I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7431 

To provide a payroll tax credit for personal protective equipment for use 

by employees and customers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 30, 2020 

Mr. ROUDA (for himself and Mr. MAST) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To provide a payroll tax credit for personal protective 

equipment for use by employees and customers. 

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 ‘‘Helping Small Busi5 nesses Reopen Safely Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PAYROLL TAX CREDIT FOR PERSONAL PROTECTIVE 

7 EQUIPMENT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an eligible em9 ployer, there shall be allowed as a credit against applicable 

10 employment taxes for each calendar quarter an amount 


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1 equal to 90 percent of the amount paid or incurred by 

2 such employer during such calendar quarter for eligible 

3 personal protective equipment provided free of charge by 

4 such employer for the use or for the benefit of employees 

5 and customers of such employer. 

6 (b) LIMITATIONS AND REFUNDABILITY.— 

7 (1) DOLLAR LIMITATION.—The amount of the 

8 credit allowed under subsection (a) with respect to 

9 any eligible employer for any calendar quarter shall 

10 not exceed the lesser of— 

11 (A) $6,250, or 

12 (B) the greater of— 

13 (i) 2 percent of the employer’s gross 

14 receipts for such calendar quarter, or 

15 (ii) 0.5 percent of the employer’s 

16 gross receipts for the employer’s last tax17 able year ending in 2019. 

18 (2) CREDIT LIMITED TO EMPLOYMENT

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

20 respect to any calendar quarter shall not exceed the 

21 applicable employment taxes (reduced by any credits 

22 allowed under subsections (e) and (f) of section 

23 3111 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, sections 

24 7001 and 7003 of the Families First Coronavirus 

25 Response Act, and section 2301 of the CARES Act) 


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1 on the wages paid with respect to the employment 

2 of all the employees of the eligible employer for such 

3 calendar quarter. 

4 (3) REFUNDABILITY OF EXCESS CREDIT.— 

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

6 credit under subsection (a) exceeds the limita7 tion of paragraph (2) for any calendar quarter, 

8 such excess shall be treated as an overpayment 

9 that shall be refunded under sections 6402(a) 

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

11 1986. 

12 (B) TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS.—For pur13 poses of section 1324 of title 31, United States 

14 Code, any amounts due to the employer under 

15 this paragraph shall be treated in the same 

16 manner as a refund due from a credit provision 

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

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

19 (1) APPLICABLE EMPLOYMENT TAXES.—The 

20 term ‘‘applicable employment taxes’’ means the fol21 lowing: 

22 (A) The taxes imposed under section 

23 3111(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

24 (B) So much of the taxes imposed under 

25 section 3221(a) of such Code as are attribVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:06 Jul 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7431.IH H7431

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1 utable to the rate in effect under section 

2 3111(a) of such Code. 

3 (2) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible em5 ployer’’ means, with respect to any calendar 

6 quarter, any employer— 

7 (i) which was carrying on a trade or 

8 business during such calendar quarter, and 

9 (ii) the average number of full-time 

10 employees (within the meaning of section 

11 4980H of the Internal Revenue Code of 

12 1986) employed by such employer during 

13 such calendar quarter was less than 500. 

14 (B) CERTAIN TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZA15 TIONS AND GOVERNMENTAL EMPLOYERS.—In 

16 the case of an organization which is described 

17 in section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code 

18 of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 

19 501(a) of such Code, or any governmental enti20 ty (other than a governmental entity described 

21 in subparagraph (D)), subparagraph (A)(i) 

22 shall apply to all operations of such organiza23 tion or government. 

24 (C) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN TAX-EXEMPT

25 ORGANIZATIONS.—The term ‘‘eligible employer’’ 


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1 shall not include any organization described in 

2 section 501(c)(4) of such Code unless such or3 ganization does not participate in, or intervene 

4 in (including the publishing or distributing of 

5 statements), any political campaign on behalf of 

6 (or in opposition to) any candidate for public 

7 office. 

8 (D) EXCLUSION OF FEDERAL AND FOR9 EIGN GOVERNMENTS.—The term ‘‘eligible em10 ployer’’ shall not include the Government of the 

11 United States, the government of any foreign 

12 country, or any agency or instrumentality of the 

13 foregoing. 

14 (3) ELIGIBLE PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIP15 MENT.—The term ‘‘eligible personal protective 

16 equipment’’ means masks or face coverings, goggles, 

17 face shields, respiratory protection, gloves, gowns, 

18 shields or barriers, hand sanitizers, surface cleaners 

19 or disinfectants, items that are intended to reduce 

20 the spread of infectious disease, and any other sup21 plies or equipment that the Secretary determines ap22 propriate for purposes of this section after consulta23 tion with Secretary of Health and Human Services 

24 and the Secretary of Labor. 


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

2 the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary’s del3 egate. 

4 (5) OTHER TERMS.—Any term used in this sec5 tion which is also used in chapter 21 or 22 of the 

6 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall have the same 

7 meaning as when used in such chapter. 

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

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

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

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

12 one employer for purposes of this section. 

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

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

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

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

17 allowed under this section, shall be increased by the 

18 amount of such credit. 

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

20 section shall not apply with respect to any eligible em21 ployer for any calendar quarter if such employer elects (at 

22 such time and in such manner as the Secretary may pre23 scribe) not to have this section apply. 


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1 (g) THIRD-PARTY PAYORS.—Any credit allowed 

2 under this section shall be treated as a credit described 

3 in section 3511(d)(2) of such Code. 

4 (h) TRANSFERS TO FEDERAL OLD-AGE AND SUR5 VIVORS INSURANCE TRUST FUND.—There are hereby ap6 propriated to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insur7 ance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance 

8 Trust Fund established under section 201 of the Social 

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

10 Equivalent Benefit Account established under section 

11 15A(a) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (45 U.S.C. 

12 14 231n–1(a)) amounts equal to the reduction in revenues 

13 to the Treasury by reason of this section (without regard 

14 to this subsection). Amounts appropriated by the pre15 ceding sentence shall be transferred from the general fund 

16 at such times and in such manner as to replicate to the 

17 extent possible the transfers which would have occurred 

18 to such Trust Fund or Account had this section not been 

19 enacted. 

20 (i) TREATMENT OF DEPOSITS.—The Secretary shall 

21 waive any penalty under section 6656 of the Internal Rev22 enue Code of 1986 for any failure to make a deposit of 

23 any applicable employment taxes if the Secretary deter24 mines that such failure was due to the reasonable anticipa25 tion of the credit allowed under this section. 


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1 (j) REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE.—The Secretary 

2 shall issue such forms, instructions, regulations, and guid3 ance as are necessary— 

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

5 under subsection (a), subject to the limitations pro6 vided in this section, based on such information as 

7 the Secretary shall require, 

8 (2) to provide for the reconciliation of such ad9 vance payment with the amount advanced at the 

10 time of filing the return of tax for the applicable cal11 endar quarter or taxable year, and 

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

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

14 professional employer organizations, certified profes15 sional employer organizations, or agents under sec16 tion 3504 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986), 

17 including regulations or guidance allowing such 

18 payors to submit documentation necessary to sub19 stantiate the eligible employer status of employers 

20 that use such payors. 

21 (k) APPLICATION.—This section shall only apply to 

22 calendar quarters beginning after December 31, 2019, and 

23 before January 1, 2022. 

Æ 


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