II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4178 

To provide for a credit against employment taxes for certain workplace 

safety expenses, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 2, 2020 

Ms. SINEMA (for herself and Mr. CRAMER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To provide for a credit against employment taxes for certain 

workplace safety expenses, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. TAX CREDIT FOR SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an eligible em5 ployer, there shall be allowed as a credit against applicable 

6 employment taxes for each calendar quarter an amount 

7 equal to 50 percent of the qualified expenses paid or in8 curred by such employer during such calendar quarter. 

9 (b) LIMITATIONS AND REFUNDABILITY.— 


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1 (1) LIMITATION.—The qualified fixed expenses 

2 which may be taken into account under subsection 

3 (a) by any eligible employer for any calendar quarter 

4 shall not exceed— 

5 (A) in the case of any calendar quarter be6 ginning in 2020, $500,000, and 

7 (B) in the case of any calendar quarter be8 ginning after 2020, $250,000. 

9 (2) CREDIT LIMITED TO CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT

10 TAXES.—The credit allowed by subsection (a) with 

11 respect to any calendar quarter shall not exceed the 

12 applicable employment taxes for such calendar quar13 ter (reduced by any credits allowed under sub14 sections (e) and (f) of section 3111 of such Code, 

15 sections 7001 and 7003 of the Families First 

16 Coronavirus Response Act, and section 2301 of the 

17 CARES Act, for such quarter) on the wages paid 

18 with respect to the employment of all the employees 

19 of the eligible employer for such calendar quarter. 

20 (3) REFUNDABILITY OF EXCESS CREDIT.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the amount of the 

22 credit under subsection (a) exceeds the limita23 tion of paragraph (2) for any calendar quarter, 

24 such excess shall be treated as an overpayment 

25 that shall be refunded under sections 6402(a) 


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1 and 6413(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

2 1986. 

3 (B) TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS.—For pur4 poses of section 1324 of title 31, United States 

5 Code, any amounts due to an employer under 

6 this paragraph shall be treated in the same 

7 manner as a refund due from a credit provision 

8 referred to in subsection (b)(2) of such section. 

9 (c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

10 (1) APPLICABLE EMPLOYMENT TAXES.—The 

11 term ‘‘applicable employment taxes’’ means the fol12 lowing: 

13 (A) The taxes imposed under section 

14 3111(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

15 (B) So much of the taxes imposed under 

16 section 3221(a) of such Code as are attrib17 utable to the rate in effect under section 

18 3111(a) of such Code. 

19 (2) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible em21 ployer’’ means any employer— 

22 (i) which was carrying on a trade or 

23 business at any time during calendar quar24 ter, and 


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1 (ii) which has not more than 2,000 

2 full-time equivalent employees (within the 

3 meaning of section 45R(d)(2) of the Inter4 nal Revenue Code of 1986) for the taxable 

5 year. 

6 (B) TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS.—In the 

7 case of an organization which is described in 

8 section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

9 1986 and exempt from tax under section 501(a) 

10 of such Code, subparagraph (A)(i) shall apply 

11 to all operations of such organization. 

12 (3) QUALIFIED EXPENSES.—For purposes of 

13 this section— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘qualified ex15 penses’’ means any amount paid or incurred 

16 after February 1, 2020, for— 

17 (i) qualified equipment and services 

18 for the purposes of preventing infection re19 lated to SARS–CoV–2, or 

20 (ii) the reconfiguration of facilities for 

21 such purposes, or 

22 (iii) qualified education and training 

23 of employees for new business procedures 

24 related to preventing COVID–19 trans25 mission. 


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1 (B) QUALIFIED EQUIPMENT AND SERV2 ICES.—The term ‘‘qualified equipment and 

3 services’’ means— 

4 (i) any product or material which— 

5 (I) serves as personal protective 

6 equipment or as a barrier erected to 

7 prevent virus spread between cus8 tomers and employees, including 

9 plexiglass installed at cashiers and 

10 other counters, and partitions to sepa11 rate customers, 

12 (II) is a disinfectant product reg13 istered by the Administrator of the 

14 Environmental Protection Agency for 

15 which the Administrator of the Envi16 ronmental Protection Agency has ap17 proved an emerging viral pathogen 

18 claim that applies with respect to use 

19 against SARS–CoV–2, 

20 (III) is a thermometer, or 

21 (IV) is approved by the Food and 

22 Drug Administration for testing for 

23 COVID–19 (including diagnosic test24 ing and serology testing to detect 

25 antibodies) by the eligible employer, in 


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1 conjunction with a certified 

2 diagnostics laboratory or health care 

3 provider, 

4 (ii) any— 

5 (I) contactless point-of-sale sys6 tem, 

7 (II) new software and technology 

8 to assist in maintaining social 

9 distancing, 

10 (III) application for reporting 

11 employee symptom or providing 

12 wellness checks, and 

13 (IV) property used to enable 

14 curbside pickup or delivery services, 

15 (iii) hand sanitizer, 

16 (iv) any sign related to public health 

17 awareness, social distancing, or altered 

18 services such as curbside pickups, and 

19 (v) services for— 

20 (I) cleaning and disinfecting, or 

21 (II) testing for COVID–19 by a 

22 certified diagnostics laboratory, and 

23 (vi) such other equipment or tech24 nology as determined by the Secretary, in 

25 consultation with the Secretary of Labor, 


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1 the Secretary of Health and Human Serv2 ices, the Director of the Centers for Dis3 ease Control and Prevention, the Commis4 sioner of the Food and Drug Administra5 tion, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the 

6 Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of 

7 Agriculture, determines is necessary and 

8 appropriate for preventing COVID–19 and 

9 is recommended as part of the Federal 

10 government’s recommendations for safe 

11 workplaces. 

12 Such term shall not include any equipment 

13 which is not for use in the United States or any 

14 service which is not conducted in the United 

15 States. 

16 (C) QUALIFIED EDUCATION AND TRAIN17 ING.—The term ‘‘qualified education and train18 ing’’ means education or training provided by 

19 an accredited training institution, an industry20 recognized trade association, or another non21 profit entity. 

22 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

23 the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary’s del24 egate. 


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1 (d) AGGREGATION RULE.—All persons treated as a 

2 single employer under subsection (a) or (b) of section 52 

3 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or subsection (m) 

4 or (o) of section 414 of such Code, shall be treated as 

5 one employer for purposes of this section. 

6 (e) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—For purposes of 

7 chapter 1 of such Code, the gross income of any eligible 

8 employer, for the taxable year which includes the last day 

9 of any calendar quarter with respect to which a credit is 

10 allowed under this section, shall be increased by the 

11 amount of such credit. 

12 (f) ELECTION NOT TO HAVE SECTION APPLY.—This 

13 section shall not apply with respect to any eligible em14 ployer for any calendar quarter if such employer elects (at 

15 such time and in such manner as the Secretary may pre16 scribe) not to have this section apply. 

17 (g) TRANSFERS TO CERTAIN TRUST FUNDS.—There 

18 are hereby appropriated to the Federal Old-Age and Sur19 vivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability 

20 Insurance Trust Fund established under section 201 of 

21 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401) and the Social 

22 Security Equivalent Benefit Account established under 

23 section 15A(a) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 

24 (45 U.S.C. 231n–1(a)) amounts equal to the reduction in 

25 revenues to the Treasury by reason of this section (without 


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1 regard to this subsection). Amounts appropriated by the 

2 preceding sentence shall be transferred from the general 

3 fund at such times and in such manner as to replicate 

4 to the extent possible the transfers which would have oc5 curred to such Trust Fund or Account had this section 

6 not been enacted. 

7 (h) TREATMENT OF DEPOSITS.—The Secretary shall 

8 waive any penalty under section 6656 of such Code for 

9 any failure to make a deposit of applicable employment 

10 taxes if the Secretary determines that such failure was due 

11 to the anticipation of the credit allowed under this section. 

12 (i) REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE.—The Secretary 

13 shall issue such forms, instructions, regulations, and guid14 ance as are necessary— 

15 (1) to allow the advance payment of the credit 

16 under subsection (a), subject to the limitations pro17 vided in this section, based on such information as 

18 the Secretary shall require, 

19 (2) to provide for the reconciliation of such ad20 vance payment with the amount of the credit at the 

21 time of filing the return of tax for the applicable 

22 quarter or taxable year, 

23 (3) with respect to the application of the credit 

24 under subsection (a) to third-party payors (including 

25 professional employer organizations, certified profesVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:06 Jul 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4178.IS S4178

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1 sional employer organizations, or agents under sec2 tion 3504 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986), 

3 including regulations or guidance allowing such 

4 payors to submit documentation necessary to sub5 stantiate the eligible employer status of employers 

6 that use such payors, 

7 (4) for recapturing the benefit of credits deter8 mined under this section in cases where there is a 

9 subsequent adjustment to the credit determined 

10 under subsection (a), and 

11 (5) for providing the benefit of the credit under 

12 subsection (a) to taxpayers who have already filed 

13 returns for calendar quarters ending before the date 

14 of the enactment of this Act. 

15 (j) APPLICATION OF SECTION.—This section shall 

16 apply only to qualified fixed expenses paid or accrued in 

17 calendar quarters ending on or after February 1, 2020, 

18 and beginning before January 1, 2022. 

Æ 


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