Empowerment Zone Credit.
You can claim a credit against your income tax liability if you are an employer who has a business in an empowerment zone. The credit is based on the number of qualifying new employees and is equal to $500 for each qualifying employee in the first year of employment, $1,000 for each qualifying employee in the second year of employment, and $1,500 for each qualifying employee in the third year of employment. To be eligible for this credit, you have to be certified by the Montana Department of Labor and Industry. Your credit can be carried back three years and carried forward seven years. The entire amount of your credit that is not used in the year that you earned it has to be carried first to the earliest tax year that the credit can be applied and then to each succeeding tax year.
**The Empowerment Zone Credit was relealed and may not be claimed after tax year 2021. You may carry forward any unused portion of your credit for up to 7 years, until tax year 2028, or until it has been exhausted, whichever comes first.**
