traill and Walsh
• South Dakota: Deuel and Grant

WOTC applications for residents living in these counties and working in Minnesota should be mailed to the Minnesota WOTC Unit.

Take advantage of this tax credit for new hires!  More information is available at these websites

Info from MN DEED website:  http://www.positivelyminnesota.com/Business/Finding_Workers/Hiring_Incentives_Credits/Work_Opportunity_Tax_Credit.aspx

Info from US Dept of Labor:  http://www.doleta.gov/business/incentives/opptax/

US Dept of Labor WOTC brochure:  http://www.doleta.gov/business/incentives/opptax/PDF/employers_wotc_program_brochure_5_24_12.pdf

*IRS Transition Relief for Filing IRS Form 8850

1.       Transition relief for taxable employers that hire members of targeted groups (other than qualified veterans)
A taxable employer that hires a member of a targeted group (as defined in § 51(d)(2) through (10), other than a qualified veteran described in § 51(d)(3)) on or after January 1, 2012, and on or before March 31, 2013, will be considered to have satisfied the requirements of § 51(d)(13)(A)(ii) if it submits the completed Form 8850 to the DLA to request certification not later than April 29, 2013.

2. Transition relief for all employers that hire qualified veterans
   An employer that hires any qualified veteran described in § 51(d)(3) on or after January 1, 2013, and on or before March 31, 2013, will be considered to have satisfied the requirements of § 51(d)(13)(A)(ii) if it submits the completed Form 8850 to the DLA to re-quest certification not later than April 29, 2013.

Contact the Minnesota WOTC Unit
Telephone: 651.259.7507
Toll Free: 888.234.5521
Fax: 651.297.7722
Email: deed.wotc@state.mn.us

 

Maybe manufacturing jobs still pay more

Reposted from Washington Post with Bloomberg

By Jim Tankersley, Published: March 7

All things being equal, you’d still rather be a factory worker in America today than a similarly skilled worker in another industry. That’s the conclusion of Commerce Department economists, who have combed national statistics and say the “wage premium” in manufacturing is alive and well.

A typical U.S. factory worker takes home higher pay and has better benefits than a comparable worker outside of manufacturing, Mark Doms, the department’s undersecretary for economic affairs, said in a recent interview. The findings, he said, rebut a simple comparison of hourly wages across industries that appears to show manufacturing workers slipping behind everyone else in the economy after years of earning more.
 

 “When you’re trying to compare apples to apples,” Doms said, “you do see this manufacturing wage premium [has] been robust over time.”

Manufacturing has been a rare success industry in the recovery from the Great Recession, adding 500,000 jobs since the end of 2009. President Obama often hails it as a vehicle for middle-class prosperity.

From the mid-1970s to the eve of the recession, non-supervisory workers in manufacturing earned more per hour on average than the national average for all industries. During the recession and in the years that followed, however, hourly manufacturing pay fell behind the national average. In January, the average hourly wage for a manufacturing production worker was $19.23, compared with $19.97 for the private sector as a whole.

Commerce economists say the full picture is more complicated — and more favorable to manufacturing. They calculated in a report.

Doms says there are several explanations for that premium. Factory employees tend to work more hours per week and more weeks per year than other workers, he said, a difference that adds up — just like the compensation premium — to 17 percent.

If you include supervisors, who earn more than non-supervisory workers, factory employees earn more per hour than non-factory ones, he said.

Perhaps the simplest, time-tested explanation for why manufacturing jobs pay a premium is that the industry boasts consistently high productivity. There was new evidence of that in Labor Department statistics released Thursday. They showed manufacturing productivity increased by 2.2 percent last year, compared with 0.7 percent for the private sector as a whole.

Correspondingly, real hourly compensation for factory workers rose 0.2 percent for the year. Across the entire private sector, that compensation fell by 0.6 percent.

Rural Energy for America Program

Available Funds

USDA Rural Development's Rural Energy for America Program helps farmers and small businesses reduce their energy costs. Here are some specifics:

1. Grants can be up to 25% of the eligible project costs.
     - Minimum grant is $1,500
     - Maximum grant is $250,000
2. Grants (up to 25%) and guaranteed loans (up to 50%) may be used in combination.
3. Guaranteed loans ONLY are also available. The percentage of guarantee is negotiated between the lender and the borrower.

Check out the info on their web site for more information:

http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/BCP_Reap.html