8/10/2021
Notice 2021-43: Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) Transition Relief under Internal Revenue Code § 51 provides transition relief for employers that hire or hired individuals residing in empowerment zones who begin work on or after January 1, 2021, and before the date that is 60 days from the date of publication of the notice.
Section 51 of the Code gives employers a work opportunity credit when they hire individuals certified as a member of a targeted group by a Designated Local Agency (DLA) .
Employers must receive a certification from a DLA that the individual is a member of a targeted group on or before the day they begins work, otherwise they must request certification that the individual is a member of a targeted group by submitting Form 8850 (Pre-Screening Notification and Certification Request for the Work Opportunity Credit) to a DLA within 28 days of that individual beginning work.
The certification of an individual as a Designated Community Resident or as a Qualified Summer Youth Employee requires that the individual live in an empowerment zone. Empowerment zone designations under were not in effect after December 31, 2020, but if the state or local government did not opt out of an empowerment designation by May 25, 2021, it was extended through December 31, 2025 in accordance with an automatic procedure for a state or local government to extend the empowerment zone designation.
Since employers could not request certification on time for employees who otherwise met the criteria for these two targeted groups until empowerment zone designations were renewed, this notice allows them additional time beyond the 28-day requirement to request certification.
IRB 2021-35, Aug. 30, 2021