N.Y. Labor Law § 25-b: Power to administer the workers with disabilities tax credit program

§ 25-b. Power to administer the workers with disabilities tax credit

program. (a) The commissioner is authorized to establish and administer

the workers with disabilities tax credit program to provide tax

incentives to employers for employing individuals with developmental

disabilities. The commissioner is authorized to allocate up to six

million dollars of tax credits annually.

(b) Definitions. (1) The term "qualified employer" means an employer

that has been certified by the commissioner to participate in the

workers with disabilities tax credit program and that employs one or

more qualified employees.

(2) The term "qualified employee" means an individual:

(i) who is deemed to have a developmental disability, as that term is

defined in subdivision twenty-two of section 1.03 of the mental hygiene

law and who is certified by the education department or the office for

people with developmental disabilities as a person with a disability

which constitutes or results in a substantial handicap to employment;

and

(ii) who is a current employee of a sheltered workshop, which for

purposes of this subdivision is defined as an organization or

environment that employs people with disabilities segregated from

others; or who was unemployed for at least three months prior to January

first, two thousand fifteen; and

(iii) who has worked for the qualified employer in a full-time or

part-time position that pays wages that are equivalent to the 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; and

(iv) who has not worked for an entity related to the qualified

employer in the past twenty-four months; and

(v) is employed in New York at a location in New York state.

(c) A qualified employer shall be entitled to a tax credit. The tax

credits shall be claimed by the qualified employer as specified in

subdivision forty-eight of section two hundred ten-B and subsection (zz)

of section six hundred six of the tax law.

(d) To participate in the workers with disabilities tax credit

program, an employer must submit an application (in a form prescribed by

the commissioner) to the commissioner. The commissioner shall establish

guidelines that specify requirements for employers to participate in the

program including criteria for certifying qualified employees. Any

regulations that the commissioner determines are necessary may be

adopted on an emergency basis notwithstanding anything to the contrary

in section two hundred two of the state administrative procedure act.

Such requirements may include the types of industries that the employers

are engaged in.

(e) If, after reviewing the application submitted by an employer, the

commissioner determines that such employer is eligible to participate in

the workers with disabilities tax credit program, the commissioner shall

issue the employer a preliminary certificate of eligibility that

establishes the employer as a qualified employer. The certificate of

eligibility shall specify the maximum amount of workers with

disabilities tax credit that the employer will be allowed to claim. At

the end of the taxable year, a qualified employer must obtain a final

certificate of eligibility from the commissioner to file with a return

claiming the credit. The final certificate must contain the

certificate's taxable year to which the credit applies, the maximum

amount of the credit allowed, the qualified employer's name and employer

identification number, the employer's business address where the claimed

employees were employed, the social security numbers of claimed

employees and their hire and termination dates, verification that the

claimed employees have met the statutory definition of "qualified

employee", and each employee's total hours worked each quarter, hourly

wage, and full-time or part-time status.

(f) The tax credits provided under this program shall be applicable to

taxable periods beginning before January first, two thousand

twenty-nine.