Philadelphia City Council Explores Additional Tax Credit For Hiring Veterans
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia City Council spent the morning exploring the idea of a local tax credit for companies that hire US military veterans.
Councilman-at-large David Oh called the hearing to look into the possibility of a Philadelphia-specific tax credit that would work in tandem with the federal veterans tax credit that took effect last fall.
Among those testifying was Alex Archowski of the Greater Philadelphia Veterans Network. One problem, he told councilmembers, is that vets return home with skills that don't apply in the workplace.
"Veterans get a generic résumé when they get out of the military. I was a search-and-rescue swimmer, so you can imagine I wasn't going to swim in the Schuylkill or Delaware River when I got out of the military. Why that's important is a lot of the veterans are frustrated because they're going in with a very generic résumé. The employers are even more frustrated," he said.
But Archoswki said some employers shy away from such tax credits because of paperwork.
"Let's get the accountants, let's get the management, let's get the CPA involved in the whole process, to make it easier for them, so the business owners are totally on board," he told the hearing.
There is no specific proposal before Council at this point. Under the federal program, employers who hire vets would get a tax credit up to $9,600.
