I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2963 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the work opportunity 

credit for hiring veterans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 4, 2021 

Ms. BROWNLEY 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 extend 

the work opportunity credit for hiring veterans, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘VOW to Hire Heroes 

5 Extension Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF WORK OPPORTUNITY CREDIT FOR 

7 VETERANS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 51(c) of the Internal Rev9 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2963 IH

1 following: ‘‘The preceding sentence shall not apply in the 

2 case of amounts paid or incurred to a qualified veteran.’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

4 this section shall apply to individuals who begin work for 

5 the employer after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 SEC. 3. SIMPLIFIED CERTIFICATION OF VETERAN STATUS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (D) of section 

8 51(d)(13) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amend9 ed to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(D) PRE-SCREENING OF QUALIFIED VET11 ERANS.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) 

13 shall be applied without regard to sub14 clause (II) of clause (ii) thereof in the case 

15 of an individual seeking treatment as a 

16 qualified veteran with respect to whom the 

17 pre-screening notice contains— 

18 ‘‘(I) qualified veteran status doc19 umentation, 

20 ‘‘(II) qualified proof of unemploy21 ment compensation, and 

22 ‘‘(III) an affidavit furnished by 

23 the individual stating, under penalty 

24 of perjury, that the information proVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2963.IH H2963

pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2963 IH

1 vided under subclauses (I) and (II) is 

2 true. 

3 ‘‘(ii) QUALIFIED VETERAN STATUS

4 DOCUMENTATION.—For purposes of clause 

5 (i), the term ‘qualified veteran status docu6 mentation’ means any documentation pro7 vided to an individual by the Department 

8 of Defense or the National Guard upon re9 lease or discharge from the Armed Forces 

10 which includes information sufficient to es11 tablish that such individual is a veteran. 

12 ‘‘(iii) QUALIFIED PROOF OF UNEM13 PLOYMENT COMPENSATION.—For purposes 

14 of clause (i), the term ‘qualified proof of 

15 unemployment compensation’ means, with 

16 respect to an individual, checks or other 

17 proof of receipt of payment of unemploy18 ment compensation to such individual for 

19 periods aggregating not less than 4 weeks 

20 (in the case of an individual seeking treat21 ment under paragraph (3)(A)(iii)), or not 

22 less than 6 months (in the case of an indi23 vidual seeking treatment under clause 

24 (ii)(II) or (iv) of paragraph (3)(A)), during 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2963 IH

1 the 1-year period ending on the hiring 

2 date.’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

4 this section shall apply to individuals who begin work for 

5 the employer after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 SEC. 4. CREDIT MADE AVAILABLE AGAINST PAYROLL 

7 TAXES IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 52(c) of the Internal Rev9 enue Code of 1986 is amended— 

10 (1) in the heading by striking ‘‘TAX-EXEMPT

11 ORGANIZATIONS’’ and inserting ‘‘CERTAIN EMPLOY12 ERS’’, 

13 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘QUALIFIED TAX-EXEMPT

15 ORGANIZATIONS’’ in the heading and inserting 

16 ‘‘CERTAIN EMPLOYERS’’, and 

17 (B) by striking ‘‘by qualified tax-exempt 

18 organizations’’ in the text and inserting ‘‘by 

19 certain employers’’. 

20 (b) CREDIT ALLOWED TO CERTAIN FOR-PROFIT EM21 PLOYERS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 

23 3111(e) of such Code is amended by inserting ‘‘or 

24 a qualified for-profit employer’’ after ‘‘If a qualified 

25 tax-exempt organization’’. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2963 IH

1 (2) QUALIFIED FOR-PROFIT EMPLOYER DE2 FINED.—Paragraph (5) of section 3111(e) of such 

3 Code is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of 

4 subparagraph (A), by redesignating subparagraph 

5 (B) as subparagraph (C), and by inserting after sub6 paragraph (A) the following new subparagraph: 

7 ‘‘(B) the term ‘qualified for-profit em8 ployer’ means, with respect to a taxable year, 

9 an employer not described in subparagraph (A), 

10 but only if— 

11 ‘‘(i) such employer does not have prof12 its for any of the 3 taxable years preceding 

13 such taxable year, and 

14 ‘‘(ii) such employer elects under sec15 tion 51(j) not to have section 51 apply to 

16 such taxable year, and’’. 

17 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

18 (A) Section 3111(e)(1) of such Code is 

19 amended by striking ‘‘with respect to whom a 

20 credit would be allowable under section 38 by 

21 reason of section 51 if the organization were 

22 not a qualified tax-exempt organization’’. 

23 (B) Paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 

24 3111(e) of such Code are both amended by inVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2963.IH H2963

pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 2963 IH

1 serting ‘‘or for-profit employer’’ after ‘‘employ2 ees of the organization’’ each place it appears. 

3 (C) Section 3111(e)(3)(C) of such Code is 

4 amended by inserting ‘‘in the case of a qualified 

5 tax-exempt organization,’’ before ‘‘by only tak6 ing into account’’. 

7 (D) Section 3111(e)(4) of such Code is 

8 amended by inserting ‘‘or for-profit employer’’ 

9 after ‘‘the organization’’. 

10 (E) Section 3111(e)(5)(C) of such Code, as 

11 redesignated by paragraph (2), is amended to 

12 read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(C) the term ‘qualified veteran’ means a 

14 qualified veteran (within the meaning of section 

15 51(d)(3)) with respect to whom a credit would 

16 be allowable under section 38 by reason of sec17 tion 51 if the employer of such veteran were not 

18 a qualified tax-exempt organization or a quali19 fied for-profit employer.’’. 

20 (c) TRANSFERS TO FEDERAL OLD-AGE AND SUR21 VIVORS INSURANCE TRUST FUND.—There are hereby ap22 propriated to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Trust 

23 Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund 

24 established under section 201 of the Social Security Act 

25 (42 U.S.C. 401) amounts equal to the reduction in reveVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2963.IH H2963

pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 2963 IH

1 nues to the Treasury by reason of the amendments made 

2 by subsections (a) and (b). Amounts appropriated by the 

3 preceding sentence shall be transferred from the general 

4 fund at such times and in such manner as to replicate 

5 to the extent possible the transfers which would have oc6 curred to such Trust Fund had such amendments not 

7 been enacted. 

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

9 subsections (a) and (b) shall apply to individuals who 

10 begin work for the employer after the date of the enact11 ment of this Act. 

12 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

13 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact14 ment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Commis15 sioner of Internal Revenue, in consultation with the Sec16 retary of Labor, shall report to the Congress on the effec17 tiveness and cost-effectiveness of the amendments made 

18 by sections 2, 3, and 4 in increasing the employment of 

19 veterans. Such report shall include the results of a survey, 

20 conducted, if needed, in consultation with the Veterans’ 

21 Employment and Training Service of the Department of 

22 Labor, to determine how many veterans are hired by each 

23 employer that claims the credit under section 51, by rea24 son of subsection (d)(1)(B) thereof, or 3111(e) of the In25 ternal Revenue Code of 1986. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 2963 IH

1 SEC. 6. TREATMENT OF POSSESSIONS. 

2 (a) PAYMENTS TO POSSESSIONS.— 

3 (1) MIRROR CODE POSSESSIONS.—The Sec4 retary of the Treasury shall pay to each possession 

5 of the United States with a mirror code tax system 

6 amounts equal to the loss to that possession by rea7 son of the amendments made by this Act. Such 

8 amounts shall be determined by the Secretary of the 

9 Treasury based on information provided by the gov10 ernment of the respective possession of the United 

11 States. 

12 (2) OTHER POSSESSIONS.—The Secretary of 

13 the Treasury shall pay to each possession of the 

14 United States which does not have a mirror code tax 

15 system the amount estimated by the Secretary of the 

16 Treasury as being equal to the loss to that posses17 sion that would have occurred by reason of the 

18 amendments made by this Act if a mirror code tax 

19 system had been in effect in such possession. The 

20 preceding sentence shall not apply with respect to 

21 any possession of the United States unless such pos22 session establishes to the satisfaction of the Sec23 retary that the possession has implemented (or, at 

24 the discretion of the Secretary, will implement) an 

25 income tax benefit which is substantially equivalent 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 2963 IH

1 to the income tax credit in effect after the amend2 ments made by this Act. 

3 (b) COORDINATION WITH CREDIT ALLOWED

4 AGAINST UNITED STATES INCOME TAXES.—The credit 

5 allowed against United States income taxes for any tax6 able year under the amendments made by this Act to sec7 tion 51 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to any per8 son with respect to any qualified veteran shall be reduced 

9 by the amount of any credit (or other tax benefit described 

10 in subsection (a)(2)) allowed to such person against in11 come taxes imposed by the possession of the United States 

12 by reason of this section with respect to such qualified 

13 veteran for such taxable year. 

14 (c) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.— 

15 (1) POSSESSION OF THE UNITED STATES.—For 

16 purposes of this section, the term ‘‘possession of the 

17 United States’’ includes American Samoa, Guam, 

18 the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is19 lands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the 

20 United States Virgin Islands. 

21 (2) MIRROR CODE TAX SYSTEM.—For purposes 

22 of this section, the term ‘‘mirror code tax system’’ 

23 means, with respect to any possession of the United 

24 States, the income tax system of such possession if 

25 the income tax liability of the residents of such posVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2963.IH H2963

pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 2963 IH

1 session under such system is determined by ref2 erence to the income tax laws of the United States 

3 as if such possession were the United States. 

4 (3) TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS.—For purposes 

5 of section 1324(b)(2) of title 31, United States 

6 Code, the payments under this section shall be treat7 ed in the same manner as a refund due from credit 

8 provisions described in such section. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS