I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6818 

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

against employment and income taxes for certain employee training expenses. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 14, 2023 

Mrs. HINSON 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 provide 

employers a credit against employment and income taxes 

for certain employee training expenses. 

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 ‘‘Bettering Employee 

5 Skills and Talents Act’’ or the ‘‘BEST Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. WORKFORCE TRAINING CREDIT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter D of chapter 21 of the 

8 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 

9 the end the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 3135. WORKFORCE TRAINING CREDIT. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be allowed as a cred3 it against applicable employment taxes for each calendar 

4 quarter an amount equal to 30 percent of the qualified 

5 workforce training expenses paid or incurred by the em6 ployer during such calendar quarter. 

7 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED WORKFORCE TRAINING EX8 PENSES.—For purposes of this section— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified work10 force training expenses’ means amounts paid or in11 curred by the employer to provide a qualified em12 ployee with qualified training. 

13 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘quali14 fied employee’ means any employee who holds an 

15 entry-level position with the employer and has not 

16 obtained a bachelor’s degree. 

17 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED TRAINING.—The term ‘quali18 fied training’ means any program of training which 

19 is designed to prepare an individual for a skill or 

20 employment classification that is recognized by any 

21 State or local government, regulatory body, or pro22 fessional guild or organization. Such term shall not 

23 include any program of workplace safety training 

24 unless the skill or employment classification relates 

25 to workplace safety. 


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1 ‘‘(c) APPLICABLE EMPLOYMENT TAXES.—For pur2 poses of this section, the term ‘applicable employment 

3 taxes’ means the taxes imposed under sections 3111(a), 

4 3111(b), and 3221(a). 

5 ‘‘(d) CARRYOVER OF EXCESS CREDIT AS EMPLOY6 MENT OR INCOME TAX CREDIT.— 

7 ‘‘(1) CREDIT LIMITED TO EMPLOYMENT

8 TAXES.—The credit allowed under subsection (a) 

9 with respect to any calendar quarter shall not exceed 

10 the applicable employment taxes (reduced by any 

11 credits allowed under subsection (e) or (f) of section 

12 3111) on the wages paid with respect to the employ13 ment of all the employees of the employer for such 

14 calendar quarter. 

15 ‘‘(2) CARRYOVER AS EMPLOYMENT OR INCOME

16 TAX CREDIT.—If the amount of any credit under 

17 subsection (a) exceeds the limitation of paragraph 

18 (1) for any calendar quarter, such excess— 

19 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph 

20 (B), shall be carried to the succeeding calendar 

21 quarter and allowed as a credit under sub22 section (a) for such quarter, or 

23 ‘‘(B) if the employer elects the application 

24 of this subparagraph (at such time and in such 

25 manner as the Secretary may provide), shall 


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1 taken into account as a current year business 

2 credit under section 38(b)(42) for the taxable 

3 year of the employer in which or with which 

4 such calendar quarter ends. 

5 ‘‘(e) RECAPTURE.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If credit is determined 

7 under this section with respect to any employee and 

8 such employee fails to succeed at training, the appli9 cable employment taxes of the employer with respect 

10 to which such credit is determined shall be increased 

11 for the calendar quarter which includes the date of 

12 such failure by the aggregate amount of such cred13 its. 

14 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF FAILURE.—An em15 ployee shall be treated as failing to succeed at train16 ing if such employee fails to complete the training 

17 program or fails to obtain the skill, employment 

18 classification, or certification with respect to which 

19 the training program relates. 

20 ‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) AGGREGATION RULE.—For purposes of 

22 subsection (b), all persons treated as a single em23 ployer under subsection (a) or (b) of section 52, or 

24 subsection (m) or (o) of section 414, shall be treated 

25 as one employer. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduc2 tion or credit (other than the credit determined 

3 under this section) shall be allowed for that portion 

4 of the qualified workforce training expenses paid or 

5 incurred in a taxable year which is equal to the cred6 it determined under this section with respect to such 

7 expenses. 

8 ‘‘(3) EXCLUSION OF GOVERNMENTAL AND NON9 PROFIT EMPLOYERS.—No credit shall be allowed 

10 under this section to— 

11 ‘‘(A) any agency or instrumentality of and 

12 Federal, State, or local government, or 

13 ‘‘(B) any organization exempt from the tax 

14 imposed under chapter 1. 

15 ‘‘(4) ELECTION TO NOT CLAIM CREDIT.—No 

16 credit shall be determined under subsection (a) with 

17 respect to so much of the qualified workforce train18 ing expenses as the employer elects (at such time 

19 and in such manner as the Secretary may provide) 

20 to not take into account for purposes of this section. 

21 ‘‘(5) TREATMENT OF DEPOSITS.—The Sec22 retary shall waive any penalty under section 6656 

23 for any failure to make a deposit of any applicable 

24 employment taxes if the Secretary determines that 


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1 such failure was due to the reasonable anticipation 

2 of the credit allowed under this section. 

3 ‘‘(6) EXTENSION OF LIMITATION ON ASSESS4 MENT.—Notwithstanding section 6501, the limita5 tion on the time period for the assessment of any 

6 amount attributable to a credit claimed under this 

7 section shall not expire before the date that is 5 

8 years after the later of— 

9 ‘‘(A) the date on which the original return 

10 which includes the calendar quarter with re11 spect to which such credit is determined is filed, 

12 or 

13 ‘‘(B) the date on which such return is 

14 treated as filed under section 6501(b)(2). 

15 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE.—The Secretary 

16 shall issue such forms, instructions, regulations, and other 

17 guidance as are necessary— 

18 ‘‘(1) with respect to the application of the cred19 it under this section to third party payors (including 

20 professional employer organizations, certified profes21 sional employer organizations, or agents under sec22 tion 3504), including regulations or guidance allow23 ing such payors to submit documentation necessary 

24 to substantiate such credit, 


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1 ‘‘(2) to provide for adequate reporting of infor2 mation to the Secretary for purposes of this section, 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(3) with respect to the recapture under sub5 section (f) of the credit determined by this section, 

6 including the establishment of periods after which a 

7 failure described in subsection (f)(2) will be treated 

8 as occurring if the requirements described in such 

9 subsection are not satisfied as of the close of such 

10 period. 

11 Any forms, instructions, regulations, or other guidance de12 scribed in paragraph (1) shall require the customer to be 

13 responsible for the accounting of the credit and for any 

14 liability for improperly claimed credits and shall require 

15 the certified professional employer organization or other 

16 third party payor to accurately report such tax credits 

17 based on the information provided by the customer.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

19 (1) Section 38(b) of such Code is amended by 

20 striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph (40), by 

21 striking the period at the end of paragraph (41) and 

22 inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by adding at the end the fol23 lowing new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(42) in the case of a taxpayer making the elec25 tion under 3135(e)(2)(B) for any calendar quarter 


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1 ending during or with such taxable year, the amount 

2 treated as a credit under this paragraph pursuant to 

3 such election.’’. 

4 (2) Section 3511(d)(2) of such Code is amend5 ed by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph 

6 (H), by redesignating subparagraph (I) as subpara7 graph (J), and by inserting after subparagraph (H) 

8 the following new subparagraph: 

9 ‘‘(I) section 3135 (workforce training cred10 it), and’’. 

11 (3) The table of sections for subchapter D of 

12 chapter 21 of such Code is amended by adding at 

13 the end the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 3135. Workforce training credit.’’. 

14 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

15 this section shall apply to calendar quarters beginning 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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