Is your business hiring? No? Well, what if someone pays you? The state of Georgia is offering. A new proposal in the Peach State offers a $2,400 tax credit to companies that hire someone who’s currently unemployed.
Georgia’s senate approved the measure last week. Under the terms of the bill, the tax break would kick in for each unemployed person who’s hired before July 2010. Companies are required to keep the new workers on the payroll for at least two years in order to earn the credit.
The bill is designed to chip away at Georgia’s unemployment rate of 9.3%, which stands well above the national average of 8.1%. Proponents of the bill hailed it as a victory for the small businesses that are likely to do the hiring. “This is a visionary piece of legislation that’s going to help create and preserve jobs, and that’s going to help small business lead Georgia out of this recession,” said David Raynor, Georgia’s state director of the National Federation of Independent Business.
Opponents to the bill argued that its potential benefits aren’t enough to offset the hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue that the state will lose out on.
It’s hard to imagine that a mere $2,400 would be enough to entice a business owner to make a new hire. More likely, this tax break will go to companies that were going to do some hiring anyway. Workers are a company’s greatest asset, and no business owner is going to choose a less-qualified candidate just to capture a couple thousand dollars from the government.
Readers, do you agree? Do you see benefits in this bill?
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