The unemployment rate among Maryland adults with disabilities is about 40%. Most working age adults with disabilities want to work and are able to work, but they continue to face numerous physical and social barriers in the workplace. Helping employers cover some of the initial costs of hiring a worker with a disability can serve to overcome some of those barriers and increase the number of individuals who are working and paying taxes. The tax credit provides employers who hire people with disabilities a 30% credit of the first $15,000 in wages paid to a qualified individual with a disability during each of the first two years of employment.
Mary emphasized that it is essential that Maryland continue to provide incentives like the Disability Employment Tax Credit for employers to hire individuals with disabilities, and to ensure the ongoing availability of this important hiring incentive.