Form 8850: How Employers File for WOTC 2026
Form 8850 goes to your state workforce agency — never the IRS — and it's due within 28 calendar days of your new hire's start date. But the credit behind it has now been lapsed for 236 days: no employee who started on or after January 1, 2026 can be certified, and Congress has not acted. Here is the exact filing process, what you can still claim for a 2025 hire, and why a protective filing today is not wasted paperwork.
Updated August 24, 2026 — lapse status re-checked the same day against irs.gov, and every credit figure verified against IRS and DOL primary sources
WOTC status as of August 24, 2026: still lapsed, day 236 — the IRS Work Opportunity Tax Credit page (last reviewed July 20, 2026) still shows authorization ending December 31, 2025, and Form 8850 is still marked "no longer in use"Form 8850 (Pre-Screening Notice and Certification Request for the Work Opportunity Credit) is completed by you and your new hire together, on or before the day you offer the job, then submitted with ETA Form 9061 or 9062 to your State Workforce Agency within 28 calendar days of the start date. It never goes to the IRS. As of August 24, 2026 that filing buys a date stamp rather than a certification: WOTC authority lapsed on January 1, 2026 for wages paid to anyone hired after December 31, 2025, and 236 days later Congress has not reauthorized it. Two things follow, and they point in opposite directions. For a hire who started on or before December 31, 2025, nothing is lost — those wages remain claimable, and you have three years from the return's due date to claim them, so an unclaimed 2025 certification is an amended-return job, not a write-off. For a 2026 hire, file within 28 days anyway. State Workforce Agencies are funded to keep accepting and date-stamping requests, DOL guidance lets them review and prepare but not issue certifications during a lapse, and after the 2015 lapse the IRS granted a blanket transition window rather than punishing late filers. See what to file for a pre-2026 hire and the dated renewal watch below.
Calculate your Form 8850 deadline and check your target group
Two quick tools, both computed client-side from IRS- and DOL-published rules — nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
WOTC Screening Deadline Calculator
Enter your new hire's start date to get the exact date Form 8850 is due at your SWA.
Target-Group Quick Checker
Pick the circumstance that best matches your new hire to see the likely target group and its max credit under pre-lapse rules.
WOTC is one hiring credit — see every program you qualify for. GrantCompass matches your business to every federal, state, and local grant, tax credit, and loan you're eligible for. Free eligibility check, 2 minutes.
See your grants — free →Should you still file Form 8850 for a 2026 hire?
Yes — keep filing on the normal 28-day schedule, and the strongest argument is not optimism but appropriations. Congress appropriated $17.5 million to the Department of Labor for state administration of WOTC in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (P.L. 119-75, enacted February 2026), then DOL allotted that money to the states through TEGL 09-25 on April 28, 2026 — while explicitly acknowledging the expired credit. Congress does not fund the machinery of a programme it intends to let die, and it has now done so through a full appropriations cycle after the lapse began. WOTC has lapsed and been retroactively reauthorized repeatedly since 1996: it lapsed after December 31, 2013 and was retroactively extended by the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-295) in December 2014, then lapsed again through 2015 before another retroactive extension. A bipartisan reauthorization bill, the Improve and Enhance the Work Opportunity Tax Credit Act (S. 3265 / H.R. 6231), introduced November 20, 2025, would extend WOTC through 2030 and raise the standard credit rate to 50%; as of August 24, 2026 it had not cleared either chamber. Employers who keep submitting Form 8850 during the gap are the ones positioned to claim the moment certification resumes.
What to file for hires you made before January 1, 2026
A pre-2026 hire is unaffected by the lapse and is still worth real money. The lapse removed eligibility only for wages paid to employees who began work after December 31, 2025. Wages paid to a qualifying employee hired on or before that date remain fully claimable, and so do carryforwards of credits that prior-year tax limits pushed into later returns. The claim window is generous: employers have three years from the due date of the return to claim WOTC, which means a 2025 hire whose certification arrived late, or whose credit was never claimed because nobody at the company knew to, is an amended-return exercise rather than lost money. The only pre-2026 hire that is genuinely lost is one whose Form 8850 never reached the State Workforce Agency inside the 28-day window, because there is no late-filing exception for the pre-screening itself.
-
Pull every 2025 hire who was certified but never claimed
Start from the certification letters, not the payroll file. A certified 2025 hire generates a credit of 25% of first-year qualified wages if the employee worked 120 to 399 hours, or 40% if they worked 400 or more — $2,400 at the standard $6,000 wage cap, up to $9,600 for a service-connected disabled veteran who was also unemployed six or more months. Compare the certification list against what actually appeared on Form 5884 for tax year 2025. Mismatches are common in businesses that outsourced screening to a vendor and never reconciled the vendor's certifications against the return.
-
Chase certifications that are still sitting at the SWA
A pending request for a pre-2026 hire is still live. DOL reported roughly 1.8 million pending WOTC applications in FY2024 alongside 1.578 million certifications and about 3.3 million denials, so a slow file is normal rather than a sign of rejection. Call your State Workforce Agency with the employee's start date and confirm the hire predates January 1, 2026 — that single fact moves the request out of the lapse queue and back into the ordinary processing queue, because SWAs can still issue certifications for pre-lapse hires.
-
Amend the return if the credit was missed
Claim a certified but unclaimed credit on Form 5884, which feeds Form 3800, the General Business Credit. Tax-exempt employers claiming qualified veteran hires use Form 5884-C against employer FICA tax instead. The credit is non-refundable — it can zero out tax liability but never generate a refund — and unused general business credits carry back one year and forward up to 20 years. That carryforward is why a 2025 credit is worth claiming even in a loss year.
-
Do not let a vendor tell you 2025 is closed
Some WOTC screening vendors wound down 2025 processing when the IRS marked Form 8850 "no longer in use" on March 20, 2026. That notice speaks to hires after December 31, 2025 and says nothing about pre-lapse hires or about claiming credits already earned. If a provider is declining to finish 2025 work, the three-year claim window means you can pick it up yourself or move it to another provider without losing the credit.
WOTC is one lapsed credit — other programs are open right now. A hiring credit on hold is a good moment to check what else your business qualifies for. Free eligibility check, 2 minutes, no card.
See your grants — free →WOTC renewal watch: what has and has not happened, as of August 24, 2026
Nothing has been enacted. WOTC authority lapsed on January 1, 2026 for wages paid to employees hired after December 31, 2025, and 236 days later no bill has passed either chamber. The signals that matter are administrative rather than legislative: Congress appropriated $17.5 million for state administration of the credit in P.L. 119-75 (February 2026), DOL allotted those funds through TEGL 09-25 on April 28, 2026 while acknowledging the expired credit, and the IRS reviewed its Work Opportunity Tax Credit page as recently as July 20, 2026 without changing the December 31, 2025 cutoff. The precedent to know is IRS Notice 2016-22: after the 2015 lapse ended in a December 2015 retroactive reauthorization, the IRS treated Form 8850 filings for employees who began work between January 1, 2015 and May 31, 2016 as timely if submitted by June 29, 2016. The 28-day rule is not necessarily fatal in a lapse — but relying on a repeat is a gamble, and filing on time costs nothing.
| Date | Event | What it means for your filing |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 31, 2025 | Last day of authorized hires under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 | Anyone who began work on or before this date is still fully claimable |
| Jan 1, 2026 | Authority lapses for wages paid to later hires | SWAs stop issuing certifications; they keep accepting filings |
| Feb 2026 | P.L. 119-75 appropriates $17.5M to DOL for state WOTC administration | Congress funded the certification machinery through the lapse |
| Mar 20, 2026 | IRS marks Form 8850 "no longer in use" | A statement about the law, not a ban on submitting to your SWA |
| Apr 28, 2026 | DOL issues TEGL 09-25, FY2026 WOTC funding allotments | States may review and prepare requests, but not certify |
| Jul 20, 2026 | IRS last reviews its WOTC page; cutoff unchanged | No administrative relief and no reauthorization |
| Aug 24, 2026 | Day 236 of the lapse; S. 3265 / H.R. 6231 still in committee | Keep filing within 28 days as a protective measure |
How big the programme is, and why that makes reauthorization likely but not certain
WOTC is not a boutique credit. State Workforce Agencies issued approximately 1.578 million certifications in FY2024 and 6.13 million across FY2022 through FY2024, with SNAP recipients accounting for 67.4% of FY2024 certifications and long-term unemployed workers 6.3%. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated WOTC claims of roughly $1.3 billion in FY2025 — about $900 million by corporations and $400 million by individuals and pass-through owners filing business income on personal returns (JCX-45-25, December 3, 2025). A programme at that scale, with a bipartisan reauthorization bill already drafted and administrative funding already appropriated, has historically been extended. It has also historically been extended late: the credit sat lapsed for most of 2014 and again for most of 2015 before Congress acted each December.
The practical planning stance that follows is neither "assume it comes back" nor "assume it is dead." Screen and file for every eligible 2026 hire on the 28-day schedule, because the filing is free, the paper trail is what a retroactive extension rewards, and IRS Notice 2016-22 shows the IRS is willing to waive the deadline retroactively when Congress acts late. But do not book the credit in a 2026 forecast, price it into a hiring decision, or promise it to a lender. A credit that requires an act of Congress to exist is a contingent asset, and treating it as revenue is how businesses end up short.
How to file Form 8850: the process, step by step
Form 8850 is the IRS's Pre-Screening Notice and Certification Request for the Work Opportunity Credit — a two-part form that starts the WOTC certification process. It does not itself grant the credit; it opens a request that your State Workforce Agency must certify before you can claim anything on your tax return. Below is the complete filing sequence, from pre-screening through claiming the credit.
-
1. Pre-screen on or before the job offer
Complete Form 8850 Part I with the applicant (their self-attestation of which target group, if any, they belong to) and Part II as the employer, on or before the day you offer the job — the IRS treats a form signed after the employee's first day as generally invalid. Most employers fold this into the standard offer-letter or Day-1 onboarding packet, alongside the I-9 and W-4, so it never gets missed.
-
2. Both parties sign and date it
The job applicant signs Part I and the employer signs Part II. Per the IRS instructions for Form 8850, both signatures must be dated no later than the date you submit the form to your SWA. The employee's answers are voluntary self-attestation — they can decline, and you cannot make employment conditional on their answering.
-
3. Submit to your State Workforce Agency — not the IRS
This is the step most guides get wrong: Form 8850 is filed with the State Workforce Agency (SWA) in the state where the employee will work, never with the IRS. The IRS's own instructions are explicit: "Don't file Form 8850 with the IRS," and "Never attach Form 8850 to a tax return or otherwise send it to the IRS." Submission must reach the SWA no later than the 28th calendar day after the start date; for mailed forms, postmarked by that date. Most SWAs accept electronic submission as well as mail or fax — check your specific state's process.
-
4. Attach ETA Form 9061 or 9062
Form 8850 travels with one companion form. ETA Form 9061 (Individual Characteristics Form) is the standard employer-completed supplement, giving the SWA the identifying details it needs to verify benefit or veteran status. ETA Form 9062 (Conditional Certification) replaces it only when the employee already carries a conditional certification from a SWA-partnered program — a vocational rehabilitation agency or a DOL-registered workforce program — in which case you simply sign and return it. Both forms must reach the SWA inside the same 28-day window as Form 8850.
-
5. Identify the likely target group
Use the target-group table below (or the checker above) to see which of the 10 official categories your hire likely falls under and its maximum credit. You don't need certainty before filing — if you're unsure, submit anyway and let the SWA verify. Screening out candidates because you assume they won't qualify is the single most common way employers leave WOTC money on the table.
-
6. Wait for SWA certification
Processing typically runs 2 weeks to 4 months once WOTC is fully authorized. For any hire starting on or after January 1, 2026, expect no certification until Congress reauthorizes the credit — the SWA will hold your date-stamped filing rather than deny it outright. Follow up with your SWA if you haven't heard back after 60 days once authorization resumes.
-
7. Claim the certified credit
Once certified, file Form 5884 (Work Opportunity Credit) with your federal return, feeding into Form 3800 (General Business Credit). Tax-exempt employers claiming veteran hires use Form 5884-C against employer FICA tax instead. The credit is non-refundable — it can zero out your tax liability but not generate a refund — and unused amounts carry back 1 year and forward 20 years.
WOTC's 10 target groups pay from $1,200 to $9,600 per certified hire
The standard WOTC credit is $2,400 (40% of a $6,000 first-year wage cap), which covers most of the 10 target groups. Veteran subcategories range higher — up to $9,600 for a disabled veteran also unemployed 6+ months, the program maximum. Long-term family assistance (TANF 18+ months) recipients generate up to $9,000 across two years, the only category with a second-year component. Qualified summer youth pays the least at $1,200. These are the figures Form 8850 sets in motion once a hire is certified; they are on hold for hires after December 31, 2025 — the credit has been lapsed since January 1, 2026, and as of August 24, 2026 no State Workforce Agency can issue a certification for a 2026 hire.
| Target Group | Max First-Year Wage Base | Max Credit | Key Criteria |
|---|---|---|---|
| IV-A (TANF) recipient | $6,000 | $2,400 | TANF for 9 of last 18 months ending on hire date |
| Qualified veteran (SNAP) | $6,000 | $2,400 | Veteran receiving SNAP within 15 months of hire |
| Qualified veteran (unemployed 4–6 wks) | $6,000 | $2,400 | Unemployed 4–6 consecutive weeks in prior year |
| Qualified veteran (unemployed 6+ mos) | $14,000 | $5,600 | Unemployed 6+ consecutive months in prior year |
| Disabled veteran (service-connected) | $12,000 | $4,800 | Hired within 1 year of discharge |
| Disabled veteran (also unemployed 6+ mos) | $24,000 | $9,600 | Disabled veteran + unemployed 6+ months — program max |
| Qualified ex-felon | $6,000 | $2,400 | Hired within 1 year of conviction or release |
| Designated community resident | $6,000 | $2,400 | Age 18–39, lives in Empowerment Zone/Rural Renewal Community |
| Vocational rehabilitation referral | $6,000 | $2,400 | Referred by a qualifying rehab or workforce program |
| Qualified SNAP recipient | $6,000 | $2,400 | Age 18–39, SNAP for 6 of last 9 months |
| Qualified SSI recipient | $6,000 | $2,400 | SSI in month of hire or within 60 days prior |
| Long-term family assistance | $10,000/yr (2 yrs) | $4,000 yr1 + $5,000 yr2 | TANF 18+ consecutive months ending on hire date |
| Long-term unemployment recipient | $6,000 | $2,400 | Unemployed 27+ consecutive weeks, received UI |
| Qualified summer youth | $3,000 | $1,200 | Age 16–17, Empowerment Zone, May 1–Sep 15 only |
Two rate tiers apply on top of these wage caps: 25% of first-year wages if the employee works 120–399 hours, or 40% if they work 400 or more hours; fewer than 120 hours earns no credit at all. The figures in the table above assume the 40% rate. For the full 120/400-hour rate mechanics, stacking rules with other credits, and worked examples, see the complete WOTC employer guide.
Frequently asked questions about filing Form 8850
Is WOTC mandatory?
No. WOTC is entirely voluntary on both sides. Employers are never required to screen candidates or claim the credit — it's an elective tax benefit, not a hiring mandate. Employees are equally free to decline: Form 8850's target-group questions are a self-attestation, and an employer cannot require an applicant to answer them or make employment conditional on answering. Best practice is to offer the pre-screening to every new hire as routine paperwork, never singling out specific applicants — that avoids any appearance of a discriminatory pre-employment inquiry based on protected status.
Where do I file Form 8850 — the IRS or somewhere else?
Form 8850 goes to the State Workforce Agency (SWA) in the state where the employee will work — never to the IRS. The IRS's own instructions for Form 8850 state plainly: "Don't file Form 8850 with the IRS," and "Never attach Form 8850 to a tax return or otherwise send it to the IRS." The SWA reviews the form, verifies target-group eligibility, and — once WOTC is active — issues a certification letter. Only after certification do you claim the credit on Form 5884 with your tax return.
What happens if I miss the 28-day deadline?
You permanently forfeit WOTC for that hire. Form 8850 must reach the SWA no later than the 28th calendar day after the employee's start date — for mailed submissions, postmarked by that date. Per DOL's WOTC procedural guidance, SWAs are directed to automatically reject certification requests that arrive after the 28-day window. There is no late-filing exception, no extension, and no way to claim the credit retroactively on an amended return for a hire whose pre-screening was missed.
Is Form 8850 still active in 2026?
Its underlying credit is lapsed, and the IRS updated its own Form 8850 page on March 20, 2026 to read: "Form 8850 is no longer in use. The work opportunity credit does not apply to employees who begin work for the employer after December 31, 2025." That notice reflects current law, not a change in filing procedure — Department of Labor guidance (TEGL 09-25, the FY2026 WOTC funding notice) confirms State Workforce Agencies may continue to review and prepare certification requests during an authorization lapse but may not issue certifications, and SWAs are continuing to accept and date-stamp Form 8850 submissions in practice — so employers who keep filing have a paper trail if Congress reauthorizes WOTC retroactively, as it has after every prior lapse.
What's the difference between Form 8850 and ETA Forms 9061 and 9062?
Form 8850 is the IRS pre-screening notice the employer and employee sign together. ETA Form 9061 is a Department of Labor supplemental form the employer completes alongside Form 8850, providing identifying details the SWA uses to verify benefit or veteran status. ETA Form 9062 replaces Form 9061 only when the employee arrives already conditionally certified by a SWA-partnered program — a vocational rehabilitation agency or a registered workforce program — in which case the employer simply signs and returns it instead of completing Form 9061. Both Form 8850 and one of these two ETA forms must reach the SWA within the same 28-day window.
Can a genuine rehire or a relative qualify for WOTC?
No. The employee must be a genuinely new hire — someone who never previously worked for the business — regardless of how long ago a prior stint ended. IRC Section 51(i) also excludes wages paid to a spouse, child, parent, sibling, or, for a corporation, anyone owning more than 50% of its stock. Both exclusions apply even if the individual would otherwise clearly qualify for one of the 10 target groups.
Filing Form 8850 in August 2026: what actually matters
- It goes to your State Workforce Agency, never the IRS. That single fact is the most common Form 8850 mistake.
- Your 2025 hires are not affected. Wages paid to anyone who began work on or before December 31, 2025 are still claimable, and you have three years from the return's due date to claim them — so a missed 2025 credit is an amended return, not a loss.
- 28 calendar days, still the rule. Complete Part I and Part II on or before the job offer; submit within 28 days of the start date. There is no late-filing exception written into the statute — though IRS Notice 2016-22 granted one retroactively after the last lapse.
- File anyway during the lapse, and know why. Congress appropriated $17.5 million for state administration of WOTC in February 2026 and DOL allotted it in April 2026, while the credit sat expired. The machinery is funded; the authority is not.
- Do not forecast the credit. 236 days lapsed, no bill through either chamber. Screen and file, but treat WOTC as a contingent asset, not 2026 revenue.
Sources
- IRS.gov — Instructions for Form 8850 (28-day SWA deadline, "don't file with the IRS," signing rules)
- IRS.gov — "Form 8850 is no longer in use" (page last reviewed March 20, 2026; re-checked August 24, 2026)
- IRS.gov — Work Opportunity Tax Credit (page last reviewed July 20, 2026; authorization still ends December 31, 2025)
- IRS Notice 2016-22 — transition relief after the 2015 lapse (Forms 8850 for hires who began work Jan 1, 2015–May 31, 2016 treated as timely if filed by June 29, 2016)
- DOL Employment and Training Administration — How to File a WOTC Certification Request (ETA 9061/9062, SWA process)
- DOL ETA — TEGL 09-25, "Work Opportunity Tax Credit Initial Funding Allotments for Fiscal Year 2026" (April 28, 2026)
- Congressional Research Service R43729 — The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (updated May 13, 2026): lapse status, $17.5M FY2026 administration appropriation, certification counts, JCT cost estimate
- Congress.gov — H.R. 6231 / S. 3265, Improve and Enhance the Work Opportunity Tax Credit Act (pending reauthorization)