New York Workers with Disabilities Tax Credit (WDTC)

Overview

For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2015, and before January 1, 2020, this tax credit is available to qualified employers subject to tax under Article 9-A or 22 and employs qualified individuals with disabilities. Taxpayers must submit an application to DOL to participate in the program, and if eligible, will receive a final Certificate of Eligibility annually specifying the maximum amount of the credit allowed for that tax year. Taxpayers must also submit a Confirmation of Hire for each qualified new hire.

Credit Amounts

The credit is equal to 15% of the qualified wages paid during the tax year to a qualified full-time employee who works at least six months for at least 30 hours per week and 10% of the qualified wages paid during the tax year to a qualified part-time employee who works at least six months for at least eight hours per week. The maximum amount of credit allowed per qualified employee for any tax year is $5,000 for a full-time employee and $2,500 for a part-time employee.

To claim the credit complete Form CT-644 or IT-644 and attach the final Certificate of Eligibility. To claim the credit complete Form CT-643 or IT-643.

Eligibility

To qualify for the tax credit, businesses must:

be a certified participant in the Workers with Disabilities Tax Credit Program;
have paid qualified wages to a qualified employee; and
have received the final Certificate of Eligibility from DOL.

A qualified employee is an employee who:

is deemed to have a developmental disability as defined in Mental Hygiene Law and is certified by the State Education Department or Office for People With Developmental Disabilities as a person with a disability that constitutes or results in a substantial handicap to employment;
is a current employee of a sheltered workshop (segregated from others) or who was unemployed for at least three months prior to January 1, 2015;
has worked for the qualified employer in a full-time or part-time capacity that paid wages that are equivalent to wages paid for similar jobs, with appropriate adjustments for experience and training and for which no other employee has been terminated, or where the employer has not otherwise reduced its workforce by involuntary terminations with the intention of filling the vacancy by creating a new hire;
has not worked for another entity related to the qualified employer within the past 24 months; and
is employed at a location in NYS.