LEAP Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1660 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow employers a credit against income tax for employees who participate in qualified apprentice- ship programs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 8, 2019 Ms. WILSON of Florida 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 allow em- ployers a credit against income tax for employees who participate in qualified apprenticeship programs. 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 ‘‘Leveraging and Ener- 4 gizing America’s Apprenticeship Programs Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘LEAP Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1660.IH H1660 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1660 IH SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR EMPLOYEES PARTICIPATING IN QUALI- 1 FIED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub- 3 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 4 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 5 section: 6 ‘‘SEC. 45T. EMPLOYEES PARTICIPATING IN QUALIFIED AP- 7 PRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS. 8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38, the 9 apprenticeship credit determined under this section for the 10 taxable year is an amount equal to the sum of the applica- 11 ble credit amounts (as determined under subsection (b)) 12 for each of the apprenticeship employees of the employer 13 that exceeds the applicable apprenticeship level (as deter- 14 mined under subsection (e)) during such taxable year. 15 ‘‘(b) APPLICABLE CREDIT AMOUNT.—For purposes 16 of subsection (a), the applicable credit amount for each 17 apprenticeship employee for each taxable year is equal 18 to— 19 ‘‘(1) in the case of an apprenticeship employee 20 who has not attained 25 years of age at the close 21 of the taxable year, $1,500, or 22 ‘‘(2) in the case of an apprenticeship employee 23 who has attained 25 years of age at the close of the 24 taxable year, $1,000. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1660.IH H1660 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1660 IH ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF YEARS WHICH 1 CREDIT MAY BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.—The appren- 2 ticeship credit shall not be allowed for more than 2 taxable 3 years with respect to any apprenticeship employee. 4 ‘‘(d) APPRENTICESHIP EMPLOYEE.—For purposes of 5 this section— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘apprenticeship 7 employee’ means any employee who is— 8 ‘‘(A) a party to an apprenticeship agree- 9 ment registered with— 10 ‘‘(i) the Office of Apprenticeship of 11 the Employment and Training Administra- 12 tion of the Department of Labor, or 13 ‘‘(ii) a recognized State apprenticeship 14 agency, and 15 ‘‘(B) employed by the employer in the oc- 16 cupation identified in the apprenticeship agree- 17 ment described in subparagraph (A), whether 18 or not the employer is a party to such agree- 19 ment. 20 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM COMPLETION RATE FOR ELIGI- 21 BLE APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS.—An employee 22 shall not be treated as an apprenticeship employee 23 unless such apprenticeship agreement is with an ap- 24 prenticeship program that, for the two-year period 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1660.IH H1660 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1660 IH ending on the date of the apprenticeship begins, has 1 a completion rate of at least 50 percent. 2 ‘‘(e) APPLICABLE APPRENTICESHIP LEVEL.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec- 4 tion, the applicable apprenticeship level shall be 5 equal to— 6 ‘‘(A) in the case of any apprenticeship em- 7 ployees described in subsection (b)(1), the 8 amount equal to 80 percent of the average 9 number of such apprenticeship employees of the 10 employer for the 3 taxable years preceding the 11 taxable year for which the credit is being deter- 12 mined, rounded to the next lower whole num- 13 ber, and 14 ‘‘(B) in the case of any apprenticeship em- 15 ployees described in subsection (b)(2), the 16 amount equal to 80 percent of the average 17 number of such apprenticeship employees of the 18 employer for the 3 taxable years preceding the 19 taxable year for which the credit is being deter- 20 mined, rounded to the next lower whole num- 21 ber. 22 ‘‘(2) FIRST YEAR OF NEW APPRENTICESHIP 23 PROGRAMS.—In the case of an employer which did 24 not have any apprenticeship employees during any 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1660.IH H1660 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1660 IH taxable year in the 3 taxable years preceding the 1 taxable year for which the credit is being deter- 2 mined, the applicable apprenticeship level shall be 3 equal to zero. 4 ‘‘(f) COORDINATION WITH OTHER CREDITS.—The 5 amount of credit otherwise allowable under sections 45A, 6 51(a), and 1396(a) with respect to any employee shall be 7 reduced by the credit allowed by this section with respect 8 to such employee. 9 ‘‘(g) CERTAIN RULES TO APPLY.—Rules similar to 10 the rules of subsections (i)(1) and (k) of section 51 shall 11 apply for purposes of this section.’’. 12 (b) CREDIT MADE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS 13 CREDIT.—Subsection (b) of section 38 of such Code is 14 amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph (31), 15 by striking the period at the end of paragraph (32) and 16 inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by adding at the end the following 17 new paragraph: 18 ‘‘(33) the apprenticeship credit determined 19 under section 45T(a).’’. 20 (c) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Subsection (a) 21 of section 280C of such Code is amended by inserting 22 ‘‘45T(a),’’ after ‘‘45S(a),’’. 23 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 24 for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1660.IH H1660 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 1660 IH of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol- 1 lowing new item: 2 ‘‘Sec. 45T. Employees participating in qualified apprenticeship programs.’’. (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 3 this section shall apply to individuals commencing appren- 4 ticeship programs after the date of the enactment of this 5 Act. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1660.IH H1660 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS