If you’re a small, growing business or not-for profit organization in Illinois, you could be benefitting from the Illinois Small Business Job Creation Tax Credit, which gives job tax credits to small businesses and not-for-profits that create new jobs in Illinois. The program, which began July 1, 2012, was created to help combat high rates of unemployment in Illinois by giving an incentive to fill new positions now rather than later.
Under the program, companies that meet the eligibility criteria will receive a $2,500 job tax credit for each new position they create and retain for one year. The program is capped at $50 million worth of job tax credits, which are claimed against payroll withholdings.
How do you qualify? If your organization has 50 or fewer full-time employees, including all of your organization’s locations and subsidiaries, as of July 1, 2012, you may be eligible. Your organization and the newly created position must be located in Illinois. In addition, your employee headcount must stay the same or increase to receive the tax credit. Creating one new position while eliminating others will disqualify you from receiving the credit. If your organization has more than 50 full-time employees, you can still qualify for the tax credit by hiring a 2010 “Put Illinois to Work Program” worker-trainee.
In addition to meeting the requirements for your organization, the position you create also needs to meet some specific criteria. It must be a new position, created between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2016. The job must pay at least $10 per hour or an equivalent annual salary of at least $18,200. The position must be filled by either a salaried employee or an hourly employee working at least 35 hours per week and that person cannot have previously been employed with your organization for six months prior to the start of the program, July 1, 2012. To receive the credit, the position must be retained for one full year, but does not have to be held by the same person for the entire 12-month period.
You can receive the job tax credit for every new position you create and retain. But you have to apply for the credit, which can be done as soon as the new, full-time employee begins work. Because the program has a cap and applications are processed on a first-come, first-serve basis, we strongly encourage those organizations that qualify to complete the application as early as possible. Approximately one year after you have filed the new position, you will need to provide substantiating data that all requirements were met before the tax credit certificate will be issued to you.
As with most things tax related, determining if you meet all the criteria and qualify for the credit can be confusing. Evolve Financial Services is ready to help. We offer a free assessment to help you determine if your organization qualifies for the job tax credits. If we find that your organization qualifies, we will assist you in registering all qualifying positions for a 10 percent processing fee for each tax credit for which you qualify. If you’re one of the 95 percent of Illinois businesses with fewer than 50 employees, don’t miss out on this tax saving opportunity. Call Evolve Financial Services at 847-212-3694 or email us at info@evolvefinancialservices.com to get started.
