I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4179 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to keep Americans working 

by creating a refundable work-sharing tax credit that stimulates demand 

in the private sector labor market and provides employers with an alternative to layoffs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 2, 2009 

Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. LEE of California, 

and Mr. MASSA) 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 keep Americans working by creating a refundable work-sharing tax 

credit that stimulates demand in the private sector labor 

market and provides employers with an alternative to 

layoffs. 

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 ‘‘Shortening Hours and 

5 Retaining Employees Credit Act of 2009’’ or the ‘‘SHARE 

6 Credit Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 The purpose of this Act is to keep Americans working 

3 by encouraging employers to hold wages constant while de4 creasing employee work hours as a means of providing an 

5 alternative to layoffs and promoting labor demand in the 

6 private sector. 

7 SEC. 3. WORK SHARE CREDIT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub9 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

10 1986 (relating to refundable credits) is amended by add11 ing at the end the following new section: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 36B. WORK SHARE CREDIT. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be allowed as a cred14 it against the tax imposed by this subtitle an amount equal 

15 the wages paid or incurred by the taxpayer during the tax16 able year to each qualified work share employee. 

17 ‘‘(b) MAXIMUM CREDIT PER EMPLOYEE.—The credit 

18 allowed by this section with respect to each qualified work 

19 share employee shall not exceed the lesser of— 

20 ‘‘(1) $3,000, or 

21 ‘‘(2) 10 percent of the wages paid or incurred 

22 to the employee for periods (during the taxable year) 

23 during which the employee did not perform services 

24 for the employer by reason of a reduction described 

25 in subsection (d)(1)(A)(ii)(II). 


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1 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED WORK SHARE EMPLOYEE.—For 

2 purposes of this section— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified work 

4 share employee’ means any employee of the taxpayer 

5 for any period if— 

6 ‘‘(A) substantially all of the services per7 formed during such period by such employee for 

8 such employer are performed in the United 

9 States in a trade or business of the employer, 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(B) such employee is participating in a 

12 qualified work share program of the employer. 

13 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Such term shall not in14 clude any individual who is described in any sub15 paragraph of section 1396(d)(2). 

16 ‘‘(d) QUALIFIED WORK SHARE PROGRAM.—For pur17 poses of this section— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified work 

19 share program’ means any written program of the 

20 employer— 

21 ‘‘(A) under which employees who partici22 pate in the program— 

23 ‘‘(i) perform the same functions they 

24 would have performed were they not par25 ticipants in the program, and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) receive the same wages and bene2 fits that they would have received— 

3 ‘‘(I) were they not participants in 

4 the program, and 

5 ‘‘(II) without regard to any re6 duction in the hours of the employee’s 

7 service (including any reduction in the 

8 form of increased required paid leave 

9 or paid vacation) required by the em10 ployer as a condition of participating 

11 in the program, 

12 ‘‘(B) which is determined by the Secretary 

13 to have adequate recordkeeping and reporting 

14 procedures to comply with the requirements 

15 under this section, 

16 ‘‘(C) which meets the disclosure require17 ments of paragraph (2), and 

18 ‘‘(D) which meets rules similar to the rules 

19 of paragraphs (2), (3), and (6) of section 

20 127(d). 

21 The application of this paragraph to individuals em22 ployed on an hourly basis shall be determined under 

23 regulations prescribed by the Secretary. 


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1 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYER COMPLIANCE DISCLOSURE.—A 

2 program meets the disclosure requirements of the 

3 paragraph if— 

4 ‘‘(A) in the case of an employer with a 

5 publicly accessible Internet website, the em6 ployer posts the hour reductions made for the 

7 purpose of qualifying for a credit under this 

8 section within 24 hours of such reductions 

9 being authorized by the employer, and 

10 ‘‘(B) in the case of any other employer, the 

11 employer transfers information, including the 

12 amount of hour reductions made for the pur13 pose of qualifying for a credit under this sec14 tion, to the Secretary within 24 hours of such 

15 reductions being authorized by the employer. 

16 ‘‘(e) WAGES.—For purposes of this section, the term 

17 ‘wages’ has the meaning given to such term by section 

18 51(c). 

19 ‘‘(f) CONTROLLED GROUPS.—Rules similar to the 

20 rules of subsections (b) and (c) of section 1397 shall apply 

21 for purposes of this section.’’. 

22 (b) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Subsection (a) 

23 of section 280C of such Code is amended by inserting 

24 ‘‘36B(a),’’ after ‘‘45P(a),’’. 

25 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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1 (1) Section 1324(b)(2) of title 31, United 

2 States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘36B,’’ after 

3 ‘‘36A,’’. 

4 (2) The table of sections for subpart C of part 

5 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is 

6 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec7 tion 36A the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 36B. Work share credit.’’. 

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

9 this section shall apply to qualified work shares initiated 

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act in taxable years 

11 ending after such date. 

12 (e) PAYMENTS TO GOVERNMENTS AND OTHER TAX13 EXEMPT ENTITIES.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any entity to 

15 which this subsection applies, the Secretary of the 

16 Treasury shall pay (without interest) to such entity 

17 an amount equal to the credit which would be al18 lowed under section 36B of the Internal Revenue 

19 Code of 1986 (as added by this section) were such 

20 entity subject to the taxes imposed by chapter 1 of 

21 such Code. 

22 (2) ENTITIES ENTITLED TO PAYMENTS.—This 

23 subsection shall apply to— 


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1 (A) any State, political subdivision of a 

2 State, or agency or instrumentality of one or 

3 more States or political subdivisions, and 

4 (B) any organization exempt from tax 

5 under section 501(a) of such Code (other than 

6 an organization required to make a return of 

7 the tax imposed under subtitle A of such Code 

8 for the taxable year). 

9 (3) TIME FOR FILING CLAIMS; PERIOD COV10 ERED.—Not more than one claim may be filed under 

11 paragraph (1) by any entity with respect to wages 

12 paid or incurred during any calendar year, and no 

13 claim shall be allowed under this paragraph with re14 spect to any calendar year unless filed by such entity 

15 not later than 3 years after the close of such cal16 endar year. 

17 (f) USE OF PAYROLL TAX DATA FOR EMPLOYER

18 COMPLIANCE PURPOSES.—No later than 60 days after the 

19 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 

20 establish a system— 

21 (1) to verify employer compliance with section 

22 36B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as 

23 added by this section) using payroll tax data, and 


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1 (2) to allow employers to comply with the re2 quirements in section 36B(d)(2) of such Code (as so 

3 added). 

Æ 


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