LEAP Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4238 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 SEPTEMBER 6, 2019 Mr. REED (for himself and Ms. SA´NCHEZ) 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 21:20 Sep 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4238.IH H4238 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4238 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 apprentice of the employer that exceeds the appli- 13 cable apprenticeship level (as determined under subsection 14 (e)) during such taxable year. 15 ‘‘(b) APPLICABLE CREDIT AMOUNT.—For purposes 16 of subsection (a), the applicable credit amount for each 17 apprentice for each taxable year is equal to— 18 ‘‘(1) in the case of an apprentice who has not 19 attained 25 years of age at the close of the taxable 20 year, $1,500, or 21 ‘‘(2) in the case of an apprentice who has at- 22 tained 25 years of age at the close of the taxable 23 year, $1,000. 24 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF YEARS WHICH 25 CREDIT MAY BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.—The appren- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Sep 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4238.IH H4238 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4238 IH ticeship credit shall not be allowed for more than 2 taxable 1 years with respect to any apprentice. 2 ‘‘(d) APPRENTICE.—For purposes of this section, the 3 term ‘apprentice’ means any employee who is employed by 4 the employer— 5 ‘‘(1) in an officially recognized apprenticeable 6 occupation, as determined by the Office of Appren- 7 ticeship of the Employment and Training Adminis- 8 tration of the Department of Labor, and 9 ‘‘(2) pursuant to an apprentice agreement reg- 10 istered with— 11 ‘‘(A) the Office of Apprenticeship of the 12 Employment and Training Administration of 13 the Department of Labor, or 14 ‘‘(B) a recognized State apprenticeship 15 agency, as determined by the Office of Appren- 16 ticeship of the Employment and Training Ad- 17 ministration of the Department of Labor. 18 ‘‘(e) APPLICABLE APPRENTICESHIP LEVEL.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec- 20 tion, the applicable apprenticeship level shall be 21 equal to— 22 ‘‘(A) in the case of any apprentice de- 23 scribed in subsection (b)(1), the amount equal 24 to 80 percent of the average number of such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Sep 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4238.IH H4238 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4238 IH apprentices of the employer for the 3 taxable 1 years preceding the taxable year for which the 2 credit is being determined, rounded to the next 3 lower whole number, and 4 ‘‘(B) in the case of any apprentices de- 5 scribed in subsection (b)(2), the amount equal 6 to 80 percent of the average number of such 7 apprentices of the employer for the 3 taxable 8 years preceding the taxable year for which the 9 credit is being determined, rounded to the next 10 lower whole number. 11 ‘‘(2) FIRST YEAR OF NEW APPRENTICESHIP 12 PROGRAMS.—In the case of an employer which did 13 not have any apprentices during any taxable year in 14 the 3 taxable years preceding the taxable year for 15 which the credit is being determined, the applicable 16 apprenticeship level shall be equal to zero. 17 ‘‘(f) COORDINATION WITH OTHER CREDITS.—The 18 amount of credit otherwise allowable under sections 45A, 19 51(a), and 1396(a) with respect to any employee shall be 20 reduced by the credit allowed by this section with respect 21 to such employee. 22 ‘‘(g) CERTAIN RULES TO APPLY.—Rules similar to 23 the rules of subsections (i)(1) and (k) of section 51 shall 24 apply for purposes of this section.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Sep 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4238.IH H4238 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4238 IH (b) CREDIT MADE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS 1 CREDIT.—Subsection (b) of section 38 of the Internal 2 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at 3 the end of paragraph (31), by striking the period at the 4 end of paragraph (32) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by add- 5 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 6 ‘‘(33) the apprenticeship credit determined 7 under section 45T(a).’’. 8 (c) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Subsection (a) 9 of section 280C of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 10 amended by inserting ‘‘45T(a),’’ after ‘‘45S(a),’’. 11 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 12 for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 13 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by add- 14 ing at the end the following new item: 15 ‘‘Sec. 45T. Employees participating in qualified apprenticeship programs.’’. (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 16 this section shall apply to individuals commencing appren- 17 ticeship programs after the date of the enactment of this 18 Act. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Sep 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4238.IH H4238 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS