New Employment Credit - Changes beginning in January 2020 December 2019 Tax News

The New Employment Credit (NEC) is a California tax credit that encourages hiring and employment in parts of the state. To claim the credit, businesses must have employees working in an eligible area, known as a Designated Geographic Area (DGA). The DGA includes census tracts in the state with higher unemployment and poverty rates, and excludes tracts with lower rates. The census tracks were identified by the Department of Finance when the NEC began in 2014.

Recently, the Department of Finance re-designated the census tracts which altered the DGA. Some census tracts that were previously eligible are no longer in the DGA. Other census tracts that were previously not within the DGA have been added and are now eligible. This new designation will be effective on January 1, 2020.

Taxpayers wanting to claim the credit should check the map to see if the area where they are doing business is within the newly defined DGA. This map enables users to view the new DGA, as well as the previous DGA. Users can enter an address to see if it's within the DGA during a particular time period. View the updated map showing the eligible areas or on our NEC webpage at ftb.ca.gov.

For questions regarding the NEC, including other requirements for the credit, see our NEC webpage. You may also email NEC questions to GEDI@ftb.ca.gov.