FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 29, 1010
Contact: Nathan J. Diament
202-513-6484

UNION of ORTHODOX JEWISH CONGREGATIONS WELCOMES PRESIDENT OBAMA’S PROPOSAL FOR TAX CREDITS TO SUPPORT HIRING – INCLUSIVE OF THE NON-PROFIT SECTOR

Today, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America – the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization – today welcomed a new proposal announced by The White House to spur job growth in the American economy by providing tax credits in support of the hiring of new employees (and increasing salaries of current employees) by “small businesses” – including non-profit employers.

Under the proposal, employers will receive a $5,000 tax credit for every net new employee that they employ in 2010, with the total amount of credit capped at $500,000 per employer. Also, employers will be reimbursed for the Social Security payroll taxes they pay on real increases in their payrolls; specifically, non-profits that increase wages, expand hours or hire new workers would get a credit against the added payroll taxes that result. This bonus would be based on Social Security payrolls, so it would not apply to wage increases above $106,800.

(Examples of how the Small Business Jobs and Wages Tax Cut would work:
• Tax credits for new hires. An employer that hires ten new employees in 2010 will receive a $50,000 tax credit to help offset the costs of those new hires. However, if the same small business lays off ten employees in 2010 and hires five new employees, it would receive no credit.
• Tax credits for pay raises. A employer with 50 employees that, through increased hours or higher pay, provides all of its employees a $1,000 real wage increase in 2010 will receive a $3,100 tax credit, enough to cover the Social Security payroll taxes on those increases.
• No benefits for gaming. An employer that fires 10 workers and hires 10 workers to replace them would see no net increase in employment and thus would not receive a credit. An employer that lays off 10 employees making $50,000 each and hires 20 employees making $25,000 each will receive no credit.)

Nathan Diament, director of public policy for the Orthodox Union, stated:

The Orthodox Union welcomes President Obama’s proposal for tax credits to spur and support hiring – particularly because the President has wisely included non-profit organizations in the proposal. Non-profit, including faith-based organizations, employ a significant percentage of American workers. In Maryland, where the President spoke today, non-profits’ workers represent 10.1% of all jobs in the state, $11.5 billion in wages – or more than 9 percent of the state’s total payrolls. Non-profits have suffered greatly in the economic downturn as donations have decreased while the demands for services have risen. Many non-profits have had to lay off valuable staff and make other painful cuts. President Obama’s inclusion of non-profit employers in his hiring tax-credit proposal hold the potential of great benefit to non-profits and those they serve. We hope the President and Congress will continue to include the non-profit sector in the economic recovery plans yet to be announced.

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