II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2089

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

against income tax for information technology training expenses paid

or incurred by the employer, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 18, 1998

Mr. CONRAD (for himself and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow employers a credit against income tax for information technology training expenses paid or incurred by the employer, and for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. CREDIT FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

4 TRAINING PROGRAM EXPENSES.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub6 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of

7 1986 (relating to business-related credits) is amended by

8 adding at the end the following new section:
2

•S 2089 IS

1 ‘‘SEC. 45D. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TRAINING PRO2 GRAM EXPENSES.

3 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—For purposes of section 38,

4 in the case of an employer, the information technology

5 training program credit determined under this section is

6 an amount equal to 20 percent of information technology

7 training program expenses paid or incurred by the tax8 payer during the taxable year.

9 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL CREDIT PERCENTAGE FOR CER10 TAIN PROGRAMS.—The percentage under subsection (a)

11 shall be increased by 5 percentage points for information

12 technology training program expenses paid or incurred by

13 the taxpayer with respect to a program operated in—

14 ‘‘(1) an empowerment zone or enterprise com15 munity designated under part I of subchapter U,

16 ‘‘(2) a school district in which a least 50 per17 cent of the students attending schools in such dis18 trict are eligible for free or reduced-cost lunches

19 under the school lunch program established under

20 the National School Lunch Act, or

21 ‘‘(3) an area designated as a disaster area by

22 the Secretary of Agriculture or by the President

23 under the Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance

24 Act in the taxable year or the 4 preceding taxable

25 years.
3

•S 2089 IS

1 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION.—The amount of information tech2 nology training program expenses with respect to an em3 ployee which may be taken into account under subsection

4 (a) for the taxable year shall not exceed $6,000.

5 ‘‘(d) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TRAINING PRO6 GRAM EXPENSES.—For purposes of this section—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘information

8 technology training program expenses’ means ex9 penses paid or incurred by reason of the participa10 tion of the employer in any information technology

11 training program.

12 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TRAINING

13 PROGRAM.—The term ‘information technology train14 ing program’ means a program—

15 ‘‘(A) for the training of computer program16 mers, systems analysts, and computer scientists

17 or engineers (as such occupations are defined

18 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics),

19 ‘‘(B) involving a partnership of—

20 ‘‘(i) employers, and

21 ‘‘(ii) State training programs, school

22 districts, or university systems, and

23 ‘‘(C) at least 50 percent of the costs of

24 which is paid or incurred by the employers.
4

•S 2089 IS

1 ‘‘(e) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduction

2 or credit under any other provision of this chapter shall

3 be allowed with respect to information technology training

4 program expenses (determined without regard to the limi5 tation under subsection (c)).

6 ‘‘(f) ALLOCATIONS.—For purposes of this section,

7 rules similar to the rules of section 41(f)(2) shall apply.’’

8 (b) CREDIT TO BE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS

9 CREDIT.—Section 38(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of

10 1986 (relating to current year business credit) is amended

11 by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph (11), by strik12 ing the period at the end of paragraph (12) and inserting

13 ‘‘, plus’’, and by adding at the end the following new para14 graph:

15 ‘‘(13) the information technology training pro16 gram credit determined under section 45D.’’

17 (c) NO CARRYBACKS.—Subsection (d) of section 39

18 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to

19 carryback and carryforward of unused credits) is amended

20 by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

21 ‘‘(9) NO CARRYBACK OF SECTION 45D CREDIT

22 BEFORE EFFECTIVE DATE.—No portion of the un23 used business credit for any taxable year which is

24 attributable to the information technology training

25 program credit determined under section 45D may
5

•S 2089 IS

1 be carried back to a taxable year ending before the

2 date of the enactment of section 45D.’’

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

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

5 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by add6 ing at the end the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 45D. Information technology training program expenses.’’

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

8 this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred after

9 the date of the enactment of this Act in taxable years end10 ing after such date.

Æ