89SE: Certification for Idaho's Small Employer Tax Incentives and Instructions (Revision)
Idaho · Idaho Tax Commission · Used for tax years 2024, 2025, 2026
Form 89SE certifies that a business has met or will meet the criteria for Idaho’s small employer tax incentives. It reports the project’s description, dates, locations, new jobs, and capital investments in new plant and building facilities.
Who files this form
File Form 89SE before claiming incentives under the Idaho Small Employer Incentive Act. Include a copy with your Idaho income tax return for each tax year you claim or carry over the incentives.
You must certify that you have met or will meet all these requirements at the project site during the project period:
- Invest at least $500,000 in new plant and building facilities.
- Add at least 10 new employees who each earn at least $19.23 per hour worked and receive health benefits.
- If you add more than 10 new employees, the additional employees must earn an average of at least $15.50 per hour worked during your tax year. Exclude wages of employees earning more than $48.08 per hour from that calculation.
Qualifying new employees must also meet the employment, withholding, unemployment insurance, health coverage, full-time work, and wage requirements described in the form's instructions.
When it's due
For this edition, used for tax years 2024, 2025, and 2026, the text does not state an annual calendar filing deadline. File Form 89SE before claiming any incentives.
The printed dates are project-period limits, not annual filing due dates:
- The project cannot start before January 1, 2006.
- The project period cannot last more than 10 years or end later than December 31, 2030.
What you'll need
Have the following information ready to complete the form:
- Business name, mailing address, federal Employer Identification Number (EIN), and contact person's name, title, and phone number.
- A detailed description of the qualifying project. Use additional sheets if needed.
- Actual or estimated project start and end dates.
- Each project site's street address and its percentage of the investment.
- Actual or estimated new jobs created for each year in the project period.
- Actual or estimated investment costs by year, separated between qualified investment on line 6a and buildings and structural components that do not qualify for the investment tax credit on line 6b.
- Total plant and building facilities costs for each location.
The certification also requires an officer's signature, date, title, and phone number.
How to file
Complete the form and have an officer sign the certification. Send the original to the Idaho State Tax Commission and a copy to the Idaho Department of Commerce.
By mail
Original, using the address in the embedded instructions:
Government Affairs
Idaho State Tax Commission
PO Box 36
Boise ID 83722-0410
Copy:
Idaho Department of Commerce
700 W State St
PO Box 83720
Boise ID 83720-0093
By email
- Original: GAT@tax.idaho.gov
- Copy: grants@commerce.idaho.gov
Include a copy of Form 89SE with your Idaho income tax return each year you claim or carry over the incentives.
Common mistakes
- Leaving out requested information. The Tax Commission may disallow incentives if you do not provide it.
- Counting used property. Used property, including property you used before acquiring it, does not qualify as new plant and building facilities.
- Counting a transferred employee without a net new Idaho job. An existing employee transferred by you or a related taxpayer qualifies only if the transfer creates a net new job in Idaho.
- Entering inconsistent site totals. Investment percentages for all sites must total 100%. Line 7 costs should match the combined totals of lines 6a and 6b.
- Entering jobs or costs for years outside the project period. Leave those years blank.
- Failing to meet or maintain the requirements. If you certify that you will meet the criteria but do not, you must recapture the full amount of incentives claimed. The instructions also warn of possible recapture for failing the stated five-year investment, employment, or exempt-property use requirements.
Questions people ask
Can I file before the project meets all the requirements?
Yes. You may certify that you have met or will meet the criteria during the project period. If you later fail to meet them, you must recapture the full amount of incentives claimed.
Can a project have more than one site?
Yes. A project site can include more than one geographic area in Idaho, but at least 80% of the required investment must be located in one area.
When does the project period start and end?
It starts at the earlier of the first physical change to the site or the first employment in Idaho of new employees related to the site's activities. It ends when all project facilities are placed in service, subject to the stated project-period limits.
Does meeting the $19.23 hourly wage requirement qualify an employee for the New Jobs Tax Credit?
Not by itself. The New Jobs Tax Credit requires at least $24.04 per hour, full-time employment primarily at the project site, and at least nine months of work during the tax year, along with the other new-employee requirements.