(Source CNSNews.com) – Businesses will receive special tax credits for hiring veterans, under a new law signed by President Barack Obama on Monday, the single carve-out measure of his jobs proposal.
Under the law, the “Returning Heroes Tax Credit,” businesses that hire veterans will receive a $2,400 per veteran tax credit for veterans unemployed for four weeks or longer and a $5,600 per veteran credit for hiring veterans unemployed for more than six months.
Under the “Wounded Warriors Tax Credit,” businesses could get up to $9,600 per disabled veteran hired if the veteran was unemployed longer than six months and has a service-related injury.
Obama said that 850,000 veterans are unemployed in American.
“Unemployment for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan continued to rise, and that isn’t right,” Obama said, flanked by a bipartisan group of lawmakers. “These men and women are the best that America has to offer. They are some of the most highly trained, highly educated, highly skilled workers that we have.
“If they can save lives on the battlefield, then they can save a life in an ambulance. If they can manage convoys moving tons of equipment over dangerous terrain, they can manage a company’s supply chain. If they can track millions of dollars of assets in Iraq, they can balance the books of any company here in the United States,” he added.
“Today, because Democrats and Republicans came together, I’m proud to sign those proposals into law, and I urge every business owner out there who’s hiring to hire a veteran right away,” Obama said.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) praised the president for signing the legislation, but called on him to work with Republicans on other legislation the GOP House has passed this year.
“America owes it to our men and women in uniform to ensure they come home to a strong economy,” Boehner said. “By preventing the IRS from imposing a job-crushing withholding tax on job creators and breaking down the bureaucratic barriers that are keeping veterans from finding work, we’re creating a better economic environment for families, small businesses, and service members alike.