Background Businesses are having difficulties hiring an adequate number of employees as the economy resets after the COVID-19 lockdowns and their aftermath.  As such, small businesses are having to think outside the box as they work toward locating amenable workers.   If your small business hires a "targeted group" member, you are afforded the ability to claim the lucrative federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) for a portion of wages paid to such an individual. CAA 2021 Changes Within the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (signed into law on 12/27/20) was the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020 (TCDTRA 2020).  TCDTRA 2020 extended the WOTC to cover qualified first-year wages paid to eligible new hires who begin work by 12/31/25. This means that the hiring and paying...