I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3402 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a credit for 

employing returning heroes and wounded warriors. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 10, 2011 

Ms. SCHWARTZ (for herself, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Ms. 

NORTON, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. 

ACKERMAN, Ms. MOORE, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. HOLT, Mr. 

BISHOP of New York, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, 

Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. WELCH, Mr. 

MICHAUD, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. HIGGINS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. NADLER, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. WILSON of 

Florida, Mr. ALTMIRE, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, 

and Mr. CLAY) 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 provide 

a credit for employing returning heroes and wounded 

warriors. 

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 ‘‘Hiring Our Veterans 

5 Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RETURNING HEROES AND WOUNDED WARRIORS 

2 WORK OPPORTUNITY TAX CREDITS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (3) of section 51(b) of 

4 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

5 ‘‘($12,000 per year in the case of any individual who is 

6 a qualified veteran by reason of subsection (d)(3)(A)(ii))’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘($12,000 per year in the case of any indi8 vidual who is a qualified veteran by reason of subsection 

9 (d)(3)(A)(ii)(I), $14,000 per year in the case of any indi10 vidual who is a qualified veteran by reason of subsection 

11 (d)(3)(A)(iv), and $24,000 per year in the case of any in12 dividual who is a qualified veteran by reason of subsection 

13 (d)(3)(A)(ii)(II))’’. 

14 (b) RETURNING HEROES TAX CREDITS.—Section 

15 51(d)(3)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

16 amended by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (3)(A)(i), 

17 and inserting the following new clauses after clause (ii)— 

18 ‘‘(iii) having aggregate periods of un19 employment during the 1-year period end20 ing on the hiring date which equal or ex21 ceed 4 weeks (but less than 6 months), or 

22 ‘‘(iv) having aggregate periods of un23 employment during the 1-year period end24 ing on the hiring date which equal or ex25 ceed 6 months.’’. 


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1 (c) SIMPLIFIED CERTIFICATION.—Section 51(d) of 

2 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

3 a new paragraph (15) as follows— 

4 ‘‘(15) CREDIT ALLOWED FOR UNEMPLOYED

5 VETERANS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any qualified veteran 

7 under paragraphs (3)(A)(ii)(II), (3)(A)(iii), and 

8 (3)(A)(iv) will be treated as certified by the des9 ignated local agency as having aggregate peri10 ods of unemployment if— 

11 ‘‘(i) in the case of qualified veterans 

12 under paragraphs (3)(A)(ii)(II) and 

13 (3)(A)(iv), the veteran is certified by the 

14 designated local agency as being in receipt 

15 of unemployment compensation under 

16 State or Federal law for not less than 6 

17 months during the 1-year period ending on 

18 the hiring date; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a qualified veteran 

20 under paragraph (3)(A)(iii), the veteran is 

21 certified by the designated local agency as 

22 being in receipt of unemployment com23 pensation under State or Federal law for 

24 not less than 4 weeks (but less than 6 


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1 months) during the 1-year period ending 

2 on the hiring date. 

3 ‘‘(B) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The Sec4 retary in his discretion may provide alternative 

5 methods for certification.’’. 

6 (d) CREDIT MADE AVAILABLE TO TAX-EXEMPT EM7 PLOYERS IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.—Section 52(c) of 

8 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

9 (1) by striking the word ‘‘No’’ at the beginning 

10 of the section and replacing it with ‘‘Except as pro11 vided in this subsection, no’’; 

12 (2) by inserting at the end of section 52(c) the 

13 following new paragraphs— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a tax-exempt 

15 employer, there shall be treated as a credit allowable 

16 under subpart C (and not allowable under subpart 

17 D) the lesser of— 

18 ‘‘(A) the amount of the work opportunity 

19 credit determined under this subpart with re20 spect to such employer that is related to the 

21 hiring of qualified veterans described in sections 

22 51(d)(3)(A)(ii)(II), (iii) or (iv); or 

23 ‘‘(B) the amount of the payroll taxes of the 

24 employer during the calendar year in which the 

25 taxable year begins. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CREDIT AMOUNT.—In calculating for tax2 exempt employers, the work opportunity credit shall 

3 be determined by substituting ‘26 percent’ for ‘40 

4 percent’ in section 51(a) and by substituting ‘16.25 

5 percent’ for ‘25 percent’ in section 51(i)(3)(A). 

6 ‘‘(3) TAX-EXEMPT EMPLOYER.—For purposes 

7 of this subpart, the term ‘tax-exempt employer’ 

8 means an employer that is— 

9 ‘‘(A) an organization described in section 

10 501(c) and exempt from taxation under section 

11 501(a), or 

12 ‘‘(B) a public higher education institution 

13 (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Edu14 cation Act of 1965). 

15 ‘‘(4) PAYROLL TAXES.—For purposes of this 

16 subsection— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘payroll 

18 taxes’ means— 

19 ‘‘(i) amounts required to be withheld 

20 from the employees of the tax-exempt em21 ployer under section 3401(a), 

22 ‘‘(ii) amounts required to be withheld 

23 from such employees under section 

24 3101(a), and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) amounts of the taxes imposed on 

2 the tax-exempt employer under section 

3 3111(a).’’. 

4 (e) TREATMENT OF POSSESSIONS.— 

5 (1) PAYMENTS TO POSSESSIONS.— 

6 (A) MIRROR CODE POSSESSIONS.—The 

7 Secretary of the Treasury shall pay to each pos8 session of the United States with a mirror code 

9 tax system amounts equal to the loss to that 

10 possession by reason of the application of this 

11 section (other than this subsection). Such 

12 amounts shall be determined by the Secretary 

13 of the Treasury based on information provided 

14 by the government of the respective possession 

15 of the United States. 

16 (B) OTHER POSSESSIONS.—The Secretary 

17 of the Treasury shall pay to each possession of 

18 the United States, which does not have a mirror 

19 code tax system, amounts estimated by the Sec20 retary of the Treasury as being equal to the ag21 gregate credits that would have been provided 

22 by the possession by reason of the application 

23 of this section (other than this subsection) if a 

24 mirror code tax system had been in effect in 

25 such possession. The preceding sentence shall 


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1 not apply with respect to any possession of the 

2 United States unless such possession has a 

3 plan, which has been approved by the Secretary 

4 of the Treasury, under which such possession 

5 will promptly distribute such payments. 

6 (2) COORDINATION WITH CREDIT ALLOWED

7 AGAINST UNITED STATES INCOME TAXES.—No in8 crease in the credit determined under section 38(b) 

9 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that is attrib10 utable to the credit provided by this section (other 

11 than this subsection (e)) shall be taken into account 

12 with respect to any person— 

13 (A) to whom a credit is allowed against 

14 taxes imposed by the possession of the United 

15 States by reason of this section for such taxable 

16 year, or 

17 (B) who is eligible for a payment under a 

18 plan described in paragraph (1)(B) with respect 

19 to such taxable year. 

20 (3) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.— 

21 (A) POSSESSION OF THE UNITED

22 STATES.—For purposes of this subsection (e), 

23 the term ‘‘possession of the United States’’ in24 cludes American Samoa, the Commonwealth of 

25 the Northern Mariana Islands, the CommonVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:34 Nov 11, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3402.IH H3402

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1 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the United 

2 States Virgin Islands. 

3 (B) MIRROR CODE TAX SYSTEM.—For pur4 poses of this subsection, the term ‘‘mirror code 

5 tax system’’ means, with respect to any posses6 sion of the United States, the income tax sys7 tem of such possession if the income tax liabil8 ity of the residents of such possession under 

9 such system is determined by reference to the 

10 income tax laws of the United States as if such 

11 possession were the United States. 

12 (C) TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS.—For pur13 poses of section 1324(b)(2) of title 31, United 

14 States Code, rules similar to the rules of section 

15 1001(b)(3)(C) of the American Recovery and 

16 Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 shall apply. 

17 (f) REPORTING.—The taxpayer shall provide such in18 formation as the Secretary of the Treasury requires to en19 able the Secretary to determine the number of veterans 

20 specified by each of the categories in clauses (i) through 

21 (iv) of section 51(d)(3)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code 

22 of 1986 (as amended by this section) with respect to whom 

23 a credit is claimed under section 51(a) of such Code pur24 suant to the amendments made by this section. 


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1 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

2 this section shall apply to individuals who begin work for 

3 the employer after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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