A proposed bill would reimburse up to $5,000 of work training that leads to a raise for 800 Hoosiers. Photo by Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

News Release

INDIANAPOLIS — Employers in Indiana who pay for additional staff training leading to an increase in wages could recoup part of their investment through new tax credits in the latest state budget bill.

“If you’re a company that goes out and buys a piece of equipment that increases the productivity of your particular organization, you get a tax credit for that,”  David Adams, Indiana secretary of commerce said at an Indianapolis Chamber event Tuesday, March 25.

House Bill 1001’s Hoosier Workforce Investment Tax Credit provides a deduction of $5,000 per employee for companies, for a total of $50,000 for up to 10 employees.

The bill as currently written requires companies to increase the annual salary of workers by at least 25% to apply for the credit.

At least 800 workers annually can be trained and receive salary increases with a limit of $4 million.

The proposed credit is just one the state’s efforts to increase wages through “upskilling.” Upskilling is training to improve the skills of a worker, with the specific goal of allowing them to occupy higher-paying positions. These tax credits were listed by Gov. Mike Braun late last year as policy priority.

The overall goal is to transplant low-skilled and low-wage workers to well-paid and unfilled jobs in emerging industries. State leaders said the effort could lead to a better quality of life for many Hoosiers.

To qualify, a company must have at least six employees. Also, employees under training must have worked full-time for that company the previous calendar year.

The Indiana House of Representatives had the credit in its two-year state budget bill and the Senate will soon introduce its own version.