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Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)

How to apply

To receive certification that a new employee qualifies the employer for this tax credit, the employer must do the following:

Completing the WOTC Application

• Complete the one-page Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 8850, Pre-Screening Notice and Certification Request by the day the job offer is made, and
• Complete either the one page ETA Form 9061 (Adobe PDF) or Form 9062 (issued by Job Service offices).
• If the new employee has already been Conditionally Certified by a local South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation employment representative as belonging to a WOTC target group, complete the bottom part of ETA Form 9062 Conditional Certification (and sign and date it).
• If the new employee has not been Conditionally Certified, the employer and/or the new employee must fill out and complete, sign and date ETA Form 9061 Individual Characteristics Form.
• As a best practice, we recommend including these forms within your Hiring/Orientation packet, to be filled out when your new employee fills out their I9 and W4 forms.
• If the employee does not wish to fill out these forms, they cannot be required.
• If the employee filles out the forms, but has not checked any boxes, then the application does not need to be submitted and can be filed within your employee file or shredded.
• Note: previous versions of the IRS 8850 and ETA 9061 are no longer accepted for hire dates prior to October 1, 2023.

Submission of IRS 8850 and ETA 9061 or ETA 9062

• By Mail:
  South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation
  Attn: WOTC Program
  420 S Roosevelt St
  P.O. Box 4730
  Aberdeen, SD 57402-4730

• By Electronic Submission:
  South Dakota now has an online system, southdakotaworks.org, which can be used for electronic submission of your WOTC applications, submission of requested documents, communication of status updates, and retrieval of determinations. Please email our office to learn more and get your point of contact set up for access.

  If you are having any technical issues with online submission, please mail your WOTC application to ensure the timely filing requirement is still met.

The completed and signed IRS 8850 and appropriate ETA must be postmarked or submitted electronically within 28 calendar days from the employee’s start date.