Businesses Preparing for a Better Tomorrow Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1807 To provide a payroll tax credit for best practices training expenses associated with protecting employees from COVID–19. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 11, 2021 Mr. CAWTHORN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To provide a payroll tax credit for best practices training expenses associated with protecting employees from COVID–19. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Businesses Preparing 4 for a Better Tomorrow Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. WORKPLACE TRAINING TAX CREDIT. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an employer, there 7 shall be allowed as a credit against applicable employment 8 taxes for each calendar quarter an amount equal to 50 9 percent of the sum of the qualified workplace training ex- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:54 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1807.IH H1807 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1807 IH penses paid or incurred by the employer during such cal- 1 endar quarter. 2 (b) LIMITATIONS AND REFUNDABILITY.— 3 (1) LIMITATION.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The amount of the 5 credit allowed under subsection (a) with respect 6 to any employer for any calendar quarter shall 7 not exceed the excess (if any) of— 8 (i) the applicable dollar limit with re- 9 spect to such employer for such calendar 10 quarter; over 11 (ii) the aggregate credits allowed 12 under subsection (a) with respect to such 13 employer for all preceding calendar quar- 14 ters. 15 (B) APPLICABLE DOLLAR LIMIT.—The 16 term ‘‘applicable dollar limit’’ means, with re- 17 spect to any employer for any calendar quarter, 18 the sum of— 19 (i) $1,000, multiplied so much of the 20 average number of employees employed by 21 such employer during such calendar quar- 22 ter as does not exceed 500; plus 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:54 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1807.IH H1807 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1807 IH (ii) $750, multiplied by so much of 1 such average number of employees as ex- 2 ceeds 500 but does not exceed 1,000; plus 3 (iii) $500, multiplied by so much of 4 such average number of employees as ex- 5 ceeds 1,000. 6 (2) CREDIT LIMITED TO EMPLOYMENT 7 TAXES.—The credit allowed by subsection (a) with 8 respect to any calendar quarter shall not exceed the 9 applicable employment taxes (reduced by any credits 10 allowed under subsections (e) and (f) of section 11 3111 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, sections 12 7001 and 7003 of the Families First Coronavirus 13 Response Act, and section 2301 of the CARES Act) 14 on the wages paid with respect to the employment 15 of all the employees of the eligible employer for such 16 calendar quarter. 17 (3) REFUNDABILITY OF EXCESS CREDIT.— 18 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the amount of the 19 credit under subsection (a) exceeds the limita- 20 tion of paragraph (2) for any calendar quarter, 21 such excess shall be treated as an overpayment 22 that shall be refunded under sections 6402(a) 23 and 6413(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 24 1986. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:54 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1807.IH H1807 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1807 IH (B) TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS.—For pur- 1 poses of section 1324 of title 31, United States 2 Code, any amounts due to the employer under 3 this paragraph shall be treated in the same 4 manner as a refund due from a credit provision 5 referred to in subsection (b)(2) of such section. 6 (c) QUALIFIED WORKPLACE TRAINING EXPENSES.— 7 For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘qualified workplace 8 training expenses’’ means amounts paid or incurred by the 9 employer for education and training with respect to indus- 10 try best practices that ensure— 11 (1) the health and safety of employees in the 12 workplace with respect to COVID–19; and 13 (2) the prevention of the spread of COVID–19 14 in the workplace. 15 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 16 (1) APPLICABLE EMPLOYMENT TAXES.—The 17 term ‘‘applicable employment taxes’’ means the fol- 18 lowing: 19 (A) The taxes imposed under section 20 3111(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 21 (B) So much of the taxes imposed under 22 section 3221(a) of such Code as are attrib- 23 utable to the rate in effect under section 24 3111(a) of such Code. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:54 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1807.IH H1807 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1807 IH (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1 the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary’s del- 2 egate. 3 (e) SPECIAL RULES.— 4 (1) AGGREGATION RULE.—All persons treated 5 as a single employer under subsection (a) or (b) of 6 section 52 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or 7 subsection (m) or (o) of section 414 of such Code, 8 shall be treated as one employer for purposes of this 9 section. 10 (2) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.— 11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Rules similar to the 12 rules of paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 13 280C(b) shall apply for purposes of this section. 14 (B) EXPENSES NOT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT 15 MORE THAN ONCE.—Any qualified workplace 16 reconfiguration expense or qualified workplace 17 technology expense shall not be treated as a 18 qualified employee protection expense and any 19 qualified workplace technology expense shall not 20 be treated as a qualified workplace reconfigura- 21 tion expense. 22 (3) THIRD-PARTY PAYORS.—Any credit allowed 23 under this section shall be treated as a credit de- 24 scribed in section 3511(d)(2) of such Code. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:54 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1807.IH H1807 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1807 IH (4) ELECTION NOT TO HAVE SECTION APPLY.— 1 This section shall not apply with respect to any eligi- 2 ble employer for any calendar quarter if such em- 3 ployer elects (at such time and in such manner as 4 the Secretary may prescribe) not to have this section 5 apply. 6 (f) TRANSFERS TO CERTAIN TRUST FUNDS.—There 7 are hereby appropriated to the Federal Old-Age and Sur- 8 vivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability 9 Insurance Trust Fund established under section 201 of 10 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401) and the Social 11 Security Equivalent Benefit Account established under 12 section 15A(a) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 13 (45 U.S.C. 231n–1(a)) amounts equal to the reduction in 14 revenues to the Treasury by reason of this section (without 15 regard to this subsection). Amounts appropriated by the 16 preceding sentence shall be transferred from the general 17 fund at such times and in such manner as to replicate 18 to the extent possible the transfers which would have oc- 19 curred to such Trust Fund or Account had this section 20 not been enacted. 21 (g) TREATMENT OF DEPOSITS.—The Secretary shall 22 waive any penalty under section 6656 of the Internal Rev- 23 enue Code of 1986 for any failure to make a deposit of 24 any applicable employment taxes if the Secretary deter- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:54 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1807.IH H1807 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1807 IH mines that such failure was due to the reasonable anticipa- 1 tion of the credit allowed under this section. 2 (h) APPLICATION.—This section shall only apply to 3 amounts paid or incurred after March 12, 2020, and be- 4 fore January 1, 2022. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:54 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1807.IH H1807 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS