You hired a veteran. Now you want to know what the Work Opportunity Tax Credit is actually worth. The short answer is that it depends on which target group the veteran falls into. The number runs anywhere from $2,400 to $9,600 per hire. That is a wide spread, and the difference comes down to two things: how much the veteran earned in their first year, and which box they check on the certification form.

This article breaks down the five veteran target groups and the exact credit each one carries. We will show the wage caps, the credit math, and the hours rule that controls whether you get the full amount or a reduced one. If you want the filing steps, see our step-by-step guide to filing Form 8850 and ETA Form 9061. The bigger incentive picture lives in separate guides linked below.

One thing first, because it changes how you read every number here.

How Does the WOTC Credit Amount Get Calculated?

The credit is a percentage of the veteran's qualified first-year wages. Two rates apply. They are set by how many hours the veteran works for you.

Work at least 400 hours and you get 40% of qualified wages. Work between 120 and 399 hours and you get 25%. Work fewer than 120 hours and the credit is zero. Those rules come straight from the IRS Work Opportunity Tax Credit guidance.

So the credit has two moving parts. The wage cap sets the ceiling. The hours rate sets what slice of that ceiling you get. A veteran with a $24,000 wage cap who works 400+ hours hits the top: 40% of $24,000 is $9,600. The same veteran at 120 hours would land at 25%, which is $6,000.

The wage cap is not the wage you pay. It is the maximum amount of wages the law lets you count. If you pay a veteran $40,000 in year one but their cap is $14,000, you still only count $14,000.

What Are the Five Veteran Target Groups and Their Credit Amounts?

The IRS sets a different wage cap for each veteran category. The caps are $6,000, $12,000, $14,000, and $24,000. Run each through the 40% rate and you get the maximum credit. Here is the full breakdown, verified against the IRS Form 5884 instructions.

Notice that two groups share the $2,400 figure. The SNAP veteran and the short-term unemployed veteran both carry a $6,000 cap. The bigger credits go to disability status and longer unemployment. The single highest credit, $9,600, requires both a service-connected disability and 6+ months out of work.

Veteran on SNAP: $2,400

This covers a veteran who was in a family getting SNAP food assistance for at least 3 months during the 15-month window ending on the hire date. The wage cap is $6,000. At 40%, the credit tops out at $2,400.

Short-term unemployed veteran (4+ weeks): $2,400

This veteran was out of work for at least 4 weeks, but under 6 months, in the year before you hired them. The weeks do not have to run back to back. Same $6,000 cap, same $2,400 max credit.

Disabled veteran hired within a year of discharge: $4,800

This one rewards hiring fast. The veteran has a service-connected disability and started work within one year of leaving active duty. The cap jumps to $12,000. At 40%, the credit is $4,800.

Long-term unemployed veteran (6+ months): $5,600

Here the veteran was unemployed for 6 months or more in the year before hire. No disability needed for this tier. The cap is $14,000, so the max credit is $5,600.

Long-term unemployed disabled veteran: $9,600

This is the top of the chart. The veteran has a service-connected disability and was unemployed 6+ months in the prior year. The cap is $24,000. Run 40% and you get $9,600 per hire. This is the figure most employers have heard about, and it only applies to this specific combination.

Why Does the Hours Rule Change the Credit?

The wage caps above all assume the veteran works at least 400 hours. That is what unlocks the 40% rate. But not every hire hits 400 hours, so you need to know the middle tier too.

If the veteran works at least 120 hours but fewer than 400, your rate drops to 25%. The wage cap stays the same, but you only get a quarter of it instead of 40%. If the veteran works under 120 hours, you get nothing. The clock does not start until hour 120.

For most full-time roles, 400 hours is about 10 weeks of work. So a veteran who sticks around for a few months will clear the bar without trouble. The hours rule mostly bites on seasonal, part-time, or very short-tenure hires.

One more limit worth knowing. The credit only counts wages paid in the veteran's first year with you. Second-year wages do not count for the veteran target groups. So the window to earn the credit is the 12 months that start on the veteran's first day.

How Do You Know Which Target Group a Veteran Falls Into?

You do not guess. The state workforce agency certifies it. Historically, employers filed Form 8850 and the supporting ETA forms, and the agency confirmed which target group applied. The IRS retired Form 8850 in March 2026 when WOTC lapsed. If Congress reauthorizes the credit, the certification process will be set up again, likely in a similar form. Until you have that certification, you cannot claim the credit.

The veteran fills out their side of the screening form on or before the day you offer the job. You complete your side and submit it within 28 days of their start date. We cover that process in detail in a separate guide so we will not repeat it here. See WOTC processing time and the 2026 hiatus for timelines and the current filing pause.

What matters for the dollar amount is this: a veteran can only be certified under one target group per hire. You take the group that applies. If a veteran qualifies under more than one description, you use the one that gives the larger credit. A disabled veteran who is also long-term unemployed lands in the $24,000 tier, not the $12,000 one.

How Much Could WOTC Be Worth Across Several Veteran Hires?

The credit is per hire, with no cap on how many veterans you can claim. So the value scales with your hiring volume. A midsize company that brings on a handful of veterans a year can stack real money.

Say you hire six veterans in a year. Two are short-term unemployed ($2,400 each), two are long-term unemployed ($5,600 each), one is a disabled veteran hired within a year of discharge ($4,800), and one is a long-term unemployed disabled veteran ($9,600). All work past 400 hours.

That math runs to $30,400 in federal credits for the year. The credit offsets your income tax liability directly, dollar for dollar. That is different from a deduction, which only reduces taxable income. A credit is the stronger of the two.

The credit is also flexible in a way many employers miss. It is not tied to one type of role. A warehouse hire, an IT analyst, a security officer, and a project coordinator can all carry the credit, as long as each veteran is certified under a target group and clears the hours bar. The job title does not change the math. The veteran target group does.

Run the same six-hire scenario at the 25% rate. Say all of them left before hitting 400 hours, landing between 120 and 399. The two short-term unemployed veterans drop to $1,500 each, the two long-term unemployed to $3,500 each, the disabled-within-discharge hire to $3,000, and the top-tier veteran to $6,000. That totals $19,000 for the year. Lower than the full-rate $30,400, but still real money for hires you were going to make anyway.

This is why the credit pairs so well with a real veteran sourcing pipeline. The more qualified veterans you bring in, the more the credit returns. If you want the full menu of incentives beyond this one, read veteran hiring incentives beyond WOTC. Many states layer their own credits on top, covered in state tax incentives for hiring veterans.

How Do the Veteran Tiers Compare to the Named Credits?

You may have seen the WOTC veteran credits called by nicknames: the Returning Heroes Tax Credit and the Wounded Warrior Tax Credit. Those are not separate programs. They are marketing names for the same target-group tiers above.

The Returning Heroes name covers the unemployed-veteran tiers. The Wounded Warrior name covers the disability tiers. The dollar amounts and rules are exactly what we listed. We break down those named credits in the Returning Heroes and Wounded Warrior tax credits guide.

For the program overview, eligibility basics, and how the whole thing fits together, start with the Work Opportunity Tax Credit employer guide. This article is the amounts reference. That one is the map.

Where Do You Find Veterans Who Qualify?

The credit is only useful if you are actually hiring veterans. That is the part most employers struggle with. You cannot claim a credit for a hire you never made.

BMR runs a steady pool of veteran candidates. Over 1,000 new veteran profiles get added every month, and more than 60,000 resumes have been built on the platform. That is a fresh, growing supply of veterans actively looking for work. Many of them fall into the target groups above, especially recent separators and veterans who have been job searching for months.

If you want access to that pipeline, you can reach out about hiring veterans through BMR. The credit follows the hire. Build the pipeline first, and the tax savings come with it.

What Should You Do With These Numbers?

Use them as planning figures, not a guarantee. The credit amount per veteran ranges from $2,400 to $9,600, set by target group and hours worked. The top number requires a disabled veteran who was also long-term unemployed, working at least 400 hours.

Two things gate the whole thing right now. First, the program is lapsed for 2026, so confirm reauthorization status before you count on a 2026 hire. Second, you need state certification to claim any of it, so the filing process matters as much as the math.

Get your sourcing pipeline running, file the certification on time for every veteran hire, and track which target group each one lands in. Do that and the credit becomes a real line item, not a rumor about $9,600. When WOTC is reauthorized, you will be ready to claim it on day one.