Qualifying wages include only those wages paid to employees who received Family Independence (Aid to Families with Dependent Children or AFDC) payments for three months immediately preceding the month of employment. Submit an employee release, and request certification of Family Independence eligibility by writing to the SC Department of Social Services by the fifteenth (15th) day of the first month after the end of the taxable year in which the employee is hired.
In order to claim this credit, the employer must make health insurance available to the qualified employee on the same basis and under the same conditions available to all employees, including employer contributions and employer-imposed waiting periods. Although required to make health insurance available, the employer is not required to make health insurance payments on behalf of the qualified employee unless the employer makes health insurance payments on behalf of nonqualified employees. Even if an employer-imposed waiting period exists, the credit begins from the date the qualified employee is hired. An employer imposing a waiting period of more than twelve months may not claim this credit.
The employer may not claim this credit if the position filled by the former AFDC recipient was made available due to the termination or forced resignation of an employee for the purpose of obtaining the tax credit.
For each new job created in a distressed or least developed county, an employer that qualifies for this credit qualifies for an additional credit amount of $175 for each month during the first thirty-six months of employment per qualifying employee.
This credit may be carried forward fifteen years from the taxable year in which the credit is earned.
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