[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 40 (Monday, March 2, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11231-11232]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-04166]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Comment Request for Information Collection for Work Opportunity 
Tax Credit (WOTC) Program (OMB No. 1205-0371), Extension Without 
Revisions of a Currently Approved Collection

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration (ETA), Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (Department), as part of its 
continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a 
preclearance consultation program to provide the public and Federal 
agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing 
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)] (PRA). The PRA helps ensure that 
respondents can provide requested data in the desired format with 
minimal reporting burden (time and financial resources), collection 
instruments are clearly understood and the impact of collection 
requirements on respondents can be properly assessed.
    Currently, the Office Workforce Investment in ETA is soliciting 
comments concerning the proposed request for an extension of a 
collection of Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) program forms without 
changes.

DATES: Submit written comments to the office listed in the addresses 
section below on or before May 1, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Ms. Kimberly Vitelli, Chief 
Division of National Programs Tools and Technical Assistance (DNPTTA), 
Room C-4510, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of 
Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210. Telephone 
number: 202-693-3045 (this is not a toll-free number). Individuals with 
hearing or speech impairments may access the telephone number above via 
TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 1-
877-889-5627 (TTY/TDD). Fax: 202-693-3015. Email: 
[email protected]. To obtain a copy of the proposed information 
collection request (ICR), please contact the person listed above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carmen Ortiz, WOTC National 
Coordinator at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) program was created by the 
Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-188) and allows 
private-for-profit businesses, and 501(c) tax-exempt organizations that 
hire veterans, to obtain tax credits from the Internal Revenue Service 
(IRS) for hiring hard-to-employ members of nine target groups. State 
workforce agencies (SWAs) process these requests and issue employers 
the final determination that a new hire is in one of the nine target 
groups, which employers then use to claim the tax credit to the IRS. 
Other legislation that imposes requirements on the WOTC program include 
the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 (Pub. L. 105-34), which created the 
Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit for a two-year period. The WtWTC expired on 
December 2005 and its Long-term TANF Recipient group became part of the 
WOTC in 2006 by Pub. L 109-432. Additional legislation includes the Tax 
Relief and Health Care Act (Pub. L. 109-432) passed in 2006, the Small 
Business and Work Opportunity Tax Act (Pub. L. 110-28) passed in 2007, 
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-5), the 
VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 (Pub. L. 112-56), the American Taxpayer 
Relief of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-240), the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 
2014 (Pub. L. 113-295), and Section 51 of the Internal Revenue (IR) 
Code of 1986, as amended. Since its enactment, this program has 
experienced a series of authorization lapses and retroactive 
reauthorizations by Congress.
    On December 19, 2014, President Obama signed into law the Tax 
Increase Prevention Act of 2014 (the Act) (Pub. L. 113-295). On 
December 31, 2013 the legislative authority of the WOTC program 
expired, and this Act amended Sec. 51 of the IR Code by retroactively 
reauthorizing WOTC, without any amendments/changes to the program or 
the current target groups, through December 31, 2014. This retroactive 
extension applies to new hires who began to work for an employer on or 
after January 1, 2014 and before January 1, 2015. Currently, the WOTC 
program's legislative authority expired on December 31, 2014.
    This submission includes five WOTC program forms as follows: (1) A 
reporting form (ETA 9058); (2) two processing forms (ETA Forms 9061 
(English and Spanish versions) and 9062; (3) and two administrative 
forms (ETA Forms 9063 and 9065). ETA Form 9058 is used by SWAs to 
report to ETA information on processing of WOTC certification requests. 
ETA Form 9061 or 9062 is used by employers to request certification for 
their new hires together with the IRS Form 8850. The SWAs use the 
information on these two forms to verify target group eligibility and 
process the employer's requests. SWAs use ETA Form 9063 to issue the 
final certifications to eligible employers or their representatives and 
ETA Form 9065 in their administrative quarterly internal audits. The 
design and format of ETA Form 9063 and 9065 is optional for the states. 
SWAs are no longer required to report to ETA the results of their 
internal audits (ETA 9065).
    The data collected under this submission is necessary for effective 
federal administration of the WOTC program, including allowing ETA and 
IRS to oversee state administration of the tax credit. Uniform program 
administration procedures and forms assure that businesses, especially 
multistate businesses that utilize the WOTC tax credit, receive 
consistent treatment from state to state regarding eligibility 
determinations and processing of their certification requests, and that 
the statutory rules for receipt of this tax credit requests are 
administered in a consistent manner by the SWAs.
    Since Public Laws 113-295 and 112-240 did not make any changes to 
the program or its target groups other than reauthorize the program 
through a specific period of time, the program's administrative, 
processing and reporting forms have not been revised or amended. These 
forms expire on June 30, 2015. ETA is requesting a 3-year expiration 
date of June 30, 2018.

II. Review Focus

    The Department is particularly interested in comments which:
     Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
     evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;

[[Page 11232]]

     enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
     minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submissions of responses.

III. Current Actions

    Type of Review: Extension without revisions.
    Title: Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) program.
    OMB Number: 1205-0371.
    Affected Public: State Workforce Agencies (SWAs), private for 
profit employers, and since 2011, 501(c) tax-exempt organizations 
hiring veterans.
    Estimated Total Annual Respondents: 990,052.
    Annual Frequency: Quarterly, On Occasion, Annually.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 2,420,624.
    Average Time per Response: (For ETA Form 9058--1 hr; ETA Forms 
9061-9063--.33; ETA Form 9065--1 hr.; and Record-Keeping--931 hrs.).
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 847,445.
    Total Estimated Burden Cost (capital/startup): 0.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintaining): 0.
    We will summarize and/or include in the request for OMB approval of 
the ICR, the comments received in response to this comment request; 
they will also become a matter of public record.

Portia Wu,
Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Labor.
[FR Doc. 2015-04166 Filed 2-27-15; 8:45 am]
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