The Intern and Apprentice Recruitment Act (IARA) passed by the 2023 General Assembly in House Bill No. 417 allows eligible taxpayers to claim a tax credit against the taxpayer’s state tax liability for hiring interns or apprentices, provided eligibility criteria is met.
Funding Limits:
- $1,500 tax credit per eligible Intern or Apprentice
- $9,000 maximum tax credit per year per eligible company
- $1 million program cap in tax credits per year
Program Criteria:
- The total number of interns or apprentices employed for the tax year that the credit is claimed must exceed the average number of interns or apprentices employed over the previous 3 years.
- Interns must work a minimum of 60 hours per month for 2 consecutive months during the tax year for which the credit is claimed. Must be enrolled in a public or private Missouri institution and have a minimum of at least 30 credit hours.
- Apprentices must be participating in a qualified US Department of Labor apprenticeship program, must have completed one year in the apprenticeship program, and completed 144 hours of required technical instruction each year of the apprenticeship and a minimum of 2,000 hours of on-the-job training throughout the entire apprenticeship.
If the total amount of tax credits applied for in a year exceeds $1 million dollars, priority shall be given to applicants that have been in business for less than five years, with the remaining tax credits to be distributed based on the order in which the tax credits are claimed.
Tax credits issued through this program are not refundable and shall not be assigned, transferred, sold, or otherwise conveyed. Tax credits claimed may not be carried forward to any subsequent tax year.
