Form IT-643: New York Hire a Veteran Credit (Tax Year 2025) Explained

Form IT-643, Hire a Veteran Credit, is issued by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance to let eligible businesses claim a tax credit for employing qualified veterans. If your company hired a veteran during the tax year and kept them on the payroll for a minimum period, this form is how you convert that hire into a real reduction on your New York State tax bill.

The credit rewards employers who bring veterans into full-time, part-time, or seasonal roles, provided the employment meets the state’s definitions of a qualified veteran and qualified employment period. Generally, the veteran must have served on active duty and been released under conditions other than dishonorable, and the job must have started on or after January 1, 2014, within New York State. The employee also needs to work at least one year, and the position must last a minimum number of hours depending on whether it’s full-time or part-time work.

Who Needs to File Form IT-643

This form applies to corporations, partnerships, and individual business owners operating in New York who hired at least one qualified veteran. If you’re a sole proprietor, you’ll claim the credit on your personal income tax return, while corporations report it against their corporate franchise tax. Partnerships and S corporations pass the credit through to their partners or shareholders, who then use IT-643 individually to calculate their share.

It’s worth noting that this credit isn’t automatic just because you employed a veteran. You need documentation proving the veteran’s service status and confirming the employment dates and hours worked. The New York Department of Labor or the veteran’s discharge paperwork (such as a DD-214) typically serves as the backup you’ll want on file in case of an audit.

When to Use This Form

You’ll file Form IT-643 alongside your annual New York State tax return for the year in which the qualifying employment period was completed—not necessarily the year you hired the veteran. For example, if you hired someone in mid-2024 but they didn’t complete their required 12 months of employment until sometime in 2025, you’d claim the credit on your 2025 tax year filing using this version of the form.

The credit amount differs depending on whether the veteran is classified as disabled. Standard qualified veterans generally allow for a smaller percentage of wages paid, while disabled veterans typically qualify for a higher credit percentage, up to a capped dollar amount per employee. The form walks you through calculating wages paid during the qualifying period and applying the correct percentage based on the veteran’s classification.

Employers who are also claiming other workforce-related credits should check whether Form IT-643 interacts with them. For instance, businesses hiring individuals with disabilities may also want to review Form IT-644, the Workers with Disabilities Tax Credit, since some employers qualify for multiple hiring incentives in the same tax year depending on who they’ve brought on board.

How to Get and Complete Form IT-643

The 2025 version of Form IT-643 is a fillable PDF, meaning you can type your business information, employee details, and credit calculations directly into the document before printing or saving it. This cuts down on handwriting errors and makes it easier to keep a clean digital copy for your records.

To complete it accurately, gather your veteran employee’s start date, total hours worked, wages paid during the qualifying period, and proof of veteran status before you begin. The form itself walks through the credit calculation in sequential steps, so having this information ready beforehand speeds things up considerably.

Businesses that are already familiar with New York’s other specialized credit and recapture forms, like Form IT-645 for START-UP NY benefit recapture, will notice IT-643 follows a similar layout: identification information first, followed by calculation worksheets, and then a final credit amount to transfer to your main tax return. Pass-through entities filing composite returns might also want to cross-reference how credits flow through alongside payment vouchers such as Form 3893, particularly if multiple state-level credits and elective tax payments apply to the same entity in a given year.

Once completed, attach Form IT-643 to your applicable New York State tax return when filing, and retain your veteran employment documentation for at least three years in case the Department of Taxation and Finance requests verification.