II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2100 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a small business 

start-up tax credit for veterans creating businesses in underserved communities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 11, 2019 

Ms. ROSEN (for herself, Mr. MORAN, Mr. CRAMER, and Mr. JONES) 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 establish 

a small business start-up tax credit for veterans creating 

businesses in underserved communities. 

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 ‘‘Veterans Jobs Oppor5 tunity Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. VETERAN SMALL BUSINESS START-UP CREDIT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub8 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 


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1 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

2 section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 45T. VETERAN SMALL BUSINESS START-UP CREDIT. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38, in 

5 the case of an applicable veteran-owned business which 

6 elects the application of this section, the veteran small 

7 business start-up credit determined under this section for 

8 any taxable year is an amount equal to 15 percent of so 

9 much of the qualified start-up expenditures of the tax10 payer as does not exceed $50,000. 

11 ‘‘(b) APPLICABLE VETERAN-OWNED SMALL BUSI12 NESS.—For purposes of this section— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘applicable vet14 eran-owned small business’ means a small business 

15 owned and controlled by one or more veterans or 

16 spouses of veterans and the principal place of busi17 ness of which is in an underserved community. 

18 ‘‘(2) OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL.—The term 

19 ‘owned and controlled’ means— 

20 ‘‘(A) management and operation of the 

21 daily business, and— 

22 ‘‘(B)(i) in the case of a sole proprietorship, 

23 sole ownership, 


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1 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a corporation, owner2 ship (by vote or value) of not less than 51 per3 cent of the stock in such corporation, or 

4 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a partnership or joint 

5 venture, ownership of not less than 51 percent 

6 of the profits interests or capital interests in 

7 such partnership or joint venture. 

8 ‘‘(3) SMALL BUSINESS.—The term ‘small busi9 ness’ means, with respect to any taxable year, any 

10 person engaged in a trade or business in the United 

11 States which is a small business concern (as defined 

12 under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 

13 U.S.C. 632)). 

14 ‘‘(4) UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY.—The term 

15 ‘underserved community’ means any area located 

16 within— 

17 ‘‘(A) a HUBZone (as defined in section 

18 3(p) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

19 632(p))), 

20 ‘‘(B) an empowerment zone, or enterprise 

21 community, designated under section 1391 (and 

22 without regard to whether or not such designa23 tion remains in effect), 


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1 ‘‘(C) an area of low income or moderate in2 come (as recognized by the Federal Financial 

3 Institutions Examination Council), or 

4 ‘‘(D) a county with persistent poverty (as 

5 classified by the Economic Research Service of 

6 the Department of Agriculture). 

7 ‘‘(5) VETERAN OR SPOUSE OF VETERAN.—The 

8 term ‘veteran or spouse of a veteran’ has the mean9 ing given such term by section 7(a)(31)(G)(iii) of 

10 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

11 636(a)(31)(G)(iii)). 

12 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED START-UP EXPENDITURES.—For 

13 purposes of this section— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified start15 up expenditures’ means— 

16 ‘‘(A) any start-up expenditures (as defined 

17 in section 195(c)), or 

18 ‘‘(B) any amounts paid or incurred during 

19 the taxable year for the purchase or lease of 

20 real property, or the purchase of personal prop21 erty, placed in service during the taxable year 

22 and used in the active conduct of a trade or 

23 business. 

24 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULES.—For purposes of this sec25 tion— 


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1 ‘‘(1) YEAR OF ELECTION.—The taxpayer may 

2 elect the application of this section only for the first 

3 2 taxable years for which ordinary and necessary ex4 penses paid or incurred in carrying on such trade or 

5 business are allowable as a deduction by the tax6 payer under section 162. 

7 ‘‘(2) CONTROLLED GROUPS AND COMMON CON8 TROL.—All persons treated as a single employer 

9 under subsections (a) and (b) of section 52 shall be 

10 treated as 1 person. 

11 ‘‘(3) NO DOUBLE BENEFIT.—If a credit is de12 termined under this section with respect to any 

13 property, the basis of such property shall be reduced 

14 by the amount of the credit attributable to such 

15 property.’’. 

16 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

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

18 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45T. Veteran small business start-up credit.’’. 

20 (c) MADE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS CREDIT.— 

21 Section 38(b) of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ 

22 at the end of paragraph (31), by striking the period at 

23 the end of paragraph (32) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by 

24 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(33) the veteran small business start-up credit 

2 determined under section 45T.’’. 

3 (d) REPORT BY TREASURY INSPECTOR GENERAL

4 FOR TAX ADMINISTRATION.—Every fourth year after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Treasury Inspector 

6 General for Tax Administration shall include in one of the 

7 semiannual reports under section 5 of the Inspector Gen8 eral Act of 1978 with respect to such year, an evaluation 

9 of the program under section 45T of the Internal Revenue 

10 Code of 1986 (as added by this section), including an eval11 uation of the success of, and accountability with respect 

12 to, such program. 

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

14 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

15 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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