Nebraska Statutes 77-5531. Wage benefit credit; calculation; use
(1) The policy of the state in adopting the Invest Nebraska Act is to encourage new businesses to relocate to and existing businesses to expand in Nebraska and to provide appropriate inducements to encourage new and existing businesses to do so. Depending on the nature of the company and its employees, the state recognizes the inducements contained in the act may be more appropriate and administratively more convenient and efficient for the state, the company, and the employees, if the wage benefit credit is charged against the company’s income tax or the company’s withholding tax rather than individually computed and used against each employee‘s income tax. Therefor, if the company uses the wage benefit credit for company training programs, employee benefit programs, educational institution training programs, or company workplace safety programs, or any combination thereof, as determined by the company as otherwise provided for in the act and if the board has approved the project application, then after entering into an agreement with the state, the company shall be allowed a wage benefit credit to be determined, used, and calculated as provided in this section.
Terms Used In Nebraska Statutes 77-5531
- Agreement: means the agreement between the company and the state. See Nebraska Statutes 77-5505
- Board: means the Invest Nebraska Board, which shall consist of the Governor, the State Treasurer, and the chairperson of the Nebraska Investment Council. See Nebraska Statutes 77-5508
- Company: means (1) any person subject to sales and use taxes and either the income tax imposed by the Nebraska Revenue Act of 1967 or the franchise tax under sections 77-3801 to 77-3807, (2) any corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or joint venture that is or would otherwise be a member of the same unitary group, if incorporated, which is, or whose partners, members, or owners are, subject to such taxes, and any other partnership, limited liability company, subchapter S corporation, or joint venture when the partners, owners, shareholders, or members are subject to such taxes, (3) any cooperative exempt from such taxes under section 521 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and (4) any limited cooperative association. See Nebraska Statutes 77-5509
- Company shall: include any corporation, partnership, limited liability company, joint-stock company, joint venture, or association. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
- Compensation: means the wages and other payments subject to withholding for federal income tax purposes. See Nebraska Statutes 77-5512
- Employee: means a person employed at the project. See Nebraska Statutes 77-5514
- Project: means a project described in the Invest Nebraska Act and approved by the board. See Nebraska Statutes 77-5523
- Project year: means any year or portion of a year during the entitlement period of the project. See Nebraska Statutes 77-5524
- State: when applied to different states of the United States shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories organized by Congress. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
- Year: means the taxable year of the company. See Nebraska Statutes 77-5530
(2) In order to help relieve the burden to government and to help promote the general welfare of citizens, the wage benefit credit used by the company shall be paid or applied by the company for company training programs, employee benefit programs, educational institution training programs, or company workplace safety programs, or any combination thereof, as determined by the company. Such use of the wage benefit credit is declared as a matter of policy to be for a public purpose. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the right of an employee or employees subject to a collective bargaining agreement to negotiate relative to such programs.
(3) The wage benefit credit shall be an amount equal to the percentage specified in subsection (4) of this section multiplied by the amount of the total compensation paid during each project year to employees of the company while employed at the project, other than base-year employees, who have been paid compensation for such year by the company of at least the minimum amount required for such project under section 77-5536.
(4) The percentage used to determine the wage benefit credit shall be:
| If the average compensation for the project year is over | But not over | Then the credit percentage shall be |
| $0 | $20,000 | 0% |
| $20,000 | $30,000 | 3% |
| $30,000 | $40,000 | 4% |
| $40,000 | 5% |