Investing in Older Americans Act of 2016

Investing in Older Americans Act of 2016

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to make the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) permanent and expand it to include the hiring of older long-term unemployment recipients.

(The WOTC permits employers that hire individuals with certain personal characteristics to claim a tax credit equal to a portion of the wages paid to those individuals.)

A qualified older long-term unemployment recipient is an individual who is certified by the designated local agency as:

• being at least 55 years of age on the hiring date, and
• qualified as a long-term unemployment recipient under current law by being unemployed for at least 27 consecutive weeks and receiving state or federal unemployment compensation during that period.

The bill limits to $14,000 the amount of the qualified first-year wages which may be taken into account under the WOTC for a qualified older long-term unemployment recipient.