[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6337 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6337
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to create an epidemic tax
credit, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 23, 2020
Mr. Budd introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to create an epidemic tax
credit, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Epidemic Tax Credit Act of 2020''.
SEC. 2. EPIDEMIC TAX CREDIT.
(a) In General.--Subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end
the following new section:
``SEC. 45U. EPIDEMIC CREDIT.
``(a) General Rule.--For purposes of section 38, the epidemic
credit for any taxable year is an amount equal to 90 percent of the
amount of qualifying wages paid by a qualified employer to qualifying
employees.
``(b) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
``(1) Qualifying wages.--The term `qualifying wages' means
wages paid to a qualifying employee who--
``(A) is on leave,
``(B) does not come to the workplace, and
``(C) performs no substantial work for the
employer.
``(2) Qualified employer.--The term `qualified employer'
means any employer that is not a government employer.
``(3) Government employer.--The term `government employer'
means--
``(A) the Federal Government,
``(B) any State government,
``(C) any government of a possession or territory
of the United States,
``(D) the Government of the District of Columbia,
``(E) the government of any county, city, town,
township, parish, village, or other general purpose
political subdivision of a State,
``(F) any Indian Tribal Government (as defined in
section 7701(a)(40)),
``(G) any foreign government, or
``(H) any international organization (as defined in
section 7701(a)(18)).
``(4) Tax-exempt employer.--The term `tax-exempt employer'
means--
``(A) any employer that is exempt from taxation
pursuant to subchapter F of chapter 1 of subtitle A, or
``(B) any other employer designated by the
Secretary as a tax-exempt employer for purposes of this
section.
``(5) Qualifying employee.--The term `qualifying employee'
means a person who--
``(A) has been an employee of the qualified
employer for at least one pay period preceding the
designation of the epidemic area where the person's
workplace is located,
``(B) normally performs substantially all of the
person's work in a designated epidemic area,
``(C) is not a part-time employee (as defined in
section 4980E(d)(4)(B)), and
``(D) cannot, given the nature of the person's
employment, reasonably be expected to telecommute.
``(6) Epidemic area.--The term `epidemic area' means any
county designated as an epidemic area by the Director of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
``(7) County.--For purposes of paragraph (6), the term
`county' means--
``(A) any county or parish that is a subdivision of
a State,
``(B) a city or other political subdivision that is
functionally equivalent to a county or parish,
``(C) a possession or territory of the United
States, or
``(D) the District of Columbia.
``(c) Limitation.--
``(1) Maximum weekly wage creditable.--The amount of
qualifying wages shall not exceed $2,000 with respect to any
calendar week for any qualifying employee.
``(2) Maximum leave period creditable.--The amount of leave
that may be taken into account with respect to any qualifying
employee under subsection (a) for any taxable year shall not
exceed 8 calendar weeks.
``(d) Epidemic Area Designation.--
``(1) Designation.--The Director of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention may designate as an epidemic area any
county within the United States provided that--
``(A) a public health emergency has been declared
pursuant to section 247d of title 42, United States
Code,
``(B) the Director finds that a substantial number
of cases of a communicable disease have occurred in the
United States and that such communicable disease is
reasonably expected to be life-threatening to at least
one-half of 1 percent of those that contract the
disease,
``(C) the Director finds that risk of the
introduction, transmission, or spread of such
communicable disease will be substantially reduced by
encouraging people not to come to work within the
county, and
``(D) the Director finds that a person or persons
have been quarantined or otherwise isolated either
within the county to be designated as an epidemic area,
or within a county geographically adjacent to the
county to be designated as an epidemic area, for the
purpose of preventing the introduction, transmission,
or spread of such communicable disease.
``(2) Epidemic area list.--So long as there are any
designated epidemic areas, the Director shall maintain a list
of designated epidemic areas which shall provide the name of
each designated epidemic area, the date on which the
designation was made for each county and, if removed from the
list, the date a county was removed from the list of designated
epidemic areas. The epidemic area list shall be published at
least weekly in the Federal Register. The epidemic area list
shall be maintained and updated daily on the website of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
``(3) Limitation.--A county shall maintain its status as a
declared epidemic area until the earlier of--
``(A) a finding by the Director that the county is
no longer an epidemic area; or
``(B) 90 days after the declaration of the county
as an epidemic area.
``(e) Special Rule for Tax-Exempt Employers.--
``(1) Tax-exempt employers eligible.--Tax-exempt employers
are eligible to receive the credit provided by this section
notwithstanding their tax-exemption.
``(2) Application required.--Application for payment of the
epidemic credit to a tax-exempt employer shall be in such form
and contain such information as the Secretary shall prescribe.
Any claim for credit under this subsection by a tax-exempt
employer shall be filed within 6 months after the date that the
last qualifying wages were paid.
``(3) Payment.--On proof satisfactory to the Secretary that
the epidemic credit is due to a tax-exempt employer, the
Secretary shall make payment to the tax-exempt employer.
``(f) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall
apply to wages paid on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
This section shall not apply to wages paid after December 31, 2020.''.
(b) General Business Credit.--Subsection (b) of section 38 is
amended by striking the period at the end thereof, by striking the word
``plus'' in paragraph 32 and by adding at the end thereof: ``plus
``(34) the epidemic credit determined under section 45U.''.
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