Military Incentive Credit — 30% of $5,000, or Your Rating Times $5,000
A credit paid to the employer who hires you: 30% of the first $5,000 in wages for an economically disadvantaged veteran, your disability percentage times the first $5,000 for a disabled veteran, and 25% of the first $5,000 for a Guard or reserve member. You are the one who has to be certified.
Verified August 22, 2026
What this benefit is
A credit paid to the employer who hires you: 30% of the first $5,000 in wages for an economically disadvantaged veteran, your disability percentage times the first $5,000 for a disabled veteran, and 25% of the first $5,000 for a Guard or reserve member. You are the one who has to be certified.
What it's worth: Worth up to $1,500 to an employer for an economically disadvantaged veteran; a rating-scaled amount for a disabled veteran
- The range shown is the credit BASE, not the credit: 30% of the first $5,000 in wages for an economically disadvantaged veteran is $1,500; 25% of the first $5,000 for a Guard or reserve member is $1,250.
- For a disabled veteran the credit is the percentage of disability multiplied by the first $5,000 in wages, so a 100% rating produces $5,000 and a 30% rating produces $1,500.
- The money goes to the employer, not to you. Nothing here is payable to the veteran.
- The credit is only earned once the employee has been employed for a continuous period of at least one year.
Who is entitled to it
- You served in the U.S. armed forces.
- You served in the armed forces, or serve in the Guard or reserve.
- Your service is documented.
- Your home is in W. Va.
Not sure whether that describes you?
Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.
How to claim it
Deadline: Get certified before or at hire; the credit is earned after a continuous year of employment- 1Get certified as eligible by WorkForce W. Va. This is the step that belongs to you — the credit is limited to employers hiring individuals certified as eligible.
- 2Work out which tier you fall in before you talk to an employer: economically disadvantaged veteran, disabled veteran, or member of the Guard or reserve forces. They are worth different amounts.
- 3If you have a rating, say what it is. The disabled-veteran tier multiplies your disability percentage by the first $5,000 in wages, so a higher rating is worth more to the employer, not less.
- 4Tell the employer the credit exists and that Schedule J is how they claim it. Small employers frequently do not know.
- 5Expect the credit to matter at the one-year mark. The employee must have been employed for a continuous period of at least one year.
- Form
- Certification by WorkForce W. Va.; the employer then files Schedule J
- File with
- WorkForce W. Va. for the certification; the Tax Division for the credit itself
- Documents you will need
- dd214 · va benefit summary letter
- No renewal
- Once granted it does not need renewing.
Sources
- authority · published policyW. Va. Tax Division — TSD 110, W. Va. Tax Credits (Rev. October 2025), Military Incentive Credit; citing W. Va. Code §§11-21-42, 11-24-12 and 21A-2C-1 et seq.
- operating · published policyW. Va. Department of Veterans Assistance — State Benefits (Military Incentive Program, administered through WorkForce W. Va., citing W. Va. Code §21A-2C)
This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.