I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8083 

To establish a temporary tax credit for maintaining retirement benefits during 

the COVID-19 pandemic. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 21, 2020 

Mr. SCHNEIDER (for himself and Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To establish a temporary tax credit for maintaining 

retirement benefits during the COVID-19 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 ‘‘Preserving Employee 

5 Retirement Savings Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TEMPORARY CREDIT FOR MAINTAINING RETIRE7 MENT BENEFITS DURING PANDEMIC. 

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

10 imposed by chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 


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1 1986 an amount equal to 20 percent of the qualified re2 tirement contributions by the employer for the taxable 

3 year. 

4 (b) LIMITATION.—The amount of credit allowed to 

5 the taxpayer under subsection (a) for any taxable year 

6 shall not exceed $100,000. 

7 (c) QUALIFIED RETIREMENT CONTRIBUTIONS.—For 

8 purposes of this section— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘qualified retire10 ment contribution’’ means, with respect to any tax11 able year, any employer contribution (other than an 

12 elective deferral (as defined in section 402(g)(3) of 

13 such Code) to an applicable retirement plan on be14 half of an employee other than a highly compensated 

15 employee (as defined in section 414(q) of such 

16 Code)). 

17 (2) DETERMINING CONTRIBUTION TO DEFINED

18 BENEFIT PLAN.—In the case of a defined benefit 

19 plan (as defined in section 414(j) of such Code), the 

20 amount treated as an employer contribution under 

21 paragraph (1) shall be the amount described with re22 spect to the plan in section 430(b)(1)(A)(i), 

23 431(b)(2)(A), or 433(b)(2)(A) of such Code, as the 

24 case may be, or in the case of a CSEC plan that 

25 uses a spread gain funding method (as defined in 


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1 section 433(j)(5)(D)) of such Code), the amount de2 scribed in 433(j)(1)(B) of such Code. 

3 (3) COORDINATION WITH OTHER ASSIST4 ANCE.—Such term shall not include any amount 

5 taken into account in determining any loan amount 

6 forgiven under section 1106 or 1109(d)(1)(D) of the 

7 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. 

8 (4) APPLICABLE RETIREMENT PLAN.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 

10 section, the term ‘‘applicable retirement plan’’ 

11 means any plan, annuity contract, pension, or 

12 account described in clause (i), (ii), (iv), (v), or 

13 (vi) of section 219(g)(5)(A) of such Code (other 

14 than a governmental plan (within the meaning 

15 of section 414(d))). 

16 (B) PLANS WITH CONTRIBUTION LEVEL

17 REDUCTION NOT ELIGIBLE.—Such term shall 

18 not include any plan, annuity contract, pension, 

19 or account which for any plan year which in20 cludes the taxable year— 

21 (i) is amended after December 31, 

22 2019, to reduce allocations or benefit ac23 cruals; or 

24 (ii) in any case in which the employer 

25 has discretion over allocations, has a rate 


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1 of contribution for any class of employees 

2 that includes an employee who is not a 

3 highly compensated employee which is less 

4 than the greater of— 

5 (I) the rate of contribution for 

6 such class for the last plan year end7 ing before January 1, 2019; or 

8 (II) the rate of contribution for 

9 such class for the last plan year end10 ing before January 1, 2020. 

11 For purposes of the preceding sentence, the 

12 rate of contribution shall be expressed as a per13 centage of compensation (as defined for the 

14 plan year for which such rate is being deter15 mined). 

16 (d) OTHER DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—For 

17 purposes of this section— 

18 (1) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible em20 ployer’’ means any employer— 

21 (i) that has a temporary substantial 

22 business hardship (within the meaning of 

23 section 412(c)(2) of such Code) for the 

24 taxable year; and 


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1 (ii) in the case of employer that is not 

2 a tax-exempt or cooperative organization, 

3 the gross receipts (within the meaning of 

4 section 448(c) of the Internal Revenue 

5 Code of 1986) of which during the pre6 ceding taxable year were not more than 

7 $41,500,000. 

8 (B) PRE-GUIDANCE DETERMINATION OF

9 HARDSHIP.—In the case of any determination 

10 of the credit under subsection (a) prior to the 

11 issuance of guidance by the Secretary of the 

12 Treasury as to what constitutes a temporary 

13 substantial business hardship under subpara14 graph (A), the taxpayer may rely on a reason15 able good faith determination of whether such 

16 a hardship exists. 

17 (2) TAX-EXEMPT OR COOPERATIVE ORGANIZA18 TION.—The term ‘‘tax exempt or cooperative organi19 zation’’ means— 

20 (A) any organization exempt from tax 

21 under chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code 

22 of 1986; 

23 (B) any organization to which subchapter 

24 T of chapter 1 of such Code applies; or 


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1 (C) any organization described in section 

2 1381(a)(2)(C) of such Code. 

3 (3) RECAPTURE.—In the case of an employer 

4 allowed a credit under this section for a taxable year 

5 with respect to an applicable retirement plan, if such 

6 plan fails to meet the requirements of subsection 

7 (c)(4)(B) for the following taxable year, then the tax 

8 of the taxpayer under chapter 1 of such Code for 

9 such following taxable year shall be increased by an 

10 amount equal to the amount of the credit so allowed. 

11 (4) AGGREGATION RULES.—All employees who 

12 are treated as employed by a single employer under 

13 subsections (b), (c), (m), and (o) of section 414 of 

14 such Code shall be treated as employed by a single 

15 employer for purposes of this section. In the case of 

16 a plan maintained by more than one employer, each 

17 such employer shall be treated separately for pur18 poses of this section. 

19 (5) THIRD-PARTY PAYORS.—Any credit allowed 

20 under this section shall be treated as a credit de21 scribed in section 3511(d)(2) of such Code. 

22 (e) CREDIT REFUNDABLE FOR TAX-EXEMPT AND

23 COOPERATIVE EMPLOYERS.—In the case of an employer 

24 that is a tax exempt or cooperative organization, the credit 

25 allowed under this section shall be treated as a credit alVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:41 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8083.IH H8083

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1 lowed under subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chap2 ter 1 of such Code. Section 512(c)(12)(A) of such Code 

3 shall be applied without taking into account any such cred4 it as income. 

5 (f) APPLICATION OF SECTION.—This section shall 

6 apply to the taxable year of any taxpayer that includes 

7 June 30, 2020, and such taxpayer’s first succeeding tax8 able year. 

Æ 


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