Hospitality and Commerce Job Recovery Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4807 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to create a refundable tax credit for travel expenditures, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 19, 2020 Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself and Mr. CRAMER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to create a refundable tax credit for travel expenditures, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Hospitality and Com- 4 merce Job Recovery Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF TAX CREDIT TO SUPPORT THE 6 CONVENTION AND TRADE SHOW INDUSTRY. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38 of the 8 Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the convention and trade 9 show restart credit shall be treated as a credit listed at 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:02 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4807.IS S4807 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4807 IS the end of subsection (b) of such section. For purposes 1 of this section, the convention and trade show restart cred- 2 it for any taxable year is an amount equal to the sum 3 of— 4 (1) 50 percent of the qualified participation 5 costs paid or incurred by a taxpayer during such 6 taxable year, and 7 (2) in the case of an eligible provider, 100 per- 8 cent of the qualified restart costs paid or incurred 9 by such provider during such taxable year. 10 (b) QUALIFIED PARTICIPATION COSTS.—For pur- 11 poses of this section, the term ‘‘qualified participation 12 costs’’ means any costs or expenses paid or incurred by 13 the taxpayer after December 31, 2020, for any employee 14 or officer of the taxpayer to attend a qualified event, in- 15 cluding registration fees, lodging, and costs with respect 16 to carrying out an exhibition relating to the taxpayer. 17 Such term shall not include any costs which are not nec- 18 essary for the attendance of such employee or officer at 19 such event. 20 (c) ELIGIBLE PROVIDER; QUALIFIED RESTART 21 COSTS.—In this section— 22 (1) ELIGIBLE PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘eligible 23 provider’’ means any person which— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:02 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4807.IS S4807 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4807 IS (A) provides facilities at which a qualified 1 event may be held, or 2 (B) sponsors or is otherwise responsible for 3 the administration of a qualified event. 4 (2) QUALIFIED RESTART COSTS.—The term 5 ‘‘qualified restart costs’’ means any costs paid or in- 6 curred by an eligible provider after December 31, 7 2020, in reopening after such date a facility de- 8 scribed in paragraph (1)(A) which was closed or 9 forced to reduce services due to the virus SARS– 10 CoV–2 or coronavirus disease 2019 (referred to in 11 this section as ‘‘COVID–19’’), including— 12 (A) any renovation, remediation, or addi- 13 tional labor and rental costs related to pre- 14 venting individuals present in such facility from 15 contracting COVID–19, and 16 (B) any testing of employees of the tax- 17 payer or guests of such facility for symptoms of 18 COVID–19. 19 (d) QUALIFIED EVENT.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term 21 ‘‘qualified event’’ means— 22 (A) a convention, seminar, or similar meet- 23 ing (as such terms are used in section 274 of 24 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986), 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:02 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4807.IS S4807 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4807 IS (B) a business meeting (as such term is 1 used in such section), or 2 (C) a trade show, 3 which takes place after December 31, 2020. 4 (2) TRADE SHOW.—For purposes of this sub- 5 section, the term ‘‘trade show’’ means any exhibition 6 at which different businesses within a particular in- 7 dustry promote their products and services. 8 (e) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduction 9 shall be allowed under any provision of chapter 1 of the 10 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect to any 11 amount taken in account in determining the credit allowed 12 to a taxpayer under this section. 13 (f) LOCATION REQUIREMENT.—No credit shall be al- 14 lowed under this section with respect to any qualified 15 event unless such event is held within the United States 16 (including any territory or possession of the United 17 States). 18 (g) PAYROLL CREDIT FOR NONPROFIT EMPLOY- 19 ERS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an organiza- 21 tion which is described in section 501(c) of the In- 22 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax 23 under section 501(a) of such Code, the credit deter- 24 mined under this section shall be allowed as a credit 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:02 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4807.IS S4807 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4807 IS against applicable employment taxes paid by such 1 organization for calendar quarters in the taxable 2 year, and not treated as a credit listed at the end 3 of section 38(b) of such Code. 4 (2) LIMITATIONS AND REFUNDABILITY.— 5 (A) CREDIT LIMITED TO EMPLOYMENT 6 TAXES.—The credit allowed by paragraph (1) 7 with respect to calendar quarters in any taxable 8 year shall not exceed the applicable employment 9 taxes (reduced by any credits allowed under 10 subsections (e) and (f) of section 3111 of the 11 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and sections 12 7001 and 7003 of the Families First 13 Coronavirus Response Act) on the wages paid 14 with respect to the employment of all the em- 15 ployees of the organization for such taxable 16 year. 17 (B) REFUNDABILITY OF EXCESS CRED- 18 IT.— 19 (i) IN GENERAL.—If the amount of 20 the credit under paragraph (1) exceeds the 21 limitation of subparagraph (A) for any cal- 22 endar quarter, such excess shall be treated 23 as an overpayment that shall be refunded 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:02 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4807.IS S4807 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4807 IS under sections 6402(a) and 6413(b) of the 1 Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 2 (ii) TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS.—For 3 purposes of section 1324 of title 31, 4 United States Code, any amounts due to 5 the employer under this paragraph shall be 6 treated in the same manner as a refund 7 due from a credit provision referred to in 8 subsection (b)(2) of such section. 9 (3) APPLICABLE EMPLOYMENT TAXES.—For 10 purposes of this subsection, the term ‘‘applicable em- 11 ployment taxes’’ means the following: 12 (A) The taxes imposed under section 13 3111(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 14 (B) So much of the taxes imposed under 15 section 3221(a) of such Code as are attrib- 16 utable to the rate in effect under section 17 3111(a) of such Code. 18 (h) REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE.—The Secretary 19 of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) may pre- 20 scribe such regulations and other guidance as may be ap- 21 propriate or necessary to carry out the purposes of this 22 section. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:02 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4807.IS S4807 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4807 IS (i) TERMINATION.—This section shall not apply to 1 any costs paid or incurred in taxable years beginning after 2 December 31, 2023. 3 SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENTS TO EMPLOYEE RETENTION TAX 4 CREDIT. 5 (a) INCREASE IN CREDIT PERCENTAGE.—Section 6 2301(a) of the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136) is 7 amended by striking ‘‘50 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘80 per- 8 cent’’. 9 (b) INCREASE IN PER EMPLOYEE LIMITATION.—Sec- 10 tion 2301(b)(1) of the CARES Act is amended by striking 11 ‘‘for all calendar quarters shall not exceed $10,000.’’ and 12 inserting ‘‘shall not exceed— 13 ‘‘(A) $15,000 in any calendar quarter, and 14 ‘‘(B) $45,000 in the aggregate for all cal- 15 endar quarters.’’. 16 (c) MODIFICATION OF THRESHOLD FOR TREATMENT 17 AS A LARGE EMPLOYER.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2301(c)(3)(A) of the 19 CARES Act is amended— 20 (A) by striking ‘‘for which the average 21 number of full-time employees (within the 22 meaning of section 4980H of the Internal Rev- 23 enue Code of 1986) employed by such eligible 24 employer during 2019 was greater than 100’’ in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:02 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4807.IS S4807 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4807 IS clause (i) and inserting ‘‘which is a large em- 1 ployer’’, and 2 (B) by striking ‘‘for which the average 3 number of full-time employees (within the 4 meaning of section 4980H of the Internal Rev- 5 enue Code of 1986) employed by such eligible 6 employer during 2019 was not greater than 7 100’’ in clause (ii) and inserting ‘‘which is not 8 a large employer’’. 9 (2) LARGE EMPLOYER DEFINED.—Section 10 2301(c) of the CARES Act is amended by redesig- 11 nating paragraph (6) as paragraph (7) and by in- 12 serting after paragraph (5) the following new para- 13 graph: 14 ‘‘(6) LARGE EMPLOYER.—The term ‘large em- 15 ployer’ means any eligible employer if— 16 ‘‘(A) the average number of full-time em- 17 ployees (as determined for purposes of section 18 4980H(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 19 1986) employed by such eligible employer dur- 20 ing calendar year 2019 was greater than 1,500, 21 and 22 ‘‘(B) the gross receipts (within the mean- 23 ing of section 448(c) of the Internal Revenue 24 Code of 1986) of such eligible employer during 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:02 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4807.IS S4807 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4807 IS calendar year 2019 was greater than 1 $41,500,000.’’. 2 (d) PHASE-IN OF ELIGIBILITY BASED ON REDUC- 3 TION IN GROSS RECEIPTS.— 4 (1) REDUCTION OF DECLINE IN GROSS RE- 5 CEIPTS NECESSARY TO QUALIFY FOR CREDIT.—Sec- 6 tion 2301(c)(2)(B) of the CARES Act is amended— 7 (A) by striking ‘‘50 percent’’ in clause (i) 8 and inserting ‘‘90 percent’’, and 9 (B) by striking ‘‘80 percent’’ in clause (ii) 10 and inserting ‘‘90 percent’’. 11 (2) PHASE-IN OF CREDIT IF REDUCTION IN 12 GROSS RECEIPTS IS LESS THAN 50 PERCENT.—Sec- 13 tion 2301(c)(2) of the CARES Act is amended by 14 adding at the end the following new subparagraph: 15 ‘‘(D) PHASE-IN OF CREDIT WHERE BUSI- 16 NESS NOT SUSPENDED AND REDUCTION IN 17 GROSS RECEIPTS LESS THAN 50 PERCENT.— 18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any 19 calendar quarter with respect to which an 20 eligible employer would not be an eligible 21 employer if subparagraph (B)(i) were ap- 22 plied by substituting ‘50 percent’ for ‘90 23 percent’, the amount of the credit allowed 24 under subsection (a) shall be reduced by 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:02 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4807.IS S4807 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4807 IS the amount which bears the same ratio to 1 the amount of such credit (determined 2 without regard to this subparagraph) as— 3 ‘‘(I) the excess gross receipts per- 4 centage point amount, bears to 5 ‘‘(II) 40 percentage points. 6 ‘‘(ii) EXCESS GROSS RECEIPTS PER- 7 CENTAGE POINT AMOUNT.—For purposes 8 of this subparagraph, the term ‘excess 9 gross receipts percentage point amount’ 10 means, with respect to any calendar quar- 11 ter, the excess of— 12 ‘‘(I) the lowest of the gross re- 13 ceipts percentage point amounts with 14 respect to any calendar quarter occur- 15 ring during the period described in 16 clause (iii), over 17 ‘‘(II) 50 percentage points. 18 ‘‘(iii) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—For pur- 19 poses of applying clause (ii) to any cal- 20 endar quarter, the period described in this 21 clause is the period ending with such cal- 22 endar quarter and beginning with the first 23 calendar quarter during the period de- 24 scribed in subparagraph (B). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:02 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4807.IS S4807 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4807 IS ‘‘(iv) GROSS RECEIPTS PERCENTAGE 1 POINT AMOUNTS.—For purposes of this 2 subparagraph, the term ‘gross receipts per- 3 centage point amount’ means, with respect 4 to any calendar quarter, the percentage 5 (expressed as a number of percentage 6 points) obtained by dividing— 7 ‘‘(I) the gross receipts (within 8 the meaning of subparagraph (B)) for 9 such calendar quarter, by 10 ‘‘(II) the gross receipts for the 11 same calendar quarter in calendar 12 year 2019.’’. 13 (3) GROSS RECEIPTS OF TAX-EXEMPT ORGANI- 14 ZATIONS.—Section 2301(c)(2)(C) of the CARES Act 15 is amended— 16 (A) by striking ‘‘of such Code, clauses (i) 17 and (ii)(I)’’ and inserting of such Code— 18 ‘‘(i) clauses (i) and (ii)(I)’’, 19 (B) by striking the period at the end and 20 inserting ‘‘, and’’, and 21 (C) by adding at the end the following new 22 clause: 23 ‘‘(ii) any reference in this section to 24 gross receipts shall be treated as a ref- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:02 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4807.IS S4807 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4807 IS erence to gross receipts within the meaning 1 of section 6033 of such Code.’’. 2 (e) MODIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF HEALTH 3 PLAN EXPENSES.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2301(c)(5) of the 5 CARES Act is amended to read as follows: 6 ‘‘(5) WAGES.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘wages’ 8 means wages (as defined in section 3121(a) of 9 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) and com- 10 pensation (as defined in section 3231(e) of such 11 Code). 12 ‘‘(B) ALLOWANCE FOR CERTAIN HEALTH 13 PLAN EXPENSES.— 14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Such term shall 15 include amounts paid or incurred by the el- 16 igible employer to provide and maintain a 17 group health plan (as defined in section 18 5000(b)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code 19 of 1986), but only to the extent that such 20 amounts are excluded from the gross in- 21 come of employees by reason of section 22 106(a) of such Code. 23 ‘‘(ii) ALLOCATION RULES.—For pur- 24 poses of this section, amounts treated as 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:02 Oct 31, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4807.IS S4807 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 4807 IS wages under clause (i) shall be treated as 1 paid with respect to any employee (and 2 with respect to any period) to the extent 3 that such amounts are properly allocable to 4 such employee (and to such period) in such 5 manner as the Secretary may prescribe. 6 Except as otherwise provided by the Sec- 7 retary, such allocation shall be treated as 8 properly made if made on the basis of 9 being pro rata among periods [Text truncated for display. 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