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What Form 8850 was for
Form 8850 was a prescreening notice and a written request for a state workforce agency (SWA)—also called the designated local agency—to certify that a job applicant belonged to a WOTC targeted group. It was submitted to the appropriate state agency, not to the IRS. The IRS describes the form’s former purpose on its About Form 8850 page.
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Completing or submitting the form did not, by itself, establish a right to a tax credit. The SWA had to certify the employee, and other program conditions—including minimum-hours requirements—also applied. The IRS explains the program and its eligibility framework on its Work Opportunity Tax Credit page.
How the former Form 8850 process worked
1. Have the applicant provide information by the offer date
Under the former instructions, the applicant provided the requested information to the employer on or before the day the job offer was made. The form was used to prescreen for potential membership in a targeted group; it was not proof of certification.
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2. Complete the employer portion by the offer date when screening indicated potential eligibility
If the employer believed the applicant might belong to a targeted group, the employer completed the rest of the form by the offer date. The historical timing requirements are set out in the IRS Instructions for Form 8850.
3. Obtain both signatures before submission
Both the applicant and employer had to sign the form by the time it was submitted. The IRS provides the form itself as a Form 8850 PDF.
4. Send it to the appropriate state workforce agency
The employer sent Form 8850 to the SWA for the state where the business was located and the employee worked—not to the IRS. IRS guidance also describes the state-agency certification process in its notice to employers: Employers must certify eligibility of new hires to claim the WOTC.
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What was the Form 8850 deadline?
For an eligible historical hire, the usual deadline was the 28th calendar day after the employee began work. The deadline was calculated from the employee’s start date, not from the employer’s tax-return due date. The IRS instructions state the timing as the “28th calendar day after the date the individual begins working for you.”
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Submission methods depended on the state. The former instructions allowed faxing only if the state agency could receive faxed forms and warned that not all states accepted them. For an earlier hire or a historical filing question, check the relevant state agency’s records and procedures; federal instructions do not establish one universal delivery channel or a uniform late-filing process.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What happened after submission
The SWA—not the IRS—decided whether to certify the employee as a member of a targeted group. Certification and the other eligibility conditions were necessary before an employer could claim a credit. Older IRS guidance identifies Form 5884 for taxable employers and Form 5884-C for tax-exempt organizations hiring qualified veterans, but those forms relate to historical eligible hires, not employees who started after the program cutoff.
The IRS FAQ historically described a 40% rate for qualified wages when an employee performed at least 400 hours in the first year. That is historical program information, not a credit available for hires starting after December 31, 2025. Consult the IRS’s WOTC guidance for program context.
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