Employers who hire new employees in 2010 may be eligible for a special payroll tax exemption and/or a tax credit for retaining newly hired employees. Under the HIRE Act, employers may be exempt from paying the employer's half of Social Security taxes. Both the payroll tax exemption and the retention credit are available for businesses that hire a person who has not worked more than 40 hours in the 60 days prior to being hired by their new employer. The Internal Revenue Service has released Form W-11 [pdf] which enables employees to certify that they in fact meet this criteria.
As the IRS explains, employers will need to retain the Form W-11 with their payroll and tax records; the form does not need to be submitted to the agency unless requested.
We need more tax breaks for those hiring.