I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3435 

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

against income tax for employees who participate in qualified apprenticeship programs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 31, 2015 

Mr. REED (for himself and Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California) 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 employers a credit against income tax for employees who 

participate in qualified apprenticeship programs. 

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 ‘‘Leveraging and Ener5 gizing America’s Apprenticeship Programs Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘LEAP Act’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR EMPLOYEES PARTICIPATING IN QUALI2 FIED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub4 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

5 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

6 section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 45S. EMPLOYEES PARTICIPATING IN QUALIFIED AP8 PRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38, the 

10 apprenticeship credit determined under this section for the 

11 taxable year is an amount equal to the sum of the applica12 ble credit amounts (as determined under subsection (b)) 

13 for each apprentice of the employer that exceeds the appli14 cable apprenticeship level (as determined under subsection 

15 (e)) during such taxable year. 

16 ‘‘(b) APPLICABLE CREDIT AMOUNT.—For purposes 

17 of subsection (a), the applicable credit amount for each 

18 apprentice for each taxable year is equal to— 

19 ‘‘(1) in the case of an apprentice who has not 

20 attained 25 years of age at the close of the taxable 

21 year, $1,500, or 

22 ‘‘(2) in the case of an apprentice who has at23 tained 25 years of age at the close of the taxable 

24 year, $1,000. 

25 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF YEARS WHICH

26 CREDIT MAY BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.—The apprenmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 ticeship credit shall not be allowed for more than 2 taxable 

2 years with respect to any apprentice. 

3 ‘‘(d) APPRENTICE.—For purposes of this section, the 

4 term ‘apprentice’ means any employee who is employed by 

5 the employer— 

6 ‘‘(1) in an officially recognized apprenticeable 

7 occupation, as determined by the Office of Appren8 ticeship of the Employment and Training Adminis9 tration of the Department of Labor, and 

10 ‘‘(2) pursuant to an apprentice agreement reg11 istered with— 

12 ‘‘(A) the Office of Apprenticeship of the 

13 Employment and Training Administration of 

14 the Department of Labor, or 

15 ‘‘(B) a recognized State apprenticeship 

16 agency, as determined by the Office of Appren17 ticeship of the Employment and Training Ad18 ministration of the Department of Labor. 

19 ‘‘(e) APPLICABLE APPRENTICESHIP LEVEL.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec21 tion, the applicable apprenticeship level shall be 

22 equal to— 

23 ‘‘(A) in the case of any apprentice de24 scribed in subsection (b)(1), the amount equal 

25 to 80 percent of the average number of such 

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1 apprentices of the employer for the 3 taxable 

2 years preceding the taxable year for which the 

3 credit is being determined, rounded to the next 

4 lower whole number; and 

5 ‘‘(B) in the case of any apprentices de6 scribed in subsection (b)(2), the amount equal 

7 to 80 percent of the average number of such 

8 apprentices of the employer for the 3 taxable 

9 years preceding the taxable year for which the 

10 credit is being determined, rounded to the next 

11 lower whole number. 

12 ‘‘(2) FIRST YEAR OF NEW APPRENTICESHIP

13 PROGRAMS.—In the case of an employer which did 

14 not have any apprentices during any taxable year in 

15 the 3 taxable years preceding the taxable year for 

16 which the credit is being determined, the applicable 

17 apprenticeship level shall be equal to zero. 

18 ‘‘(f) COORDINATION WITH OTHER CREDITS.—The 

19 amount of credit otherwise allowable under sections 45A, 

20 51(a), and 1396(a) with respect to any employee shall be 

21 reduced by the credit allowed by this section with respect 

22 to such employee. 

23 ‘‘(g) CERTAIN RULES TO APPLY.—Rules similar to 

24 the rules of subsections (i)(1) and (k) of section 51 shall 

25 apply for purposes of this section.’’. 

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1 (b) CREDIT MADE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS

2 CREDIT.—Subsection (b) of section 38 of the Internal 

3 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at 

4 the end of paragraph (35), by striking the period at the 

5 end of paragraph (36) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by add6 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(37) the apprenticeship credit determined 

8 under section 45S(a).’’. 

9 (c) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Subsection (a) 

10 of section 280C of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

11 amended by inserting ‘‘45S(a),’’ after ‘‘45P(a),’’. 

12 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

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

14 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by add15 ing at the end the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45S. Employees participating in qualified apprenticeship programs.’’. 

16 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

17 this section shall apply to individuals commencing appren18 ticeship programs after the date of the enactment of this 

19 Act. 

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