Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced last week that they have introduced legislation to create job opportunities for veterans returning home from war and help businesses create jobs.
This Veterans Employment Transition Act, or the VETs Jobs bill, would reward employers for hiring qualified veterans who have recently completed their service in the military with a tax credit of up to $2,400 per veteran.
A previous version of this credit, which was part of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, was designed to help employers hire veterans, but expired at the end of 2010. The new legislation Baucus and Grassley are introducing today would reinstate the tax credit and make it easier for veterans and small businesses to use. As a result, servicemen and women who have been recently discharged will be able to provide documentation directly from the Department of Defense without having to go through the tax credit’s current certification process.