I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7721 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a refundable credit 

against tax for farmers who hire unemployed workers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 22, 2020 

Mr. CRAWFORD 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 allow a 

refundable credit against tax for farmers who hire unemployed workers. 

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 ‘‘Farm Labor Expan5 sion Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘FLEX Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DISPLACED FARM WORKER CREDIT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub8 chapter A of chapter 1 is amended by inserting before sec9 tion 37 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 36C. DISPLACED FARM WORKER CREDIT. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a taxpayer en3 gaged in the trade or business of farming, there shall be 

4 allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this subtitle 

5 an amount equal to 40 percent of the qualified first-year 

6 wages of an eligible replacement worker. 

7 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—For pur8 poses of this section— 

9 ‘‘(1) QUALIFIED FIRST-YEAR WAGES.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 

11 first-year wages’ means, with respect to an eli12 gible replacement worker, wages attributable to 

13 service rendered during the 1-year period begin14 ning with the day the individual begins work for 

15 the employer. 

16 ‘‘(B) WAGES.—The term ‘wages’ has the 

17 meaning given to such term by section 3306(b) 

18 (determined without regard to any dollar limita19 tion contained in such section). 

20 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION.—The amount of wages 

21 taken into account with respect to any employee 

22 for all taxable years shall not exceed $25,000. 

23 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE REPLACEMENT WORKER.—For 

24 purposes of this section, the term ‘eligible replace25 ment worker’ means any individual who— 


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1 ‘‘(A) began a period of unemployment 

2 after March 27, 2020, and during which time 

3 the individual was receiving unemployment com4 pensation under State or Federal law, and 

5 ‘‘(B) performs for the employer substan6 tially the same job functions as an H–2A work7 er taken into account under paragraph (4). 

8 ‘‘(3) H–2A WORKER.—The term ‘H–2A worker’ 

9 means a nonimmigrant described in section 

10 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of the Immigration and Nation11 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a)). 

12 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF WORKERS

13 TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.—The number of eligible re14 placement workers taken into account under this 

15 section, shall not exceed the average number of H– 

16 2A workers employed by the taxpayer during the 

17 preceding taxable year. 

18 ‘‘(5) CONTROLLED GROUPS AND COMMON CON19 TROL.—All persons which are treated as a single 

20 employer under subsections (a) and (b) of section 52 

21 shall be treated as a single taxpayer for purposes of 

22 this section. 

23 ‘‘(6) APPLICATION OF OTHER RULES.—Rules 

24 similar to the following rules shall apply for pur25 poses of this section: 


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1 ‘‘(A) Section 51(i) (relating to certain indi2 viduals ineligible). 

3 ‘‘(B) Section 51(k) (relating to treatment 

4 of successor employers; treatment of employees 

5 performing services for other persons). 

6 ‘‘(c) TERMINATION.—No credit shall be allowed 

7 under this section with respect to any wages paid more 

8 than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this sec9 tion.’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

11 (1) Section 6211(b)(4)(A) is amended by insert12 ing ‘‘36C,’’ after ‘‘36B,’’. 

13 (2) Paragraph (2) of section 1324(b) of title 

14 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

15 ‘‘36C,’’ after ‘‘36B,’’. 

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

17 for subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

18 of such Code is amended by inserting before section 37 

19 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 36C. Displaced farm worker credit.’’. 

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

21 this section shall apply wages paid in taxable years ending 

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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