II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 379 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand and modify the 

credit for employee health insurance expenses of small employers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 5, 2015 

Mr. COONS (for himself, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. KING, Mr. MANCHIN, Ms. 

HEITKAMP, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. KAINE, Mr. FRANKEN, and Ms. 

HIRONO) 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 expand 

and modify the credit for employee health insurance expenses of small employers. 

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 ‘‘Small Business Tax 

5 Credit Accessibility Act’’. 


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•S 379 IS

1 SEC. 2. EXPANSION AND MODIFICATION OF CREDIT FOR 

2 EMPLOYEE HEALTH INSURANCE EXPENSES 

3 OF SMALL EMPLOYERS. 

4 (a) EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE SMALL

5 EMPLOYER.—Subparagraph (A) of section 45R(d)(1) of 

6 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

7 ‘‘25’’ and inserting ‘‘50’’. 

8 (b) AMENDMENT TO PHASEOUT DETERMINATION.— 

9 Subsection (c) of section 45R of the Internal Revenue 

10 Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(c) PHASEOUT OF CREDIT AMOUNT BASED ON

12 NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES AND AVERAGE WAGES.—The 

13 amount of the credit determined under subsection (b) 

14 (without regard to this subsection) shall be adjusted (but 

15 not below zero) by multiplying such amount by the prod16 uct of— 

17 ‘‘(1) the lesser of— 

18 ‘‘(A) a fraction the numerator of which is 

19 the excess (if any) of 50 over the total number 

20 of full-time equivalent employees of the em21 ployer and the denominator of which is 30, and 

22 ‘‘(B) 1, and 

23 ‘‘(2) the lesser of— 

24 ‘‘(A) a fraction— 

25 ‘‘(i) the numerator of which is the ex26 cess (if any) of— 


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•S 379 IS

1 ‘‘(I) the dollar amount in effect 

2 under subsection (d)(3)(B) for the 

3 taxable year, multiplied by 3, over 

4 ‘‘(II) the average annual wages 

5 of the employer for such taxable year, 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(ii) the denominator of which is the 

8 dollar amount so in effect under subsection 

9 (d)(3)(B), multiplied by 2, and 

10 ‘‘(B) 1.’’. 

11 (c) EXTENSION OF CREDIT PERIOD.—Paragraph (2) 

12 of section 45R(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

13 is amended by striking ‘‘2-consecutive-taxable year pe14 riod’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘3-consecutive-tax15 able year period beginning with the 1st taxable year begin16 ning after 2014 in which— 

17 ‘‘(A) the employer (or any predecessor) of18 fers 1 or more qualified health plans to its em19 ployees through an Exchange, and 

20 ‘‘(B) the employer (or any predecessor) 

21 claims the credit under this section.’’. 

22 (d) AVERAGE ANNUAL WAGE LIMITATION.—Sub23 paragraph (B) of section 45R(d)(3) of the Internal Rev24 enue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 


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•S 379 IS

1 ‘‘(B) DOLLAR AMOUNT.—For purposes of 

2 paragraph (1)(B) and subsection (c)(2), the 

3 dollar amount in effect under this paragraph is 

4 the amount equal to 110 percent of the poverty 

5 line (within the meaning of section 36B(d)(3)) 

6 for a family of 4.’’. 

7 (e) ELIMINATION OF UNIFORM PERCENTAGE CON8 TRIBUTION REQUIREMENT.—Paragraph (4) of section 

9 45R(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 

10 by striking ‘‘a uniform percentage (not less than 50 per11 cent)’’ and inserting ‘‘at least 50 percent’’. 

12 (f) ELIMINATION OF CAP RELATING TO AVERAGE

13 LOCAL PREMIUMS.—Subsection (b) of section 45R of the 

14 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

15 ‘‘the lesser of’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘the ag16 gregate amount of nonelective contributions the employer 

17 made on behalf of its employees during the taxable year 

18 under the arrangement described in subsection (d)(4) for 

19 premiums for qualified health plans offered by the em20 ployer to its employees through an Exchange.’’. 

21 (g) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO AN22 NUAL WAGE LIMITATION.—Subparagraph (B) of section 

23 45R(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

24 amended by striking ‘‘twice’’ and inserting ‘‘three times’’. 


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•S 379 IS

1 (h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred in tax3 able years beginning after December 31, 2014. 

Æ 


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