HIRE CREDIT Act

HR 1914 (HIRE CREDIT Act) expands the Work Opportunity Tax Credit to provide employers with a tax credit for hiring individuals displaced by qualifying disasters. It directly affects employers in areas impacted by federally declared major disasters (since January 2024) who hire workers who lost their homes and jobs in those disaster zones. The bill adds "displaced disaster victim" as a new eligibility category, requiring workers to have a principal residence in an uninhabitable disaster zone, been employed there before the disaster, and currently be unemployed. Employers hiring such workers after January 1, 2024, can claim the credit for qualifying wages paid. The credit applies to disasters with a declared incident period ending on or after January 1, 2024.