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Incentives For Hiring Welfare-To-Work Participants, Mary L. Heen

Law Faculty Publications

The Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002, signed into law by President Bush on March 9th, extends the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) and the Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit (WtW) for two more years. The credits provide employers with tax incentives to hire former long-term welfare recipients and certain other economically disadvantaged workers, a goal that comports with the welfare-to-work focus of welfare reform legislation adopted by Congress in 1996. This article describes these employer tax credits, explains how they have evolved from prior versions of similar targeted tax credits, and considers their operation as tax-delivered subsidies.