Helping Small Businesses Reopen Safely Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7431 To provide a payroll tax credit for personal protective equipment for use by employees and customers. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 30, 2020 Mr. ROUDA (for himself and Mr. MAST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To provide a payroll tax credit for personal protective equipment for use by employees and customers. 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 ‘‘Helping Small Busi- 4 nesses Reopen Safely Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. PAYROLL TAX CREDIT FOR PERSONAL PROTECTIVE 6 EQUIPMENT. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an eligible em- 8 ployer, there shall be allowed as a credit against applicable 9 employment taxes for each calendar quarter an amount 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:06 Jul 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7431.IH H7431 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7431 IH equal to 90 percent of the amount paid or incurred by 1 such employer during such calendar quarter for eligible 2 personal protective equipment provided free of charge by 3 such employer for the use or for the benefit of employees 4 and customers of such employer. 5 (b) LIMITATIONS AND REFUNDABILITY.— 6 (1) DOLLAR LIMITATION.—The amount of the 7 credit allowed under subsection (a) with respect to 8 any eligible employer for any calendar quarter shall 9 not exceed the lesser of— 10 (A) $6,250, or 11 (B) the greater of— 12 (i) 2 percent of the employer’s gross 13 receipts for such calendar quarter, or 14 (ii) 0.5 percent of the employer’s 15 gross receipts for the employer’s last tax- 16 able year ending in 2019. 17 (2) CREDIT LIMITED TO EMPLOYMENT 18 TAXES.—The credit allowed by subsection (a) with 19 respect to any calendar quarter shall not exceed the 20 applicable employment taxes (reduced by any credits 21 allowed under subsections (e) and (f) of section 22 3111 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, sections 23 7001 and 7003 of the Families First Coronavirus 24 Response Act, and section 2301 of the CARES Act) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:06 Jul 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7431.IH H7431 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7431 IH on the wages paid with respect to the employment 1 of all the employees of the eligible employer for such 2 calendar quarter. 3 (3) REFUNDABILITY OF EXCESS CREDIT.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the amount of the 5 credit under subsection (a) exceeds the limita- 6 tion of paragraph (2) for any calendar quarter, 7 such excess shall be treated as an overpayment 8 that shall be refunded under sections 6402(a) 9 and 6413(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 10 1986. 11 (B) TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS.—For pur- 12 poses of section 1324 of title 31, United States 13 Code, any amounts due to the employer under 14 this paragraph shall be treated in the same 15 manner as a refund due from a credit provision 16 referred to in subsection (b)(2) of such section. 17 (c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 18 (1) APPLICABLE EMPLOYMENT TAXES.—The 19 term ‘‘applicable employment taxes’’ means the fol- 20 lowing: 21 (A) The taxes imposed under section 22 3111(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 23 (B) So much of the taxes imposed under 24 section 3221(a) of such Code as are attrib- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:06 Jul 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7431.IH H7431 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7431 IH utable to the rate in effect under section 1 3111(a) of such Code. 2 (2) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible em- 4 ployer’’ means, with respect to any calendar 5 quarter, any employer— 6 (i) which was carrying on a trade or 7 business during such calendar quarter, and 8 (ii) the average number of full-time 9 employees (within the meaning of section 10 4980H of the Internal Revenue Code of 11 1986) employed by such employer during 12 such calendar quarter was less than 500. 13 (B) CERTAIN TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZA- 14 TIONS AND GOVERNMENTAL EMPLOYERS.—In 15 the case of an organization which is described 16 in section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code 17 of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 18 501(a) of such Code, or any governmental enti- 19 ty (other than a governmental entity described 20 in subparagraph (D)), subparagraph (A)(i) 21 shall apply to all operations of such organiza- 22 tion or government. 23 (C) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN TAX-EXEMPT 24 ORGANIZATIONS.—The term ‘‘eligible employer’’ 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:06 Jul 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7431.IH H7431 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7431 IH shall not include any organization described in 1 section 501(c)(4) of such Code unless such or- 2 ganization does not participate in, or intervene 3 in (including the publishing or distributing of 4 statements), any political campaign on behalf of 5 (or in opposition to) any candidate for public 6 office. 7 (D) EXCLUSION OF FEDERAL AND FOR- 8 EIGN GOVERNMENTS.—The term ‘‘eligible em- 9 ployer’’ shall not include the Government of the 10 United States, the government of any foreign 11 country, or any agency or instrumentality of the 12 foregoing. 13 (3) ELIGIBLE PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIP- 14 MENT.—The term ‘‘eligible personal protective 15 equipment’’ means masks or face coverings, goggles, 16 face shields, respiratory protection, gloves, gowns, 17 shields or barriers, hand sanitizers, surface cleaners 18 or disinfectants, items that are intended to reduce 19 the spread of infectious disease, and any other sup- 20 plies or equipment that the Secretary determines ap- 21 propriate for purposes of this section after consulta- 22 tion with Secretary of Health and Human Services 23 and the Secretary of Labor. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:06 Jul 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7431.IH H7431 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7431 IH (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1 the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary’s del- 2 egate. 3 (5) OTHER TERMS.—Any term used in this sec- 4 tion which is also used in chapter 21 or 22 of the 5 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall have the same 6 meaning as when used in such chapter. 7 (d) AGGREGATION RULE.—All persons treated as a 8 single employer under subsection (a) or (b) of section 52 9 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or subsection (m) 10 or (o) of section 414 of such Code, shall be treated as 11 one employer for purposes of this section. 12 (e) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—For purposes of 13 chapter 1 of such Code, the gross income of any eligible 14 employer, for the taxable year which includes the last day 15 of any calendar quarter with respect to which a credit is 16 allowed under this section, shall be increased by the 17 amount of such credit. 18 (f) ELECTION NOT TO HAVE SECTION APPLY.—This 19 section shall not apply with respect to any eligible em- 20 ployer for any calendar quarter if such employer elects (at 21 such time and in such manner as the Secretary may pre- 22 scribe) not to have this section apply. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:06 Jul 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7431.IH H7431 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7431 IH (g) THIRD-PARTY PAYORS.—Any credit allowed 1 under this section shall be treated as a credit described 2 in section 3511(d)(2) of such Code. 3 (h) TRANSFERS TO FEDERAL OLD-AGE AND SUR- 4 VIVORS INSURANCE TRUST FUND.—There are hereby ap- 5 propriated to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insur- 6 ance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance 7 Trust Fund established under section 201 of the Social 8 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401) and the Social Security 9 Equivalent Benefit Account established under section 10 15A(a) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (45 U.S.C. 11 14 231n–1(a)) amounts equal to the reduction in revenues 12 to the Treasury by reason of this section (without regard 13 to this subsection). Amounts appropriated by the pre- 14 ceding sentence shall be transferred from the general fund 15 at such times and in such manner as to replicate to the 16 extent possible the transfers which would have occurred 17 to such Trust Fund or Account had this section not been 18 enacted. 19 (i) TREATMENT OF DEPOSITS.—The Secretary shall 20 waive any penalty under section 6656 of the Internal Rev- 21 enue Code of 1986 for any failure to make a deposit of 22 any applicable employment taxes if the Secretary deter- 23 mines that such failure was due to the reasonable anticipa- 24 tion of the credit allowed under this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:06 Jul 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7431.IH H7431 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7431 IH (j) REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE.—The Secretary 1 shall issue such forms, instructions, regulations, and guid- 2 ance as are necessary— 3 (1) to allow the advance payment of the credit 4 under subsection (a), subject to the limitations pro- 5 vided in this section, based on such information as 6 the Secretary shall require, 7 (2) to provide for the reconciliation of such ad- 8 vance payment with the amount advanced at the 9 time of filing the return of tax for the applicable cal- 10 endar quarter or taxable year, and 11 (3) with respect to the application of the credit 12 under subsection (a) to third-party payors (including 13 professional employer organizations, certified profes- 14 sional employer organizations, or agents under sec- 15 tion 3504 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986), 16 including regulations or guidance allowing such 17 payors to submit documentation necessary to sub- 18 stantiate the eligible employer status of employers 19 that use such payors. 20 (k) APPLICATION.—This section shall only apply to 21 calendar quarters beginning after December 31, 2019, and 22 before January 1, 2022. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:06 Jul 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7431.IH H7431 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS