Incentives to employ workers with disabilities receive limited use. (Newsflash: National).

A recent GAO report found only a small proportion of corporate and individual taxpayers use the work opportunity credit and the disabled access credit, and a large share of the credits reported are from taxpayers with businesses within a few industries. Individual and corporate taxpayers associated with the providers of health care and other social assistance services accounted for the largest share of the disabled access credits.

Researchers, businesses, disability groups, and other interested parties interviewed proposed various options to increase the awareness and usage of the incentives, including:

* Expanding and improving federal outreach through better coordination and clarification of incentive requirements.

* Increasing the maximum amount allowed to be claimed.

* Expanding eligibility to cover more workers with disabilities, businesses, and types of accommodation.

In their comments to the report, agencies generally agreed with the GAO findings. The Department of Education, the Department of Labor, the IRS, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Social Security Administration provided comments of a technical nature that are incorporated.

To read further about this issue, go to www.gao.gov/new.items/d0339.pdf.