The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act of 2010 provides employers with two new tax benefits when they hire persons who were previously unemployed or who were working part-time. Hiring qualified unemployed workers between February 3, 2010 and January 1, 2011 qualifies the employer for a 6.2 percent payroll tax incentive, in effect exempting them from their share of Social Security taxes on wages paid to these employees from March 18 through the end of the year. In addition, for each worker retained for a year, businesses may claim an additional general business tax credit of up to $1000 on their 2011 federal income tax returns.

The new law requires employers to obtain a statement from each eligible new hire certifying that he or she was unemployed during the 60 days prior to beginning work, or worked for less than 40 hours per week for another employer during the prior 60 days. The IRS has issued a new Form W-11 that employers can provide to new hires to certify their status prior to hiring. The form is not submitted to the IRS, but must be retained by employers with other hiring documents.

The new Form W-11 can be obtained at www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw11.pdf.