We’ve helped hundreds of organizations profit with WOTC. Here are the three most common misconceptions they have before beginning.
For nearly 30 years, the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) has rewarded organizations who hire and retain disadvantaged job-seekers with lucrative financial benefits. It’s no exaggeration to say that WOTC can transform businesses when used smartly–particularly businesses who hire at high volumes, such as staffing firms, franchise restaurants or other franchise businesses, construction firms, trucking companies, retail stores, and many more.
If you’re considering beginning a WOTC program or leveling-up your current one by working with us, you’re likely investigating many important questions based on your current perception of WOTC, which is undoubtedly based partially in fact, and partially in fiction.
This blog provides facts about the three most common misconceptions our clients bring to us before supercharging their profitability with WOTC.
1. WOTC employees are hard to find
WOTC rewards organizations for hiring disadvantaged job-seekers, including qualified veterans, recipients of certain forms of government assistance, residents of certain economically distressed areas, certain recently incarcerated people, and more.
In our experience, many organizations don’t give WOTC appropriate consideration because they assume that nobody they hire would qualify. The truth is that over 20% of Americans qualify for WOTC, and in some industries (restaurants, for example), over 35% of applicants qualify.
In addition, the ten WOTC target groups are more inclusive than many employers believe. For instance, in order to qualify as a SNAP benefits recipient, an employee does not need to receive SNAP themself, but rather simply belong to a household that has received SNAP within the designated time frame.
Similarly, some employers overlook WOTC without realizing that they already hire from geographic areas designated as Rural Renewal Counties or Economic Empowerment Zones. When this is the case, WOTC employees can come in spades, since employees qualify simply for residing within the designated area.
These are only two examples of many. Whatever your organization’s hiring practices or recruiting processes, we have time-tested solutions to help you find more WOTC employees, and boost your WOTC profits as a consequence.
2. Claiming WOTC is too much work
Although it is true that claiming WOTC requires some up-front investment, this should not dissuade you from getting started. Nothing in life gives rewards without first requiring study, preparation, and experimentation. The crucial question when beginning any new endeavor is not whether it will require work, but whether the required work will pay off. When it comes to WOTC, the answer is a resounding “Yes!”
To get started with WOTC, you can focus on three steps:
- Screen all new job applicants
- Obtain certification for eligible hires
- Claim WOTC for certified employees
Many accessible and helpful resources exist to help motivated organizations self-start with WOTC. We understand, however, that your organization may be operating at full capacity when it comes to taking on new tasks. That’s why we’re here! We’ve helped hundreds of clients claim over $650M in employment tax credits over the last decade, and WOTC is our specialty. We provide customized support from tax experts and industry-leading technology in order to make claiming WOTC simple.
3. WOTC help costs too much
You may already pay for tax and finance team members or services, or outsource it to a CPA. We absolutely understand if you don’t want to pay for one more thing when it comes to taxes.
We’re a small business ourselves. We understand what’s on the line for you when it comes to making every dollar count. That’s why our fee structure is 100% contingent. What that means is you don’t pay us anything unless you see WOTC profits.
But what about time cost?
Our tech tools are fully integrated with a growing number of payroll providers and ATSs. That means set-up, monitoring, and maintenance costs many of our clients no time at all. In addition, we handle all WOTC paperwork and communication for our clients, and ensure that they have nothing to worry about when it comes to compliance.
Of course, our dedicated, real-person support team is always available to answer questions and invest time in optimizing your WOTC program. However, very little in-person interaction is necessary if you prefer a more hands-off approach. And, thanks to our continuously-improving WOTC dashboard, you’ll never lose the benefit of actionable data-based insights if you can’t invest time with one of our team members.
Fact: you have nothing to lose
We are confident that discovering the facts about WOTC is the first step toward supercharging your profitability. If it wasn’t, our business wouldn’t exist.