I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5250 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make permanent the work 

opportunity tax credit for veterans and to allow an exemption from 

an employer’s employment taxes in an amount equivalent to the value 

of such credit in the case of veterans. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2019 

Mr. WRIGHT (for himself and Mr. BISHOP of Georgia) 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 make 

permanent the work opportunity tax credit for veterans 

and to allow an exemption from an employer’s employment taxes in an amount equivalent to the value of 

such credit in the case of veterans. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Back to Work 

5 Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXTENSION AND IMPROVEMENT OF WORK OPPOR2 TUNITY TAX CREDIT FOR VETERANS. 

3 (a) CREDIT MADE PERMANENT FOR VETERANS.— 

4 Section 51(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

5 is amended by inserting ‘‘(other than a qualified veteran)’’ 

6 after ‘‘an individual’’. 

7 (b) ELECTION TO CLAIM CREDIT AS EXEMPTION

8 FROM EMPLOYMENT TAXES.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3111 of the Internal 

10 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 

11 end the following new subsection: 

12 ‘‘(g) SPECIAL EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN VET13 ERANS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) shall not 

15 apply to first-year wages paid after the date of the 

16 enactment of this subsection by a qualified employer 

17 with respect to employment of any specified veteran 

18 for services performed— 

19 ‘‘(A) in a trade or business of such quali20 fied employer, or 

21 ‘‘(B) in the case of a qualified employer ex22 empt from tax under section 501(a), in further23 ance of the activities related to the purpose or 

24 function constituting the basis of the employer’s 

25 exemption under section 501. 


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1 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—With respect to any speci2 fied veteran employed by a qualified employer, the 

3 amount of wages to which paragraph (1) applies 

4 shall not exceed— 

5 ‘‘(A) $125,490 in the case of an individual 

6 who is a qualified veteran by reason of section 

7 51(d)(3)(A)(ii)(II), 

8 ‘‘(B) $73,203 in the case of an individual 

9 who is a qualified veteran by reason of section 

10 51(d)(3)(A)(iv), 

11 ‘‘(C) $62,745 in the case of an individual 

12 who is a qualified veteran by reason of section 

13 51(d)(3)(A)(ii)(I), and 

14 ‘‘(D) $31,373 in the case of any other 

15 qualified veteran. 

16 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED EMPLOYER.—For purposes of 

17 this subsection— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 

19 employer’ means any employer other than the 

20 United States, any State, or any political sub21 division thereof, or any instrumentality of the 

22 foregoing. 

23 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES OF

24 POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITU25 TIONS.—Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), 


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1 the term ‘qualified employer’ includes any em2 ployer which is a public institution of higher 

3 education (as defined in section 101(b) of the 

4 Higher Education Act of 1965). 

5 ‘‘(4) SPECIFIED VETERAN.—For purposes of 

6 this subsection— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘specified 

8 veteran’ means any individual who— 

9 ‘‘(i) begins employment with a quali10 fied employer after the date of the enact11 ment of this subsection, 

12 ‘‘(ii) certifies by signed affidavit, 

13 under penalties of perjury, that such indi14 vidual is a qualified veteran and whether 

15 such individual is a qualified veteran de16 scribed in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of 

17 paragraph (2), 

18 ‘‘(iii) is not employed by the qualified 

19 employer to replace another employee of 

20 such employer unless such other employee 

21 separated from employment voluntarily or 

22 for cause, and 

23 ‘‘(iv) is not an individual described in 

24 section 51(i)(1) (applied by substituting 


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1 ‘qualified employer’ for ‘taxpayer’ each 

2 place it appears). 

3 ‘‘(B) QUALIFIED VETERAN.—The term 

4 ‘qualified veteran’ has the meaning given such 

5 term by section 51(d)(3), but applied without 

6 regard to whether such individual has been cer7 tified by the designated local agency. 

8 ‘‘(5) FIRST-YEAR WAGES.—For purposes of this 

9 subsection, the term ‘first-year wages’ means, with 

10 respect to any individual, wages for services ren11 dered during the 1-year period beginning with the 

12 day the individual begins work for the employer. 

13 ‘‘(6) COORDINATION WITH CREDIT FOR EM14 PLOYMENT OF QUALIFIED VETERANS BY QUALIFIED

15 TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS.—This subsection 

16 shall not apply with respect to the first-year wages 

17 of any individual if such wages are taken into ac18 count in determining the credit allowed under sub19 section (e). 

20 ‘‘(7) ELECTION.—A qualified employer may 

21 elect to have this subsection not apply with respect 

22 to the first-year wages of any individual. Such elec23 tion shall be made in such manner as the Secretary 

24 may require.’’. 


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1 (2) COORDINATION WITH WORK OPPORTUNITY

2 CREDIT.—Section 51(c) of such Code is amended by 

3 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

4 ‘‘(6) COORDINATION WITH PAYROLL TAX EX5 EMPTION FOR QUALIFIED VETERANS.—The credit 

6 determined under this section with respect to any 

7 qualified veteran for any taxable year shall be re8 duced by an amount equal to 7.65 percent of the 

9 qualified first-year wages paid or incurred by the 

10 taxpayer to such veteran during such taxable year to 

11 which section 3111(g) or 3221(d) applied.’’. 

12 (3) COORDINATION WITH CREDIT FOR EMPLOY13 MENT OF QUALIFIED VETERANS BY QUALIFIED TAX14 EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS.—Section 3111(e) of such 

15 Code is amended by adding at the end the following 

16 new paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(6) ELECTION.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A qualified tax-ex19 empt organization may elect to determine the 

20 credit allowed under this section without regard 

21 to the qualified first-year wages of any indi22 vidual. 

23 ‘‘(B) COORDINATION WITH EXEMPTION

24 FOR FIRST-YEAR WAGES OF SPECIFIED VET25 ERANS.—For exemption for first-year wages of 


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1 specified veterans to which this subsection does 

2 not apply, see subsection (f).’’. 

3 (4) TRANSFERS TO FEDERAL OLD-AGE AND

4 SURVIVORS INSURANCE TRUST FUND.—There are 

5 hereby appropriated to the Federal Old-Age and 

6 Survivors Trust Fund and the Federal Disability In7 surance Trust Fund established under section 201 

8 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401) amounts 

9 equal to the reduction in revenues to the Treasury 

10 by reason of the amendments made by paragraph 

11 (1). Amounts appropriated by the preceding sen12 tence shall be transferred from the general fund at 

13 such times and in such manner as to replicate to the 

14 extent possible the transfers which would have oc15 curred to such Trust Fund had such amendments 

16 not been enacted. 

17 (5) APPLICATION TO RAILROAD RETIREMENT

18 TAXES.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 3221 of the In20 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by re21 designating subsection (d) as subsection (e) and 

22 by inserting after subsection (c) the following 

23 new subsection: 

24 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN VET25 ERANS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of first-year 

2 compensation paid by a qualified employer after the 

3 date of the enactment of this subsection with respect 

4 to having a specified veteran in the employer’s em5 ploy for services rendered to such qualified employer, 

6 the applicable percentage under subsection (a) shall 

7 be equal to the rate of tax in effect under section 

8 3111(b) for the calendar year. 

9 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—With respect to any speci10 fied veteran employed by a qualified employer, the 

11 amount of compensation to which paragraph (1) ap12 plies shall not exceed— 

13 ‘‘(A) $125,490 in the case of an individual 

14 who is a qualified veteran by reason of section 

15 51(d)(3)(A)(ii)(II), 

16 ‘‘(B) $73,203 in the case of an individual 

17 who is a qualified veteran by reason of section 

18 51(d)(3)(A)(iv), 

19 ‘‘(C) $62,745 in the case of an individual 

20 who is a qualified veteran by reason of section 

21 51(d)(3)(A)(ii)(I), and 

22 ‘‘(D) $31,373 in the case of any other 

23 qualified veteran. 

24 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED EMPLOYER.—The term ‘quali25 fied employer’ means any employer other than the 


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1 United States, any State, or any political subdivision 

2 thereof, or any instrumentality of the foregoing. 

3 ‘‘(4) SPECIFIED VETERAN.—For purposes of 

4 this subsection— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘specified 

6 veteran’ means any individual who— 

7 ‘‘(i) begins employment with a quali8 fied employer after the date of the enact9 ment of this subsection, 

10 ‘‘(ii) certifies by signed affidavit, 

11 under penalties of perjury, that such indi12 vidual is a qualified veteran and whether 

13 such individual is a qualified veteran de14 scribed in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of 

15 paragraph (2), 

16 ‘‘(iii) is not employed by the qualified 

17 employer to replace another employee of 

18 such employer unless such other employee 

19 separated from employment voluntarily or 

20 for cause, and 

21 ‘‘(iv) is not an individual described in 

22 section 51(i)(1) (applied by substituting 

23 ‘qualified employer’ for ‘taxpayer’ each 

24 place it appears). 


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1 ‘‘(B) QUALIFIED VETERAN.—The term 

2 ‘qualified veteran’ has the meaning given such 

3 term by section 51(d)(3), but applied without 

4 regard to whether such individual has been cer5 tified by the designated local agency. 

6 ‘‘(5) FIRST-YEAR COMPENSATION.—For pur7 poses of this subsection, the term ‘first-year com8 pensation’ means, with respect to any individual, 

9 compensation for services rendered during the 1-year 

10 period beginning with the day the individual begins 

11 work for the employer. 

12 ‘‘(6) ELECTION.—A qualified employer may 

13 elect to have this subsection not apply. Such election 

14 shall be made in such manner as the Secretary may 

15 require.’’. 

16 (B) TRANSFERS TO SOCIAL SECURITY

17 EQUIVALENT BENEFIT ACCOUNT.—There are 

18 hereby appropriated to the Social Security 

19 Equivalent Benefit Account established under 

20 section 15A(a) of the Railroad Retirement Act 

21 of 1974 (45 U.S.C. 231n–1(a)) amounts equal 

22 to the reduction in revenues to the Treasury by 

23 reason of the amendments made by subpara24 graph (A). Amounts appropriated by the pre25 ceding sentence shall be transferred from the 


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1 general fund at such times and in such manner 

2 as to replicate to the extent possible the trans3 fers which would have occurred to such Account 

4 had such amendments not been enacted. 

5 (c) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 

7 subsection (a) shall apply to individuals who begin 

8 work for the employer after December 31, 2019. 

9 (2) EXEMPTION FROM EMPLOYMENT TAXES.— 

10 The amendments made by subsection (b) shall apply 

11 to amounts paid after the date of the enactment of 

12 this Act. 

Æ 


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