I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1663 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to temporarily provide the 

work opportunity tax credit for small businesses hiring unemployed individuals. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 15, 2011 

Mr. WEST (for himself, Mr. WALSH of Illinois, Ms. RICHARDSON, and Ms. 

ROS-LEHTINEN) 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 temporarily 

provide the work opportunity tax credit for small businesses hiring unemployed individuals. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. WORK OPPORTUNITY TAX CREDIT FOR SMALL 

4 BUSINESSES HIRING UNEMPLOYED INDIVID5 UALS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 51 of the Internal Rev7 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 

8 following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(l) TEMPORARY CREDIT FOR UNEMPLOYED INDI2 VIDUALS HIRED BY SMALL BUSINESSES.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an employer 

4 which is a specified small business— 

5 ‘‘(A) any specified unemployed individual 

6 shall be treated as a member of a targeted 

7 group for purposes of this section, and 

8 ‘‘(B) in the case of a high unemployment 

9 zone individual, subsection (b)(3) shall be ap10 plied by substituting ‘$12,000’ for ‘$6,000’. 

11 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIED SMALL BUSINESS.—For pur12 poses of this subsection, the term ‘specified small 

13 business’ means, with respect to any taxable year, 

14 any employer— 

15 ‘‘(A) whose gross receipts for the preceding 

16 taxable year did not exceed $20,000,000, or 

17 ‘‘(B) who is an eligible employer (as de18 fined in section 408(p)(2)(C)(i)(I)) for such 

19 taxable year. 

20 ‘‘(3) SPECIFIED UNEMPLOYED INDIVIDUAL.— 

21 For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘specified 

22 unemployed individual’ means any individual who is 

23 certified by the designated local agency as being in 

24 receipt of unemployment compensation under State 


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1 or Federal law for not less than 4 weeks during the 

2 1-year period ending on the hiring date. 

3 ‘‘(4) HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT ZONE INDI4 VIDUAL.—For purposes of this subsection— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘high unem6 ployment zone individual’ means any specified 

7 unemployed individual who is certified by the 

8 designated local agency as having his principal 

9 place of abode in a high unemployment zone. 

10 ‘‘(B) HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT ZONE.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘high 

12 unemployment zone’ means any county if 

13 the unemployment rate in such county ex14 ceeds the greater of— 

15 ‘‘(I) 4 percent, and 

16 ‘‘(II) the national unemployment 

17 rate. 

18 ‘‘(ii) DETERMINATION OF UNEMPLOY19 MENT RATES.—Determinations under 

20 clause (i) shall be made by the Secretary, 

21 after consultation with the Secretary of 

22 Labor, on the basis of the most recent 

23 available data. Such determinations shall 

24 be made with respect to each calendar year 

25 for which this subsection applies and the 


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1 Secretary shall make the list of high unem2 ployment zones with respect to each such 

3 calendar year publicly available not later 

4 than the beginning of the calendar year for 

5 which the list applies. 

6 ‘‘(5) TERMINATION.—This subsection shall not 

7 apply with respect to any individual who begins work 

8 for the employer after December 31, 2013.’’. 

9 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

10 this section shall apply with respect to individuals who 

11 begin work for the employer after December 31, 2011. 

Æ 


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