Your tax dollars:
I promise to do Part 2 of the “Muslims go home” later today, but for a change of pace this morning and for our readers who are interesed in Refugee Resettlement as a financial concern, I’m writing about another federal (your tax dollars) program.
As the controversy continued in Hagerstown, MD over refugee resettlement, one of the many things citizens are interested in (besides the welfare benefits afforded to refugees) is what is the incentive for businesses to hire refugees. Of course, the obvious answer is that grateful refugees will accept low wages.
There is more, however. Turns out there is a tax credit, a substantial one, offered to businesses that hire people who are on, or have received, various forms of welfare. (Refugees are immediately eligible for all forms of welfare and that is one reason that a person would much rather enter the US designated a refugee than just as a regular immigrant.) It’s called the Work Opportunity Tax Credit which gives up to a $2400 tax credit to a business that hires a refugee and the person stays on the job for a minimum of 400 hours (10 weeks for a 40 hour work week).
Read more about the Work Opportunity Tax Credit here.