As of October 4, 2026, Form 8850 is no longer in use, and the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) does not apply to employees who begin work after December 31, 2025. The completion and filing steps below describe the former process for hires within the applicable program period, not a filing route for 2026 hires. See the IRS notice on Form 8850’s end of use.
Who used Form 8850, and where did it go?
Form 8850 was a prescreening notice and a written request for a state workforce agency (SWA)—also called a designated local agency—to certify that an applicant belonged to a WOTC targeted group. It went to the agency for the state where the business was located and the employee worked. It was not filed with the IRS. The IRS describes the form’s purpose in its About Form 8850 page and its employer certification guidance.
How the historical Form 8850 process worked
- Prescreen by the job-offer date. The applicant provided information to the employer on or before the day the job offer was made. If the employer believed the applicant might qualify for a targeted group, the employer completed the remainder of the form by that offer date.
- Obtain both signatures. Both the applicant and employer had to sign the form by the time it was submitted.
- Submit it within the deadline. The general deadline was the 28th calendar day after the employee began work—not the employer’s tax-return due date.
These are the historical federal instructions described in the IRS Instructions for Form 8850. They do not create a new filing option for employees who start after the program cutoff.
How to submit an earlier hire’s form
For an eligible earlier hire or a historical request, contact the relevant state workforce agency and follow its procedures. Federal instructions allowed fax only where the state agency could receive faxed forms; not all states accepted fax submissions. The federal sources do not establish a uniform delivery method or a general late-filing or archived-request process, so check the agency’s records and requirements rather than assuming that mail, fax, or another channel is available.
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What filing Form 8850 did—and did not—establish
Submitting Form 8850 was only a request for certification, not proof that the employer qualified for a credit. The state WOTC coordinator had to certify the employee as a member of a targeted group, and other eligibility conditions, including minimum-hours requirements, applied. An eligible employer claimed any resulting credit on the applicable tax form after certification; older IRS guidance identifies Form 5884 for taxable employers and Form 5884-C for tax-exempt organizations hiring qualified veterans. Those forms and rules are relevant only to hires within the applicable program period.
The IRS FAQ historically described a general credit rate of 40% of qualified wages when an employee performed at least 400 hours in the first year. This is historical WOTC information, not a credit available for employees starting after December 31, 2025. See the IRS Work Opportunity Tax Credit overview for program context.
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