WOTC 2008 form use extension

Accessible letter PDF: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/advisories/TEGL/2009/TEGL03-09Ch1acc.pdf

CLASSIFICATION

      EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION
                                                    WOTC
                  ADVISORY SYSTEM                   CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL
             U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR               OWI
                Washington, D.C. 20210              DATE
                                                    October 7, 2009

TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT GUIDANCE LETTER NO. 3-09 Change 1

TO:          ALL STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES
             ALL STATE WORKFORCE LIAISONS
             ALL REGIONAL WOTC COORDINATORS

FROM:        JANE OATES /s/
             Assistant Secretary

SUBJECT:     Extension Period Granted to All State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) and
             Employers for the Uninterrupted Use of 2008 Work Opportunity Tax
             Credit (WOTC) Processing Forms

1. Purpose. The purpose of this advisory is to inform the SWAs that the Employment
   and Training Administration (ETA) is granting an extension period for employers or
   their representatives when filing the WOTC Individual Characteristic Forms (9061)
   or the Conditional Certification Form (9062).

2. References. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law
   111-5, Recovery Act); Internal Revenue Code of 1986, Section 51, as amended;
   Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; Notice 2009-28, 2009-24 I.R.B. 1082, dated June 15,
   2009; Notice 2009-69, dated August 31, 2009; the Job Creation and Worker Assistance
   Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-147); the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006
   (Public Law 109-432); the Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-
   311); the Small Business and Work Opportunity Tax Credit Act of 2007 (Public Law
   110-28); TEGL No. 19-05, dated March 7, 2006, New Streamlined Reporting
   Requirements and Extension of the Information Collection for the Work
   Opportunity and Welfare-to-Work Tax Credits; Training and Employment
   Guidance Letter (TEGL) No. 20-06, dated April 3, 2007, Reauthorization of the Work
   Opportunity Tax Credit and Other Program Changes; TEGL No. 05-07, dated
   September 11, 2007, Reauthorization of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit and Other
   Program Changes; TEGL No. 11-08, dated February 19, 2009, Extension of the
   Information Collection for the Consolidated Work Opportunity Tax Credit Program:
   Revised Reporting and Processing Forms; TEGL No. 11-08, Change 1, Extension
   Period Granted to the State Workforce Agencies and Employers for the
   Uninterrupted Use of All 2007 and 2008 Work Opportunity Tax Credit Program



RESCISSIONS                                       EXPIRATION DATE
None                                              Continuing

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   Processing Forms; TEGL No. 3-09, dated September 1, 2009; ETA Handbook No. 408,
   November 2002, Third Edition (the Handbook); and the updated November 2008
   Addendum to the Handbook (Addendum, OMB No. 1205-0371).

3. Background. Section 1221 of the Recovery Act (P.L. Law 111-5) amended Section 51
   of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) by adding two new target groups to the WOTC
   Program: Unemployed Veterans and Disconnected Youth who begin work for an
   employer in 2009. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published two issuances, one
   on June 15, 2009, Notice 2009-28 and a clarifying issuance on August 31, Notice 2009-
   69, providing guidance on the statutory definitions of these two target groups. The
   IRS issuances also provided transition relief for employers who hired Unemployed
   Veterans and Disconnected Youth after December 31, 2008, and before September 17,
   2009, if the employer submits the Pre-screening Notice to the designated local agency
   no later than October 17, 2009. To address the new provisions and statutory
   requirements of these two new groups, ETA updated the WOTC reporting,
   administrative and processing forms and other program related materials, including
   the EBSS Tax Credit Reporting System. All revised and updated forms were
   approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on August 2009 with a
   November 30, 2011, expiration date.

   On September 1, 2009, ETA issued TEGL 3-09, transmitting to the SWAs and WOTC
   partners respectively all OMB approved reporting, processing, and administrative
   forms and program related Recovery Act materials. The guidance in the TEGL
   required the SWAs and participating employers to begin using the OMB-cleared
   ETA 9061, Individual Characteristics Form, or 9062, Conditional Certification Form, with
   the November 30, 2011, expiration date for their certification requests within two
   weeks from the date of issuance of that TEGL (i.e., September 16, 2009).

4. Extension Period. In recognition of the challenges of implementing the August 2009
   forms under the timeframe set forth in TEGL 3-09 due to the changes required by the
   two new Recovery Act target groups, ETA is granting employers a transition relief
   period as follows:

   a) Employers may continue to file with the SWAs, the November 2008, ETA Forms
      9061 or 9062 for the new hires listed in these two forms only as part of their
      certification requests through October 17, 2009. SWAs are instructed to accept
      the November 2008, ETA Forms 9061 or 9062 during this extension period.

   b) SWAs are instructed to process all timely certification requests filed by
      employers or their representatives for Recovery Act new hires who begin work
      on or after January 1, 2009, and may process those requests that comply with the
      following:

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           •   As part of the certification requests, employers or their representatives
               filed a timely OMB approved 2009 IRS Form 8850 indicating one of the
               two Recovery Act new target groups: Unemployed Veterans or
               Disconnected Youth, and
           •   Accompanied the IRS 8850 with a November 2008, ETA Form 9061.

       The above measure applies only to Recovery Act certification requests filed
       through October 17, 2009.

   c) For Unemployed Veterans’ and Disconnected Youth requests, SWAs are
      required to obtain from adequate participating agencies the eligibility
      documentation necessary to determine eligibility under each of these target
      groups. Specifically, for Disconnected Youth certification requests without self-
      attestation forms, SWAs are required to send a “Needs Notice” informing
      employers that regardless of when a 2009 IRS Form 8850 was submitted, Self-
      Attestation Forms, to document criteria 2 and 4, are required for all applications
      under this target group as a condition for processing such requests.

   d) The revised August 2009, ETA Forms 9061 or 9062 (with the November 30, 2011,
      expiration date) must be used in conjunction with the August 2009, IRS 8850 for
      all certification requests after October 17, 2009.

   e) It is ETA’s understanding from the IRS that employers may continue to file the
      June 2007, OMB approved IRS 8850 so long as the certification request is for any
      of the target groups listed in that form. SWAs are instructed to accept the June
      2007, IRS 8850 during this extension period.

5. Self-Attestation Requirements and Documents. As indicated above, eligibility
   determinations for members of the Disconnected Youth target group require self-
   attestation to document (II) Not regularly attending school, and (IV) Not readily
   employable due to lack of basic skills. In an effort to ensure the timely processing of
   certification requests under this target group, SWAs are encouraged to modify
   current state self-attestation requirements and documentation to reflect the new
   categories’ statutory requirements.

6. New Target Groups’ Designation. The target group titles and letter designations
   for the two Recovery Act new WOTC groups are as follows:

       •   Unemployed Veterans - J
       •   Disconnected Youth - K

   SWAs are instructed to add these two target group designations to their WOTC
   processing and certification systems effective upon receipt of this TEGL.

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7. Reporting Authority. Recovery Act reporting, program administration and
   processing forms and all other program-related materials are approved according to
   the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, under OMB No. 1205-0371, and all are dated
   August 2009. This authority is effective through November 30, 2011. SWAs are to
   report all program workload processing data using the August 2009, ETA Form 9058
   beginning with the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2009, which closes on September 30,
   2009. This information was not included in TEGL 3-09.

8. Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of
   1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such
   collection displays a valid OMB Control Number. OMB has approved the
   collections of information contained herein and the revision thereof under OMB
   Control Number 1205-0371 (Expiration Date November 30, 2011). Public reporting
   burden for this particular collection of information is estimated to average 20
   minutes per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing
   data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and
   reviewing the collection of information. The obligation to respond to this collection
   required to obtain or retain benefits (PL 111-5, Section 1221). Send comments
   regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information,
   including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the U.S. Department of Labor,
   Office of the Chief Information Officer, Attention: Departmental Clearance Officer,
   200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room N-1301, Washington, DC 20210 or email
   [email protected] and reference the OMB Control Number 1205-0371.
   Note: Please do not return the completed forms to this address.

   The additional burden associated with the collections results from the Recovery
   Act’s two new WOTC target populations, unemployed veteran and disconnected
   youth, eligible for employers to receive the tax credit retroactively to January 1, 2009.
   However, guidance was not issued to the SWAs on implementation of these two
   new target groups until September 1, 2009. Therefore, SWAs will need to request
   employers to provide the necessary documentation for applications submitted prior
   to September 1, for these two new target groups, thus creating the estimate of
   additional burden (see above).

   Also, OMB has granted permission to continue using previous versions of the Forms
   9061 and 9062 (November 2008 versions), which, when accompanied with the State
   Self-Attestation Forms, provide the same information otherwise included on the
   2009 versions of the Forms that were modified and approved by OMB pursuant to
   Recovery Act requirements. (The request to continue using the November 2008
   approved 9061 will not change the newly approved 9061 certification according to
   the IRS.) As long as the documentation for the two requirements for disconnected
   youth is obtained through the self-attestation process, all of the other documentation

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   will be available through the November 2008 form. The August 25, 2009, OMB-
   approved form added two new questions that provide information on the Recovery
   Act-authorized target groups in questions 20 and 21.

9. Action Requested. SWA administrators are requested to provide this TEGL to all
   WOTC State Coordinators and related program staff, and ensure the information
   and guidance provided is shared with the private sector businesses, their
   representatives, and all other Federal and state partners effective upon receipt of this
   TEGL.

10. Inquiries. Direct all questions to the appropriate Regional WOTC Coordinator.