II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4344 

To provide a tax credit to live event venues that provided refunds on tickets 

for events that were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 28, 2020 

Mr. TESTER (for himself and Mr. CARPER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To provide a tax credit to live event venues that provided 

refunds on tickets for events that were cancelled due 

to the coronavirus pandemic. 

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 ‘‘Entertainments New 

5 Credit Opportunity for Relief and Economic Sustainability 

6 Act’’ or the ‘‘ENCORES Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF TAX CREDIT FOR TICKET RE8 FUNDS ISSUED BY LIVE EVENT VENUES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections (b) and (c), 

10 for purposes of section 38 of the Internal Revenue Code 


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1 of 1986, in the case of an eligible entity, the live event 

2 refund credit shall be treated as a credit listed at the end 

3 of subsection (b) of such section. For purposes of this sub4 section, the live event refund credit shall be an amount 

5 equal to 50 percent of any qualified ticket refund made 

6 by the eligible entity during the period— 

7 (1) beginning on January 31, 2020, and 

8 (2) ending on the date of enactment of this Act. 

9 (b) LIMITED CARRYBACK OF CREDIT.—In the case 

10 of the live event refund credit allowed under subsection 

11 (a)— 

12 (1) at the election of the eligible entity— 

13 (A) such credit shall not be applied to the 

14 taxable year in which the qualified ticket re15 funds were made by such taxpayer and the 

16 amount of the credit with respect to such re17 funds shall be reduced to zero for such taxable 

18 year, and 

19 (B) the amount of such credit shall be a 

20 live event refund credit carryback to either of 

21 the 2 taxable years preceding such taxable year, 

22 and 

23 (2) section 39 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

24 1986 shall not apply with respect to such credit. 


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1 (c) CREDIT MADE AVAILABLE TO TAX EXEMPT EN2 TITIES.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an eligible en4 tity which is an organization described in section 

5 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 which 

6 is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of 

7 such Code, there shall be treated as a credit allow8 able under subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of 

9 chapter 1 of such Code (and not allowable under 

10 subpart D of such part) the lesser of— 

11 (A) the amount of the credit determined 

12 under subsection (a) with respect to such enti13 ty, or 

14 (B) the amount of the payroll taxes (as de15 fined in section 45R(f)(3) of such Code) of such 

16 entity during the calendar year in which the 

17 taxable year begins, as determined without re18 gard to any credit against such taxes. 

19 (2) LIMITED CARRYBACK.—Rules similar to 

20 subsection (b)(1) shall apply for purposes of this 

21 subsection. 

22 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

23 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible enti2 ty’’ means a person engaged in a trade or busi3 ness which— 

4 (i) includes— 

5 (I) organizing, promoting, pro6 ducing, or managing live events, and 

7 (II) the sale to members of the 

8 general public (directly or through a 

9 third party) of tickets to attend such 

10 events, and 

11 (ii) for the preceding taxable year, 

12 had an average number of full-time equiva13 lent employees (as defined in section 

14 45R(d)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

15 1986) which is equal to or less than 500. 

16 (B) AGGREGATION RULE.—All persons 

17 treated as a single employer under subsection 

18 (b), (c), (m), or (o) of section 414 of the Inter19 nal Revenue Code of 1986 shall be treated as 

20 a single taxpayer for purposes of subparagraph 

21 (A). 

22 (C) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘eligible enti23 ty’’ shall not include any person engaged in 

24 professional football, basketball, baseball, or 

25 other professional sport. 


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1 (2) LIVE EVENT.—The term ‘‘live event’’ means 

2 any live concert, comedy show, sporting event, or 

3 theatrical production for which tickets were made 

4 available to members of the general public by the eli5 gible entity not less than 6 weeks prior to such con6 cert, show, event, or production. 

7 (3) QUALIFIED TICKET REFUND.—The term 

8 ‘‘qualified ticket refund’’ means any refund paid by 

9 the eligible entity to an individual who purchased a 

10 ticket which entitled such individual to attend a live 

11 event which was cancelled or postponed due to the 

12 virus SARS–CoV–2 or coronavirus disease 2019 

13 (COVID–19), provided that— 

14 (A) the eligible entity made a good faith 

15 effort to offer such individual the option to re16 ceive a voucher or discount for any live event at 

17 a later date in an amount which was equal to 

18 or greater than the price paid by such indi19 vidual for such ticket, and 

20 (B) such individual elected to receive a re21 fund. 

22 (4) OTHER TERMS.—Except as otherwise pro23 vided under this subsection, any term used in this 

24 section which is also used in chapter 1 of the InterVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:05 Aug 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4344.IS S4344

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1 nal Revenue Code of 1986 shall have the meaning 

2 given such term under such chapter. 

3 (e) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduction 

4 shall be allowed under any provision of chapter 1 of the 

5 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect to any 

6 amount taken in account in determining the credit allowed 

7 to a taxpayer under this section. 

8 (f) REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE.—The Secretary of 

9 the Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) may prescribe 

10 such regulations and other guidance as may be appro11 priate or necessary to carry out the purposes of this sec12 tion. 

Æ 


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