NY Lab L § 25-B (2021)
2021 New York Laws LAB - Labor Article 2 - The Department of Labor 25-B - Power to Administer the Workers With Disabilties 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.   * NB Repealed January 1, 2023