I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7216 

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

personal protective equipment to small businesses, non-profits, independent contractors, veterans’ organizations, and farmers, among other 

entities, in any year in which the President declares a national emergency 

relating to COVID-19. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 15, 2020 

Mrs. LAWRENCE (for herself, Mr. BALDERSON, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. JOYCE of 

Pennsylvania, Mr. DELGADO, Mr. MCKINLEY, Ms. SLOTKIN, and Mr. 

STIVERS) 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 tax credit for personal protective equipment to small 

businesses, non-profits, independent contractors, veterans’ organizations, and farmers, among other entities, 

in any year in which the President declares a national 

emergency relating to COVID-19. 

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 ‘‘Small Business PPE 

5 Tax Credit Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) On January 21, 2020, the United States 

4 confirmed the Nation’s first case of the 2019 novel 

5 coronavirus, which presents as the disease COVID– 

6 19. 

7 (2) On March 11, 2020, the World Health Or8 ganization upgraded the COVID–19 outbreak from 

9 global health emergency status to a pandemic. 

10 (3) On March 15, 2020, the Centers for Dis11 ease Control and Prevention recommended a restric12 tion on gatherings of 50 or more people in the 

13 United States. 

14 (4) Beginning in mid-March, the administration 

15 issued new guidelines on the pandemic and called for 

16 nationwide social distancing, among other pre17 cautions, to slow the spread of COVID–19. 

18 (5) On March 17, 2020, Dr. Anthony Fauci, in 

19 his capacity as Director of the National Institute of 

20 Allergy and Infectious Diseases, explained that ‘‘so21 cial distancing is really physical separation of people, 

22 wherein circumstances where there are crowds, you 

23 remove yourself from very close contact.’’ 

24 (6) Most Governors executed orders in States 

25 across the country to close or restrict operations of 

26 business across various industries on a temporary 


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1 basis, in an effort to promote social distancing, sty2 mie the rapid spread of the coronavirus, and flatten 

3 the curve so as not to overwhelm the Nation’s health 

4 care system’s capacity. 

5 (7) Those closures or operating limitations have 

6 caused significant strain on America’s small busi7 nesses in the interest of public health. 

8 (8) Small businesses are the engine of the 

9 United States economy, comprising 99 percent of all 

10 business ventures in the United States and account11 ing for half of the United States economy. 

12 (9) In order to safely resume full operations, 

13 these small businesses need access to personal pro14 tective equipment; in some cases, States are requir15 ing employers and employees use this personal pro16 tective equipment in order to allow public entry. 

17 (10) Due to the fiscal strain of pandemic-re18 lated losses on these small businesses, they cannot 

19 and should not bear the financial burden of acquir20 ing personal protective equipment without relief. 

21 (11) Providing relief through a tax credit for 

22 the purchase and use of personal protective equip23 ment will directly support small businesses returning 

24 to and exceeding pre-COVID-19 pandemic produc25 tion levels. 


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1 (12) At a Small Business Committee forum on 

2 May 28, 2020, Mr. Charles ‘‘Tee’’ Rowe, President 

3 and Chief Executive Officer of America’s SBDC, 

4 testified to the potential value of such credits. 

5 (13) Personal protective equipment tax credits 

6 will be instrumental in safely and responsibly re7 starting the engine of the United States economy. 

8 SEC. 3. PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT TAX CREDIT. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub10 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

11 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

12 section: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 45U. PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT CREDIT. 

14 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—For purposes of sec15 tion 38, the personal protective equipment credit deter16 mined under this section for the taxable year is an amount 

17 equal to the amount paid by an eligible taxpayer in car18 rying on any trade or business for qualified personal pro19 tective equipment expenses during such year. 

20 ‘‘(b) MAXIMUM CREDIT.—The credit determined 

21 under this section with respect to any eligible taxpayer for 

22 any taxable year shall not exceed $25,000. 

23 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION AND SPECIAL RULES.—For pur24 poses of this section— 

25 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE TAXPAYER.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible tax2 payer’ means— 

3 ‘‘(i) a small business concern, 

4 ‘‘(ii) any business concern (including 

5 an enterprise that is engaged in the busi6 ness of production of food and fiber, 

7 ranching and raising of livestock, aqua8 culture, and all other farming and agricul9 tural related industries), non-profit organi10 zation that is described in section 

11 501(c)(3) and exempt from tax under sec12 tion 501(a), veterans organization, or Trib13 al business concern that employs not more 

14 than the greater of— 

15 ‘‘(I) 500 employees, or 

16 ‘‘(II) if applicable, the size stand17 ard in number of employees estab18 lished by the Small Business Adminis19 tration for the industry in which such 

20 business concern, non-profit organiza21 tion, veterans organization, or Tribal 

22 business concern operates, or 

23 ‘‘(iii) an individual who operates 

24 under a sole proprietorship, as an indeVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 Jul 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7216.IH H7216

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1 pendent contractor, or as a self-employed 

2 individual. 

3 ‘‘(B) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The 

4 term ‘small business concern’ has the meaning 

5 given such term under section 3 of the Small 

6 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632), and also in7 cludes— 

8 ‘‘(i) any business concern that em9 ploys not more than 500 employees per 

10 physical location of such business concern 

11 and that is assigned a North American In12 dustry Classification System code begin13 ning with 72, 

14 ‘‘(ii) any business concern operating 

15 as a franchise that is assigned a franchise 

16 identifier code by the Small Business Ad17 ministration, and 

18 ‘‘(iii) any business concern that re19 ceives financial assistance from a company 

20 licensed under section 301 of the Small 

21 Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 

22 U.S.C. 681). 

23 ‘‘(C) DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

24 The Secretary may establish such documentaVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 Jul 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7216.IH H7216

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1 tion requirements as are necessary to determine 

2 eligibility for a credit under this section. 

3 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIP4 MENT EXPENSES.—The term ‘qualified personal pro5 tective equipment expenses’ includes amounts paid 

6 or incurred— 

7 ‘‘(A) for the purpose of reducing the risk 

8 of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19) 

9 transmission between people on the premises of 

10 the business of the taxpayer, including— 

11 ‘‘(i) gloves, medical masks, N–95 res12 pirators, eye protection, gowns and aprons, 

13 boots or closed-toe work shoes, cleaning de14 tergents, hand sanitizers, cleaning products 

15 and tools, 

16 ‘‘(ii) retrofitting or installation of 

17 equipment, and 

18 ‘‘(iii) any other relevant expense the 

19 Secretary, in consultation with the Sec20 retary of Health and Human Services, de21 termines necessary, and 

22 ‘‘(B) at any time during a year in which, 

23 with respect to COVID–19— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the President declares a national 

2 emergency under the National Emer3 gencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), or 

4 ‘‘(ii) an emergency involving Federal 

5 primary responsibility is determined to 

6 exist by the President under the section 

7 501(b) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

8 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 5191(b)). 

10 ‘‘(d) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduction 

11 shall be allowed under this chapter for any amount taken 

12 into account in determining the credit under this section. 

13 ‘‘(e) DENIAL OF CREDIT FOR COUNTERFEIT

14 ITEMS.—No credit shall be allowed under this section with 

15 respect to any item if the Secretary determines such item 

16 to be counterfeit or sold or distributed in bad faith.’’. 

17 (b) CREDIT MADE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS

18 CREDIT.—Subsection (b) of section 38 of such Code is 

19 amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph (32), 

20 by striking the period at the end of paragraph (33) and 

21 inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by adding at the end the following 

22 new paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(34) the personal protective equipment credit 

24 determined under section 45U.’’. 


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1 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

2 for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

3 is amended by adding at the end the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45U. Personal Protective Equipment Credit.’’. 

4 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 this section shall apply to expenses made or incurred after 

6 December 31, 2019, in taxable years ending after such 

7 date. 

Æ 


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